Order of Service 敬拜程序

Title: Order of Worship
Date: 4 May 2024
Preacher: Rev Enoch Keong

Introduction
I like to begin by asking if we agree with these words by an Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian, “Homo sapiens,” “homo faber” … yes, but, first of all, “homo adorans.” The first, the basic definition of man is that he is the priest.” [1]

I needed the dictionary to understand the opening sentence, but Schmemann’s point can be grasped without a dictionary. Anyway, homo sapiens means wise humans. Homo faber refers to man as makers, in that humans make tools and with the tools they have, transforms and controls the environment. Homo andorans means humans as worshippers, which what man is about fundamentally, says Schmemann.

Of all created beings, only mankind is asked to bless God, to connect the life he lives in the world with God through prayers and thanksgiving. By being the channel that connects the world to God, he is the priest.

Schmemann might come across as overstating things by asserting that it is mankind, and not just Christians who are by basic definition priests. Yet what he says is not a theologian’s overthinking but a rephrasing of what the bible is saying.

Psalm 96, for example, calls for all the earth and the families of the earth to bless the Lord and to tremble before him. In verse 3, these families, Jews and gentiles included, are further called to tell of God’s marvelous works among all the peoples!

How would gentiles be able do what the psalm instructs? Gentiles that lived further from the middle eastern region might have never heard of Yahweh.

Psalm 96, in other words, is a call to worship issued to the entire world. And Israel is asked to listen as the worship leader speaks or sings the words of the psalm. But what’s the point? There was clearly no immediate possibility that the whole world would praise God with this call to worship.

I think the psalmist’ objectives are, one, he wants to affirm that God is the God and Maker of all the peoples of the earth. Hence, all humans are to worship God, or that all humans are homo adorans.

Next, God who made all peoples has an eye on the whole world. God’s people should reach out and help those who have yet to acknowledge their maker, to do so.

If we agree to this being the author’s intention, then we can say that the psalmist point is for Israel to see that they are at the same time worshippers and evangelists that brings men to God. And not just Israel, the psalm addresses all the earth. Hence all the peoples should be worshippers and evangelists. Schoeman’s argument is at least in line with what this psalmist is saying.

And the point in taking us through all these is, I hope, that when we are reminded that we are by basic definition priests, we will find it more meaningful to do a walkthrough of the order of worship.

Let me begin with 2 preliminary comments on the order of worship.

Firstly, order of worship (eg. four-fold structure) is not based on the bible. The bible neither instructs nor suggests a flow for worship services. Worship orders are passed down through church tradition. Though not based on the bible, the order of worship remains helpful in forming us into more dedicated worshippers and evangelists.

Secondly, churches generally follow either a four-fold or three-fold structure. Denominational churches by and large follow the four-fold structure, though not always the case. The three-fold structure is more commonly seen in contemporary worship services.

The three-fold structure focuses on an extended time of singing. The word segment is often understood as a time of teaching per se. And altar ministry is a time for worshippers to step forward to receive prayers. Both structures are capable in producing authentic worships that are biblical, trinitarian, communal, hospitable and life transforming.

Let’s now zoom in on the four-fold structure that Jubilee Church follows.

Gathering
The four-fold structure carries with it a simple storyline. The story goes this way, Christians are scattered in every corner of the society. God gathers them like how he had gathered the remnants in exile (cf. Jeremiah 23:3). They are gathered in the worship service to celebrate His goodness and to be refreshed in Him. At the end of the service, believers sent back to their homes and workplaces, to serve and witness for God. This story which replays Sunday after Sunday alerts us to a few things:

1. Coming to church is not a human activity per se. It is God who takes the initiative to assemble us into a worshipping community. We come in respond to his invitation. Hence, the worship leaders are not emcees. They are God’s representatives to welcome the believers on God’s behalf. In the call to worship, their role is to remind believers on the theological fact, that they have been called by God to come, and to do that which homo adorans are to do.

2. What attitude will we hold in coming for worship, knowing that it is God who calls us to come? At the preaching point where I worshipped in the 90s, there was an emphasis on beginning from Saturday evenings the journey of moving from being scattered to gathered as a worshipping community. I don’t mean we started walking to church on Saturday evenings. Saturdays are prime time for leisure and entertainment. What the preaching point promoted was to get ourselves ready physically, emotionally, and spiritually for Sunday worship starting from Saturday evenings. Hebrews 10:22 says, let us draw near with a true heart. The preaching point I used to be point out that a true heart involves planning and preparations.

3. The third point is very much a personal view on the way to begin congregational singing. When we are invited to someone’s home for some happy occasions, the first thing we would usually do is to congratulate or to show appreciations to our host when we step into their home. We say things such as, “you look really happy today” or “what a sumptuous meal you have prepared”. Most of us, for most of the time, would not begin by talking about ourselves and our needs when we first stepped into someone’s home. In worship, God is our host. Worship is a celebration of his goodness and his marvellous works; I think the same idea applies when we come to God’s house. When we sing, we should begin by ascribing to the Lord the glory due his name. So, is there a place for ‘I’ songs, songs that sing about how much we need help? How much grace he has shown us? Of course. Yet I think that the very natural thing to follow the call to worship would be to render praise to the God who has invited us to come.

Gathering is not only a time to give God the glory, but also to seek his forgiveness. Hence, we have in this segment the confession of sinners who needs grace and the assurance of pardon from a gracious God.

Allow me to drop one more personal comment at this juncture. I often hear from the platform instruction such as, “let us now sing the last song”. The four-fold structure helps us see that worship comes in four acts and Gathering is only the first act. So, comments such as “let us sing the last song” should be reserved till we arrived at the final act.

The four-fold structure, although more segmented and less flowing than the three-fold structure, shows clearly that worship service is a 3-way communication, and it gives a certain balance to each of them. Acts of worship that are man to God are indicated by the arrows pointing up. [Note: arrows referring to a full service order on the PowerPoint screen when the sermon was delivered] The arrows pointing down indicate moments in the service where God speaks to man, through worship leading, singing, readings and preaching. When we acknowledge that it is God speaking to us through these acts of worship, then there should never be a dull moment in the worship service. The heaven split apart and a voice saying, “You are my beloved son” isn’t the only moment when God spoke in Christian history. God speaks in every worship service, often in a still small voice.

Then there is also man to man communication, indicated on the screen by the horizontal arrows. Items in brackets are common acts of worship not practiced in our service (referring to Anthem by choir and the Passing of Peace).

The passing of peace is something we may want to add on in time. As compared to welcoming one another during the announcements, the passing of peace after receiving the assurance of pardon is richer in meaning. The peace we obtain through the pronouncement of assurance, we pass around, share and practice with one another.

Word
From Gathering we move on to Word. I don’t usually get us to repeat a line after me, but I think this is one suitable moment to do so. Let say these words together. We will do it twice.

“Listening to and reflecting on God’s word is an act of worship.”

Does the statement reflect the way we view the second act of worship? What is the Word segment to us if it is not an act of worship?

Listening to and reflecting on God word is worshipping. The Word segment is a time when God serves man, and we thank God for it. Hence scripture readings usually end with, “This is the word of God”, and the congregation respond with, “Thanks be to God”. Jubilee is not in the habit of doing this, hence we were caught off guard when invited speakers tried it on us.

And why is it that reading and preaching is God’s service to man? The answer is given by our Lord when he quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to Satan, who had the wrong idea about man’s true need. So indeed, thanks be to God, who gathers us and gives us what we need each time we come.

I would like to share 2 more thoughts regarding the word segment. One, scripture reading is not an introduction to preaching, it is as important or if not, more important than the sermon. It is God’s speaking to us through the inspired scriptures, using the voice and dictions of lectors which our ears might choose to be attracted to or to repel from. In any case it is the word of God, so thanks be to God.

Secondly, recognizing that the word segment to be God’s service to man does not mean we will not struggle when we seat on the benches and ‘endure’ for 30 to 40 minutes. But if God who wishes to speak, either through speakers who can give us a clearer glimpse of heaven or will only send us to la la land, the question is still whether we ourselves are seeking after God’s heart and his will.

Response/Meal
The four-fold structure assumes that that is the case. Hence Word is followed by Response.

We respond first by praying. We pray for the world, the society, the church and ourselves in accordance to the word spoken to us. The psalm we reads tells us that God wants to see equity in human societies, so the church prays and seeks God’s direction on how to join him to bring it about.

Prayer is followed by offering. Offering is not only about making monetary contributions, but also a time opened for dedication of our hearts and lives to God.

Once a month we celebrate the Meal. In Jubilee Church, we call it Holy Communion. There are 2 center pieces in the four-fold worship structure, the Word and the Meal. The focus on Word is seen from the amount of time allocated. The meal, although celebrated in most churches only once a month because of practical reasons, is central because it offers the very presence of Christ. The grace and forgiveness we only get to hear about during the word segment, we see, feel, and taste during the meal. Through holding the elements in our hands, through eating the bread and drinking the cup, we experience an “actual communion with Christ that enacts the forgiveness of sins proclaimed in the word.” [2]

The holy communion, we celebrate in remembrance of Christ. Remembrance is the act of recalling something in our minds, but this is modern usage of the word. In the ancient world, the word remembrance carries a more active connotation. In other words, the act of remembering achieves something. And that something is Jesus proclaimed through the act of remembrance.

Sending
The proclamation of Christ should never be confined to worship services, but something that Christians do constantly. Hence, the worship services ends by sending the worshippers, the priests, back to their homes and workplace as God’s representatives.

The benediction is therefore a pronouncement made on God’s behalf, that he will be with his representatives, from Mondays to Saturdays, till God assembles them in his house again on Sundays.

The psalm we read begins by asking all the earth to sing to the Lord a new song. The song is ‘new’ because much of all the earth are pre-believers that had never sung any of the songs that we sing in church. When these pre-believers join us, all our songs will be to them new songs. This goes to suggest that when we are sent out at the end of worship services, we are to go and make the songs that we sing, songs of people who have yet to know God.

Conclusion
In closing, let us be reminded once more that mankind is homo adorans, or priests. The story embedded in the four-fold structure in fact sends a weekly reminder on who we are. Remember the story goes that each Sunday God assembles us to worship, sends us back into the world to serve at the end of the services, and assembles us again the next Sunday. This cyclical pattern serves to remind us that in each day of our lives, we are homo adorans, we are priests.

[1]Schmemann, Alexander. For the Life of the World . St Vladimir’s Seminary Press. Kindle Edition. Location 144
[2]Chan, Simon, Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshipping Community, IVP: Illinois, 2006. p.68.

Bilingual Service Video Link: https://youtu.be/xh6r-WaypFA?si=GAje49xe0sqpk1ji

华语崇拜视频链接：https://youtu.be/17CWRHDVBxY?si=an4tOzi16UxnAmig