Who Serves At The Worship Service?
15 Apr 2019
Recently someone recommended an article to me. It appears on the 9marks.org website - a good resource of thoughtful articles about the local church. In this particular one, “Putting the “service” back into worship service”, the author begins with a provocative statement -
“Week after week, many of us attend a worship served not a worship service.”
He makes the case that too often on Sundays we turn up and expect to be greeted, expect our children to be taught, expect to be led in worship and preached to, and then we return home. He makes the case that if that’s how we think about Sundays we are seeing them wrong. As he writes "we must approach church determined to serve others, as opposed to just being served ourselves.”
You might expect that as a Minister I would give a hearty “Amen” to that sentiment! But I finished reading with a strong sense of unease. Perhaps it is because the author was writing from a different situation than I am in - there were hints that he was speaking from a large church context in America where perhaps the churches have a larger fringe - but as I observe our Sundays here I have begun to wonder if we need exactly the opposite correction.
Of course, it is right that our desire must be to love and serve one another, and not to be demanding to be served by them. But if we focus on that there is a danger we miss out on the biggest thing that is going on as we gather together on the Lord’s day. That is that the Lord himself serves us.
It is often very striking that for many of us the very day that the Lord has given us to rest, worship him and be refreshed is the busiest. As I arrive on Sundays it does not strike me that we are a church full of folk sitting back wanting to be served. People are getting the building ready, opening up the doors and welcoming folk, setting up the computer, preparing to play the piano, leading and teaching the Life groups, and sorting out tea and coffee. And (please don’t misunderstand me here) all these are good and important things! They are all right things to do as we gather, they are works of mercy and necessity as we love one another and make sure we and others can worship the Lord.
But as we do those things, we mustn’t take our eyes off the fact that as we gather the greatest thing that is going on is the Lord is serving us. He calls us from the busyness of our work and life to worship him together. We don’t gather to serve him - as we worship we are served by him. He calls us to worship him, assuring us that we have access not through what we do but through what we have done. He leads us in prayer and feeds us by his word through the ministers he has called. As he feeds and builds us up, he also gives us gifts that we use to build each other up and to bring glory to him through the week.
As one writer has put it (commenting on John Calvin’s view of Christian ministry) -
“Calvin believed we come to church first of all to be served: to be fed richly by Christ, through his ministers, to be guided wisely by Christ…..Every Lord’s day is like a gathering of children in the living room on Christmas morning.” (From Michael Horton - Calvin On The Christian Life)
This does not take away from the fact that we are one body with many members and a multiplicity of gifts. It does not take away from the fact that we are a priesthood of all believers. But we must not press those images either to take away from the significance and restful delight of having the Lord serve us as we gather together. In a culture where we are constantly pushed on to do things, it takes effort to stop. It is easier to be like Martha - focused on what we have to do, than to choose what is better - like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus being served by him.
So, in the midst of the busyness of a Sunday, we all need to think rightly. If we don’t, resentment will soon set in. Churches can very easily build up a culture of relentless hard work that isn’t fuelled by godly service. If we see the church services as ultimately things we do, then those who do the most will easily get cross with those who do little. Instead, let’s remember the fact that the gospel tells us that God serves us. Jesus has worked our salvation, so we can receive him as a gift. This is re-emphasised Sunday by Sunday as we gather as he serves us through his word and sacrament. Yes, there are things for us to do to make sure that happens - but let’s keep that end in mind.