A central task of the liturgy is the lifting up of the work of the people of God in praise. Many of the gifts of grace that are experienced in the life of the people of a congregation are first experienced at a preconscious or uninterpreted level. A person who was feeling inadequate unexpectedly receives a complement that lifts her spirits. In a burst of creative insight, a problem is solved that had frustrated an engineer for weeks. At just the right moment, you happen to meet someone who introduces you to another person who is desperately looking for someone with just your type of skills. Your child gets lost in a large department store and just as you are panickly looking for a security guard, you see a stranger bringing your child towards you on his shoulders.
Quite often we accept these various experiences as just part of our daily lives. The life of the congregation provides a variety of similar opportunities to both share and receive such gracious gifts. Whether they are experienced as part of the interactions of members of a congregation or in our daily experiences in the larger society, it is only when they are connected with the larger stories of faith that they are recognized as the graces of God that have been lavished upon us.
It is part of our life together to celebrate what God is doing among us. The gifts of grace that are celebrated in the communal life of the congregation are the gifts that are owned by the congregation. As they are identified in worship, they become part of the consciousness of the congregation. These same members become sensitive to recognizing similar gifts of grace in other areas of their life. These will be the experiences that will be carried out into the larger community and become part of the witness of the Body of Christ.
