By: Jeremy BerryI am a product of a divorced home and my two homes were drastically different. When I lived with mom, the word “random” really is the most fitting description for each day. We were not disciplined on breakfast or bedtime. When mom gave a time for when she would be somewhere or be home, it was more of a general time frame, always an “ish” tagged on. On the other side of my life was my father. A military man who had the saying, “If you are not 15 minutes early then you're late.” There were strict times to awake up, to lay down, dinner was at 6, and you get the idea. It was all about the schedule. If we wanted to go out for the weekend, like an employer, requests had to be put in to the Colonel by Thursday, 1700 hours!
Now no doubt, my mom’s personality is deeply and stubbornly interwoven with my nature. Anyone who knows me could tell you that I’m seemingly always behind. Truth is, I hate this about me. I hate being late, I hate being in a rush, which is why, the older I get, the more I appreciate what used to annoy me so much about my father. As much as it pains me to admit it…he was right. He may never read this, so there is a chance he’ll never know. Despite my father’s unloving demeanor and usage of military time (WHEN NORMAL TIME WORKS JUST FINE) the unwanted structure provided a stability that I now love.
When I say “I love” it is not a lifestyle I repeat, though there are principles within it that I admire and re-purpose. The stability it provided was and is the benefit of an organized liturgy. BEFORE you close this article and move on because I am using churchy words…let me make my point. I know that when we think of liturgy, often what comes to our mind is a high-church, Catholic or Catholic-“ish” style of service. This is not at all what I mean it. Liturgy is simply a flow. A flow of how something unfolds. Whether it’s a church service, a day, or even a year, each unfolds and each has a liturgy.
My mother and I had a liturgy. It was chaotic. If a day was a church service, then we would have been a charismatic mess, with no plan except to survive. The lack of stability, the lack of healthy daily liturgy created a young man who was severely deprived of discipline. I lacked growth (get out your short jokes now). I was emotionally and mentally behind. By the time I moved in with my father in middle school, it was embarrassingly obvious that years of an unhealthy liturgy had taken its toll. I was behind in every area of academics. I would go on to fail grades. I could barely tie my shoes or spell my middle name. This list of deficiencies was long and frustrating for those left to raise me. The chaotic daily liturgy deeply hurt my growth because much of my development had been neglected, and certain foundations were never built.
Liturgy is a part of life. It seems unnatural for some to speak of a daily or a weekly liturgy. So let us start with a yearly liturgy. It seems more natural because, of course, we all have it and we are able to see it more clearly. First it is the New Year followed by holidays dedicated to great men/woman and loved ones. We got Easter followed by Summer. Then, of course, there is the dreaded “back to school” time proceeded by the great trio of holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sprinkled in our yearly liturgy are birthdays and anniversaries.
We observe these holidays, these events, every year. It is always the same. Partly due to the fact we follow creations liturgy; Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring. Liturgy is impossible to deny. We all have it! Some are like my mother, and some are like my father, but most fall in between. The question I want you to ask yourself is not “do you have a liturgy” but “IS your liturgy helpful?” What I see now is that most people’s daily liturgy is a mess. I do not mean in the sense that they are always late to meetings or dinner. When I ask people if they read scripture themselves or read to their children…that somehow misses the daily liturgy. I start hearing what sounds like my mother, “We will…we plan…if we can…” The excuses of the spiritual foundation being absent from daily liturgy is accompanied by an orchestra of excuses mixed with some sputters.
By now someone is yelling at the screen, “WHERE DOES IT SAY LITURGY IN THE BIBLE?!” And, of course the answer is scripture does not use the word “liturgy.” However, scripture also does not use the word “Trinity.” The TEACHING OF LITURGY is absolutely present. SO without further ado, let us open the Word.
Genesis 1:14: And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.
In this simple verse, there is so much to unpack. The Lord’s creation reveals His glory in many ways, with beautiful truths further explained in scripture. Take the “day.” The simple 24-hour period is clearly cyclical. There is evening and morning. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way. Every day until I’m called home, I will sleep then I will rise. A pattern God gives to structure our life. Each day, like a little brick, built upon the foundation that is Christ. Each day dedicated to what we are building towards. In Deuteronomy, in the same cyclical manner, in flow of that day, the Lord tells us to teach the Word of God “when you lie down, and when you rise.” The structure and flow, the liturgy of life, starts with a day. That daily liturgy starts with daily devotion and a daily desire to teach those we come across, including our families.
Sadly, we embrace the chaotic, unruly liturgy which leaves many, including ourselves, spiritually delayed and deprived of discipline. Many of us lack growth. We are spiritually behind, and it has become embarrassingly obvious that years of an unhealthy spiritual liturgy have taken a toll. We are behind and if we are honest, we are failing those who spiritually depend on us. What happens is that our list of deficiencies that we were supposed to teach our families are outsourced to others who will now have to spiritual raise our own. In our chaotic daily liturgy, we fail to build foundations and structure. A future fails to lay those daily bricks of devotion.
We are called to establish a daily liturgy. But wait…there is more!
What are months and years but days built upon days. Look at the verse 14 again in Genesis.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.
The same sun and moon that mark the night from the day, are signs for “seasons.” The word used in Hebrew is “môʿēḏ”. It implies that the “seasons” are not merely Winter, Spring, Fall and Summer but rather are sacred times meant for gathering, feasting and worshiping. This is exactly what the Lord meant when He told Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: These are my appointed times, the times of the LORD that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies” (Lev 23).
What you find when studying scripture is a command that HIS PEOPLE (the Church) should create their daily liturgies around Him. At the same time, you find God commanding that HIS PEOPLE (the Church) should create their YEARLY liturgy around their worship of their God. Whereas the daily liturgy is primarily personal devotion, evangelism and discipleship, the monthly/seasonal/yearly liturgy is meant to bring the Church together for congregational worship. It is to establish sacred times together.
I loathe the current structure that most of the evangelical church has created within the calendar. Just like the daily/weekly liturgy, our monthly and yearly liturgy is devoid of meaning. We let a secular world write our calendar and determine the flow of our weeks. Now I am not suggesting we bring back Feasts from the O.T. or that we start a revolution and create our own calendar. What I would say is that you can redeem your liturgy.
Below are some suggestions, but these should not be the entirety of the spiritual content in our homes. Work hard to implement biblical conversations as much as you can. Please listen…I have not figured this out perfectly. My daily, weekly and monthly liturgies need work. I have no shame in that. My only shame is if I know it needs work and do nothing. Here are some tips that have helped me, and I try (sometimes fail) to guide our family’s liturgy.
Daily: Consult Deut. 6:4-9.
Have a time of prayer and preparation. If you can do this with your kids, I’d suggest it. I have done it with and without.
A time of reading or listening to the Word. This can be done on the way to work or wherever you go.
A time of thanksgiving: This can be before a meal together, but it is more than a prayer. I ask my kids to open in prayer, but I always close. I want them to hear their parents pray. I want to teach them how we pray. When we pray, it is to be from the heart and we are to heed the warning of Jesus in Matthew 6:7, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Let this be followed by a conversation about thankfulness.
Family Devotion: We do this sometimes twice a day, but at a minimum in the evening. My kids demand this. We read, we pray and each night I pray a specific blessing over each child.
Weekly: Exodus 20; Hebrews 10:25
Sunday Gathering: We ought to start our week by tithing our time. We start our week in worship. This is not essential for salvation, but the gathering should be natural and essential to those who really love Jesus.
Sabbath: We are called to rest! This is literally one of the 10 Commandments yet is it almost entirely forsaken. Now we sabbath the last day of the week, but I do not think we have to be dogmatic on WHEN our Sabbath is. I would suggest you choose a day where you can rest in the work of the Lord. I like to separate Sabbath from Sunday, but not all can. But the design is there. The first day we worship, the last day we rest. The important part is that you, fulfilling a command out love for your King, implement a Sabbath. This is not an act to earn salvation, but rather to remember and remind you and your household that “IT IS FINISHED” and that you can rest in the work of Christ. A reminder that we all need.
Monthly/Yearly: Consult the Entire Old Testament
Redeem Holidays: Let’s start with the big three!
A. Halloween: Make Halloween not about dressing up and candy. Let’s teach our kids its true meaning; that because of Christ’s victory, we can mock the devil and his demons. We can celebrate light’s victory over the dark. No longer do we have to live in fear because we are Christ’s children, thus we hold to promise of His people, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” In Christ, our greatest enemies have been defeated, thus we mock them.
B. Thanksgiving: Rather than making this about remembering a white-washed, hallmark version of the past (I still mentioned it so no real judgement here), maybe we can make it a day where we remember that the Lord provides. Thanksgiving is a feast where we praise the Lord for all we have. We can praise the Lord for tastebuds and the ability to smell. My wife has created a bit of a tradition where we write out what we are thankful for and place it on the table all month. It is more than a day, make it a season, a sacred time remembering God’s provision.
C. Advent: Try not celebrating Christmas, but advent. Sure, advent culminates with Christmas, but speak of hope, peace, joy and love throughout the month. Try to take in the great anticipation God’s people had for the coming of the Messiah. Dwell in this area, read the prophets who long awaited His coming. Feel the yearning the Saints of old had. Then appreciate the side of the Cross on which you live.
D. Easter: This is kind of a big deal, and it should feel like it! I don’t care about the bunny. We should make the resurrection a big deal because scripture surely does.
E. Others: Whether you do it as a congregation or as a family, try Lent, participate in Ash Wednesday, be involved in Holy Week. Put these things on your calendar
F. Create!!!!: We have created fun traditions and holidays that we celebrate. As a family we do “All Nights Day” to help appreciate the Sabbath. The Bashams created “Fort Night” as a shadow of the Festival of Tabernacles, to remind that God is always with us. My family loved it so much we stole it for ourselves! Take a principle, a biblical truth, an attribute of God and make a festival, a holiday around it. Make it a family affair. These are beautiful lessons that can be passed down for generations.
Liturgy is the flow and unfolding of a service, a day, a week, a month and a year. No doubt the life we are building, if we desire it to be a life worthy of the Lord, should have structure. It is good for our own souls, for those in our care.