The Joy in Worship
The Joy in Worship
by: Mathew Samuel
Respected Fr. Bijesh Philip, former Principal of our Seminary in Nagpur, India, once used the example of a honeybee to make a great point about worship. The honey bee flaps its wings vigorously and continuously as it flies, making a buzzing sound as it hastily zigs and zags in its path, looking fervently, searching impatiently - for a flower. When it finally finds the flower something very beautiful happens: Descending on the flower, the busy bee is suddenly at complete rest, not a sound is heard from it – it is calm and silent – as it draws nectar from the flower. It is in a state of tranquility, at perfect peace with itself, it is in a state of joy as it rests on the flower, renewing itself and energizing itself. Once thus refreshed and energized, and having taken its rest in the bosom of the flower, the bee once again resumes its busy life in the air. Citing this example, Bijesh achen remarked “This must become our experience on Sunday when we come to Church for worship”.
In our life, we are busy with so many things. Our schedules are packed with acitivites from school, from work, and elsewhere. We often do not find the time to organize ourselves as we run restlessly hither and tither during the week. Between our homework, our extra classes, between our deadlines, meetings and appointments - we hardly find time to think about anything else during the week – we hastily go through life, zig zagging through life, much like the honey bee.
And then on Sunday, we come to Church hoping to find rest in the Lord, hoping to find joy, like the honey bee does. Sunday is our Sabbath, supposedly our day of rest, when we put aside other things and head to Church for worship. But are we able to take rest in the Church on Sunday?
Sadly, our answer is usually - No!! Why? We have managed to fill our Church life on Sundays with so many activities that it is easy for us to forget the main purpose of why we are in Church. We have food, small talk, Sunday School, different meetings, and so many other seemingly important tasks all stuffed into the limited time we are in Church: Perunnal is coming up. Christmas carols need to be practiced. Picnic needs to be planned, a committee meeting needs to be organized, and so many other activities! We are so caught up with different kinds of preparations for all of these that at times we find ourselves just running through Divine Liturgy mechanically and mindlessly.
Does the Liturgy seem to you like a necessary hassle that needs to be done with to get to the main part of the day?
A new couple has come to the Church for the first time. Hardly anyone notices. No one spares a moment to reach out to them, to meet them, introduce themselves to them or welcome them.
We are often so caught up in the short-term activities that we lose sight of the long-term vision; we lose sight of our purpose.
Then, we are so tired by the time we reach home. Unsurprisingly then, we often end up wondering - where is the rest? Where is the joy? So unlike the bee!
If this is your experience in Church, then you need to take a deep breath and say to yourself – this ought not to be so!
Our worship is intended to be at the center of our Church life. The Lord teaches the first of the 2 greatest commandments: ‘you shall love your Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul’ (St. Matthew 22:37) We are asked to love God first and foremost – with all our heart. Loving God in your entire being is worship.
The love of God dawns in us with the realization that He loved us first. The love of God dawns in us when we begin to comprehend the love on the Cross. The love of God dawns in us when we begin to understand His sacrifice for our salvation.
In biblical usage, the heart is the center of a person’s being1. The heart of a parish then should be totally given to God. It exists to praise, bless and adore God, to ceaselessly glorify Him. And when we give priority to worship over everything else in Church, when the worship truly becomes the center - as the heart is, we then (and only then) find rest and joy. Like the bee!
All the rest of the activities in Church, while having their own importance, should be structured around the true and complete focus first and foremost on the worship. We may need to realign our priorities for this to happen. This change will not be easy, with all the distractions, and the weight of habit, in and around us. But if our efforts are genuine, and with divine guidance, slowly but surely, we will be able to get ourselves oriented for worship. Then we will be able to say like the prophet Nehemiah – “The joy of the Lord is your strength”(8:10) and we will truly begin to enjoy our time worshipping Him. Then we will experience the tranquility, the peace and the joy experienced by the bee as it rests on the flower. Our Sabbath then will truly become our day of rest – in the Lord! Glory to God for all things!
Reference: 1 - The Orthodox Parish in North America – Very Rev. Thomas Hopko
Review Questions:
- What do you mean by loving God with ‘all your heart’?
- The Divine Liturgy is the most important reason for coming to Church – Explain.
- What lesson can we learn about life and worship from the honey bee?
