Whew! We barely made it.
On a day promising to bring rain and storms my son and I slipped, almost too late, into St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. I mean, we joined the choir in ascending the stairway into the sanctuary right at 10:30 as Rite II was embarking.
We knew that things would be quite different in a church with a more comprehensive liturgy. I didn’t want to miss any of it due to tardiness on my part. Yes, our late arrival is on me.
My older son, who attends Arkansas Tech, was in for the weekend. He was prepping for a return to Russellville about the same time we were leaving for church. I needed a couple minutes to tell him goodbye before my younger son and I headed out.
As we swept into the sanctuary we were briefly and kindly greeted by the church’s greeter and by it’s Rector The Rev. Jim McDonald. They were each quite welcoming and I’m immensely grateful they slipped my son and I bulletins so that we could keep up with the liturgy of the service.
I’ve had quite a hankering to witness a liturgically styled worship service for more than a decade. At that point in my life I was exposed to a breakdown of the book of Revelation that emphasized the Catholic liturgy. That study left a lingering to watch a more liturgical service.
This lingering desire of mine was finally going to find a sense of fulfillment with our visit to an Episcopalian church.
My anticipation grew into excitement as I saw a friend of mine serving in the front of the church, aiding the Rector. As I visit these churches it is always such a tremendous blessing to see familiar faces involved. Seeing people I know and care about makes these trips very special.
I’ll admit now that I still had trouble keeping up with the direction of the service. Give me a few more cracks at it and I might be able to make it work.
As someone who admires the intricate manner in which Scripture is interwoven I found the readings intriguing. They became a puzzle. How is Holy Spirit working these together into this service, this sermon, and my life … today.
The First Reading was Deuteronomy 26:1-11; the Psalm was Psalm 91:1-2 & Psalm 91:9-16; the Second Reading was Romans 10:8-13; and the Gospel Reading was Luke 4:1-13.
It was inspiring to watch a gold-covered Bible carried down from the very front of the church at what appeared as an altar to the congregants. The Gospel Reading was given from that Bible. The formal and ornate nature of the liturgy was beautiful.
The sermon delivered by The Rev. McDonald was brief and poignant.
He emphasized the 40 days of lent and what it should mean to us. Lent, from my limited understanding, is modeled after Christ’s 40 days of fasting prior to His temptation in which He withstood the temptations for physical comfort, political power, and testing God.
I was struck by his discussion of the transactional relationship many of us pursue with YHVH. Rather than wrestle relationally with Immanuel we instead seek to wrestle our “rational” desires from the divine.
Because of such, our eventual suffering and unfortunate circumstances lead us into a crisis of faith. We’re often in crisis because YHVH isn’t performing for our expectations. Our prayer life that is missing His presence is leaving us empty and alone during these trials.
He is God with us! He walks with us in all circumstances.
The more time we spend in His presence the more able we are to be light and love toward all people, including our enemies. Lent was presented as a time to listen to YHVH as we wrangle about our self-centered lives.
My prayer life needed this reminder. I’ve shared before my own daily battle with anxiety. YHVH’s failure to “deliver” me from my anxiety has led to bouts with depression and feelings of worthlessness. I often feel discarded by YHVH. I’ve prayed less and less because of those emotions.
I’ve felt powerless because I’m not placing myself properly in His presence. McDonald’s sermon admirably touched on my own devotional work on the meaning of the incarnation.
I love how YHVH always speaks if we’re humble enough to listen.
Then the Eucharist and Communion portion of the service arrived. It was yet another striking way this liturgy exalted the One who should be at the center of our worship. This focus felt appropriate.
Suddenly, the service ended. I enjoyed several minutes of conversation with Rector/Reverend Jim McDonald … I’m personally not certain of the best and most appropriate manner for addressing him. My fault, I didn’t ask!
We took a few moments to share our faith journeys with one another and note some of their similarities.
Rev. McDonald called my own voyage a pilgrimage. I love the way that sounds and will be adopting it in future posts!
He also recommended the book they’re reading together at St. Paul’s during Lent called Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale. He said the journey the book depicts sort of parallels my own … sort of. I purchased and will read the book as soon as I finish my current read.
I’m looking forward to my next visit and a few more opportunities to get the hang of the liturgy. My curiosity is peaked by the Rite I that is earlier in the morning. I figure I may just be more lost, but it’s ok because this was a good kind of lost.
I was lost in contemplation of how all the elements, even if I didn’t fully get with the flow, pointed me toward Christ. That’s a good thing.
I’m thankful that I got to share this experience with my son and I’m looking forward to adding more diversity of understanding to our repertoire in our church visit next week.
Grace and peace!
You can check out all my church visit blog posts here.
If you enjoyed this, you might enjoy Mark’s book What He Said: Living The Sermon On The Mount, Transforming American Culture.
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Mark West, Xvangelical 
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