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1. .The fragmentary life of the world was gathered into His life; He was the heart beat of the world and the world killed Him.

2. If we think seriously about the real meaning, the real scope of these words, we know that as Christians and insofar as we are Christians. We are, first of all, witnesses of that end: end of all natural joy; end of all satisfaction of man with the world and with himself; end, indeed, of life itself as a reasonable and reasonably organized "pursuit of happiness."

3. And yet, from its very beginning Christianity has been the proclamation of joy, of the only possible joy on earth. It rendered impossible all joy we usually think of as possible.

4. The Eucharist is a liturgy . . . But this is not the original meaning of the Greek word leitourgia. It meant an action by which a group of people become something corporately I which they had not been as a mere collection of individuals—a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It meant also a /"', function or "ministry" of a man or of a group on behalf of \ and in the interest of the whole community.

5. Thus the Church itself is a leitourgia, a ministry, a calling ) to act in this world after the fashion of Christ, to bear testimony to Him and His kingdom. The eucharistic liturgy, \ therefore, must not be approached and understood in "liturgical" or "cultic" terms alone. Just as Christianity can—and must—be considered the end of religion, so the Christian liturgy in general, and the Eucharist in particular. are indeed the end of cult, of the "sacred" religious act isolated from, and opposed to, the "profane" life of the community. The first condition for the understanding of liturgy is to forget about any specific "liturgical piety."

6. At this stage we shall say only this: the Eucharist is the entrance of the Church into the joy of its Lord. And to enter into that joy, so as to be a witness to it in the world, is indeed the very calling of the Church, its essential leitourgia, the sacrament by which it "becomes what it is."

7. The liturgy of the Eucharist is best understood as a journey Or procession. It is the journey of the Church into the dimension of the Kingdom. . . . , our entrance into the presence of Christ is an entrance into a fourth dimension which allows us to see the ultimate reality of life. It is r not an escape from the world, rather it is the arrival at a vantage point from which we can see more deeply into the reality of the world.

8. The journey begins when Christians leave their homes -and beds. They leave, indeed, their life in this present and concrete world . . . . a sacramental act is already taking " place, an act which is the very condition of everything else that is to happen. For they are now on their way to constitute the Church, or to be more exact, to be transformed into the Church of God. They have been individuals, . . . . now they have been called to "come together in one place," to bring their lives, their very "world" with them and to be more than what they were: a new community with a new life. We are already far beyond the categories of common worship and prayer. . . . . The purpose is to fulfill the Church, and that means to make present the One in whom all things are at their end, and all things are at their beginning.

9. The liturgy begins then as a real separation from the world. . . . we forget that the Christ of whom we speak is "not of this world," and that after His resurrection He was not recognized even by His own disciples. . . . . There was no physical imperative to recognize Him. He was, in other words, no longer a "part" of this world, of its reality, and to recognize Him, to enter into the joy of His presence, to be with Him, meant a conversion to another reality. . . . His glorification is known only through the mysterious death in the baptismal font, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is known only in the fullness of the Church, as she gathers to meet the Lord and to share in His risen life.

10. The early Christians realized that in order to become the temple of the Holy Spirit they must ascend to heaven where Christ has ascended. They realized also that this ascension was the very condition of their mission in the world, of their ministry to the world. For there—in heaven—they were 'immersed in the new life of the Kingdom; and when, after „ this "liturgy of ascension," they returned into the world, "" their faces reflected the light, the "joy and peace" of that Kingdom and they were truly its witnesses. . . . . In church today, we so often find we meet only the same old world, not Christ and His Kingdom. "We do not realize that we never get anywhere because we never leave any place behind us.

11. This is the beginning, the starting point of the sacrament, the condition of its transforming power and reality.

From “For the Life of the World”, by Fr. Alexander Schmemman (Ch. 2 - The Eucharist)

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Alban Institute News
Monday, Monday, March 19, 2001
For Immediate Release:

Beyond the Worship Wars Bridge the Gap Between Liturgical Tradition and Contemporary Worship

(Bethesda, MD)–Almost every congregation in North America experiences tension over worship. Many congregations have been participating in a renaissance of worship, reclaiming worship forms that have served the church for centuries. Yet in today’s radically changed cultural environment, people in our society do not understand liturgical worship; thus, the church must find language, music, themes, and images that speak to unchurched, spiritually seeking people. How have churches responded to this collision of forces? Thomas G. Long, sought-after speaker, writer, and homiletician, addresses these issues in Beyond the Worship Wars, his newest book just published by the Alban Institute. Long looks at a wide range of “third-way” congregations and discusses nine characteristics of the ways they worship—all of which make for vital and faithful worship.

“Sunday morning has become a battleground in many churches. It is the nature of Christian worship to evoke our deepest thought and feeling. Therefore, change in worship can produce our greatest conflict. We could have no better guide through this treacherous terrain than Tom Long. His words on worship are wise, pastoral and theologically astute. Pastors and congregations alike will profit greatly from a book so clearly written, so well thought through, so faithfully conceived. Here is a wonderful call for a peace treaty in our worship wars” notes William Willimon, Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry, Duke University.

Dorothy C. Bass, Director of the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith, writes, “Worship comes alive on these pages as Thomas Long visits a colorful array of congregations and discerns what it is that makes their worship so vital and faithful. His account is theologically rich, remarkably practical and full of hope. This splendid book will help worship leaders to guide congregations where they need to go, and where they yearn to go: beyond the worship wars, yes, but far more important, to a renewed vision and experience of ‘wonder, love and praise’ in the mysterious presence of a great and gracious God.”

Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, has been an ordained Presbyterian pastor since 1971. In addition to his previous teaching positions at Princeton Theological Seminary, Columbia Theological Seminary and Erskine Theological Seminary, he also served as director of Geneva Press, a division of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Long is the author or editor of over a dozen books, including Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible (1989), The Witness of Preaching (1989), Hebrews (1997) in the Interpretation Bible commentary series, and Matthew (1997) in the Westminster Bible Companion series. He and his wife Kimberly live in Atlanta, Georgia.
www.alban.org/PRDisplay.asp?ID=44

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