Mystical Supper

In this article I have started sharing my thoughts on worship and spiritual sacrifice so that, as we celebrate our Divine Liturgy, we might come to a truly deeper understanding of what we do. I shared that humans have, traditionally, found it necessary to worship a Being they considered greater than them and, in some way, responsible for what happens in life and in the universe. Of course there have always been groups of people who reject the idea of a god and offering worship. In more recent years we experienced Communism which, although it rejected the idea of a god, replaced the State as their god.

Until the Christian era, human acts of worship always remained external to the people engaged in worship. The rituals of worship destroyed objects or things humans selected as special with the belief that this act displayed honor to the one being worshipped.

Jesus Christ, Who we believe is God Incarnate, came and modeled for us true worship which is not external to us but internal. Through His actions Jesus modeled the offering of self to God as   a sign of worship and transformation instead of destruction as a sign of true honor and praise.

Jesus taught us through His actions that offering our lives back to God in thanksgiving for the gift of life truly gives the Creator more praise and honor than destroying something that belongs to us but is external to us. The act of offering ourselves in thanksgiving for life highlights our awareness of God’s love for us and His presence within our lives. The type of worship Jesus offered taught us that worship deals with our personal relationship with God.

An intrinsic and intimate part of our personal offering of self involves our commitment to personal change and transformation. Since we offer our very lives back to God in communion with Jesus, we signify our awareness that the meaning and purpose of human life is to use all of the opportunities it presents to bring about personal change – metanoia.

Metanoia is the process of changing our personal attitudes and thinking and engages us in activities that will bring change in our thinking and attitudes, bringing them more in concert with those of Jesus. Engaging in personal change is, then, the spiritual sacrifice that we offer to God when we celebrate the Divine Liturgy!