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Liturgy, Worship, & the Heart

Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Each Sunday, we gather for a celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist includes the Liturgy of the Word and the Holy Communion. The word liturgy means "the work of the people," as in "public works." In the Church, liturgy means the order of service that we use for worship, including words, and gestures, and ceremonies.

Liturgy is not exactly the same as worship. The word worship comes from the Anglo-Saxon word, "worthship." It means ascribing worth or value to something or someone. In the Church we use liturgy as one means to help us worship God.

Worship is a matter of the heart. The heart, in the Bible, is not just the seat of feelings, but also the source of our plans and schemes, our desires and thoughts - of our innermost selves. As Jesus says, "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." The Bible tells us that the heart has unfathomable depths that only God can judge. That's because to God, all hearts are open, and all desires known, and from God no secrets are hid.

Our relationship to God is a relationship of love. Love needs openness, and desire that holds nothing back. So to worship God we must open our hearts to God, and ask God to "cleanse the thoughts of our hearts," by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Then, in purity of heart, we can desire God, and be set free to worship Him, and perfectly love God and worthily magnify His holy name.

Steve+