Routine. We all have one. We need routine in order to maintain our sanity in a chaotic world. In any given day we do not know what lies head, but our routines help us cope. We have a certain order of getting ready in the morning. A certain route we take to work. We get our young children into a routine of eating and sleeping at regular times.
The early Christian disciples faced this need for routine. They lived in a realm where the Romans controlled everything. And the Romans grew to hate the Christians. They also faced growing persecution by the Jewish leaders for their “different” beliefs. All this forced them out of their normal routines. They fled their homes. They were forced to quit their jobs. They had to worship in caves and catacombs, away from the Jewish leaders and the Roman soldiers.
Out of this persecution flowed their worship liturgy. In a world of chaos and fear, these forms of worship brought stability and ingrained the deep truths of their newfound faith. They retold the story through the readings, they continued tradition and obeyed the Apostles in their prayers, and they sang the songs and hymns to rehearse their faith.
This Maundy Thursday, Riverwood will join these ancients in a form of communion liturgy that is hundreds of years old, but made fresh in modern language, all intended to draw us closer to our Savior and to each other as we obey his command to “love one another.” Join us at 7:00 PM.
Worship in a New Era