Last week, Ian continued the exploration of Christology and Ecclesiology by reviewing the notion of the Church as the "Sacrament of Christ" — that is, the visible "sign" or "symbol" of Christ's continuing presence in the world. This week, he explores that concept further by revisiting a subject that never fails to "put the cat among the pigeons", his view that we as Christians "are called to service, not worship".

The Nature of Worship…

What do we mean by worship? My students will no doubt crow to see me do this, since I have often expressed to them very strong, negative feelings about the reliability of Wikipedia; but perhaps I could begin by taking a definition from that admittedly widely-influential source of knowledge. The authors of the wiki on "worship" state that:

"Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. It is the informal term in English for what sociologists of religion call cultus, the body of practices and traditions that correspond to theology."

I am not sure that I would accept the final part of that definition that "worship" entails "the body of practices and traditions that correspond to theology". I would, following Ninian Smart's elaboration of the "Seven Dimensions" of religion, separate what Smart calls "ritual" (worship, adoration, liturgical acts) from what he terms "doctrine" (creeds, canons, dogma). However, I freely accept that there are no clear boundaries between any of the Seven Dimensions. The "mythic" dimension (scripture) is integral to the "ritual" one, and informs both the "doctrinal" and the "moral" (ethics, charity, justice) dimensions.

Having said that, I would still hold that the term "worship", even according to the definition offered by Wikipedia, refers to particular liturgical acts of homage or praise of a deity (both individual and communal). The Wiki in question also notes that "[i]n its older sense in the English language of worthiness or respect (Anglo-Saxon worthscripe), worship may sometimes refer to actions directed at members of higher social classes (such as lords or monarchs) or to particularly esteemed persons (such as a lover)".

This statement suggests that "worship" is seen as a form of kowtowing to a higher authority with expressions of praise — perhaps even with the view to either placate the anger or court the favour of that authority. The purpose of worship, I submit to you, is as much a matter of personal expediency as it is one of genuine adoration (of a deity) or veneration (of our holy ancestors or saints). My belief is that such a "purpose" has no place in Christianity. We do not need to placate or court God — God has already elected us as his or her chosen people, and he or she has not done so in order to create a fan club that will spend its days in adulation. God requires far more than mere worship.

The Nature of Christian Liturgy…

It is of significance that the liturgical practices of Christians differ profoundly from that of other religious devotees, including that of the ancient Israelites who first initiated the tradition to which we are heirs. Many of the key components of ancient Jewish worship were appropriated by the early Christians. But these were radically altered in the light of new Christological ideas. With our Jewish ancestors we share a common view of God as redeemer and saviour. We accept the notion of covenant and that of covenantal responsibilities expressed via codes of ethical behaviours — social action as response to "Grace". We have adopted much of the theology of atonement essential to Second-Temple Judaism, which is reflected in our understanding of the Eucharist as a ritual sacrifice. But our attitude to ritual is very different.

The defining picture of worship and ritual in Second-Temple Judaism is that of the Exodus event (the story of which reached its final form in the Babylonian Exile) as a chosen people of a mighty, awe-inspiring and utterly transcendent God. The temple was seen as akin to the original Tabernacle (the tent that the Israelites carried with them to house the Ark) in which dwelt the shekinah (glory) of God. God's glory was thought to literally sit upon the outstretched wings of the cherubim on top of the ark. Accordingly, the Temple was the single most holy place in the entire world — indeed, the centre of the world where the God of heaven and earth dwelt. That's why Jews of the period had only one temple — "one temple for the one people under the one God" as Josephus put it. This was further emphasised by the architectural design of the temple itself.

The temple had three concentric courtyards which were restricted to different classes of people. Only Jews (and not Gentiles) who had adequately performed the ritual of sacrifices could enter the first. Only priests could enter the second. And only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, in which the Ark sat; and even then he could only do so on one day of the year.

	Temple Mount

So it is only through the High Priest that people can meet God, and their worship involved three festivals a year (Exodus 23:14-17), and a perpetual stream of sacrifices to make themselves right before God. The primary role of the people at Temple was to worship and pay homage and make sacrifice to the resident deity — and to do so to placate God's anger or court his favour for the coming year. Many classes of people were excluded from the Temple, including menstruating women and the sick and diseased. One had to be deemed worthy or "clean" to enter the presence of God and offer worship.

Ritual and liturgy in Christianity is remarkably different from that of the Second-Temple period — both in terms of its practice and its purpose. The key to the Temple worship was its constancy — a continual cycle of sacrifice and praise to atone for sin and ask for blessings.

In Christian theology, however, such practices were rendered null and void in the person of Jesus Christ, who wrought the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Jesus came to be seen as both the High Priest (Hebrews 3:1, 4:14), the ultimate and complete sacrificial lamb (Hebrews 9:14, 26; John 1:29), and the true temple (John 2:21, 1 Corinthians 6:19).

Jesus' death on the cross tore asunder the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the people (Mk 15:38) and the transcendent God became immanent to all sans any need for human or ritual mediation. This literary motif testifies to the fact that in Christianity, the locus of ritual and liturgy shifted from a physical temple to Jesus. Believers now commune with Jesus and with God through Jesus, who is the one and only mediator between God and humans.

Accordingly, there is no longer any need to placate God's anger or court God's favour. Through the Incarnation God has broken our old "idols" and images of the deity by his showing us pre-emptively the divine mercy and love. What God demands in return is not animal sacrifices, burning incense or, even, endless peels of Gregorian chants (St Benedict's Rule gives equal status to both the singing of the Office and physical labour for the community).

What God requires is the sacrifice of service to our fellows. Hence what Paul writes in Romans, "Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship" (Rom 12:1-2).

Ethical Implications of the Sunday Eucharist…

Christian liturgy, then, is not simply the act of praising God in church, and even less for doing so in the one's own self-interests. Rather, it is an ongoing attitude of life that is defined by self-giving and service.

When we meet each Sunday we do so not to kowtow to God, but to fellowship, and draw strength to "go forth and live what we proclaim" (as the final exhortation of the Mass says). And what do we proclaim? On this score, I think that the Lukan Jesus' makes an important programmatic statement (following the words of Isaiah) in his hometown synagogue:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour". (Lk 4:18)

Similarly, the Matthean Jesus warns that "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven". (Matt 7:21; cf. Lk 6:46)

For very good reasons the fathers at the Vatican Council called the Eucharist the "source and summit" of the Christian life. The ritual and liturgy of the Church is central and indispensable, but it is not the "all" of the Christian life. I tried to say something similar to this in my commentary on the Transfiguration a couple of months ago. What I said there about Matthew's attitude to "mountain-top theophanies" is equally true of Sunday liturgies — no matter how uplifting and full of praise they are.

[I]t is not our destiny to dwell continually upon the mountain top. In this life can only hope for a foretaste and an apocalypse (vision) of eschatological future when we will "see him face-to-face" (1 Cor 13:12). Even those monks, nuns, mystics and hermits who flee the mundane for the lonely mountain tops in search of the "numinal world" cannot live "apart" from the crowd. The mundane will invade the sacred; the cares of the world, the troubles of the times, the demons of one's own character will occupy far more of one's time than the "highs" of the sacred realm…. We cannot remain on the mountain, we all must eventually come down from the mountain and face the crowds (Matt 17:14).

That, after all, is our true calling as "sacraments" of Christ's continuing presence in the world.

Bibliography and Further Reading:
Beguerie, P. & Duchesneau, C. (1991), How to understand the sacraments, translated by J. Bowden & M. Lydamore (London: SCM Press).
Ratzinger, J. (2005), On the way to Jesus Christ Translated M. J. Miller (Ft. Collins, Co: Ignatius Press).
Schillebeeckx, E. (1963), Christ the sacrament of encounter with God (London: Sheed & Ward).
Tabor, J. (1999-2000), "What the Bible says about death, afterlife and the future" The Jewish Roman World of Jesus URL: www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/jdtabor/future.html

Photo Credits:
"Herod's Temple" (1994) Precept Ministries International URL: www.painsley.org.uk/re/Atlas/hertem.gif
"Temple Mount" ©2006 Todd Bolen, Bibleplaces.com
URL: blog.bibleplaces.com
Cartoon ©2006 Don Addis URL: www.ffrf.org/fttoday/2006/nov/images/addis-doubt-church-cartoon.jpg

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©2007 Ian Elmer

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