Dear friends in Christ,

Every now and then I get really interested in why we use certain words or phrases.  Recently I have been wondering why we call what we do on Sunday a service as in a worship service.  What does that word tell us about what we are doing?  Who are we serving?

 A quick trip to a large, reference dictionary gives a stunning, almost frightening perspective on the weight of the word service.  The Latin origin of the word means slavery.  Among other meanings, service implies that we are servants; that we work for a superior; and that we are rendering due homage to our feudal lord.

 We come to offer worship, to praise God, to hear God’s word, to be nurtured by God.  Our worship is service to God.  It is our duty.  It is also, God willing, our pleasure. 

 Compare our service in worship to our service in our families.  It is our duty to take care of our families.  Doing so is also an act of love.  Sometimes it is fun.  Sometimes it is just work.  Either way our service is an act of love.

 Our worship service is a dutiful act of love toward God.  We bring the best that we have got.  We work to keep the building beautiful, welcoming, and inspiring.  We endeavor to provide excellent reading, preaching, and music.  We do all that we can to bring before God a graceful offering of praise that strengthens God’s people.

 As we serve in love, we bring our best.  I continued to be awed and humbled by the faithful efforts of so many faithful leaders at St. John’s.  Your willingness to take the lead and fill in as needed is a great joy and fragrant offering to God.

 By contrast, we also have a recurring difficulty with our worship leadership – the “no show”.  Many Sundays someone in the altar party simply does not show up.  We end up scrambling to figure out who will “fill in” that task. 

 In a broader sense our service is both to God and to each other.  In worship we serve God and encourage each other.  As we gather we are nurtured by God’s Holy Spirit.  Our worship service praises God and strengthens us.

 In the name of God I invite you to our service of worship.  May our service be ever pleasing to God and may it renew us and lift us up for our service to the world in God’s name.

                                                                 Your brother in Christ,

                                                                        Wilson +