Why Worship

a sermon by Rev. Alan Taylor

delivered March 11^th, 2001

Woodinville Unitarian Universalist Church

During the service, the congregation was invited to write on post-it notes their answers to the question: “Why do you come to church on Sunday?” They were collected during the offering, after which I quickly arranged them so the voices within the congregation could be the heart of this sermon. Their responses are in italics.

When I was growing up, my family attended the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bakersfield, California. They called themselves a fellowship so as not to be confused as a church. They seemed non-religious, if not anti-religious. God and prayer were spoken of only in contempt and jest. And I remember distinctly noting that they called their meeting, ‘Sunday Services’ not ‘Worship Services.’ And so when I re-discovered Unitarian Universalism in a church that emphasized the centrality of worship, it was new. In time, worship became essential to my own life. In answer to the sermon title “Why worship?” I offer you my answer in a nutshell: Worship brings us together; worship offers hope; worship invites transformation.

Worship brings us together—in community. As a church, what defines us is not our building, nor the minister, nor even our beliefs or principles. The central aspect of our church is the people who come together week after week. You, who have committed to regularly come together, are the church. The tapestry we call community, the interweaving of the many relationships is what serves as the foundation.

Why do you come to church?

fellowship

community—support, learning friendship

community

community

community, fellowship

1) feeling of community, 2) to be a part of a group of like minded, open minded people, 3)see and feel the comfort of friends

experience a sense of community and belonging. Knowing that there are others who are willing to search, and can accept that the answers come hard

to commune with others who share my values and philosophy of life

to connect with others who share my values

It is good to be with like-minded, yet free thinking people

community

to connect with community

community

potluck

for community, family, a sense of belonging

friendship and community

community and spiritualism and perspective

acceptance into community

to build community with people with common values—isolation is a killer

So what kind of community are we? We don’t come together week after week just to talk to one another. This church isn’t primarily a social club, even though we have many social events and opportunities. This isn’t primarily an educational institution, even though we have many opportunities for learning. This isn’t primarily a political organization, even though we seek in many ways to change the world for the better. We are “an open-minded, open-hearted spiritual community.”

We are ultimately a religious organization with the aims to build community, to provide people a place to learn and grow, and to make the world a better place to live. And what makes us a religious organization is that our central, defining event is our weekly gathering together for worship.

One person recently asked me, “What, then, do we worship?” I don’t think worship is necessarily a transitive verb that requires an object which is worshipped. Instead I prefer to understand worship as an activity which means, “to turn our attention to what is truly important,” or “to bring ourselves together with the aim of moving toward the source of truth, love, and beauty” or “to open ourselves to the holy by becoming radically honest with ourselves and with others.”

In the words of people here:

to lovingly support my life partner

I come to church to be with people, particularly to be with people who share my values and vision of the world.

seeing the people I know and love

I am searching for a more spiritual side of myself, a closeness to my family, and a sense of belonging to an open-minded, thinking, and accepting community

Another question you may have—what makes this hour worship? My answer is the liturgy. I know, “liturgy” may sound like a traditional religious word that doesn’t belong in a liberal religious setting. But listen to its original meaning. It comes from the Greek, leitos which means “work” and ergon which means “people.” So the word liturgy refers to “the work of the people.” And the most important work that we can do is to come to know ourselves and our relationship to the world and how to live as fully human with dignity and zest. It is my hope you are involved intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually—allowing yourselves to touch and be touched rather than chewing on what does or doesn’t make rational sense. The hymns, readings, silent meditation, sharing of joys and sorrows, prayer, and sermon are all important parts of the service. The order of service remains relatively constant so as to create a sense of safety and trust, to offer rhythm and familiarity so that we can be open to new images, challenging ideas and disturbing inspiration. It changes only with considerable reflection, so as to make the “work of the people” more effective.

So much more is possible in a group than when we are alone. Worship points us beyond ourselves. By coming together we open up possibilities unseen and not yet imagined.

In your words:

2 hours of calm in a hectic life

Sabbath, safety, connection, unconditional love

peaceful, community fulfillment, separated reflection

time for reflection

Reflection

I come to church on Sunday to center myself in my spiritual home. The stress of everyday life takes a back seat and I’m reminded what is truly important to me.

time for reflection

to sing and be with my community,

to participate in the most communal aspect of the church

While every place where we walk is holy ground, there is something especially holy about the space where we come together, open our hearts and minds, and here reflect on our deepest concerns. Possibility and inspiration, contemplation and shared expressions of joy, sustenance and solace are all made available.

Worship therefore offers hope, hope of healing, hope of reconciliation, hope of transformation. Worship helps us remember there is more to our lives than our various concerns, struggles, and frustrations. By hearing each other’s joy and sorrow makes hope possible.

I wish I could say that I knew failure only in my dreams. But I have known many kinds of failure: moral failure, relationship failure, even ministerial failure when I haven’t known when or how to reach out to someone in need, or when I was less than honest with myself when dealing with a hard sermon topic. In some ways, to really be alive, one cannot but confront failure time and again. It is during worship that I learn this and am hopeful that my faith is renewed in my human potential.

I know that I am not the only one who has known failure. And I know that the vast majority of us could honestly say that we deal with brokenness in some part of our lives. It is a religious impulse that can admit to being broken and wanting wholeness. Worship offers the possibility of wholeness, of healing, of reconciliation, of transformation.

Good worship brings people closer to the source of truth, love, and beauty.

In your words, why you come to worship:

Because I love God.

Connection to that which is beyond name through connection to others.

To have some weekly committed time to connect to my Higher Spirit.

To remember what is truly important in my life

Here in Woodinville, we are building a sanctuary for the glory of the human spirit. A sanctuary for worship that invites transformation. I am guessing that most of you have noticed I call our congregation to worship each week with the phrase: “May we open our hearts, our minds, our souls as we gather for worship on this glorious day.” This is the invitation to open yourself to be touched, to be inspired or soothed or challenged, to find hope and courage for your own journey and your own struggles. In short, to be transformed, most often in some small way, but sometimes the transformation can be most profound. In the words of those assembled:

fellowship, intellectual stimulation, activism for social causes

I attend church services for many reasons: for community, to remind me to be present in the moment, to help me grow spiritually and intellectually, to share my limited time and hopefully meaningful talents

For uplifting thoughts and reading—something apart from the rest of the week

to be part of a community that has the capacity to make the world a better place to live

a religious and social life, balance

to reflect, to be inspired and hear different points of view, to connect with others, to expose my children to other people and values

I want my son to experience spiritual teachings and the spiritual environment of a community of people as part of his life lessons.

Worship also invites the transformation of the community. Something magical happens for us as a group. The realm of the possible becomes so much larger than what it is with only one or two of us. I still sit in awe at what this congregation has achieved over the last two to three years. You dared to dream together, to build your own house of worship. Now with your own minister and on the cusp of receiving the building permit, this community will begin building its own church home. This is a result of people having faith in the community, and this faith couldn’t have developed without the weekly worship service.

Worship also brings people together around current social issues. Whether it be violence, discrimination, education, or disturbing current events, worship pulls us together. If we want to be people of integrity, we cannot ignore the suffering, pain, and moral decay that exist in our world. Worship helps clarify our responses that are redeeming. Our faith tradition has a heritage of finding ways for the human spirit to flourish and attend to the social ills of the day. Worship serves as the vehicle for this deep seeking and flourishing.

Transformation of society is thus made possible. Although we don’t have overt social action opportunities in the church at the present moment, many, many people have expressed to me how important it is to them to be involved with the larger community. Our own building will make it much easier to be directly involved with the community. There are countless stories how churches make a difference in their cities—our Unitarian Universalist heritage is full of them. On my wall at home, near my computer, I keep the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

I am glad we have a broad range of reasons people come to church. Though it is my hope that church attendance becomes even more important. Everyone benefits from your presence, including your minister. Because my sermons are ongoing responses to the heaviest concern you share with me, your presence increases my effectiveness.

Why worship?

I come to church looking for friendship, to give my children something I didn’t have—I should say many things I missed out being part of a congregation, to force myself to stop going around the hamster wheel for at least a short time

I come to services to experience the awe and majesty of the unknown divine in a community of shared hopes, joys, and sorrows.

I hope that you will come to agree with me that worship is a form of spiritual practice. Just like any spiritual practice, one deepens with consistency, rather than doing it just when one feels like it. It’s not all that different from friendship. If you are there only when you want to be, the friendship does not deepen. But if you are there when the friendship needs you, and you show up whether or not you it is your primary desire, the friendship will take on deep meaning and significance.

Without you knowing it, there may be someone here that needs your presence, to hear your joy or sorrow, or to have their joy or sorrow heard by you, or to talk even briefly after service, to touch your hand or receive your smile. You add to the worship experience. When you cannot come to worship on Sunday, I urge you to make space in your day when you can center down and pay attention to what is truly important to you. I also ask you to think upon the people of your spiritual home. In our crazy lifestyles, the need for this centering down is essential for a life lived with integrity, clarity, and in accord with our deepest values.

May our worship life continue to bring us together, offering hope and inviting transformation. And through our shared life together, may we accept that radical invitation, as we see our lives, our community, and our world changing little by little towards what is truly important.

Blessed be. Amen.