Jubilation And The Renewal Of Worship

An important aspect of contemporary worship renewal is the recovery of ancient church practice. The tradition of jubilation has much to contribute to the renewal of Christian worship, in both corporate liturgy and personal worship. An understanding of this tradition helps to place the worship of the modern charismatic renewal into its historical context.

Our inquiries into the way Christians have prayed in the past have yielded strong confirmation of the authenticity of today's glossolalia and expressive worship as found in the charismatic renewal movement. Until very late in the Catholic worship tradition, glossolalia in a variety of forms was a basic response both for groups and for individuals. Improvised group jubilation was a regular part of the liturgy for almost the entire first millennium of the church. Most major mystical traditions before the seventeenth century actually describe this form of prayer, and records can be found well into the nineteenth century of expressive prayer and glossolalia among contemplatives. The existence of this tradition demonstrates that the present-day charismatic prayer forms and expressive worship are essentially harmonious with the rich tradition of early Christian spirituality. At the same time, the tradition challenges charismatics of today to come to a richer theological understanding of their worship experience and to learn new ways and better language with which to describe it. This is an era that is rediscovering tradition. The legacy of the centuries just prior to Vatican II was one of increasing rigidity. Though the forms of this pre–Vatican II period are often called traditional, it was a period completely out of touch with tradition. Tradition is the memory of Jesus, the experience of the original apostolic church finding increasing depth and resonance as the church grew in experience. Deepening understandings of the gospel continued for hundreds of years after the New Testament was completed. The doctrine of the Trinity, the understanding of the divinity and humanity of the Lord, and eucharistic devotion all developed in greater fullness as the church lived out its faith through the c When the Roman Catholic church reacted in panic by convoking the Council of Trent, much of the flow of tradition began to cease. In many areas such as Scripture, spirituality, and liturgy, the church lost vital contact with its sources. The liturgical and biblical movements that led to the Second Vatican Council have once again opened a door to tradition so that the church can creatively face its future by drawing on the resources of its past. Events in the Catholic church have been paralleled by renewal movements in the Protestant community as well. In many ways, charismatic renewal complements the liturgical renewal and the scriptural renewal of the Catholic tradition. The liturgical movement involved a massive amount of research and study. The scriptural roots of the liturgy, various liturgical practices in different eras, the tradition of the Eastern churches, and the experience of the Protestant churches were all sources that contributed to the renewal of the liturgy. Yet we have neglected to consult sources in the area of spirituality. In a much more significant way than in the biblical and liturgical renewals, the renewal of spirituality involves experience—the experience of God, the church, and the decisions of those who chose to follow the gospel. Both charismatic renewal and the church need again to hear the original stories of Francis and Bernard, of the revivals of the Middle Ages, the stories of faith powerful enough to change cultures. Original accounts of the lives of the saints and the teachings of the mystics need to be heard in our midst once again. We need to return to sources not only with our heads but also with our hearts. New Understandings of Expressive Worship A recovery of the tradition of jubilation will have a telling effect upon the renewal of Christian worship, in its human and spiritual dimensions. It will also help to provide a new conceptual framework for understanding tongues within the charismatic experience. The Human Dimension. One reason that Pentecostal glossolalia has frightened some people is because it has been viewed as something other than a human response. The idea of speaking in unknown tongues through the power of the Holy Spirit is understandably difficult even for many Christians to accept. The experience of the church suggests that wordless prayer and expressive worship can be understood in their natural and ordinary dimensions, as basic human activity given over to a spiritual use. St. John of the Cross compared the gladness of jubilation to the expressions of a bridegroom's joy. St. Teresa of Avila likened jubilation to the festivity of a party. A young man in love hums a new tune and does cartwheels in the park because of the joy of his new relationship. Families hold reunions amidst much laughter and back-slapping. People enjoying one another express their happiness with a variety of spontaneous gestures, movements, and happy noises. Likewise, sorrow and pathos are often marked by the wordless sound of sighs, sobs, and cries. The Scriptures present God as totally other and transcendent, and at the same time profoundly intimate and immanent. Believers can know their greatest intimacy with God himself. It is natural that spontaneous human response should be part of the intimate human encounter with the Lord and with his people. Expressive worship reinforces the Christian principle of the unity of body and soul. Jubilation as practiced in groups can bring together separate individuals and form them into a community. Just as secular wordless cries and calls unite a work crew, so spontaneous harmonizing binds Christians in worship and prayer. The glossolalia experience encompasses broader manifestations than simply speaking in tongues or, as the tradition describes it, vocal praying without words; jubilation also includes inspired song, laughter, tears, and bodily gestures. The Word of God community in Ann Arbor, Michigan, pioneered many areas of expressive worship in the early days of the charismatic movement. During prayer meetings the music group would enter into the melody of jubilation with improvisations on their instruments; others might express the rhythm in dance and gesture. "Praying in the Spirit" with guitars and bodily movement, as well as with the voice, was also a common practice in personal prayer. These shared worship experiences united the community. The Spiritual Dimension. The fact that the church fathers and the mystical tradition view jubilation and expressive worship as ordinary and natural to human beings does not mean that they do not also see them as having profound spiritual significance. In fact, the emphasis placed upon these worship forms by writers such as Augustine and the fourteenth-century English mystic Richard Rolle is even greater than the importance given to them in the present-day charismatic renewal. The mystics visualized heaven as a place of laughter and joyous spontaneity; they believed that the practice of jubilation is a reflection of heaven in the midst of God's people on earth. Contemplatives have always contended that the deepest prayer is prayer without words, prayer that God himself gives as a gift. Jubilation is entering into God's gift of prayer with one's entire being—voice, body and heart. In the jubilation tradition, both the human and spiritual sides of expressive prayer are beautifully blended. Jubilation is very human and ordinary; at the same time, it is a mystical encounter with God. A New Conceptual Framework for Tongues. The tradition of jubilation and the accompanying forms of expressive prayer provide a new conceptual framework for understanding glossolalia and its demonstrative aspects. In order to help Christians comprehend the human processes involved, it might be helpful to employ descriptive language from historical sources. Terms such as jubilation, free-style harmonization, and "sounds of wonder" can be used alongside standard Pentecostal words for glossolalia. Such terms indicate the broad traditional base that exists for this experience. They also reinforce its human and ordinary nature. The Catholic tradition also emphasizes the spiritual significance of glossolalia as a means of mystical communion with God. Writings from the church fathers and later mystics can be used to clarify that jubilation is a learned response as well as a gift, thus removing some of the trepidation with which some Christians approach the phenomena of the charismatic renewal. Jubilation in Liturgy and Personal Prayer Historically, the practice of jubilation has had a place in both the public worship of the church and the personal devotional life of Christian worshipers. Its recovery in the contemporary setting has implications both for renewal of the liturgy and for personal prayer. The Liturgy. The proper home for jubilation is the liturgical setting. As we have seen, throughout history expressive worship was linked with the liturgy and liturgical celebrations. The alleluia-jubilus that was improvised by church congregations until the ninth century was a standard preparation for the reading of the gospel. Egeria described the loud wordless response of the fifth-century Jerusalem church to the reading of Scripture and the praying of the liturgical hours. Today the spontaneous response of charismatic Christians needs to become progressively more integrated with their liturgical and paraliturgical life. Liturgists and musicians can teach improvised jubilation to the people as they themselves become more familiar with the tradition and with the present-day renewal. The tradition offers a variety of ways in which jubilation can be incorporated into the regular worship life of the people of God. Jubilation and expressive worship can also be taught to children in church schools and training classes, and to adult converts as a part of their faith response to Christ and the gospel. Both the church and its individual members will be enriched as a result. Personal Prayer. Jubilation also has strong implications for personal prayer. Because it is a way for God to pray through the believer, it can be a means of experiencing the gift of contemplative prayer. Cassiodorus (450–583) called it a "teacher" of prayer. Revisiting the tradition can open Christians to "mystical jubilation," the spiritual drunkenness that results in expressions of joyful abandon. Familiarity with the tradition of the saints, mystics, and doctors of the church can provide a framework for believers in which they might give expression to laughter, tears, and all manner of physical movements in their personal prayer. It is important to note, however, that jubilation is simply one style of prayer. Silence, liturgical prayer, intercession and other forms are equally important, and all should be integrated into a healthy prayer life. The Broader Context. Charismatic renewal has been a great gift to the church, a "stream of grace," as Cardinal Suenens put it. It is an important part of the spiritual renewal of the church, bringing with it the spiritual gifts and a new sense of community. Any renewal, however, faces the danger of myopia, of looking inward and focusing exclusively upon its own particular areas of emphasis. The broader church needs to be refreshed by the charismatic element, but charismatics also need to be revitalized by the church as a whole. A willingness to listen to tradition, to the biblical and liturgical movements, and other renewals within the church can call the charismatic community to grow out of itself and become more truly the gift to the church it is meant to be. The church is moving toward a more personal and intimate Christianity, a faith with a more human face. It is also moving toward community and an increasingly informal and expressive worship to help establish that community. There is a strong return to the elements of mysticism and jubilation. Expressive worship has a role to play in this re-creation and rebuilding by making spiritual realities personal and visible and by becoming a means through which Christians can celebrate them with one another and with God.