Ritual

“Ritual”from Foundations in Ritual Studies  by Mark Searle

I found myself intrigued by the discussion of post-modern liturgical experience in the last portion of this article.  Searle writes, “Indeed it may be that anthropological studies could better help us understand how our liturgy used to work than how it works today” (15). I agree with the author that liturgy still fulfills functionalist and symbolic purposes, but that it still bears further examination.   For example, the rituals demarcating various transitions in life (marriage, funerals, etc) serve important functions in our social environment and the ritual actions contained in these reenactments serve to mark the passing of time from one thing to another (11).  However, a need for group solidarity (11) might be less important when the church is no longer the primary social center for a group.  Granted, this is impacted by such demographics as age, social strata, and geographic location as well. 

I believe that a popular thing to argue is that ritual is outdated and in order to “meet people where they are” we must never impose ritual, in particular such things as confession and forgiveness, passing the offering plate, and so on, for fear of alienating them from the church.  This probably stems from bad experiences in churches who idolize ritual itself.  This attitude has lead to an epidemic of blasé pseudo-emergent congregations that attempt to stand for everything and be all things to all people, and in the process, actually stand for nothing.  Neither extreme is helpful. Humans need ritual more than ever in a time of absolute anomie. 

            So by way of a statement worth making: Is there a way to balance the human need for ritual in a time of anomie with the damage done by congregations making an idol out of ritual itself?  What is the role of ritual in the post-modern church?  

Promise

HFASS 2012 Community Art Mural, "The Last Supper"
(Credit M. Nickoloff for photo)

What is Gospel?  Let me tell you a story…

This past Saturday during the Easter Vigil at my home congregation I had the honor of being the baptismal sponsor for my good friend Sherry.  I invited Sherry to worship last spring with me.  She has no experience whatsoever in a faith community, although I did not know this until she did not come up for communion for several weeks in a row.  I asked her if she wanted to take communion with me one Sunday, and she remarked that she was too afraid that she would be turned away from the altar (click through to explore what this means) because she had not been baptized.  

I repeated what our pastor says every Sunday, “This table belongs to the Lord.  All are welcome.”

That is it. 

Not, “All baptized believers may come forward to partake in communion.” (Which is a common refrain in many congregations.)  Sherry says that every time she communes, she feels closer to God and knows that she is loved and belongs to this community and to God.

Fast-forward about 8 months.  Sherry is still attending church, volunteering to take on projects in the congregation, and participating in a Lutheran Catechumenate class.  Our pastor asks if Sherry wants to be baptized at the Easter Vigil, which is a traditional time for baptism in the church.  Sherry is overcome with emotion when she says, “Yes.  I want to belong to God.”  THIS is Gospel. 

On Saturday evening I had the privilege of holding Sherry’s hand as I presented her for baptism.  And together we witnessed the pouring out of the waters, along with 148 other people.  And as she was anointed with the sign of the cross, “sealed and marked with the cross of Christ forever,” I felt tears well up within me too.   I am the Godparent for a 60-something woman and I could not be happier.  In her baptism, Sherry experienced a death like Christ in that she might also experience eternal life in him.  And that is pretty awesome. 

We are already beloved children of God.  All of us.  No matter how kind or mean or ridiculously smart or decidedly dumb any one of us might be.  Our baptism and regular partaking of the Lord’s Supper remind us of this Gospel promise. 

The Gospel is a promise that endures in spite of whether or not we understand how or why or when or where.  It is God claiming us to be God’s own regardless of our past, present, or future actions.  The Gospel is a continuing conversation that is alive in our relationships and conversations. It is God working through, in, with, and among us. 

The Gospel is the completely ludicrous idea that God loves us apart from anything we do to deserve it.  And says, “You are mine and that is all that matters.”  

What's the most offensive thing you have heard in church lately?

Every other friday in my Lutheran Confessional Writings class we have a free-for-all sort of lecture where you are invited to ask the professor a question related to any of the recent course material.  One of my classmates asked a question about the importance of "guarding the table" with regards to communion.

This phrase, which is not a Lutheran of receiving the sacraments, comes up from time to time.  It usually refers to pastors preventing people from taking communion if they have not been baptized, or to a lesser extent, not a part of a specific denomination or congregation.  I have been refused communion in Catholic churches and was interrogated by a Missouri Synod pastor once in Sioux Falls to make sure that I had a correct understanding of what communion was before I received it.

I cannot think of a worse thing for a pastor to be doing, to be "guarding" the sacraments from people who might not have a correct understanding of them or are worthy.  The table belongs to the Lord, not to a specific congregation or pastor or denomination, and the body and blood of Christ are a gift freely given to all.  We as public ministers should not be determining anyone's fitness for receiving such a gift.  Because if we are basing it on worthiness or understanding, none of us should ever receive it.

My pastor in Denver includes some fantastic things in the words of institution that she says every week.  She says in the beginning, "In the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus gathered with his faltering friends for a meal that tasted of freedom"  and with the invitation to the table, "Behold who you are, become what you receive."  These have shaped my theological understanding and my own ministry in the roster of Word and Sacrament.

If we are taking the Words of Institution seriously, we should NEVER be turning anyone away from the Lord's Table.  Jesus gathered with his imperfect friends, one of whom would turn him over to the Pharisees, Judas, and one who would deny him three times, Peter.  Yet he still broke bread with them and asked them to remember him and draw closer to God every time they partake of his body and blood.  And that we do not come to the table as whole people, rather we come broken and imperfect and adrift in the world.  We get our identity from the Sacraments.  It is from this knowledge that the draw towards baptism comes, but it should never be a prerequisite for receiving the Eucharist.