During a recent Jubilee celebration event, in which I shared the leadership of a study session with Dan Garrett of the Virginia Conference, Dan called attention to the fact that Jesus' public ministry agenda grew out of a liturgical setting — the reading of God's Word in synagogue. Following his baptism, Jesus' call to mission was announced in public worship.
"When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, He went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say To them, 'today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' " (Luke 4: 16-21) Today, God's people need to hear, learn, and affirm their own Jubilee ministry and mission in the context of public worship. It is in the gathered body — Christ's body "re-membered" — that today's Christians experience foremost the means of grace, come to experience God in their midst, and listen anew to the call of God for the community of faith and for God's children as individuals. Through the rehearsing — the "re-hearing" — of the gospel stories, especially Jesus' own proclamation of the Word containing the announcement of the nature of his ministry, Christians set out on the journey toward accepting and living God's call to become Jubilee Kingdom people. We become God's kingdom people, restoring and reconciling, forgiving, keeping sabbath, working tirelessly for freedom and justice, and celebrating God's mercy and providence with great rejoicing. The inherent rhythm found in Christian liturgy patterns throughout the ages provides the initial impact upon our spirits and lives that sets us vibrating with God's Spirit and carrying God's hope for creation into all creation. The rhythms of jubilation liturgy1 are found in many liturgical formulas, but these are most vivid in the "Basic Pattern of Worship" in The United Methodist Hymnal (pages 2-5) and Book of Worship (pages 13-32): Entrance
No single portion of the liturgy pattern stands alone. The energy of worship is dependent on the strength and integrity, the basic truth of each movement within the whole. In striving to live "Jubilee" in the world, individual call and gifts contribute to the whole mission of Christ's holy church. Spiritual faith components rely on one another. There must be gathered times of praise and prayer that are balanced with private devotion and attention to God's Word. There must be times of reading aloud God's Word and then waiting on the Spirit and listening to God speak. There must be time for honesty in confession before God and the community that is balanced with "grace-full" acts of Meal and Bath. There must be time for blessing and — based on the discernment and acceptance of the call of God — times of commissioning and sending forth to do God's mission. This new century in a new millennium provides an opportunity to re-form our public worship in ways that allow God's "Spirit Rhythms" to resonate deeply and richly in our lives. In this new era of faith, the people of God are called by God's Spirit to do the mission of Christ, to rest and reflect, to forgive and free, to repair and restore, to celebrate and rejoice, and to live and worship in Jubilee!
Suggested Scriptures for reading and study:
Questions for reflection and discussion:
1See Proclaim Jubilee: A Spirituality for the Twenty-First Century by Maria Harris. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1996, especially chapter 6. Editor's Note: See Judy Fagalde Bennett's "Repairing the World — God's Gift of Jubilee." |
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— Roger Dowdy, an ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church, is the founder and director of Cross-Paths Ministries.
Other Millennial Perspective Articles: | The Centrality of Christian Worship | Worship Forming Faith | Hope | The Changing Cultural Look of Worship | Visual Arts | | Advent: Between the Times | Worshiping with Jubilation | Children and 21st Century Worship |
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| Introduction | Preface | Contents | Copyright | | Millennial Perspectives | Worship and Study Resources | | Seven Days of Praise and Prayer |Prayer and Worship for a Jubilee Week | The Last Letter: Revelation’s News | Repairing the World: God's Gift of Jubilee | Hymns | Additional Liturgical Resources | Appendix |
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