Sacramental Living » Sacramental Living

Lifestyle

Brian Niece — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:07:52 +0000

Around 5 years or so ago, when I was serving as a youth pastor, I used to throw around a personal motto or mantra: lex orandi, lex credendi. The Latin means “the rule of prayer, is the rule of belief.” My paraphrase became: “the way you worship is the way you live.”

Worship used to be all-encompassing. Not that I always worshiped, but I certainly did my best to direct all attention to the One who is greater. That’s what I taught (and hopefully) modeled for my teens. That in actions, thoughts, and words, God would be recognized and we would be humble.

Since leaving the professional ministry (whatever that is supposed to be), and taking the role of a pariah (unwillingly), worship has become less of what I know it to be. Finding a community to worship with has been a 2-year endeavor. And worship has been relegated to that hour or so each week.

Or so I thought.

After recently hearing a sermon on worship, I took a retrospective. Eventhough my mind has not been geared toward this purpose, my lifestyle (and that of my family) has certainly been one of worship. As I have been teaching in the public school system this year, I realize that I have lived as servant, shown compassion to my students, encouraged them to be more than expected, and asked them to follow my lead and do as I do. And through this all I have tried to reflect the realness of Jesus of Nazareth, the love of the Spirit, and the awesomeness of God the Father.

Then today I remembered the words of one of my teens from 5 years ago. After months of living the idea of “the way you worship is the way you live,” my friend Zach, who was only about 16 at the time, said, “This is God as a lifestyle.”

Zach had nailed it. The whole of life is for God to be our lifestyle. I take encouragement knowing that even with inner doubt, anger, frustration, and fatigue, the lifestyle has been centered on the same thing.

And as I’m typing this, my wife sends me a text that reads in part: “the LORD delights in those who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Feeling unlovable and questioning so much was not enough to dissuade God’s unfailing love.

That is more than enough cause to make worship a lifestyle.

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What is Sacramental Living?

Brian Niece — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:59:21 +0000

“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.”

- Henri NouwenRelated Posts:

Being the Church Around a Meal

Brian Niece — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:29:54 +0000

“Because we have food,” said Eliot, my three-year old.

Just prior he had said, “We are the church.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because we have food.”

My wife and I just stared at each other and smiled. After a moment pregnant with meaning, awe, wonder, I said to Heather, “Something profound was just going on there.”

She nodded in agreement.

Somehow, Eliot is getting it … even at 3 years old.

We are always stressing to him the difference between the church building and the church. He knows when we gather for worship it is at the church building. And he is recognizing that the church is people. More than that, the church is people with relationships who gather around a meal to talk and listen, share stories, and share nourishing resources.

I know he’s not talking about a “potluck” because he just hasn’t experienced many of those. And when he does, it’s usually outside the church building, in a picnic pavilion.

Wisdom from a child … it’s pretty cool. Of course, Jesus did say that we must become like them … like Eliot … to experience the kingdom of God.

Today around our family lunch table, we experienced the reality of God’s kingdom, presence, and reality breaking into the ordinary. The pedestrian meal became a sublime feast. We experienced communion. We are the church.

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
How are children around you showing you Jesus?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
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