Church Is Weird
You know, I've preached a couple of times that church is weird. I mean, where else to you join with a bunch of people and sing songs together, stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down - respond to things that the person up front says (all in unison now). So, I used to think that church is weird - but...
But the reality is - we do that at rock concerts (we do ALL of that at rock concerts ). When I went to see U2 (man, too many years ago) - all of RFK stadium sang along with at least half the songs - and we all left the stadium singing "How long...to sing this song? How long...how long?" - I mean all the way down the ramps and out into the parking lots... But we did all of the "church stuff" at the concert. And U2 may be exceptional in the way that Bono preaches (and he does preach...), every concert I've been to has the same elements - we stand, we sit, we sing along with what we know - heh, some go forward for a blessing by the lead singer (okay, this is getting out of hand).
And football games - we stand, we sit, we participate - we yell things in unison - da da da da da-da - CHARGE! or whatever... Heh - we even get the bread and wine - well, the nachos and beer...but you know...
Heh - anybody been to a Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight showing? Talk about participation.
I think our culture LONGS for participation AND repetition. That's how we learn - actively (heck, even Dora the Explorer tells my daughter to "repeat after me" and "say/do this with me") - participating in the repetition.
In a class I’m taking we’ve been discussing Communion and the pattern of worship and someone suggested that the Great Thanksgiving that we use in Communion is “counter-cultural” that is, it’s weird to make responses to something said in unison with a bunch of other people. Where else do we do that? Well, as I’ve written, I think we DO do that in other places...
I don't think the Great Thanksgiving in the Communion service is counter-cultural at all - I think what we've reduced it to has so starved our people that they're reconstructing it everywhere else. We need to take it back. Maybe change the words a little (yeah, I do that sometimes) but the pattern - and the responses - once they're within us - we can live them. I've caught myself once in a while just thinking "Holy, holy holy, Lord, God of power and might..." just out of the blue - and beginning to worship God in those moments - because it's a part of me...
We learn the words - now the task is to UNDERSTAND the words - to turn over in our hearts and minds (and dare I even say in our sermons?) what we are memorizing and what it means. When 30,000 people sing along to "Dust in the Wind" (yeah, I'm old) they probably don't care what it means - they just know the words - the feelings that the song conjures up for them - and maybe some few will have sat back and said to themselves, "Really? All we are is dust in the wind? Everything is dust in the wind?" And, even without our "educating" some people are going to say to themselves "Proclaim the mystery of faith? What does that mean?" It would be way better if we were prepared to answer that question - or if we made regular attempts to even broach the subject on Sunday mornings...
Church isn’t weird. Church PEOPLE, well, that’s a topic for another day.
But the reality is - we do that at rock concerts (we do ALL of that at rock concerts ). When I went to see U2 (man, too many years ago) - all of RFK stadium sang along with at least half the songs - and we all left the stadium singing "How long...to sing this song? How long...how long?" - I mean all the way down the ramps and out into the parking lots... But we did all of the "church stuff" at the concert. And U2 may be exceptional in the way that Bono preaches (and he does preach...), every concert I've been to has the same elements - we stand, we sit, we sing along with what we know - heh, some go forward for a blessing by the lead singer (okay, this is getting out of hand).
And football games - we stand, we sit, we participate - we yell things in unison - da da da da da-da - CHARGE! or whatever... Heh - we even get the bread and wine - well, the nachos and beer...but you know...
Heh - anybody been to a Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight showing? Talk about participation.
I think our culture LONGS for participation AND repetition. That's how we learn - actively (heck, even Dora the Explorer tells my daughter to "repeat after me" and "say/do this with me") - participating in the repetition.
In a class I’m taking we’ve been discussing Communion and the pattern of worship and someone suggested that the Great Thanksgiving that we use in Communion is “counter-cultural” that is, it’s weird to make responses to something said in unison with a bunch of other people. Where else do we do that? Well, as I’ve written, I think we DO do that in other places...
I don't think the Great Thanksgiving in the Communion service is counter-cultural at all - I think what we've reduced it to has so starved our people that they're reconstructing it everywhere else. We need to take it back. Maybe change the words a little (yeah, I do that sometimes) but the pattern - and the responses - once they're within us - we can live them. I've caught myself once in a while just thinking "Holy, holy holy, Lord, God of power and might..." just out of the blue - and beginning to worship God in those moments - because it's a part of me...
We learn the words - now the task is to UNDERSTAND the words - to turn over in our hearts and minds (and dare I even say in our sermons?) what we are memorizing and what it means. When 30,000 people sing along to "Dust in the Wind" (yeah, I'm old) they probably don't care what it means - they just know the words - the feelings that the song conjures up for them - and maybe some few will have sat back and said to themselves, "Really? All we are is dust in the wind? Everything is dust in the wind?" And, even without our "educating" some people are going to say to themselves "Proclaim the mystery of faith? What does that mean?" It would be way better if we were prepared to answer that question - or if we made regular attempts to even broach the subject on Sunday mornings...
Church isn’t weird. Church PEOPLE, well, that’s a topic for another day.
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