Podcast 5: The Joy of Liturgy

In peace let us pray to the Lord... Lord have mercy.

Is it boring? Is it beautiful? Is it both? 

Transcript

Podcast 5: The Joy of Liturgy

I promise—not all the podcasts will be about churchy things… but I guess, a person does talk about things you know about… right?!? So It’s Sunday… so I thought I would remind us that there is joy in one of the churchiest words around… liturgy.  

Do you know what I am talking about? Here—let me hum a few bars.

“In peace let us pray to the Lord,” Lord have mercy…

When I was a kid, worship was the same every single Sunday…  it was chanting, and call and response… we would all sing, “This is the feast of victory for our God” 

To me, it seemed redundant. We all had it memorized. Were we just going through the motions? Was it, dare I say, boring?

Through college and young adulthood, I didn’t go to church very often…  I tried—in fact, I remember, one time, driving to a church in a suburb of Minneapolis on a Sunday morning—I pulled into the parking lot… and sat in my car… and tried to muster every ounce of courage I had to walk into this big building where I wouldn’t know anyone and worship… Spoiler alert: I didn’t go in. I drove away. Bought a Sunday paper and a cinnamon roll and drove home. 

I knew I was missing church… but I didn’t know how to get re-connected…

Fast forward a few years. We knew we were moving to Adams, ND. We met with the bank and the current restaurant owners, and it had been decided that we would buy this small town café and move into grandma’s house… and well… we weren’t going to be in the Cities anymore.

And that weekend, we went to church in Adams. And the pastor stood up front and sang, “In peace let us pray to the Lord.” And I responded, “lord have mercy.”

And I knew I was home. 

When I experienced the liturgy in that Adams church, where my family had been connected for generation, it was a rope that connected me to faith and familiarity that I had been missing so deeply. And didn’t know I was even missing it until I heard again. 

Liturgy: work of the People. People who Gather together. To sing. To pray. To say familiar words that fill us with an incredible promise. In peace, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.