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Some Brief Reflections on Worship as the Face of Orthodoxy

 

The Church is first and foremost an active, living, vibrant worshiping community of believers who have been called apart to be distinct from others in our Way of life as God’s own people. As an assembly of faithful, we celebrate God’s transfiguring and redeeming presence in the world as well as His creativity in the world. We are called upon to be distinct from the world to the extent that we live and proclaim the Gospel—the Good News of eternal salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord and God and Saviour. And this Gospel we live in the context of worship. For after all, nothing lives in a void. For anything to have meaning, it must have context. Our attitude toward God—and each other—is defined, shaped, and expressed within the worship of the Church.

 

Worship is an encounter with the Living God. Hence, the importance we, as Orthodox faithful, place in worship and the emphasis upon correct or right worship. The word “Orthodox” means correct, proper, or right worship by means of which we pay God all due and proper respect and honor. In other words, we glorify God correctly in worship and, therefore, rightly honor His good reputation as our King and God. Our worship expresses, articulates, and bears witness to our faith while at the same time it gives it real mean-

ing and power.  In the same manner, our faith illumines our worship. Yet it is worship that keeps the faith alive and accessible while sustaining, enriching, and enlivening it. Worship breathes life and spirit into our faith. Correct worship teaches and involves by incorporating all around and orienting everything to God. Indeed, worship is the reclamation of creation for God. Worship is the sanctification of time, material and space. To worship correctly is to live life itself as a Sacrament. True worship is treating everything and everyone as sacred and dedicating your body to Christ as a holy temple. All worship, therefore, must have embodiment. God took flesh and dwelt amongst us; therefore, our faith must become real and present, rather than removed and detached. Our faith is to be shared. Worship leads us outside of ourselves. Left to ourselves, we have a proclivity to become anthropocentric (human-centered), rather than theocentric (God-centered). Worship allows us to center ourselves upon God and our fellow human beings. Indeed, the closer we come to God, the closer we come to each other. God brings us closer together. He attracts and unites us. Likewise, the closer we come to each other, the closer we come to Him. For this is His will concerning us: that we love one another and become one with one another. The environment, therefore, must be conducive to giving worship expression through visual form and rituals so that we may be actively involved together. We have a propensity to ignore or to forget the importance of involving our body in worship. Orthodox worship, however, is inclusive, holistic, and dynamic. Orthodox worship involves not only all the elements of creation but also our very being, our very essence—i.e., mind, body and spirit. In Orthodox worship, our senses are bombarded because Orthodoxy is an experience of mind, body, and soul. We must offer all—and the very best—of ourselves to God. True worship, then, is how we must approach the One True God. Becoming a theology of fervent prayer, a living sacrifice of praise, and a betrothal of the Holy Spirit, worship keeps us in touch with our faith. Worship constitutes communication with the Holy Spirit through the living members of the body of faithful in the assembly. Through worship, we focus on the world to come (the eschaton) so that the present may be filled, transformed, and renewed with new life. When we worship correctly, we rehearse continuously the mighty, redeeming acts of God through history, and we anticipate the Kingdom to come. When we worship correctly, the mighty acts of God are made manifest in all their glory. Worship thus becomes not only a remembering of past events, but also a re-experiencing or reliving in order to inspire and transform our lives. Through Orthodox worship, the risen Christ is made known to us. In our Orthodox services, Christ touches, purifies, illumines, transforms, heals, and deifies us. Through our worship, Christ becomes our contemporary. All that He did once and for all is now passed on mysteriously through the Sacraments of the Church. Worship, therefore, is a treasure house where the Church has stored up the experiences of Her faith; worship is a vision of Orthodox life and a key to the true understanding of True Faith. Thus, the rule of faith and the rule of prayer (worship) are interdependent. The relationship is dynamic and symbiotic. True belief (orthodoxia) must be expressed in true action or life (orthopraxia). True worship actualizes concretely, and in a sustained manner, that repertoire of faith that is irreducible. True worship manifests in a continuous manner a regular, dependable encounter with Christ our God. And all along, the central object and focus of worship is communion with the Living God. In authentic worship, we find the face of Orthodoxy. Worshiping correctly, we find Christ in the assembly. Worshiping correctly, He is in our midst bringing His peace.

 

Worshiping correctly, we find Christ in each other. In this way, we are granted to see the face of Christ in each other—the living icons. The whole purpose of worship is to become Spirit-filled and become refashioned into the image of Christ. Indeed, the face of Orthodoxy is worship. Our entreaties, our prayers, our dialogue with Christ must in the end lead to worship. Do you truly want to understand the Orthodox faith? Do you want to live the Orthodox ethos? Then you must worship. For only in worship will you be granted the grace to peer beyond the veil and see the face of Orthodoxy. In worship, you will know yourself as created in His image and likeness and find yourself being restored to that ancient and venerable image of Christ our God. In worship, you will find redemption, sanctification, and transfiguration. As we inaugurate a new calendar year together, let us commit ourselves to making every effort to make it to our worship services and meeting the Living God Who lovingly conveys His transfiguring Grace to us, through His creation, in a most beautiful and ineffable manner; for in worship, you will find salvation, Which is Jesus Christ our Lord. Come, therefore, and worship with us, and see that the Lord is Good.

 

In His service,

Father James T. Paris, Dean