Sharing as an act of worship

 

'Uchiki kuri' squash

Many churches in the UK are preparing to celebrate the annual Harvest Festival in a few weeks, in which they will give thanks to God for his blessings on the land and in their lives, and also share with others. Traditionally, people bring vegetables and other produce to church on Harvest Sunday as an offering to God and to be distributed among the community; it's also common to bring tinned food to donate to food banks or collect money for people in need.

The book of Hebrews says such sharing is one of two acts of worship: 'Through Jesus, therefore, let us offer to God a sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased' (13:15-16).

In other words, worship consists of two dimensions, 1) our offerings to God, such as praising him and confessing Jesus' name, and 2) our offerings to others through doing good and sharing with them, which pleases God.

These two dimensions resemble the great commandment, which Jesus teaches is the summary of the Law: that we are to love God with all that we are and love our neighbour as ourselves.

This also resembles what James writes in his letter, that faith in God (the vertical dimension) is completed by good deeds (the horizontal dimension), without which our faith is dead.  

This surprises me because when I think of worship, I usually only think of the vertical dimension. I'm not downplaying that dimension; it is essential. However, our worship is empty if we do not also perform acts of mercy to the people in our communities. If we love God, then we will honour him by loving our neighbours as well, who are made in God's image.

Thus, there is potentially no separation between the spiritual and the material, between the sacred and the secular, between holiness and everything else. All of these categories can be holy altars if, through Jesus, we bless God by offering ourselves to him and to others. 

For example, a few years ago, our church at the time celebrated the Harvest Festival by hosting a ceilidh open to the community, free of charge. (Ceilidh is the Gaelic word for 'visit'; traditionally, it meant gathering to share local news and music, but now it's associated with Scottish folk dancing.) A live folk band and caller performed and led folk dances for over fifty people. Volunteer cooks also brought casseroles, pies, stews and other warm meals for everyone to share. 

I didn't make this connection at the time, but looking back, that ceilidh was an act of worship because we were sharing with one another in Jesus' name, which (I hope) blessed God. 

If worship is a ceilidh, then Jesus is the caller, at the center of it all directing the music and dancing. The book of Hebrews uses different language, saying Jesus is our high priest. Further, he leads by example, modelling for us sharing as an act of worship. Throughout his earthly life, he shared his power with others by feeding, healing and teaching them. Through offering himself on the cross, he shared with the world his very life, making us holy by his suffering. Now he leads us in worship at the heavenly altar, sharing his life with us through interceding for us, praying that we may endure our trials and join him in his perfection.

During lockdown, our local church regularly collected offerings for some of the nearby food banks. The pandemic has increased many peoples' need for support from food banks, due to their being let off work and other economic hardships. Thus, even while public worship services were prohibited for several months this summer, the church continued its worship through sharing food and resources. But the work continues; food banks warn that they are expecting an increase in clients this coming winter because of financial-support schemes ending and continued economic downturn.

When I worked at a food bank a few years ago, one of the recurring statements I heard from people donating money or food was 'I could just as easily be in such need'. Such donors were humbly sharing out of solidarity and the realisation that we are all connected. 

In addition to compassion, I think we are called to give for the simple reason that it blesses God. Sharing is an act of worship, putting us in touch with our primary identity as worshippers of God. Father Alexander Schmemann says it this way: 

"Homo sapiens," "homo faber" . . . yes, but first of all, "homo adorans." The first, the basic definition of man is that he is the priest. He stands in the center of the world and unifies it in his act of blessing God, of both receiving the world from God and offering it to God -- and by filling the world with this eucharist, he transforms his life, the one that he receives from the world, into life in God, into communion with Him. (For the Life of the World)

In other words, all people are called to be priests, blessing God through receiving his gifts and then offering them back to him. One way we bless God is sharing with our neighbours.

In addition to physical provisions, we can share our time with people. When I first visited Iona Abbey as a guest, I had a conversation over lunch with an older woman who told me that Iona had taught her how to take the time to be with and pay attention to other people, rather than pass them by or take them for granted. The greatest gift we can share with others is our time, she said, recalling how her grandmother, at the end of her life, only wished that she had more time to be with others. 

I close with words from a sermon by St John Chrysostom that clarifies all I have said with an image of two altars at which we worship: the first is the Lord's table, where we receive the body and blood of Christ through Communion, and the second is the table of the poor, in whom we also find Christ: 

This [second] altar may thou everywhere see lying, both in lanes and in market places, and may sacrifice upon it every hour; for on this too is sacrifice performed. . . .  When then you see a poor believer, think that you behold an altar: when you see such an one a beggar, not only insult him not, but even reverence him, and if you see another insulting him, prevent, repel it.

In light of this, I ask, who are the poor in my communities? How might we worship God through doing good and sharing with others in Jesus' name?