Worship That Begins with Rest
By Nicholas Zork
In ancient Greece, leitourgia, from which we get the word “liturgy,” referred to an act of public service—work done for the benefit of the community. This emphasis on work has been evident in Christian worship from the earliest gatherings, and it remains central to how we plan, rehearse, and lead worship today. Whether or not we use the word “liturgy,” we often approach worship ministry primarily as something we do—in response to God and for the benefit of our fellow worshipers and neighbors.
Yet while worship is indeed something we do, true worship begins not with what we need to produce, prove, or accomplish, but with rest in what God has already done. Our praise, lament, thanksgiving, and service are responses to God’s work, grounded in who God has made us to be and what God continues to do among us. In a world that measures our worth by our productivity, however, it is easy to become so focused on what we offer God and others that we lose sight of what we have already received.
Here are three ways we can begin with rest in God’s work, and what that might mean for how we plan and facilitate corporate worship.
1. Remember that God alone is the Creator.
As people made in God’s image, we are creative. But we do not create out of nothing. We create using the gifts that God has provided us.
In worship planning, being rooted in rest means appreciating the resources already present in our community rather than clamoring for those we don’t have. We are wise to ask: What people, gifts, traditions, songs, instruments, spaces, stories, and practices are already present?
This doesn’t mean we won’t stretch ourselves or develop new resources. But our starting point is what we have, not anxiety about what we lack. Of course, not everything we’ve inherited is necessarily a gift from God. But by beginning with attention to the resources and people already in our community, we may notice gifts we had previously missed.
Try planning from the bottom up. While maintaining central themes, patterns, and practices, you can, for example, put together an ensemble by beginning with an assessment of the gifts people have, or choose songs by asking participants what song has blessed them this week. Rather than seeking people to populate a program, take time to appreciate the people around you and plan together.
Such an approach embodies an appreciation for and rests in the work God is already doing.
2. Remember that our identity is received, not achieved.
As people redeemed by God, we begin our work with a sense of security regarding our identity and belonging in God’s family. Our identity is rooted in God’s redeeming work, not our own performance. Recognizing this frees us from the often subconscious sense that we must prove our worth through our performance in the pulpit—or anywhere else.
Worship is a response to who we already are in Christ, not an attempt to prove who we are to God, ourselves, or anyone else.
Unless we begin by celebrating and accepting our identity in Christ, worship can bear the weight of trying to prove that we are dedicated enough, relevant enough, excellent enough, traditional enough, or contemporary enough.
It’s wise to ask ourselves: What would it mean instead to plan and lead from a place of received identity?
Effort in the service of God and others is valuable, but we do well to ask whether our striving in a particular moment is in response to God’s worthiness or an attempt to demonstrate our own.
Worship that responds to God’s redeeming work not only shapes our songs, prayers, and preaching—it also informs the process through which we plan, a process that begins with rest.
3. Remember that God is present.
Worship is not just about what God has already done, but also about what God does in the moment through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
We can be unburdened from the pressure to ensure that something positive happens in our communal encounter with God. We can, instead, plan in expectation of God’s ongoing work. Such worship becomes a way of being present to the God who is always present to us.
There are subtle yet poignant ways to remind all those gathered of this reality. One helpful practice is to include songs that address God’s immediate presence. Songs and hymns that celebrate the past and look to the future are common and essential. Lyrics that describe our response are also common. But be intentional about finding opportunities to describe not only our response, but God’s present work in our midst.
Examples include songs such as “Here as in Heaven” and “Way Maker,” which draw our attention to God’s presence and activity among us.
Our attention is too often focused on ourselves and our work, and we miss the source of the renewal we seek.
Worship is indeed a leitourgia—a work on behalf of the people. But that work is first and foremost God’s. So as we join that work, may we begin rooted in rest, remembering and attending to what God has created, who God has already made us to be, and what God continues to graciously do among us.