“Worship is a celebration of God’s mighty deeds of salvation culminating in the death and resurrection of Christ. Worship celebrates historic events that happened in the past and anticipates the eschatological event that will happen in the future. It does so in such a way that the meaning of both past and future is made alive in the believer’s experience now. Through worship the worshipper enters into God’s saving deeds through which the entire history of the world is revealed” (Robert Webber, Ancient Future Worship pg. 27).
I wonder what conclusions we would come to if we assessed our song bases and liturgies through this definition. I can recall many songs and liturgies that look back to the saving power and resurrection of Christ but I know in our community we don’t have a lot of song that engage our hope or imagination of the future in Christ. A lot of our songs and liturgies are concerned with the now or the immediate future. Not that that is a bad thing but I found Webber’s definition challenging to chew on and engage.
Another quote from Webber I found interesting…
“There are other ways contemporary churches fail to celebrate God’s saving deeds as the central focus of worship. In some churches, as one pastor said, ‘We celebrate our own experience of Christ.’ Other churches have turned toward a psychiatric approach to worship using worship as a time to to help people discover themselves and their potential in life. Others lean toward entertainment of turn worship into an opportunity for evangelism” (pg 28).
I am finding Webber’s book on forming Christian spirituality through the year and through the Christian calendar quite informative. He brings the rhythm of the Christian calendar into a contemporary reality. One that I think a number of people are longing for. For other great reading on the rhythm of the year check out a chapter review of Living Prayer by John Santic at Toward Hope. Great reading and a great resource.
