Joyce Borger

I am reminded to be grateful for God’s gift of plenty and pray for those in need whenever I see a pumpkin.

If you are a parent, teacher, or person who works with youth, you’ve probably been asked this question: Do I have to apologize? But when a young person offends or hurts someone else and doesn’t really want to acknowledge it and humbly say they’re sorry, most adults insist they recognize and reflect on the effects of their action or inaction, apologize, and make amends. To acknowledge one’s failures and humbly apologize is a vital skill for being in healthy relationships and developing an honest opinion of oneself. If learning the skill of apologizing is important for having right relationships with people, how much more important it is to confess our sin when we are in the presence of our holy God! If we are a Christian, the most important relationship we have is with our triune God, whose purity and holiness illuminate our own failures and those of the covenant community to which we belong. In order to rightly live in relationship with God we must practice confession and ask for forgiveness for our sins against God, others, the creation God asked us to take care of, and even ourselves, as well as for the things we should have done but chose not to. This practice of confession and forgiveness is an encapsulation of the gospel message that we as God’s people need to be reminded of regularly. When we confess our sins in corporate worship, we are also teaching those gathered a spiritual discipline they will need the rest of the week as they struggle to live a holy life. But it goes even deeper than that. Our confession is always followed by God’s words of forgiveness. Indeed, it is because we are assured of God’s forgiveness that we have the courage to come clean. This practice of confession and forgiveness is an encapsulation of the gospel message that we as God’s people need to be reminded of regularly. For many congregations this is a weekly practice with set prayers. For others there is greater freedom in the words used, the mode (spoken by a leader, recited by the whole congregation, prayed silently, or sung), and the placement in the service. Yet in some worshiping communities the act of confession has been neglected. Outside of the weekly rhythm of worship, the season of Lent presents us with another opportunity to practice this discipline. Lent is naturally a season of reflection and penitence, a time to acknowledge how we, both individually and communally, need the perfecting work of a Savior. Within the context of the gift of redemption, our time of confession should not be depressing, but rather uplifting and hopeful. It is with that good news in mind that we’ve chosen in this issue to focus in part on the spiritual discipline of confession. If you are a pastor or worship leader wondering how to lead confession in a politically charged environment, check out Scott Hoezee’s “Let Us Repent,” part of his regular column “For Pastors.” John Witvliet connects the service of confession with the act of entrusting our whole selves to God. Andrew de Gelder offers the Lenten worship series “Good News,” and Deborah Ann Wong writes about fasting, another spiritual discipline related to the humble act of confession. Those are just a few of the many wonderfully thoughtful and creative resources you will find in this issue. May you be blessed by these gifts.

Recently someone asked me what five songs I think are important for every child in the church to know; songs that they would memorize and carry with them throughout life. What a wonderful, thoughtful, question! As I considered my response I wondered if it wouldn’t be more helpful to provide a list of things to consider when choosing songs to sing than an actual list of songs; that way the church could create a list that fit their context. So after some thought, here is a list of things I would consider when creating a core group of songs for children.

I was “today years old” when I learned about the chalking of the doors, and I’m eager to add it to my collection of practices that help connect communal worship with home life and worship. Such practices deepen faith and help us live with a greater awareness of Christ’s presence and the call to be a light in this world.To help those who, like me, may be unfamiliar with the chalking of doors, an explanation is provided. I suggest introducing the concept in a church newsletter or social media post, then using the Epiphany service to further draw the connection between Epiphany and this practice. Also included below is a liturgy that can be downloaded and handed out for congregants to take home and use.Chalking of the DoorsThe practice of the “chalking of the doors” seems to have begun in Eastern Europe or areas of Slavic origin toward the end of the Middle Ages. In Exodus we read about how the Israelites painted blood on their doorframes to protect them from the angel of death, who killed the firstborn sons of all the Egyptians. In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are told to remember the works of the Lord, to teach them to their children, to talk about them, and to “write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:9; 11:20). There is a two-fold purpose in marking one’s doorframe during Epiphany: to protect and bless those within the home by inviting Christ into it, and to bear testimony to the household’s trust in God. These two themes of blessing and bearing witness fit well with the message of Epiphany. The Magi responded to a sign, a visible symbol, with faith and action. They came, bearing gifts, to worship the Christ-child, and they left blessed. Though Scripture doesn’t say if they told others about their experience, it’s hard to imagine them returning home without testifying to all that they had witnessed.For us today, the act of chalking the door can be both a reminder of Christ’s presence with us as well as a countercultural testimony to all who pass by or enter our homes that Christ is Lord of our lives. In fact, in some places in Eastern Europe when the Soviet government was trying to stamp out Christianity, the act of chalking the doors became a protest as well as a faith statement.Chalking the doors is most often done on the feast of Epiphany, January 6 (the twelfth day of Christmas), but it would be equally meaningful any time in theEpiphany season, especially toward the beginning of the year. Chalk is used because it reminds us of our fragility—that we are dust. It is also simple, accessible, and not permanent, for what is written is not magical, but rather a tool for writing God’s truths on our hearts and searing them in our mind. Of course, painting a wooden sign with the symbol or writing it on a paper would also be fine.In the year 2022, the sign written on the doorframe is 20+C+M+B+22. The outer numbers are the year. The + symbols represent the cross and could be written as such. The C, M, and B carry two meanings: It could refer to the names traditionally given to the Magi—Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar—but there were likely many more than three magi who visited the Holy Family. Better, it reflects the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat—“May Christ bless this dwelling.”When chalking the door, you may choose to spend time wondering about what it would be like if Jesus were physically present in the house. How would Christ’s presence affect how we interact with each other in our words, work, or play? How would Christ’s presence affect how we respond to both invited and unexpected guests on our doorsteps? Write the symbols on the doorframe to remind each other of Christ’s spiritual presence, and offer your own prayer asking Christ to bless the home (or office, or classroom, or hospital room) and all who enter it.For a stronger connection to communal worship, you could encourage your congregants to use the liturgy that follows the Epiphany service below.An Epiphany ServicePreludeBegin this service with notes of joy.Call to Worship[This call to worship should not be read. While there is a script here, much of it could be ad-libbed.]Voice 1 [with great enthusiasm]: Everyone,Christ has been born, the light has come.So join me in celebration!Voice 2 [with consternation]:Celebrate? Celebrate?Have you not heard the news?Where have you been living?[Add the troubling news of the day.]Evil and death are everywhere.There is no hope.Voice 3 [with a gently correcting tone]:Don’t you see it,that light that is growing?The good that is happening right around you?Christ has been born. The Spirit is all around us!Voice 1: Open your eyes and look around you!People are gathered here to worship.The Spirit is at work here.The Spirit is at work around the world.Voice 3:You should see the gifts that areflowing out of God’s people,a testimony that indeed the light has come!There is hope!Voice 1:One day there will be no more evil,no more grief, no more fear.We have hope!Voice 3:So come, join all God’s people in proclaimingthe praise of the Lord!All Voices:“Arise, shine, for your light has come,and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” —Rev. Joyce Borger, based on Isaiah 60:1–6 © 2021 ReformedWorship.org, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.Opening Medley“Arise, Shine, for Your Light Is Come” Glass“Glory Hallelujah” Schoolmeester (English/Spanish)or“Jesus Shall Reign / Psalm 72” Watts  God’s GreetingThus says God, the LORD,who created the heavens and stretched them out,who spread out the earth and what comes from it,who gives breath to the people on itand spirit to those who walk in it:“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;I will take you by the hand and keep you;I will give you as a covenant for the people,a light for the nations,to open the eyes that are blind,to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,from the prison those who sit in darkness.I am the LORD; that is my name;my glory I give to no other,nor my praise to carved idols.—Isaiah 42:5–8 ESVSong of Praise “O Come, All Ye Faithful”  Wadeor“O Come Let Us Adore Him” Maverick City Music  Prayer of ConfessionWe’ve come today to give praise to our God, to continue to celebrate the gift of God’s Son, the light of the world. We want to give God all the praise and glory, but do we? God may be worthy of it all, but do we give God our all? God has blessed us, but what have we given in return? Sung Refrain: “Come, Light, Light of God” The Sisters of the Community of Grandchamp, Switzerland  Eternal Light,shine into our hearts;Eternal Goodness,deliver us from evil;Eternal Power,be our support;Eternal Wisdom,scatter the darkness of our ignorance;Eternal Compassion,have mercy upon us;that with all our heart and mindand soul and strengthwe may seek your faceand be brought by your infinite mercyto your holy presence;through Jesus Christ our Light. Amen.—Alcuin of Tours (8th century)., P.D. alt. Sung Refrain: “Come, Light, Light of God” The Sisters of the Community of Grandchamp, Switzerland Words of Assurance 1 John 1:5–7Sung Refrain: “Come, Light, Light of God” The Sisters of the Community of Grandchamp, Switzerland  Prayer for IlluminationGod of light and life,open our eyes as well as our ears,so that we may not only hear your Word preached todaybut then see your Word lived out in our lives and in your world,through Christ, our Lord, the light of the world.Amen. —The Worship Sourcebook F.3.1.2Scripture ReadingMatthew 2:1–12Sermon: Signs, Gifts, and TestimonySermon NotesBegin by writing the symbol for chalking the door (for 2022 it is 20+C+M+B+22) with chalk on a wooden cross or another piece of wood. Share that you saw this and are wondering what it could possibly mean. Invite the congregation (especially younger congregants) to wonder with you. What do they think the plus signs are?Chances are that, unless chalking the doors is a familiar practice in your community, the sign will remain a mystery. Wonder together about whom you might ask to help solve the mystery. If you thought this message, this sign, was really important, how far would you travel to find the answer? How much would you be willing to give up, to sacrifice?Talk about how the Magi in the Scripture passage found a sign in the sky: a star. Somehow they knew it was important—it meant a king had been born—but they couldn’t solve the whole puzzle. (You could wonder how many Magi there were. We used to think there were three Magi because there were three gifts named in the story, but now we know that they probably traveled in a large group. Still, people talk about three Magi, traditionally named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Could that be a clue to the C, M, and B on our sign?)The Magi sought help from the wisest and most powerful people they could find, but they were no help. The wisest people in the story turn out to be the Magi themselves, who, though foreigners and powerless, because of their faithfulness and humility met the king of the whole universe. The Magi saw the Light when those with power, wealth, and access to information did not. The Magi saw the Light, and they worshiped Christ, the Savior of the world, who died on the cross to save us. (Cross . . . could that be another clue? Are the + signs meant to remind us of the cross?)Explain how “Epiphany” means “manifestation” or “revealing.” God revealed himself not to the king and his wise men, as we would expect, but to people outside the ruling Roman Empire and even outside the Jewish community Jesus was born into. Not only that, but God revealed himself through nature: God used the star to communicate. Everyone could see it, but only the Magi were paying attention. They were open and receptive.God also calls us today (another part of the puzzle!) to have our eyes open to what he is doing in the world, and God invites us to join in that work. We don’t need to have power, influence, wealth, or lots of knowledge. We need only a willing heart. Christ is present through the Spirit and desires to bless us so that we might bless others.Mention the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, meaning “May Christ bless this dwelling.” This is the true meaning of the C M B on the sign. Share the purpose and meaning behind chalking the doors.Conclude by wondering what stories the Magi told about their journey and what stories or testimonies we might share about ours. Hopefully our eyes will be open to see God along the way. Sermon Response[Invite people who would like to chalk their doors to pick up chalk and a copy of the liturgy found below in the resource section, or provide other directions that fit your context.]Sung Response Prayers of the PeopleOffering Traditionally on Epiphany an offering is taken for benevolence or missions.Sending and BlessingAs we leave this service of worship,let us go as the Magi left the infant Jesus,rejoicing on our way that we have seen the living Lord,ready to return to our daily life and work,spreading the good news of Jesus, the light of the world.Receive now these words of promise and blessingfrom our Lord Jesus Christ:Remember, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.Do not let your hearts be troubled.Do not be afraid.I am the light of the world.Whoever follows me will never walk in darknessbut will have the light of life.”Amen. —from Matthew 28:20; John 14:27; The Worship Sourcebook F.9.4 alt.Closing SongChoose one of the following or another of your choice:“Glory Hallelujah” Schoolmeesters (reprise)“Hear Our Praises” Morgan, LUYH 302, SSS 414“Jesus, the Light of the World” Wesley, Elderkin, LUYH 100Pastoral ConsiderationsAs you introduce the practice of chalking the doors to your congregation you may need to be pastorally sensitive to certain demographics in your congregation and offer some options. For those who live outside, in shelters, or in their cars, offer to pray a blessing prayer wherever they most often sleep at night. For those who live alone, ask an elder to offer to lead the liturgy or encourage those individuals to invite others over for the blessing or to include their small group. For those living in college dorms, hospitals, or other institutions, pray for Christ to be present in the room and get permission to write on the doorframe of the room. Again, there is nothing magical about writing the symbol or placing it on the door or doorframe, but it is a tool to represent the reality of Christ’s presence and an opportunity to worship and bear witness to Christ’s lordship. 

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of waiting: Waiting for the pandemic to end. Waiting for decisions to be made. Waiting for repairs to my house to be done. Are you also tired of waiting? Are your congregants? We can’t wait to get back to a greater sense of normalcy, to the “before time,” even to the familiar smells of worship. We want to focus on all the good and skip over the challenging and difficult aspects of our reality. I have my suspicions that this desire to escape is a fairly prevalent feeling, so it should come as no surprise to hear the suggestion that maybe this year we should skip Advent. In some ways skipping Advent and elongating the celebration of Christmas seems like a pastoral and appropriate decision given the context many of us find ourselves in. But I implore you to take the countercultural approach. Rather than running from the struggles of this past year, intentionally enter into them. Use the opportunity of Advent to acknowledge all that is not right in the world and in our lives and to yearn together for our coming Savior. Use the opportunity of this Advent to further develop the spiritual practice of waiting. Help your people become more resilient in the face of adversity by showing them how it is possible to hold in tension grief and joy, lament and hope. To assist you there is a reflection in this issue on Blue Christmas / Longest Night along with practical suggestions. We also offer a worship series that asks the question “What Are You Waiting For?” to use as you lead your congregation in the practice of Advent waiting. Several songs of waiting and longing (with suggestions for how to use them) can be incorporated into the worship series or wherever your worship planning takes you. Following that same waiting theme, you will also find in this issue a children’s program, a poem, and a series of Advent candlelighting readings. Help your people become more resilient in the face of adversity by showing them how it is possible to hold in tension grief and joy, lament and hope. This Reformed Worship is part of a number of issues focusing on the connection between our communal worship and our small group and individual faith practices. You will find the story of one individual who applied the practice of the passing of the peace in a tangible way. There’s an exploration of how the spiritual practice of presence is connected to the incarnation of Christ and to preaching. There’s a worship service for New Year’s that connects to the practice of Ignatian Examen, and there’s also a service that leads into the Epiphany practice of the “chalking of the doors.” Reflecting further on Epiphany themes is an article inviting us to practice wonder by embracing the mystery of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. If all of that isn’t enough, I hope you will appreciate learning about the historical practice of holding baptisms at Christmas and gaining insights into Korean worship. This issue is packed with practical resources and new insights and ideas. Read it reflectively, using it not only as a resource, but as a tool for your own spiritual nourishment. If you’ve been eager to receive this issue, be assured it has been worth the wait!

I’ve been thinking about the spiritual discipline of waiting lately as we are working on the next issue of Reformed Worship and waiting is one of its themes. Sometimes our waiting is short lived like when the Amazon package arrives on my doorstep early, even before I had begun to wait. And sometimes our patience is tested as it seems that the waiting knows no end.

This last year and a half will take some time to unpack. The grief of so many deaths, the emotional toll of social distancing, fear, division, and the growing fissures in the world around us and our own churches must be attended to. There is much for us to learn. Early on in the pandemic I had an email exchange with a pastor in Africa. I asked him what his church did for congregants when it needed to shut down due to Ebola. The answer was that they didn’t do much when it came to worship; families simply worshiped together. They chose a passage and read it, shared their thoughts, and sang together. The church spent its energies meeting the physical and emotional needs of the community. That exchange really struck me when I compared it with how much God’s people in North America seemed to depend on the institutional church for their spiritual sustenance. Many were at a complete loss when the church could not meet in person for worship or other programming. They were at a loss for how to lead their own households in meaningful worship. They lacked the knowledge to attend to their own and their children’s faith formation. It seemed as if the people of God in North America had subcontracted their spiritual life to the institutional church. And so the church responded with extraordinary efforts to try to fulfill that contract. Some churches felt the impact of that contract in discussions of when and how to begin worshiping in person again. Of course there were exceptions to this characterization, but before you dismiss this assessment as being too harsh, think through where your church’s energies were spent and why. I understand that our people were overwhelmed. Parents in particular were adjusting to having their children home all day for online education while at the same time having to transition to working remotely or scrambling to find additional childcare. People were justifiably worried about their jobs, their health, and the health of those they loved. These were stressful times—times the North American church had failed to prepare for. It would be an interesting exercise to ask your congregants, “If you were alone on a deserted island, how would you nurture your faith? If you had children or teens with you, what would you do to nurture their faith? If the island wasn’t deserted but you found people who didn’t know the gospel, what would you do or say?” Would folks be able to give a robust response? Each Christian should be equipped both to answer those questions and to live the answers out—not on a deserted island, but in their everyday living, by engaging practices that will sustain their faith even if they are all alone. The role of the church is not to do the practices for its members, but to help them develop these practices and support them over a lifetime. How are we as the church preparing our people to face the inevitable difficulties in this world? How do we help our people become spiritually resilient so that, if the institutional church is not fully available, they can find spiritual sustenance on their own and provide it to others? How do we give our people the necessary tools to worship on their own or to lead their household or small group in worship? Do we need to create a new program for faith formation and spiritual disciplines? I don’t believe so. I contend that much of this can happen through our communal worship. Worship finds itself in the interesting position of being not only a spiritual discipline, but also one of the places that Christians are formed in the disciplines. I would argue that the formation that occurs in worship should not happen as much through “teaching sermons” as through the act of worship itself and through the practices we include in worship. “If you were alone on a deserted island, how would you nurture your faith? If you had children or teens with you, what would you do to nurture their faith? If the island wasn’t deserted but you found people who didn’t know the gospel, what would you do or say?” For example, while it’s good to have a sermon on the importance of confession and forgiveness, if we don’t actually practice confession and forgiveness within worship our congregants won’t know how to do so on their own. The repetitive act of confessing our sins to God and receiving God’s forgiveness forms us over time. It becomes part of our spiritual DNA. The words of the liturgy remind us that sin isn’t just doing wrong; it’s equally sinful not to do something we know is right. When the Holy Spirit itself or people in our lives confront us with our sin during the week, then, we know we ought to confess, and we know how to confess. More importantly, we know we are forgiven, and we know how to extend that forgiveness to others. The repetition of confession and forgiveness in our worship also helps teach our children about the need to confess and receive forgiveness. We practice it with them ourselves when we tell them we are sorry and ask them for forgiveness. We practice it with our children when squabbles break out between siblings and in the prayers we lead them in. The encounter we have with God, the dialogue of confession and forgiveness, forms us over time and equips us to disciple others. Everything we do in worship forms us. As pastors and worship leaders, we can choose to let formation happen unintentionally, possibly leading to malformation, or we can do it intentionally, in a way that helps our congregants become spiritually resilient. The questions then become: What practices do we need to include in worship so that we have the “spiritual memory” to practice them in our daily living? What faith practices form us as Christ’s disciples? What these practices are and what they look like will most likely vary from place to place. Some practices we will naturally be drawn to, while others may require us to be more intentional. We have much to learn from each other as each community likely excels in some practices and needs to grow in others. Over the next several issues of Reformed Worship we will consider what these spiritual disciplines or faith practices might look like in worship. It is an echo of Jamie Smith’s teaching in Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation, where he writes, “Discipleship and spiritual formation are less about erecting an edifice of knowledge than they are a matter of developing a Christian know-how that intuitively understands the world in light of the Gospel.” It is also another take on the “vertical habits” language that we have previously highlighted in RW (see tinyurl.com/RWverticalhabits). We begin with this issue by focusing on worship practices around the reading and preaching of God’s Word, learning about practices that help connect corporate worship with our daily faith practices. I am excited to present the many practical suggestions and wisdom generously shared in the articles along with the quality worship resources you’ve come to expect. In future issues, we will continue to look at different practices related to elements of worship while still providing you with worship resources around the Christian year.

“I pray that we will remember that on Easter Sunday we proclaimed a unified gospel message one that needs to continue to unify us as together we work to bring Christ’s healing to a hurting and divided world.”

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” —John 14:1–3 Last week I visited someone at their place for the first time and immediately felt at home. In part it was because of the gracious hospitality offered, but it was more than that. This lovely woman is close to the age my deceased mother would have been, and they have the same cultural background. From the decor in this woman’s home to her manner of doing things, there were reminders of my own mother and the home I grew up in. That same connection to my past can be seen in my own home: the coffee mill that belonged to my grandmother, the painting my parents received as a wedding gift, the needlepoint that used to hang in my parents’ home—all the little things that speak to me of “home” and now make up the place where my daughter and I dwell and call home. In this issue you will find many references to “dwelling” and “home.” We hope these themes will help churches to connect with and talk about Ascension Day and Pentecost. We join the Holy Spirit’s work in calling others to come dwell with us in the house of the Lord—to come and find their true home. Consider the roller coaster of emotions the disciples must have experienced in just a few months: Seeing their worst fears realized when Christ was arrested and then crucified. Their confusion and fear displaced by the overwhelming joy of the resurrection. Jesus dwelling with them again, being their anchor, their comforting presence, their home. Then the ascension: For the disciples it seemed to be another loss. For Christ it meant going home. What joy there is in knowing that Christ is going on ahead to prepare rooms for us! And when we get there it will not feel strange, but rather like the home we have always been craving. In the meantime, to keep us connected with our true home and to serve as a reminder, Christ sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with us. The Holy Spirit has made our world, our hearts, and the church its temporary home, a window into our heavenly dwelling. And every time we gather around the table for the Lord’s Supper, we experience the greatest glimpse of our glorious future that can be afforded us on earth. Yet as we look around at those partaking in the feast with us, we see empty seats. People are missing from our family and are still yearning for a place to call home. So we join the Holy Spirit’s work in calling others to come dwell with us in the house of the Lord—to come and find their true home.

But the light is here. It has come into this world we just need eyes to see. So look up and out.