Heaven and Earth: Valpo ILS

Earlier this week I attended the Institute for Liturgical Studies at Valparaiso University. It was an outstanding conference, not only for the speakers but for the worship and liturgy.

The worship space on campus is similarly impressive. I was particularly struck by something on the day I left. As I made my way from the small lower chapel near the labyrinth and ascended the stairs beneath the pulpit to the large worship space above, it occurred to me that this is how heaven meets earth in the Liturgy. Our "little liturgies" and celebrations down here occur beneath and in concert with the Grand Divine Liturgy of the Trinity "upstairs." Our celebration is as much a "foretaste of the Feast" as it is "celebrating in the basement." It was marvelous to ascend those stairs.

Sabbath Rest

I was thinking again about Marva Dawn's book Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting (Eerdmans, 1989) and reflecting on how terribly we keep that sabbath commandment as Christians in our culture.

Having just finished the season of Lent, I am wondering out loud how to recover "sabbath keeping" as Christian communal discipline. Like fasting, it is better kept (and best kept?) as a community in Christ.

What would it mean for our common life together (see the Acts reading (4:32-35) from Sunday) to keep the Sabbath? How might we be shaped differently by a communal commitment--shaped and driven of course by the Holy Spirit--to the Sabbath?

Triduum Part III: Easter Morning

I hope to post some thoughts on the Vigil celebration soon, but for now I hope these words from a sermon by St. John Chrysostom will suffice:

The Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom
[excerpt]

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Is there anyone who is a grateful servant?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hades when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

This version rendered in stanza format by Dn. Mark Baker.

Triduum Part II: Good Friday

A kiss on the cross--what a strange thing! Or is it?

For weeks I had noticed a smudge or something on our golden processional cross that stood front and center in the chancel during Lent. But there was this smudge on it. It kind of bothered me: What is that?

But then I looked closer. The smudge on the beautiful golden cross was in the shape of lips. Someone had kissed the cross and left a mark.

What adoration! What devotion! What a remarkable way to mark Lent, Holy Week, the Great Three Days and the glory of Easter!

Or, from the Good Friday liturgy: "Behold the life-giving cross upon which was hung the salvation of the world!"

Triduum Part I: Maundy Thursday

Two parts of the service today were especially moving to me as Presider.

1. As I laid my hands on the heads of many members and pronounced to each of them individually the words of absolution, it struck me that THIS is one of the places where heaven meets earth. Through this simple gesture, here on earth, the church participates in the divine economy and bestows God's very own grace. No wonder Martin Luther included "Confession and Absolution" in some of his "lists" of sacraments.

2. As my colleague Dave stooped to wash my feet after his sermon, I was humbly thankful for this calling, but most of all for our Lord Jesus who stoops down to wash us in the waters of Holy Baptism.

It's going to be a beautifully long three days, I'm afraid.

And this one's for fun. In a senior/associate pastor ministry situation, is it appropriate to refer to the senior pastor as the "Prime Minister"? :)

Pre-Packaged Communion

It was probably inevitable: pre-packaged all-in-one individual "communion" packets. See, for example this one called Remembrance(R). One arrived during this Holy Week at our congregation.

Do I have to begin with the Top Ten Reasons Why Pre-Packaged Communion is a bad idea?

10. The packaging is disposable, not a very fitting vessel for our Lord's Body and Blood.

9. It is "convenient" and "efficient." A celebration of Holy Communion should be neither.

8. It allows for a celebration in which neither of the elements need touch a human hand.

7. Its very "individuality" betrays a central part of the Sacrament: its communal nature.

6. Looks cheap.

5. Reminds me of a Holy Happy Meal.

4. Do we really need to be creating more plastic petroleum byproducts?

3. What if you bring four of these for a visit and the neighbor shows up?

2. It trivializes and mocks the Sacrament.

1. It is three steps back (or thirty) for the unity of the church.

For another view, here is our denomination's sacramental practices statement. See part III.

Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity

I am intrigued--not to mentioned mostly convinced--by the argument that present-day divisions of the church are, in fact, sin. A more complete explanation of this, as well as some direction for the future of ecumenism in the church, can be found in the
Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity.

Another good place to begin if you are interested in ecumenism is with the World Council of Churches' Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry document.

Gospel of Judas

Rather than comment at length on the recent furor over the "Gospel of Judas," I thought I would provide two links that I found helpful: by Mark Roberts and Ben Witherington.

When the Da Vinci Code craze hit a few years ago, something puzzled me that puzzles me still today: Why are so many so eager to read books from works entitled The Other Bible or extra-canonical gospels (such as The Gospel of Mary Magadalene), rather than dwelling deeply, passionately and patiently with the canonical gospels? There is enough in the Gospel of John to occupy even the most brilliant mind for a lifetime.

Washing Hands

For this Palm Sunday my colleague told the Passion according to St. Mark, which he had memorized. It was very moving to "hear" the Passion in this way, rather than simply hearing it read.

What struck me most, however, was a line from the Gospel of Matthew (27:24): "So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, 'I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.'" This is the line in the Passion narrative that settled in my heart and mind as I washed my hands before presiding at the Eucharist.

Even as I prepare to life the cup and the host, my hands are indeed stained with the Blood of Christ.

Blessed to be a Blessing

While distibuting Holy Communion this morning I was given a blessing. When I knelt down to give a blessing and mark the sign of the cross on the forehead of one of our young members, he blessed me back! Tracing the sign of the cross on my forehead he said, "Almighty God bless you now and forever." Very moving. It is not too often that pastors are given blessings.

Flannery O'Connor on Faith and Doubt

"What people don't realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is murch harder to believe than to not believe." -Flannery O'Connor in The Habit of Being

At the heart of the Christian Faith is the claim that a Jew from Nazareth, God the Son, died a brutal and horrible death and was raised, is alive and Lord of all creation. That is a lot to chew on. I think that is why we get 13+ weeks (Lent and the Season of Easter) to dwell on the mystery of the Passion and the Resurrection.

I like the way O'Connor puts it: Faith is not a big electric blanket but the Cross. Faith is not "what warms me up" or even "what fills me up" (though faith does have a habit of doing the latter--but often in the least-expected ways), faith is always centered and fixed on the Cross of Christ, "upon which was hung the salvation of the world." Like God calling Moses out of the burning bush, God beckons us still today: "Look here!" +