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16: What Is Your Workplace Liturgy? · Finding God at Work

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
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  Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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  isn't just a podcast.
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  It's also an online course.
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  Check it out at findinggodatwork.org.
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  Our current series is Meaningful Work, Calling, Formation,
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  Service, and Love.
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  I want you to take a minute and
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  imagine your morning routine at work.
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  How do you get started?
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  If you work from home, do you sit
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  down at your desk, open up your laptop
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  or computer?
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  If you work in a specific building, how
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  do you enter the building?
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  What happens between when you get inside and
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  when you get to your workstation or your
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  desk?
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  What are those steps of your routine?
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  We are creatures of habit, and we often
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  fall into routines and habits without even intending
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  to.
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  Henry David Thoreau, one of the transcendentalist writers
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  in the 19th century, he famously wrote about
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  this in his book Walden, where he talks
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  about his experience kind of living out in
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  the woods near this pond called Walden.
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  Here's some of what he says.
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  It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we
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  fall into a particular route and make a
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  beaten track for ourselves.
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  I had not lived there a week before
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  my feet wore a path from my door
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  to the pondside, and though it is five
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  or six years since I trod it, it
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  is still quite distinct.
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  It is true I fear that others may
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  have fallen into it and so helped to
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  keep it open.
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  The surface of the earth is soft and
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  impressible by the feet of men, and so
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  with the paths which the mind travels.
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  How worn and dusty then must be the
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  highways of the world.
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  How deep the ruts of tradition and conformity.
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  Now I'm a little bit more of a
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  traditionalist than Henry David Thoreau is.
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  I tend to think that our capacity to
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  form habits is a feature of human experience
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  rather than a bug.
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  But what I appreciate about what Henry David
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  Thoreau is saying is that when we do
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  it, as we just sort of fall into
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  a habit without really thinking about it, I
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  think it can be really helpful to be
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  intentional about our habits because our habits are
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  a big part of how our character is
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  formed.
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  Even simple habits that might not seem that
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  dramatic can shape our personality and even our
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  capacity to live life with God.
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  And we see this in scripture.
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  So for example, going to the Torah, Deuteronomy,
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  there's this famous passage called the Shema that
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  says that God is one.
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  And I'm going to read that, but then
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  also what it says afterwards about how the
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  teaching of the Torah can intersect with everyday
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  life.
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  So this is Deuteronomy chapter six, starting in
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  verse four.
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  Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the
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  Lord is one.
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  You shall love the Lord your God with
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  all your heart and with all your soul
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  and with all your might.
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  And these words that I command you today
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  shall be on your heart.
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  You shall teach them diligently to your children
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  and shall talk of them when you sit
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  in your house and when you walk by
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  the way and when you lie down and
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  when you rise, you shall bind them as
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  a sign on your hand and they shall
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  be as frontlets between your eyes.
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  You shall write them on the doorposts of
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  your house and on your gates.
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  Okay, so what is the Torah saying?
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  It's saying that scripture is so rich.
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  The words that I command you today shall
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  be on your heart.
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  And then it kind of unfolds.
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  How do you get them on your heart?
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  How do you get these words of God,
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  of his teaching on your heart?
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  Well, by kind of integrating them with the
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  flow of your everyday life.
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  So this is in a context where parents
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  have children.
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  So he says, you shall teach them diligently
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  to your children and shall talk of them
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  when you sit in your house.
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  So when you're at your home, have some
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  time in your domestic life for the word
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  of God, when you walk by the way,
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  so when you're traveling and somehow incorporate the
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  word of God into your traveling and when
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  you lie down and when you rise, so
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  your habits of going to sleep and waking
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  up in the morning.
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  In other words, in your routines of life,
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  in the midst of your everyday life experience,
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  whatever it is, put God's words right in
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  the middle of that in some way.
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  And the Jewish tradition has embraced this teaching
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  very literally.
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  That final statement, you shall bind them as
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  a sign on your hand and they shall
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  be as front ones between your eyes.
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  Certain traditions evolved what are called phylacteries, which
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  are like little bands that you literally wear
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  on your hands or on your forehead with
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  a little bit of the Torah inside them
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  on a scroll.
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  Similarly, that final verse, you shall write them
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  on the doorposts of your house and on
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  your gates.
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  There's a tradition.
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  You may have seen this if you've been
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  in a Jewish home or synagogue or temple
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  where there's a little container, it's like a
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  cylinder that's on the doorpost.
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  Usually it's on the right hand side at
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  a bit of an angle and that's called
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  a mezuzah.
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  And that has actually these verses from the
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  Torah inside of it and sometimes some similar
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  verses from Deuteronomy chapter 11.
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  And it's frequent for a Jewish person to
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  just touch it when they walk through a
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  doorway.
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  Now what is that?
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  That is a really practical expression of exactly
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  what this verse is talking about.
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  Whenever you walk through a doorway, just that
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  little reminder of the word of God.
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  Now that could be practiced in a legalistic
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  way where we think, oh, if we don't
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  touch it, then somehow we're under God's judgment
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  or that's not the idea.
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  It's an embodied practical expression of this teaching
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  though, somehow put all this stuff into your
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  everyday life, have it be part and parcel
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  of your routines and your habits.
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  And we see different people practicing this in
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  different ways, both in scripture and throughout church
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  history.
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  So in scripture, the context that the Torah
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  was speaking to was kind of like your
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  life as a Jewish community.
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  But then what happens when you're displaced from
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  that community, like during the period of the
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  Babylonian exile?
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  Well, let's look at Daniel.
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  He was one of those people who was
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  displaced during the exile.
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  And what's he doing while he's over there
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  in Babylon and Persia doing life, doing his
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  routines?
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  This is Daniel chapter 6 verse 10.
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  Daniel went into his house where he had
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  windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.
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  He got down on his knees three times
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  a day and prayed and gave thanks before
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  his God as he had done previously.
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  Okay, so Daniel has a habit, right?
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  It says as he has done previously, this
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  is kind of an ongoing thing in his
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  life where he has three times a day
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  where he goes and he prays and he
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  prays with his windows open toward Jerusalem.
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  So his heart is kind of oriented towards
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  that symbolic place of God's presence.
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  Daniel has figured out a way, even when
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  he's displaced from the community that would prioritize
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  these things, to have a kind of personal
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  rhythm, a personal routine of prayer at set
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  times so that that's continuing to shape his
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  heart and draw his heart towards God, toward
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  the community of God.
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  Now there is a word for this that
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  kind of evolved in the Christian tradition and
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  that word is liturgy.
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  Comes from the Greek, it literally means the
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  work of the people and it refers to
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  this idea of kind of like set times
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  of prayer or specific prayers that are prayed
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  at different times and it actually predates the
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  church.
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  It was practiced within the Jewish community even
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  before Jesus' time.
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  Jesus himself probably followed the Jewish liturgy in
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  his life, praying certain prayers at certain times
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  of day and at certain festivals throughout the
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  year.
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  So this is a very biblical idea that
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  we would have a liturgy, a kind of
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  set of routines.
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  Now at the same time, again, the biblical
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  teaching about the relationship between law and grace,
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  we don't need to have a legalistic approach
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  to liturgy where you have to do this
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  liturgy at this exact time or else.
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  Rather, there's wisdom here that we can adopt
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  a kind of liturgy for our lives and
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  this is what I really want to say
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  is you already have a liturgy for your
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  life.
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  That routine that you thought through at the
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  beginning of your workday, that's a liturgy.
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  That's a work of the people.
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  That's your routine that you have in your
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  life.
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  So you already are liturgical.
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  You already have work, routine, habits, patterns that
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  you're wearing.
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  As Thoreau would say, you already have tracks
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  that you've worn in the grass and paths
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  that you're just kind of following out of
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  habit.
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  Could we get intentional about that in terms
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  of making our liturgy something that's conducive to
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  formation and Christlike character?
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  There are different examples of this throughout Christian
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  history.
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  In the Middle Ages, for example, certain laborers
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  would form what were called guilds.
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  For example, there was like a stonemasons guild.
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  So people whose work was to carve stones
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  for buildings and other projects, they would be
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  part of a community that would not just
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  work but also have habits of prayer in
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  that community.
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  So thinking about your work context, you might
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  be in a predominantly Christian work context, like
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  if you work at a church or at
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  a non-profit, and there might be an
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  opportunity for you to take a kind of
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  guild-like approach to your routines of work.
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  Is there some way for you all as
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  Christians who are working together to have a
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  rhythm of your prayer in community that helps
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  all of you stay connected to Jesus throughout
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  the day?
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  Different traditions and workplaces handle this differently.
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  When I went to a Christian college, we
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  had chapel three times a week, and it
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  was required.
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  And I'm really glad it was required because
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  it didn't let the perfectionist in me say,
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  oh, I should do my homework instead.
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  It's like, nope, got to show up because
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  it's required.
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  But that meant that I had a community
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  liturgy I was participating in Monday, Wednesday, Friday,
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  every week of worship.
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  That was a huge part of my formation
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  experience at college.
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  In some ways, I think that what I
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  experienced in those chapel services is just as
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  important or even more important than what I
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  accomplished in my formal academic studies because it
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  was the people of God gathered for worship,
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  for prayer, for receiving teaching from the Scripture.
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  That formed and shaped me in a really
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  rich way.
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  And honestly, I miss that rhythm.
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  I would love to have a rhythm where
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  I could somehow attend chapel three times a
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  week, plus what I do for church on
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  Sundays.
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  Now, obviously, I like church.
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  I'm a church guy.
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  But I'm not saying you have to have
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  chapel three times a week at your Christian
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  nonprofit.
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  But is there some way that you could
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  kind of build that that guild-like habit
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  of our work and our prayer can go
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  together?
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  We can be intentional rather than insensible about
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  the habits that we're forming, the routines that
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  are shaping us as we do our work
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  every day.
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  Now, on the flip side, if you don't
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  work in a Christian context at all, if
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  you work in a secular environment, you might
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  be more like Daniel.
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  You might be in an environment that's actually
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  pushing back against any sort of sense of
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  the presence of God, or at least simply
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  that's not on the radar of the leaders
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  or how they structure the workday or anything
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  like that.
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  In our last episode where Pastor Daniel Small
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  from Christ Community Church shared, he talked about
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  how when he was working as a consultant,
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  he found that kind of the rhythm and
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  the situation and the expectations of his work
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  really amped up his anxiety.
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  Well, that was a kind of liturgy.
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  There was a liturgy in his workplace, even
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  a secular workplace, that kind of was deforming
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  him towards anxiety.
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  What did he do?
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  He pushed back.
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  He figured out, okay, I'm going to adopt
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  a liturgy of going on this walk and
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  praying and having that just be kind of
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  a checkpoint in my day to push back
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  against this and to welcome the presence of
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  God.
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  Again, a great example of similarly to Daniel
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  doing this while he's in exile.
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  When you're in an environment that isn't going
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  to foster connection with God, you can still
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  take ownership to say, okay, I'm going to
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  establish my own private liturgy to honor God
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  and to bring my heart back around to
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  him, even if I don't have the advantage
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  of a kind of guild-like community shared
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  liturgy fostering that.
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  So I would encourage you to think about,
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  okay, what can I personally do so that
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  my liturgy is intentional?
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  So that my liturgy of my workday is
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  helping form me more toward Christ-like character.
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  A couple recommendations here.
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  One is to start small.
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  Don't go crazy with a whiteboard and write
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  down a hundred different things that you're going
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  to do every week to foster a new
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  rhythm of life with Jesus in the workplace.
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  That's not a good way to start.
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  Start simple.
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  Maybe take inspiration from the mezuzah.
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  Is there a prayer you can pray when
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  you walk in the door of your workplace
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  or of your home office?
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  For me, I like praying the prayer, the
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  Jesus prayer that I've shared in another episode,
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  Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God,
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  have mercy on me, a sinner.
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  It's really short, simple prayer, and it just
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  orients me.
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  I'm dependent on the mercy of God in
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  this work, just like in everything else.
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  Do you have a routine where you can
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  pray that prayer as you begin your workday
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  or as you end your workday or when
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  you go on lunch?
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  There's lots of creativity here, which is the
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  great thing, again, because we're not bound by
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  a kind of legalism.
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  We have flexibility.
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  We have room for creativity to figure out
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  what's going to work for me to kind
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  of structure my day to keep drawing my
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  heart back toward God.
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  So that's the first thing is exercise some
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  creativity, but start small, start simple.
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  Don't go don't go bonkers with it.
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  Better to do something small and simple and
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  get it consistent than to be really ambitious
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  and then give up on the project after,
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  you know, a few days or a couple
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  of weeks.
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  So that's my first recommendation is that you
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  keep it simple.
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  My second recommendation is, is there any way
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  to invite somebody else into it?
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  So even if you're in a secular workplace,
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  do you have a co-worker who's also
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  a follower of Jesus?
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  Could you have a monthly prayer time together?
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  Again, maybe not something super intense like every
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  single week, but just some sort of touch
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  point where you're kind of bringing that guild
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  -like posture to the work you're doing together
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  as believers in the workplace.
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  And I get it.
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  It can be hard to fit these things
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  in.
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  We had a gathering like this at the
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  food bank where I work that some people
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  started kind of off the books, but it
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  was always at like 730 AM on Monday
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  morning and I didn't need to be at
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  work that early on Monday morning.
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  So I didn't make it that often.
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  I get there and maybe see them coming
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  out of the prayer room and I'd be
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  like, Hey guys.
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  And so like, I get it.
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  It's hard to fit these things in.
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  But the good news is we're working with
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  the way God designed us to work.
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  Again, habit is a feature, not a bug.
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  Our capacity to build habit is a feature,
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  not a bug.
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  So by figuring out a way to put
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  prayer and awareness of the word of God
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  and just orienting our hearts towards God into
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  our habits and our routines, we're actually working
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  with the way that God designed us.
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  So it's not something that we have to
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  consciously cram in every single day, but instead
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  is something that just sort of breathes there
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  as part of our natural habit and our
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  natural routine.
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  So over time, once these habits are established,
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  both individually and with other people, they're just
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  there and you can just sort of rest
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  in them and they're helping you.
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  They're helping you draw close to God.
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  So that's my kind of plug for being
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  conscious and intentional about liturgy in your workday.
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  If you're interested in more resources for that,
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  there's a lot that you can find online.
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  Just one brief resource I would recommend is
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  a book called Every Moment Holy, and it
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  has little prayers to pray for different moments
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  throughout your day.
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  So just like that Deuteronomy passage said, Hey,
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  when you're walking on the road, be conscious
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  of the word of God.
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  When you're teaching your children, make sure you're
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  teaching them the word of God.
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  When you're lying down, when you're waking up,
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  this Every Moment Holy book has prayers for
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  when you're making your morning coffee or when
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  you're changing a diaper or when you're working
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  on a work project.
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  And so those prayers can be helpful just
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  to shape, again, that sense of this work
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  I'm doing right now is sacred.
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  It is holy.
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  God can be present here just as much
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  as he is anywhere.
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  Lord Jesus, thank you for your love for
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  us.
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  Thank you that you are faithful in the
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  middle of our failures and our weaknesses.
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  Help us to show intentionality.
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  Help us to collaborate with you, with creativity,
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  and how we can redeem the time of
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  our work days.
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  Make them hours and places and times full
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  of your presence.
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  Draw our hearts continuously to you in that
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  way.
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  Jesus, do your work in us as we
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  do our work with you.