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2020 Divine Liturgy 1
September 6, 2020
Divine Liturgy Series, Number 1
By Fr. Alex Miller
Genesis 1:26
“Let Us make man in Our image.”
In preaching I follow a three-year cycle: the first year I preach from the Gospel reading appointed for the divine liturgy, the second year I preach from the epistle reading, and the third year I preach a series of sermons specifically about the divine liturgy itself.
This is the third year in the cycle and so this today is the first sermon in this series of homilies about this unique service of worship which we call in the Orthodox Church “the divine liturgy.“
How do we worship?
This is an essential question for any serious Christian.
Any serious discussion of worship must begin with the question “who is God and who are we because of him?”
This is because worship is basically about a relationship between persons.
The basis for this relationship is found in the very first chapter of Genesis verse 26 “let us make man in our image“.
Many of us may have been told in Sunday school when we were growing up that God created man because he was lonely. This is not true.
Who was God speaking to when he said “let us make man in our image.” ?
God the Father was speaking to the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God exists outside of time and space in a community of divine love between the three persons in one nature. God was never lonely, he was never alone, and God is beyond all human constructs of what it means to exist.
From the overflowing of his love and goodness and creativity He brought the world into existence and created man in His image.
God is Trinity.
Throughout the creation narrative in the book of Genesis it is repeatedly said of creation that it was good but when it came to the creation of man for the first time we hear a negative statement “it is not good for man to be alone.”
As a being created in the image of God, man was fashioned for relationships. God did not intend for the first created man to be alone. Not only did God desire for Adam to have a relationship with Him as his creator, but he also desired for Adam to have a relationship with other humans, beginning with the first woman, Eve, of whom Adam said, “this is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.”
Therefore worship in its most basic form is the expression of a relationship between a personal God and His creation, human beings created in the image of God.
This relationship is characterized by love and freedom.
Before we begin speaking about the divine liturgy itself I want to go through holy scripture from the beginning in genesis to the end of revelation and show you the development of worship in the history of the world and the history of the church.
In so doing it will become clear that the divine liturgy is not a human construct but is indeed God‘s revelation to man of how we are to worship him in spirit and in truth.
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September 6, 2020
Divine Liturgy Series, Number 1
By Fr. Alex Miller
Genesis 1:26
“Let Us make man in Our image.”
In preaching I follow a three-year cycle: the first year I preach from the Gospel reading appointed for the divine liturgy, the second year I preach from the epistle reading, and the third year I preach a series of sermons specifically about the divine liturgy itself.
This is the third year in the cycle and so this today is the first sermon in this series of homilies about this unique service of worship which we call in the Orthodox Church “the divine liturgy.“
How do we worship?
This is an essential question for any serious Christian.
Any serious discussion of worship must begin with the question “who is God and who are we because of him?”
This is because worship is basically about a relationship between persons.
The basis for this relationship is found in the very first chapter of Genesis verse 26 “let us make man in our image“.
Many of us may have been told in Sunday school when we were growing up that God created man because he was lonely. This is not true.
Who was God speaking to when he said “let us make man in our image.” ?
God the Father was speaking to the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God exists outside of time and space in a community of divine love between the three persons in one nature. God was never lonely, he was never alone, and God is beyond all human constructs of what it means to exist.
From the overflowing of his love and goodness and creativity He brought the world into existence and created man in His image.
God is Trinity.
Throughout the creation narrative in the book of Genesis it is repeatedly said of creation that it was good but when it came to the creation of man for the first time we hear a negative statement “it is not good for man to be alone.”
As a being created in the image of God, man was fashioned for relationships. God did not intend for the first created man to be alone. Not only did God desire for Adam to have a relationship with Him as his creator, but he also desired for Adam to have a relationship with other humans, beginning with the first woman, Eve, of whom Adam said, “this is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.”
Therefore worship in its most basic form is the expression of a relationship between a personal God and His creation, human beings created in the image of God.
This relationship is characterized by love and freedom.
Before we begin speaking about the divine liturgy itself I want to go through holy scripture from the beginning in genesis to the end of revelation and show you the development of worship in the history of the world and the history of the church.
In so doing it will become clear that the divine liturgy is not a human construct but is indeed God‘s revelation to man of how we are to worship him in spirit and in truth.