Christian Ritual

As I begin with you as Pastor of Perryville Christian Church, let me first pause to recognize the history of this church. It is in this building that we now find ourselves, but it is in the history of this building that we find much of its meaning. Looking back at the church through time we find a depth and power which provides us with a greater understanding of this place as the “House of God.”

Steeped in generations of sacrifice and contemplation, this church was erected by men and women who desired to find God; to commune with God; to Be with God. It is in this location that your parents, grandparents, and possibly even great-grandparents toiled to create and extablish a congregation of dedicated and committed people of faith. Now this Church is but one example of the greater Christian tradition. A tradition steeped in sacrifice and contemplation. A tradition alive with rituals, symbols, and text that date back hundreds and even thousands of years. This greater tradition is one that we are a part of and continually re-define. We are part of an organic tradition. A living, breathing Christianity that moves, bends, twists, and accomodates itself to new events, new thoughts, and new people. Christianity has seen theological debate, denominational splits, and scores of important and influential people.
And just like remembering the history of our church, it is only when we pause to reflect on the history of Christianity, only when we look back to those who established it, do we glimpse the depth, power, and meaning of this great tradition we call our own. So it seems only fitting that with this first message, I ask us to explore the annals of time and re-discover the beauty of Christianity. Today, and for the next two weeks, we will examine the meaning, history, and mystery of Christian Ritual; an important element of our Christian Tradition. My hope is that when all is said and done, you will re-consider, re-approach, and re-act to Christian Ritual in a new and more profound way.

To begin this examination we must begin at the beginning. Not the beginning of the Bible, but the beginning of Christian history and theology. We must start by examining one of the earliest, greatest and arguably most notable Christian figures: Paul. It was Paul who established the church by spreading the message of Jesus Christ beyond Palestine to a vast portion of the Roman Empire. It was Paul who gave us theological letters and teacings that built what would later be called “The Church”. And it was Paul who was instrumental in producing an understanding of Christian Ritual that would be invoked for many generations. Paul was an institutor, an innovator, and a person filled with zeal for both God and man. So when we find ourselves looking back into time for the depth and power of Christian ritual, we must first look to Paul. When we discover how Paul approached Christian Ritual we can reconsider how we should approach our rituals today.

Galatians 3:26-27; 4:6; 1 Corinthians 12:13

These verses, authored by Paul in two different letters for two different communities, present the essential nature of Paul's understanding of what later came to be known as “Christianity.” For Paul, who was a 1st Century citizen under the Roman Empire, to proclaim “Christ” was not just an act of speaking, rather it was a re-identification. Remember, if you will, the famous words of Paul: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new Creation, the old has gone and the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). There is more going on here than simple proclamation, rather, there is a profound change. Today, we might consider that change to be a character change, or a “spiritual change.” But our modern terminology does not do justice to Paul or his 1st Century location in the Greco-Roman world.

This may seem strange to you, but go back in time with me, travel back to 1st Century Palestine. Palestine, saturated with Greco-Roman education, ideals, and values was where Paul grew up, was instructed, and later ministered. In this world, at this time, there is no such thing as a medical hospital like you and I know today. No, instead there is what many of us would consider a very crude medical knowledge about the body and how to treat it. For Paul, along with many others in this place and time, the body was not the intricate network of blood, vessels, organs, skin, bone and muscle. Rather, the body was a collection of different substances. There was bile, blood, flesh, and even spirit. Each person had these elements within their body, and these elements often conflicted with each other.

For Paul, every human had spirit inside them. But this was not the mystical spirit you and I think of today. Spirit was not necessarily something that was unidentifiable, rather it was actually a component of the physical body. In other words, Paul might have been able to point to the place where “Spirit” would be if there were a dissected body on a table. Spirit, was not something immaterial. Instead, Spirit was a part of the physical body, and as such, it controlled or influenced our physical actions.

So how does this relate to Paul's understanding of Christ and we as followers? Well, simply put, we change... For Paul this means we literally change. There might be character change evident in us, and it is a result of our “spiritual change,” but this is only because our physical bodies have changed. We as creations have been trans-formed. The old spirit inside of us, the spirit of man, has been replaced with the spirit of God. There is a different physcial composition of the body, and as a result, there is a different functioning body. There is a body that is no longer controlled by the impulses of the human spirit. Instead there is a body influenced by the Righteousness of God's Spirit.

Now it is important to see that Christian Ritual was a symbolic expression of the all-important proclamation. Proclaiming Christ was done through Christian Ritual. As we can easily see from all of Paul's letters, there was first the individual's faith which paved the way for Grace, but following this was a life of proclamation. A life of re-identification. But this proclamation and re-identification was not just on the surface, or “outward” as we might sometimes think about it today. Instead, this proclamation pointed to an internal difference. Our insides have changed, we are truly a different person by communing in Christian Ritual.

Thus, the new life of the believer was defined and continued through Christian ritual. The mark of the new believer was the symbolic baptism, and the continued identification with Christ was maintained through regular partaking of the Lord's Supper. These events within the life of the new Christian enabled the believer to commune with God as God's own.

So right now you might be asking: How does this all connect? How is it that Paul's understanding of the body, his understanding of Spirit, and his scriptural precedent for Sacraments come together? What you will hopefully notice is that Paul is instuting Christian rites within the Church that are more than simple signifiers. These are not rituals that simply point to some character difference within us, rather these events say something about our actual reality. Christian ritual is an affirmation of re-identification. It is a continuation of the proclomation of Christ.

Now you may not agree with how Paul understood the human body. You may not even agree with Paul's theology of Ritual. But this is nothing you should have to agree with. Instead, what I hope you are beginning to see is that Paul found Christian Ritual to be very REAL. It was not some empty ceremony, but it was an event filled with life, meaning, and great importance. So let us begin to re-consider our contemporary understanding of Christian ritual.

First, what is a sacred ritual? A sacred ritual, or sacrament, is a symbolic expression relating to God. In other words: people acting in symbolic ways which have something to do with God. So what, you might ask, are symbols? Earlier you might have heard me mention symbol and empty ceremony together. Although I did do this, let me clear up some confusion regarding symbols. There are two uses of the word symbol today. One is the common usage, often understood like this: Baptism is just a symbol. This is actually a confusion with the word “sign.” You see, a sign and a symbol are two different things. A sign, is something that just points to something else. It is simpler than a symbol. Take a stop sign for example. A stop sign points to the action of stopping. A symbol on the other hand, does not simply point to something else. It does point to something, but it also participates in the power and meaning of that to which it points. The American Flag for example, not only points to America as a nation, but it expresses power, might, freedom, and a connection between individuals because it was and is present in battles, ceremonies, and government buildings. The flag has meaning because it is part of America. The Flag doesn't just point to America, it has a place IN America. Thus, we reverence the flag because it is a symbol.

Now there is an even more important understanding of symbol that stems from this. Symbols do something else that signs cannot. Symbols, because they are unique and irreplaceable, open up levels of the soul. Symbols have an internal as well as external component. Externally they inform us of the meaning and power of the thing they symbolize. But this carries with it a dimension that changes who we are. Our souls experience a reality in a deeper, more meaningful way. Thus, symbols provide us with an expanded and more profound world, but also with a depth of soul that cannot otherwise be accessed. Symbols tell us about the world and ourselves. Symbols tell us about the out there, and the in here. Symbols connect what is out there to what is in here, and symbols do this in a way nothing else can.

As a result, we need to understand our Christian rituals with this sense of symbolism. We must abandon the old “just a symbol” attitude and start to see the depth and beauty of Christian Ritual. Symbols do more than signs. Christian Ritual is more than a sign, more than a signifier. Christian Ritual is not just something that points to the external world, or to God “out there”. Rather, Christian Ritual helps make God “in here”. Christian Rituals, as symbols, uniquely combine elements of our world to express the beauty and depth of divinity. This is something we cannot just access in any old way. This is something that is special. The flag, for instance, combines notions of freedom, power, and liberty in a unique way that could not otherwise be done by anything else. Like the flag Baptism is important because it tells us something unique about God as we go through it. This is something we cannot get in any other way. Holy Communion does the same thing. It tells us something unique about God as we go through it, and this is something that cannot be uncovered in any other way. A symbol, unlike a sign, is irreplaceable. There is no substitute. A symbol provides meaning and power, it opens up our world and our soul. It provides our existence as individuals with a depth that otherwise is inaccessible to our minds. Like the Flag is IN America, so too Christian Ritual is IN God. Ritual does not just point to God, it is a mechanism for us to experience God in a way that is otherwise impossible. We gain a depth and meaning to our lives that we cannot have without Ritual.

This is where we find Paul in agreement. For Paul, Christian Ritual is performed in the world, but does something to us. It changes us. It makes us different from who we were, but it also brings all believers together in one spirit. When we recognize just how important Christian ritual was to Paul, we will hopefully be able to see how important it should be for us. No longer should we approach our Christian Rituals with a cavalier attitude. No longer should we simply go through the motions. Rather, we should focus on the change that is happening inside us, recognize the new identity that is forming inside us, and accept the new depth our soul has acquired.

As we close this morning, reflect upon the significance, the power, the depth, and the meaning of our Sacred Christian rituals. I hope that you recognize the communion you have with God through each of these experiences and that you concentrate and focus on your re-identification with Christ. May you now re-consider, re-approach, and re-act to Christian Ritual. And may the God of Love shower his Grace upon you, and may the Sacrifice of Christ saturate your entire being. May you see your life as a Christian in a new light today, and may you not forget the power or the importance of Christian Ritual. Let us all be re-newed with the Life of the Most High, and be empowered to do the Holy Will of the most Loving God. It is in God that all things are brought together, and it is in God that all things are made Good.

Amen.