One of the most remarkable changes that happened to me over the past few years took place in the context of worship. I began attending an Anglican church. This was much more than a change in the types of churches and styles of worship with which I had previously been involved; it was radical change in worldview.
The Anglican church I attend is considered "high church" on the liturgical scale. We begin with the procession of the cross, then confess our sin corporately. We kneel for prayer and sing beautiful hymns. We even celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday (and yes, we call it the Eucharist). As a way of redeeming the time and seasons (Eph. 4:5), we adorn the service of the Word and Sacrament with beautiful liturgical colors which reflect the Church calendar, and my pastor is always vested in the proper robes to signify his office.
At St. John's Anglican Church we strive to celebrate the gospel using all five senses: we hear the gospel being read from the lectern and preached from the pulpit; we taste the gospel in the bread and wine served in holy Eucharist; we smell the gospel in the incense, a sweet aroma that ascends into heaven; we see the gospel in the liturgical ornamentation, reminding us the life of Christ that we imitate year after year; and we touch the gospel, a physical thing proclaimed to us in the way we kneel and bow and posture our bodies during the worship service.
When I began including my body in worship, I realized how gnostic I had been. Gnosticism teaches that there is a division between the body and the soul: the soul is the true, spiritual person; the body is merely a shell. What really matters is the soul, not the body.
What's the result of this kind of thinking? We get the church service that's basically a lecture hall. We might sing three songs, but the main point of church is to hear the sermon. Our bodies become vehicles to carry our brains to church. There are other ways gnosticism has penetrated the church. How is heaven usually presented? When we die do we become disembodied lights? No! we get our bodies back in the resurrection.
God thinks our bodies are important. The mystery of the incarnation teaches us that God embodied himself so he could save us. He offers us his own body in the Eucharist where we become 'bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.' When we engage our bodies - all five senses - we enter into the fullness of worship.
When I began including my body in worship, I realized how gnostic I had been. Gnosticism teaches that there is a division between the body and the soul: the soul is the true, spiritual person; the body is merely a shell. What really matters is the soul, not the body.
What's the result of this kind of thinking? We get the church service that's basically a lecture hall. We might sing three songs, but the main point of church is to hear the sermon. Our bodies become vehicles to carry our brains to church. There are other ways gnosticism has penetrated the church. How is heaven usually presented? When we die do we become disembodied lights? No! we get our bodies back in the resurrection.
God thinks our bodies are important. The mystery of the incarnation teaches us that God embodied himself so he could save us. He offers us his own body in the Eucharist where we become 'bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.' When we engage our bodies - all five senses - we enter into the fullness of worship.
No comments:
Post a Comment