How The Liturgy Makes Me More Like Jesus

The following is a reprint from a contribution to the Diocese of Cascadia Newsletter, June, 2022.

My alternative and way-too-long title for this post was, “Lessons from a 49-year-old three-year-old Anglican.” Having been a Jesus-follower in other traditions since I was in 8th Grade, I am relatively new to being an Anglican. There are some lessons I’ve been learning as I’ve been embracing this way. I wanted to start recording these lessons as reminders for myself and, perhaps, reminders for my brothers and sisters who have been a part of this tradition their entire lives.

Today’s reminder is that the liturgy has the ability to make me more like Jesus - if I let it.

The liturgy is formative - if I surrender to it.

• It can be the gentle hands of a potter working soft clay on a wheel, shaping what I have into a more Christ-like vessel. This involves me surrendering to the process.
• It can be the chisel and hammer of a sculptor working a piece of stone, chipping away what isn’t needed so that I better bear Jesus’ image. This also involves me surrendering to the process.

What I hope it never becomes for me (and I hope it hasn’t become for you) is something I do week after week out of mindless rote, or because I think it’s the one and only correct way to “do church.”

Coming from an evangelical/non-denominational background, it took me a good year to get used to the liturgy. One of the reasons I left those traditions was because I got tired of being entertained at church. I don’t want or need to be entertained. The fact is, any form of a Sunday gathering can become as boring and repetitious as anything else in life can become. So when my early exposure to the liturgy looked and felt like it could also easily become boring and repetitious, it wasn’t because I was seeking to be entertained. Quite the opposite. I was seeking something with some depth and meaning. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to find it in the liturgy.

What changed?

The short answer: I did. Rather, I was changed. Like the hands of a potter, or the chisel of a sculptor, the Collect for Purity began to shape and prepare me to participate in the liturgy week after week. Regularly reciting the Nicene Creed reminded me of what I - no wait, - of what WE believe. Not that I forget what we believe, but that succinct, specific, and clear declaration of what WE believe together, helped me to grow beyond my relationship with Jesus to our relationship with Jesus. The communal confession of sin and the prayer that follows. The prayer of humble access that is also a WE expression. All of these things, over time, simultaneously softening, shaping, and chiseling me more and more into Jesus’ image, as well as connecting me to His body locally and globally. That is, as long as I surrender to the process.

What about you? How has, or how is, the liturgy shaping you? Comment below!