Across the Pastor’s Desk by Eileen Woyen

 

Too often we understand worship as a long program or play that is put on by others and that we do not understand. Too often we see our role as being quiet and patient. We think to ourselves that worship is something the pastor does. I just sit and watch.

A different vision can make a big difference.  With soccer season upon us (and I am a crazy soccer mom), could we see that a worship service is like a soccer game? All the people in the pews are the players on the field. The preachers, readers, people who pray, acolytes, communion assistants, choirs and ushers are coaches.  The people “up front” are calling in plays and directions, but it is the people in the pews who actually do the worshiping.  The challenge for us is to get in the game rather than just sit there. 

There are four basic plays to worship:

1. Singing: We sing songs that remind us of who God is, what God does and who we are. We sing all the songs. We sing old favorites and new songs with the expectation that some songs will become our favorites and others will be just there. Just like we prefer to make the plays that make a goal, we need to learn how to play all the plays and we sing all the songs.

2. Praying: We talk to God about whatever is going on in our lives and in our world. Each of us has our own list of things to pray about each Sunday. We also hear what other worshipers are praying about and pray with them.

3. Listening: We listen to the reading of the Bible and what the preacher says about the Bible. We listen for what God might be saying to us through what we hear.

4. Thinking: We think about things that are important to us as we sing, pray and listen. I am not trying to impress you with my words, but to give you things to think about. Sometimes people listen to every word I say. Other times people hear something that makes them think about something else that is important to them. When this happens, they think about that for a while, then tune back in to the sermon when they are done. And, occasionally people come to worship so worried about something that they spend the whole sermon thinking about that thing.  All are good ways to think in worship because sitting in the sanctuary with lots of other people thinking about God is one of the best places to think things through with God.

When singing, praying, listening and thinking are seen as plays in the game of worship, we can ask ourselves how we are involved in the plays of a given worship service. We can be coached on skills for the game of worship. The youngest worshipers (in fact, all of us) can do drills on finding hymns, learning the Lord’s Prayer and other repeated pieces of the worship liturgy. Parents can ask children, spouses can ask spouses, and we can ask ourselves what we heard in worship.

Worship is only worship when everyone is participating. A soccer team is only as good as how the team works together.

May you come to worship, not to be quiet and patient. May you come to worship to participate, to be renewed, to sing, to pray, to listen and to feel the presence of God in your life.

Eileen Woyen is pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church.