Nov 17, 2009
Gathering Around Jesus: The Goal of Christian Worship
My church celebrates communion each Sunday and follows it with a time of prayer and songs of worship. It’s always deeply moving and powerful, standing in stark contrast to the first half of the service that is fine, but doesn’t affect my spirit so deeply.
I don’t intend to be critical of one part of the service over another. Simply put: I’m moved by one part and not so much by the other. It just happens.
Perhaps some things are best left unexplained, but when I think about the communion table and the celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, I’m reminded of what some in my family have described in their approach to church: gathering around the person of Jesus. I find it striking that communion moves us around Jesus in both word and deed, acting out his saving work, confessing our sins, and then drawing near to worship in gratitude.
This is highly significant, as Jesus essentially ensured that when we gathered as Christian communities we would focus directly on him and his saving message. Maybe we don’t need to roll out the bread and juice each week, but the one essential should be Jesus himself.
“Does this focus on Jesus?” becomes our litmus test in determining the value of all we do. We may want to focus on truth and the Bible, but unless that truth is the truth of Christ and the Bible as it leads to Christ, we have only succeeded in putting together a nice service, rather than a gathering around Jesus.
That helps me a lot. It keeps things simple. It makes me realize that we have included communion services in our worship because it’s hard to screw up, to make it about ourselves. It’s quite hard to break bread and then think about the latest theology debate or political campaign.
When we participate in this sacrament that has endured for 2,000 years, we are tapping into a reminder that Jesus himself instituted. He didn’t leave us with a Bible and tell us to preach from it, though there’s nothing wrong with that. He told us that our gatherings should focus on him, and he provided a visual aid just in case we ever forgot.
Right now, quite honestly, I’ve been upset with many decisions my church leadership has been making. Upset enough to want to call it quits. And when I say quits, I don’t mean in order to find another church. But I keep coming back to the table. What would happen if I neglected that communal form of worship every week? That’s the one question I can’t answer right now.
Kristen has some good thoughts on this as well:
http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=532
It should humble all of us, especially those in leadership, that only Jesus makes our gathering together significant. In fact, the more we meddle, the more things seem to be messed up. That sends my head spinning.
I think we can find life in small, informal Christian community, but even when folks disband from “traditional” church to meet in homes, it’s still very easy to focus on things other than the person of Jesus. Thanks for sharing your struggles with this.
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Ed, I’m so glad you’re sharing your thoughts about church and why we bother to gather on Sunday mornings. Communion has become so important to me that I don’t think I could be a part of a church that doesn’t celebrate communion every Sunday. In the past I could, but not now.
You said it perfectly here:
“’Does this focus on Jesus?’ becomes our litmus test in determining the value of all we do….That helps me a lot. It keeps things simple. It makes me realize that we have included communion services in our worship because it’s hard to screw up, to make it about ourselves.”
When I think about the post I wrote this morning, and how it fits in with the purpose of communion (even though I didn’t directly mention the sacraments), I am astonished, once again, at how God works. Inviting all who are hungry to sit down and share a meal together is all about communion, all about Jesus.
Thanks so much for this.
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You’re welcome Kristen. I appreciate your comment.
What I find interesting is that communion is one means to the end of centering around Jesus (there are other ways to focus on Jesus), but in a sense it’s one of the easiest ways we can do it. So if we feel like we’ve finally focused on Jesus with communion, that makes me wonder what we were focusing on before communion. Yah know?