Posted by from Fr. Steven Kostoff (dcalvert) on 11/1/2007, 12:45 pm
Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,
If you recall from yesterday, I forwarded an article in which the leaders of the successful Willow Creek "mega-church" acknowledged the failure of the "turnstile" approach of filling up a vast auditorium with thousands of souls, but ultimately leaving those thirsty souls program-saturated but spiritually empty. A good part of this failure must be the lightweight "worship" that is offered in the "sanctuary," but which may dangerously approximate "religious entertainment," rather than genuine liturgy. The hazards of "worship by committee" - subject to marketing and consumer trends that feel the need to be "audience-friendly" - are now being subject to a more careful scrutiny apparently, and seen to be wanting to an alarming degree. In all of this you sense a strong desire to appear relevant. Yet, what becomes irrelevant more quickly than the relevant? You only wear yourself out trying to keep up ...
Liturgy is organic, that is it grows and developes naturally through the historical life of the Church, maintaining enough sense of timelessness and changelessness that protects it from contemporary trends and fads. Thus, the pervasive sense of holiness and transcendence that characterizes even an aesthetically-poor celebration of the Liturgy. This is the gift of Tradition, the guarantor of continuity throughout the centuries. We are spared from having to "make it up" as we go along. Therefore, "Byzantine" as it may be, the Divine Liturgy is always "relevant!"
That is simply a few introductory thoughts to what I consider a densely wonderful and profound description of the Divine Liturgy provided below by Fr. Alkiviadis Calivas. As a liturgical scholar, but more importantly, as a priest and celebrant of the Liturgy, Fr. Alkiviadis brings together many of the sacred strands of liturgical experience that organically unite in the Liturgy, thus providing us with a short, but very memorable mediation on the Church's core act of worship:
"In this present age between the two comings of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Divine Liturgy is always the messianic banquet, the meal of the Kingdom, the time and place in which the heavenly joins and mingles with the earthly. The Eucharist initiates humankind, nature, and time into the mystery of the uncreated Trinity. The Divine Liturgy is not some sacred drama or a mere representation of the past events. It constitutes the very presence of God's embracing love, which purifies, enlightens, perfects and deifies (2 PET. 1:4) all those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb (REV. 19:9), all who through baptism and chrismation have been incorporated into the Church and have become Christ-bearers and Spirit-bearers. In the Divine Liturgy we do not commemorate one or another isolated event of sacred history. We celebrate, in joy and thanksgiving, the whole mystery of the divine economy, from creation to the incarnation, especially, in the words of the Divine Liturgy, "the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the sitting at the right hand, and the second and glorious coming." Thus, in experiencing the risen and reigning Christ in the Divine Liturgy, the past, present and the future of the history of salvation are lived as one reality." (ASPECTS OF ORTHODOX WORSHIP)
That is more than enough for any given Sunday morning! Not only is there nothing wanting, but the fulness and plenitude of divine grace and truth are present whenever we assemble as the Church to celebrate the Liturgy. We prepare for the Liturgy and then the Liturgy prepares us for our return to the world "in peace" - "the peace of God which passes all understanding." (PHIL. 4:7) When we return to the world of every day experience, we then enter the time of the "liturgy after the liturgy." This is the living out of our lives based upon the nourishment we received at the messianic banquet, the "meal of the kingdom" as described above. We are not returning to "profane time," but to life itself, all of which is potentially permeated with God's loving presence. At any point in history, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church can be "mega" or mini." Whatever its historical circumstances, as the anticipation of the Kingdom which is to come, the Church is a sourse of unfailing spiritual nourishment. Any hunger on our part is self-generated and sinful, based upon our refusal to eat from the Tree of Life. That "food" comes to us in various forms - the Eucharist, the Scripture, prayer, etc. If we ever feel spiritually starved, we only have ourselves to blame.
Fr. Steven C. Kostoff
Christ the Savior/Holy Spirit Orthodox Church
http://www.christthesavioroca.org
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