We do many things in this service through rote repetition – we follow the drill. Contrary to the views of many in the contemporary church, there is no necessary spiritual death in this. But contrary to the view of certain diehard traditionalists, there is no automatic life in it either. We serve God through faith. If we approach God in faith, then our liturgical habits will be robust, vigorous, and alive. If we approach Him with waning or non-existent faith, then our worship service will be worthy of contempt.
So think. As we sing the Gloria in Excelsis and the Gloria Patri, your lips are approaching God. Where is your heart? Approaching Him also, or is it removed far from Him like the heart of a Pharisee? As you lift your hands before God, is this being done in faith? Are they holy hands? Or are you just thoughtlessly going along with the crowd? As you say amen, is it the expression of a robust faith? Or is it something else, offensive to God? As you heard the Word proclaimed, are you willingly asking God to wield His scalpel, and remove all your spiritual cancer? Or are you delaying out there in the waiting room, flipping through the doctor’s magazines, hoping to slip away quietly? You can always tell others that you did go to the doctor. You did make it to church. But in faith?