I am currently working my way through In Constant Prayer for a book review. In Chapter 4 the author tells a story about a neighbor who wasn’t getting the hang of “liturgy.” Why not just sing a couple of songs, preach a good sermon, and go home?

The pastor told the man, “The liturgy is not for you, Bill. It is for God. On Sunday, our job is to put on the best possible show for God that we know how to do. We are doing to in the way that God’s people have always done it. If you get something out of it, Bill, that’s fine. But if you do not, then that is okay too. It isn’t even for you.”

Is there any way we could possibly capture the spirit of this again in our American churches?