Popularly, people say (I’ve said it myself) that the word, “liturgy” (λειτουργία or λῃτουργία) derive from the Greek, “λαός” (Laos – people) and ἔργο (ergo – work) – so that liturgy, we say, means “work of the people”.
But maybe liturgy is not “work of the people” but “work FOR the people”.
Robert Hendrickson wrote about this here
The word describes building projects critical to a community’s ongoing life. It might refer to a temple or bridge or the like. The work was done by members of the community but might be sponsored by a wealthy patron.
The work for the people was the work that was done in response to a critical need in the life of the community. These works knit communities together and provided something crucial for them to grow and flourish. It was not about shared ownership but about shared benefit. All liturgy in the Church is a work of shared benefit – but it is not the benefit of grace for which we labor. We labor because it glorifies God. That glorification of God is a work of the people not in that it is a shared production but that it is a crucial piece of our shared infrastructure of faith.
On another site, we are reminded
‘-urgy’ is not a commonly used suffix, but there’s a helpful parallel in the word ‘metallurgy’. This means, not the work of metal, but the working of metal. I think of liturgy as being the working of people – the shaping and forming of them, through regular habits of worship and prayer.
was in ancient Greece a public service established by the city-state whereby its richest members (whether citizens or resident aliens), more or less voluntarily, financed the State with their personal wealth.
Liturgy was public works, usually organised by a private benefactor paying for that. This is something that we (the worshipping community) do for others…
This may turn the way we view liturgy, whom it’s for, who it’s by, why, and what it does, upside down and back to front. Even better – it may not merely change how we view it – it might change how we do it…
This post is a Throwback Thursday post.
Instagram’s @liturgy is the new venture – if you are on Instagram, please follow @liturgy.
image source: Fczarnowski
Worthwhile ideas and very helpful. Thank you.
Thanks for that. Your article lift and clarifies.