What is Worship? Part 2 - Comfort?
When we were in Cyprus, one of the stops was an ancient Greek Orthodox church. Like most of the Orthodox churches I've been in, the walls and the altar area were covered in icons, frescos, and other decorations. The guide did her best to explain the historical and artistic significance of some of the oldest of the paintings, but honestly I was more interested in the chairs.
Now, lest you think I'd been in too many churches by that time of the trip (yes, I had been) or looked at too many frescoes (which I had) or that I was majoring in the minors, let me try to explain the chairs in the tiny church. First of all, they were wooden; no padding whatsoever. They were straight back, with no "lumbar support." And they had armrests that were at about shoulder height (for me) when I was sitting in them. Who in the world thought these were comfortable?
Because, you see, I'm from the American church. I'm from the church that majors on comfort. We replaced our pews several years ago with more comfortable chairs, complete with lumbar support. We make sure the heating or air conditioning is at the right levels. We don't have people stand too long in the worship service for fear they might get uncomfortable. And we give them permission to sit down if they feel...you guessed it...uncomfortable. And I'm not just talking about my church; this tends to be true of most American churches. The Church.
So why, I wondered in my American mindset, hadn't these Cyrpians taken these old, horrible chairs out and replaced them with something more comfortable...you know, like La-Z-Boys? Had Aunt Mildred donated them and threatened to leave the church if they replaced the chairs? (Again, do you hear my American culture coming through?)
And then, just before we left, the guide said, "I bet you're wondering about the chairs." Yes, I am. "Well, the armrests are so high because we, in the Orthodox church, have a three-hour service and we stand for most all of it. So the armrests are high in order to allow us to lean back on them if we need a brief rest."
Three hours? Standing almost the whole time? There's no way, I'm thinking, anyone at home would ever go for that. It would be...well, it would be too uncomfortable.
And then the thought came to me...where was it ever written that worship should be comfortable? Didn't the Jesus we worship, the one we follow, say something about taking up your cross in order to follow him (cf. Luke 9:23)? During this same trip, we had walked along the Via Dolorosa, the traditional path Jesus followed from Pilate's house to the cross, and one of our group members commented that she was winded just walking it herself. She couldn't imagine dragging a cross along it after having been beaten nearly to death. "Take up your cross" is the antithesis to comfort. What does it say to Jesus about our devotion and commitment if we demand comfort while he suffers and dies on a cross?
Does our comfortable worship really honor Jesus?
I'm not saying that standing for three hours necessarily honors Jesus more. (Though Jesus did ask the disciples if they could watch with him for an hour, and they had trouble making that...as do some of us!) What I am trying to ask is whether or not we're willing to put aside our own "comfort" and "needs" and "preferences" in order to worship the crucified savior. Are we too comfortable? Are we too demanding of our own comfort?
I'm just asking questions here...
Now, lest you think I'd been in too many churches by that time of the trip (yes, I had been) or looked at too many frescoes (which I had) or that I was majoring in the minors, let me try to explain the chairs in the tiny church. First of all, they were wooden; no padding whatsoever. They were straight back, with no "lumbar support." And they had armrests that were at about shoulder height (for me) when I was sitting in them. Who in the world thought these were comfortable?
Because, you see, I'm from the American church. I'm from the church that majors on comfort. We replaced our pews several years ago with more comfortable chairs, complete with lumbar support. We make sure the heating or air conditioning is at the right levels. We don't have people stand too long in the worship service for fear they might get uncomfortable. And we give them permission to sit down if they feel...you guessed it...uncomfortable. And I'm not just talking about my church; this tends to be true of most American churches. The Church.
So why, I wondered in my American mindset, hadn't these Cyrpians taken these old, horrible chairs out and replaced them with something more comfortable...you know, like La-Z-Boys? Had Aunt Mildred donated them and threatened to leave the church if they replaced the chairs? (Again, do you hear my American culture coming through?)
And then, just before we left, the guide said, "I bet you're wondering about the chairs." Yes, I am. "Well, the armrests are so high because we, in the Orthodox church, have a three-hour service and we stand for most all of it. So the armrests are high in order to allow us to lean back on them if we need a brief rest."
Three hours? Standing almost the whole time? There's no way, I'm thinking, anyone at home would ever go for that. It would be...well, it would be too uncomfortable.
And then the thought came to me...where was it ever written that worship should be comfortable? Didn't the Jesus we worship, the one we follow, say something about taking up your cross in order to follow him (cf. Luke 9:23)? During this same trip, we had walked along the Via Dolorosa, the traditional path Jesus followed from Pilate's house to the cross, and one of our group members commented that she was winded just walking it herself. She couldn't imagine dragging a cross along it after having been beaten nearly to death. "Take up your cross" is the antithesis to comfort. What does it say to Jesus about our devotion and commitment if we demand comfort while he suffers and dies on a cross?
Does our comfortable worship really honor Jesus?
I'm not saying that standing for three hours necessarily honors Jesus more. (Though Jesus did ask the disciples if they could watch with him for an hour, and they had trouble making that...as do some of us!) What I am trying to ask is whether or not we're willing to put aside our own "comfort" and "needs" and "preferences" in order to worship the crucified savior. Are we too comfortable? Are we too demanding of our own comfort?
I'm just asking questions here...
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| Church of Agia Paraskevi of Geroskipou, Cyprus |
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