Dec. 17, 2014

“ . . . you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them. . .” – Prayer of St. Chrysostom

The Prayer of St. Chrysostom is the concluding Collect for both Morning and Evening Prayer, and the rubrics state that it may be used before the close of the Office; in other words, it's an optional concluding prayer.  I tend to use this particular concluding Collect on Mondays for no other reason than it reminds us who gather at the beginning of the week that God is in our midst.

When I was in seminary and going through the process of discernment to ordained ministry, one of the questions I was asked was, “Where do you gain spiritual strength?”  My answer to that was along the lines of, “Community worship.”  While prayer is often seen and understood as an individual action in our relationship with God, community worship allows us to be secluded in our own thoughts and prayers while standing in the midst of a great congregation.  It was and is this dual action, private prayer coupled with communal worship in a parish and in the larger body of Christ, that gave, and still gives, me spiritual strength.

Two years ago I committed to being in the chapel every weekday morning at 7:15 for Morning Prayer.  For most of that time, I have been joined by others, as many as eight, but more often as few as one.  Lately, though, it's been just me and God, sitting in the quiet, sharing time together.

The other day a parishioner joined me for this early morning worship service.  As we went through the service, as we read the psalms and canticles in unison, as we participated in the back and forth of versicle and response, I was reminded again of how important corporate worship is.  To pray the liturgy is one thing; to pray the liturgy out loud in the company of another is something else indeed.

This past Sunday we heard the story of John the Baptist and his confrontation with those sent by the Pharisees.  In that confrontation he said, “Among you stands one whom you do not know.”

When you come to worship, whether that's every Sunday, a Sunday and some weekdays, or only when you can seem to find the time, wrap yourself in prayer.  Spend some quiet time before the service settling down and focusing on God.  Use those periods of silence to prayerfully reflect on readings or the sermon just heard.  Honestly reflect on sins committed before saying the General Confession.  Give thanks for the gift of bread and wine, body and blood, which you have received.

But don't let it end there.  When you come to worship, take note of the people in the building and know that they have come to worship with you.  When you make your responses, when you sing the hymns and say the psalms, when you participate in the petitions of the Prayers of the People, and when you recite the postcommunion prayer, take note of the voices around you.  Can you hear wonder?  Can you hear distress?  Can you hear joy?  Can you hear God?

When two or three are gathered in his name, there stands one whom we do know.  We just have to listen.

Amen.