In this contribution we want to reflect on the question of the relationship between our church services and our daily life. How is our daily life addressed in the worship service? What is the connection between the service of the Lord in the liturgy and our overall service of God to which we are called by virtue of the covenant with him?

Two Responses⤒🔗

There are various divergent responses to the question we asked. First, there is the answer from the Eastern Orthodox churches. There the church building is a sanctuary in which the divine liturgy is celebrated. The liturgy of these churches centres on a sacred drama where the entire life of the crucified and risen Lord is portrayed. This portrayal is at the same time a deep mystery that presents the earthly life of Jesus as being right here, right now, and through which the believers share in this life. This liturgy is accurately characterized as “heaven on earth.” In a mysterious way the heavenly Christ is present in the church building itself. The congregation reverences its heavenly Lord and participates in the worship of the angels, as evidenced by the beautiful Cherubic Hymn: The earth celebrates the feast along with heaven.

However, this impressive liturgy is essentially a closed liturgy. At a certain moment, the deacon calls out, “The doors, the doors!” by which he means that the doors must be closed.

In the Orthodox churches, the believer leaves the unholy world to live in worship as a child of God. However, his daily life is not marked by this worship. The world is not sanctified. The celebration does not continue in their everyday life. The orthodox liturgy is an oasis of adoration and joy in the wilderness of daily life.

Opposite the practice of the Orthodox Churches stands the view of modern theologians such as Dorothee Sölle and Fulbert Steffensky. They and others believe that the church services of the Christian church should be determined entirely by the significant political and social problems of our time. The world decides what needs to be addressed in the church service. The church service is not an oasis, but a starting point for the people of the Messiah who are called to stand up for the oppressed and those who are being discriminated against in society.

For them the worship service is a means to equip the congregation for political action. Everything else is secondary. In this view the earth takes precedence over heaven. The church service is completely dominated by the earth. Behind this vision of the liturgy there is a horizontalizing reduction of the gospel, whereby the joyful news of the gospel is turned into a social and political program of action.

Scripture←⤒🔗

We reject both responses. The liturgy is not a surreal oasis in the wilderness of life, but neither should the liturgy be taken over by our everyday life. To see the relationship between liturgy and life in the proper manner, we must pay attention to the Holy Scriptures.

Already in the Old Testament, we find important instructions. Although Israel had to walk before God’s face every day (see Genesis 17:1: “Walk before me, and be blameless”), they also had to appear before him very specifically at regular intervals (see Deuteronomy 16:16). That was not without reason! We can say that the latter only made the former a real possibility. If Israel really wanted to live as God’s covenant people, they would have to be restored and confirmed in that position again and again. In the holy assembly, the entire covenant relationship between the Lord and Israel came together. There the Lord came with his atonement and peace, and there Israel appeared to worship and praise him in a very special way.

Based on these meetings with God, Israel proceeded in their  everyday life, to then also practice justice, love faithfulness, and walk humbly with God (see Micah 6:8). Israel’s liturgy in the tabernacle and temple has never been a closed liturgy! The sacred meetings did not form an oasis in the desert. Everything that happened in the sanctuary had everything to do with Israel’s life as a people of God. It is rather striking that all the rules concerning Israel’s liturgy as contained in the Book of Exodus stand in the greater context of the covenant established at Sinai: Israel is called to be God’s holy people, a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6) and with that in mind they receive a liturgy.

We discover the extent of how the liturgy in the temple was connected to daily life and focused on the total service of the Lord, when we turn to Psalms 15 and 24. These songs were most likely sung as they entered the temple grounds. In these psalms, daily life is dealt with in all its concrete aspects. It is also assumed that the Ten Words were read at certain times during the worship in the temple. Also here life in all its relationships was addressed. Many psalms were sung regularly in Israel’s liturgy. These psalms testify of all kinds of needs in our life in which people seek help from the Lord. Through these psalms the ordinary life of the Israelite also entered the sanctuary.

Furthermore, we should point to the teaching of the priests, who had the task of instructing Israel in God’s law. This instruction was given at the sanctuary. In the various sacrifices made in the temple, we see again the close relationship to Israel’s daily life. The reason for a certain sacrifice is usually a sin that was committed, or it pertains to a blessing from God that was to be followed by a display of gratitude. Israel’s daily life also entered the temple through the offering of the firstfruits.

Taking a broader view of everything we can say that there were two movements: from the liturgy to daily life, and vice versa.

Liturgy and life were also closely linked in the apostolic church. We may assume that the Epistles of the apostle Paul were read out loud in the meetings of the congregation (see 1 Thessalonians 5:27). The preaching will have been closely connected to these letters. This implies that the daily life of the congregation was constantly addressed in the preaching. The apostolic letters continuously appeal to a holy walk of life based on the gospel of Jesus Christ (see for example, Romans 12:1, 2; Ephesians 4:1; 1 Peter 2:11, 12).

The administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper also addressed the matters of everyday life. Paul teaches the congregation about the meaning of baptism and the Supper for the Christian life (see Romans 6; 1 Corinthians 10).

It is also striking that, in his prayers for the churches, Paul constantly focuses on the believers’ walk of life (see Philippians 1:9, 10; Colossians 1:9, 10). The prayer of the church also relates to the present life in state and society. The apostle exhorts the believers to also intercede in the service of prayers for all people, for kings, and all who are placed in high positions (1 Timothy 2:1, 2).

Also in the liturgy of the apostolic church we can notice the two-fold movement: from the liturgy to life, and vice versa. In my opinion, the first movement is the most important, indeed the primary one! In Acts 2:42 we read that the congregation in Jerusalem continued to “devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” After this it follows that “awe came upon every soul” (Acts 2:43) and that they enjoyed “having favour with all the people” (Acts 2:47). What people did in their meetings had its fruit in ordinary life.

First the Liturgy←⤒🔗

That the first movement is indeed the first and foundational is stated in Lord’s Day 38 of the Heidelberg Catechism. Resisting evil works “all the days of my life” and starting the eternal Sabbath “in this life” follow the faithful attendance of God’s church on the day of rest. The practice of godliness has its source in the worship service. Anyone who does not go to church cannot serve the Lord in everyday life. If our lives are to be a hymn of praise, then we need first of all to be busy in the liturgy of the church. If we really aim to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1), we need to listen to the preaching, to call upon God’s name, and bring our praise.

When we are well aware of the foundational aspect of this first movement, then this awareness will also leave its mark on our church services. The sermon cannot therefore be a timeless, abstract argument but it has to be a proclamation directed at the total service to which the Lord calls his children. It will not shy away from the concrete needs and struggles of the congregation, nor will it ignore the social issues that we face.

But that is something different than when politics and society begin to determine the preaching. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a political or social program of action, although it does have political and social significance. Jesus redeems all human life and he wants to be King everywhere. That message also has political and social implications. This will have to be addressed in the preaching, without the sermon culminating into a political narrative.

The foundational aspect of the first movement will also determine our use of the sacraments. We will bear in mind that the Lord strengthens us in the faith to now live in thankfulness before him. The section that deals with the sacraments in the Heidelberg Catechism (Lord’s Days 25-30) is followed by the section that speaks about our life of gratitude (Lord’s Days 32-52).

Every administration of baptism reminds us that we died and were buried with Christ to walk “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). And the celebration of the sacrament calls us to break with “the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:22).

When we meet the Lord, in this way, with his redeeming and renewing Word in worship, and let him work in us through his Spirit, then the second movement (from daily life to the liturgy) will also function fully.

From our daily hustle and bustle we then come before God with our sins and shortcomings, to be restored and confirmed in the position of his people, of being his children. We hear his voice over our lives, we confess his great deeds, and praise his name. We take our daily life with us to have it renewed and redeemed by him. In our prayers we bring all of our life’s needs before his throne to seek his help. We even bring along our country and its people, governments and subjects, to make priestly intercession. And in the service of our sacrifice (the collection) we give him what he first gave us in the way of our daily labour.

In Conclusion←⤒🔗

From the above it is clear that liturgy and life cannot be separated, but they constitute a covenantal unity. In my opinion, this unity lies essentially in the name of our God. He is Yahweh, who redeems his people from the house of servitude and who calls his own to live the true life before his face. Did not the flowers, the wreaths, the colours, and the lights in Israel’s sanctuary speak of that glorious name? This name is fully revealed to us in Jesus Christ. In the gospel of our Saviour, God comes to us as the God who delivers his children for his beautiful service.

Whoever excludes life from the liturgy does not do justice to God’s name. Anyone who turns liturgy into a political pursuit mutilates God’s name. But those who keep the worship service and daily life together, who experience their unity and recognize their proper order, sanctify this name in its unique meaning and universal significance.