Reading of God's Rich World
Hi COTC Family,
One of my favorite gifts of our sabbatical was the space it afforded for each of us to read, widely and leisurely. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is one of the books I especially enjoyed. Among other things, Clarke’s second novel is a delightful, fantastical mystery. It also made me think about our worship.
Each week in the liturgy we say things like “The Lord is here. And His Spirit is with us,” or “…joining our voices with angels, archangels and the whole company of heaven.” These are remarkable and audacious statements to make about, let’s be honest, a pretty ordinary group of 200 or so, standing together in what used to be a ballroom.
Fundamentally, these are statements about participation. We’re claiming that, in some mysterious way, worship participates in something great and glorious: the worship that God eternally enjoys at the very center of all things; in the worship that the Son eternally gives to the Father.
There isn’t space here to outline all the arguments related to this claim. Largely these these statements relate to what theologians call a “sacramental worldview.” That’s a fancy sounding term, but it basically means a worldview asserting that created (ordinary) things can and do participate in God’s grace. Ordinary bread and wine, for example, communicate God’s grace.
I don’t want to spoil Piranesi, but one of the character’s experience of the world reflects a similar sense of things. They experience their world as alive and communicative to a remarkable degree. They experience reality as a rich and relational thing. The hope and intention of our worship is that it would form a similar imagination and sense in us, not only on Sundays but in the whole of our lives too. The next time we say these words from the liturgy together, I hope you’ll take a second to ponder how the world around you is charged with the grace and grandeur of God.
Alongside the announcements below, I wanted to highlight three important upcoming events:
Krista Vossler’s ordination is tomorrow at 2:30 pm. Come on out to celebrate Jesus’ call on Krista’s life, and pray for new grace for her.
Parish Meeting next Sunday, September 18th. This meeting is open both to those who are formally members of COTC and those who are not. The membership will be voting on new Parish Council members (be sure to reach out if you have any questions or concerns), we’ll be reviewing the budget for the upcoming year, and we’ll talk a little about our upcoming capital campaign. Join us after worship!
Fall Parish Retreat, Saturday, October 22nd. The registration for our annual retreat is now live. This retreat is always a rich time of deepening existing friendships and forging new ones. We’ll be communicating about this further in the weeks to come, but sign up to secure your spot.
With you, participating in Christ,
Peter+