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Part 3
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Welcome to the CommonsCast. We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to commons.church for more information.
Speaker 2:Hello, everyone, and welcome. If we haven't met, my name is Yelena. I'm one of the pastors on the team here at Commons, and it is really special to share this time with you today. We are wrapping up our three part conversation on reframing our ritual, and we have one more dive into the complexity of the letter to the Hebrews. I love the framework that Bobby gave us for the series.
Speaker 2:Ritual is our conscious participation in our own transformation, a way for us to connect with the spirit in and through our body. And so far, we've applied this framework to the ritual of prayer to see it as an act of solidarity. We've examined the ritual of study as faith in action. And in this last conversation, we'll look at worship as a ritual for our life together. In his book, Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson says that worship is the most popular thing that Christians do.
Speaker 2:It is so typical of most Christians in most places at most times that in a life of faith, it is an instance of the average. Except that we are in a global pandemic, and this most common thing we do to express our faith is experiencing a massive shift. And yes, this is not the first time in the history of the church when a communal ritual has undergone a transition, and this is not the first time in your personal story when that's happened either, but it doesn't mean it is easy. And while we're all grateful for the technology, the sense of loss and the questions we have are real. What does it even mean to worship as a community when we are dispersed?
Speaker 2:How is this a ritual for our life together when isolation seems to have no end in sight? What is worshiping from home teaching us about belonging to a community? Well, we are not going to find all the answers today, but we will look at how the writer of Hebrews expands the imagination of worship for their community and see what it has to say for us today. Our text for today is Hebrews nine one through 14. And if you're taking notes, here's our outline.
Speaker 2:Number one, places of welcome. Two, when ritual doesn't work. Three, a new start. And four, worship as an act of belonging. Would you join me in prayer as we begin?
Speaker 2:Loving God, you have gathered us into a family. Sometimes we forget about it. Sometimes we don't feel like it. And right now, we struggle to see it. But today, we choose to anchor ourselves in the story of your love and in the truth of our belonging.
Speaker 2:We trust that the story comes alive in us through weekly rhythms and glowing screens. May our worship not only carry us through the season but also open us up to the newness we could not imagine. In your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen. Hebrews nine verses one through five.
Speaker 2:Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room was a lampstand and a table with its consecrated bread. This was called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the most holy place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold covered Ark of the Covenant.
Speaker 2:This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of the glory overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. I'm glad we are not going into more details here, but of course we are. But first, I want you to take a quick trip down memory lane.
Speaker 2:What do you remember about your first experience of worship with others? And what mark did it leave on your imagination? I'll tell you mine. I was in my first year of university, a curious 18 year old with a bit of FOMO. And I happened to invite myself to a bible study that my new friend Shane hosted at his place.
Speaker 2:I did not know much about Jesus. I knew nothing about what a bunch of Christians do when they get together, and I had no idea that Shane was a Christian. I thought I was going to some kind of party at my new friend's place on a Friday night. Oh, no. We sang songs about God.
Speaker 2:We read the Bible. We prayed and talked and ate together, and my neurons were firing off in all directions trying to make sense of what was going on there. It felt like a parallel universe. But I liked it enough to come back the following week and then stick around for a few more years. What mark did that experience leave on me?
Speaker 2:Well, it allowed me to sit with the Christian story even before I could articulate it. It has forever linked worship with community for me. And just like our text today, it was full of strange words and names and confusing references, but it was also a place of welcome. I felt free to be a part of everything that was happening. Now in chapter nine, the writer continues to build this one sustained argument that Hebrews is making.
Speaker 2:And the writer brings around another round of comparisons. This time, it's grounded in the Jewish religious imagination of worship. Remember, Hebrews is a pastoral letter, more of a sermon, that is trying to convince a discouraged community of Jewish Christians to keep following Jesus because none of those other things they they they want to hold on to are serving them well. The rhetoric of the argument moves from the lesser to the greater. Jesus is greater than the angels.
Speaker 2:Jesus is greater than Moses. Jesus is greater than the priests of old. And now the time has come to compare the covenants. The first covenant and its worship rituals have shaped everything about Israel's identity as a nation and a worshiping community. So the writer says, Okay, let's take that covenant and put it next to Christ, and you will see that the covenant given through Jesus and the worship it leads to are greater than what you hold as a standard.
Speaker 2:Now, whenever we hear God say in the Bible, I will be your God and you will be my people, we hear the covenant language. In the legal world of the ancient Near East, covenants were binding contracts between the two parties. In the Hebrew Bible, covenants are about God's self giving love and kinship. They express God's absolute commitment to people and often provide a way for people to respond. So the first covenant here refers to the covenant God makes with Israel after bringing them out of Egypt.
Speaker 2:After years of slavery, the people get a chance to build a new life. But the journey they embark on is not only about the land where they will be at home. It is primarily about them becoming the people of God, a transformed community that will live justly and reflect God's love to those around. And the covenant comes with a structure to facilitate that. There's the law, the 10 commandments, to help them know what living well with God and each other is about.
Speaker 2:There's a sanctuary put up in the middle of their camp to help them experience God's presence right at the center of their lives. And there are worship rituals to help them stay in relationship with God and become the community they aspire to be. Now let's talk for a minute about the definition of worship. Our English word comes from Old English, wear worshippy, literally worthness, and it refers to the feeling of adoration and reverence. In the religious context, it is about recognizing and ascribing worth to the divine.
Speaker 2:Interestingly, though, in the scriptures, there is no one clear definition of worship. Instead, we have multiple words for different actions that express it, verbs for concrete practices, often involving the body. Ritual. Now the Greek word that Hebrews uses here for worship is latrea. In the broader Greek literature, it was used to describe work or service for which someone was specifically equipped.
Speaker 2:In the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, the the the word means either service to god, like in religious worship service, or service to community, depending on the context. And we'll come back to this. For now, just watch for this word shift between the two meanings in our text. For instance, in verse one here, it was service to God. Now before we move on, a couple more things about the tabernacle.
Speaker 2:Exodus 25 tells us that the tabernacle looked like a tent and followed the exact design Moses received from heaven. And this was a very common way to think about sanctuaries in the ancient world. They were earthly reflections of divine realities. But what's the deal with a long list of objects? Well, we humans are storytellers.
Speaker 2:We read our world into our symbols, and then they open it up back to us. They are windows into the narratives we hold true. And the writer uses them here as a shortcut to bring the story back to life. The lampstand was a visual reminder of the tree of life in the Garden Of Eden, telling the story of creation, separation, and God's continuous presence in the world. And it also gave a light for the priest to see inside the tent at night.
Speaker 2:Who says that symbols can't be practical? The table had 12 loaves of bread representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Both the table and the lampstand were in the outer room. Now the further in, the more valuable the materials become. The inner room, the most holy place, is sparkling with gold.
Speaker 2:In ancient sanctuaries, sacredness was expressed through value. The holier the place or an object, the more expensive the material. The jar of manna was a reminder of God's care and provision in the wilderness. The staff of Aaron, a reference to the establishment of Israel's priesthood. The gold covered ark of the Covenant with the angelic creatures was the most important thing in the tabernacle.
Speaker 2:It was God's throne, the place where sins were forgiven and from where God spoke. Now one of the Hebrew words for tent in the Bible is mishkan, which is related both to Shekin, neighbor, and Shekinah, God's imminent presence. And what I actually love about the tabernacle story is what the writer of Hebrews pretty much leaves out. We only get a hint. The tabernacle was set up.
Speaker 2:But if we go back to Exodus, we'll see that the creation of this earthly sanctuary is itself a work of worship. Worship begins before the tenth is ready. The people provide everything needed for it. Gold, silver, spices, linen, precious stones. They bring their best skills and craftsmanship.
Speaker 2:They pay attention to every single detail to make a truly beautiful space. Worship does not start with priests and special rooms. It starts in the hearts of people who want God to be their neighbor. They extend hospitality to the god who extends hospitality to them. During the season, I've been thinking about how much inner work it takes to gather for the livestream.
Speaker 2:Maybe you haven't thought about it like that, but I think you know what I mean. The inner work it takes to once again turn on the computer you've been sitting at the whole week, the inner work it takes to watch the service on the TV you're probably trying to spend less time watching. The inner work it takes to find the energy to keep connecting in the live chat and with your small groups on Zoom. The inner and outer work it takes to keep an eye on your kids messing up half of your house with those amazing commons kids crafts. And I see us all doing this incredible work of worship, owning our experience and shaping our ritual together, insisting that God is our neighbor wherever we are and that we can receive and extend welcome.
Speaker 2:But reframing a familiar ritual is not easy, especially when it feels like the ritual doesn't work. Now the covenant provided a structure for worship, which included both the place and the rituals. And in verse six, the writer turns to those worship rituals to make a point that they actually did not achieve their purpose. When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. Here's our word for worship again, Latreus.
Speaker 2:Let's follow a priest into the sanctuary. Depending on the day of the week and the time of day, he, always a he, would need to check on the lampstand. Is it time to add more oil or trim the lamps to make sure the light is on twenty four seven? Or maybe it's early morning. Wet twilight, and it's time to bring a sacrifice.
Speaker 2:Prepare the animal, wood, fire for the altars, all the bowls, and utensils. The daily sacrifice sacrifices were a reminder that not keeping the covenant made with God was a serious matter. A sacrifice was a symbol of a life given for a life spared. Now the most holy place, the Throne Room of God, was off limits to regular priests. Only once a year on the day of atonement, the high priest was allowed to enter in to remove the damaging effects of sin from the community and restore the bonds between people, God, and creation.
Speaker 2:As a representative of the people, he would make special sacrifices and bring in the blood to sprinkle on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant from where God would forgive sins. And after that special day, it all starts all over again until next year. Can you imagine it? Day after day, week after week, year after year. And really, it doesn't feel like much changes.
Speaker 2:And you've and if you've been around church for a while now, I'm sure you totally can imagine that. We all can. We know this feeling when a ritual is just the thing we do, and we kind of forget that some answers can only be seen over time and through repetition. The ritual is there to bring comfort when the goal feels so out of reach, and that a ritual can even be the doorway to a new revelation. The writer says, all this repetition did not achieve much, but it was not a waste.
Speaker 2:It was a visual parable to bring you here. Verse nine. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. Again, our word for worship, latrionta. They, the gifts and the sacrifices, are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings, external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
Speaker 2:So, yes, during a transition, our ritual might feel hollow. We kind of lose our way. The prayers, songs, sermons, the weekly rhythm of watching church online do nothing. And after all, it's just silly to sing along with the worship team on TV, Plus, I have no singing voice whatsoever. True story, I don't.
Speaker 2:But I sing anyway or depending on who's around. As someone who struggles to be attuned to my body, singing gives me a way to say, I'm here with my whole body, not just my head. Writing on how liturgy and especially singing together forms us into lovers of God, a theologian James K. Smith says this. Partly because of cadence and rhyme, partly because of the rhythms of music, song seems to get implanted in us as a mode of bodily memory.
Speaker 2:It seems to have a privileged channel to our imagination, to our very core, because it involves our body in a unique way. And I love this idea that our body is here for us to hold our faith when our mind wanders. So what if worship feels a bit stale for you this season? Then maybe take it in a direction that feels right and life giving. Find a way to make it your own.
Speaker 2:If your imagination is a bit limp, make something with your hands. Move your body. Seek out beauty you can just take in. If prayer feels dry, lean on others. Use our prayers on social media.
Speaker 2:Let our team carry you for a bit. If praise is hard, lament. When would be a better time to lean into this part of our tradition? Shake your fist, tell your truth, grieve. And then you may just see the divine meet you in a totally new way.
Speaker 2:The god we worship loves a new start. Now in verse 11, the writer moves to explain the illustration and to show how the first covenant with its rituals in the Day of Atonement foreshadowed the work of Christ. Christ as high priest goes into the permanent, not temporary, tabernacle and offers just one sacrifice, his own life, to bring complete forgiveness and full deliverance from the bondage of sin. Using the same rhetorical device from the lesser to the greater, the writer puts two covenants side by side. If the temporary rituals and the blood of animals sanctify and cleanse people on the outside, verse 14, how much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God?
Speaker 2:Some biblical scholars think this phrase was a traditional liturgical statement about Christ used by the early Christian communities for worship, which makes it an interesting choice of language. The writer begins the argument with the rituals that were dying away and ends with a ritual that was alive and present in this community. And we also hear our word for worship again here so that we may serve the living God. The writer takes worship from this large cultic religious context and places it in the context of a home church, saying to the second generation Christians, you think worship is tied to a religious place? No.
Speaker 2:Now it's tied to you. You think worship helps you to reach God? No. God has already reached you. You worship because you are truly alive.
Speaker 2:You think worship is how priests serve God on your behalf? No. It's how you serve others. Now let's go back to the question we had in the beginning. How is worship a ritual for our life together right now?
Speaker 2:And let me tell you, I wrestled and wrestled with this question last week and just kept hitting a depressing wall until Dennis, my husband, said to me, You understand that you're in the process. Right? And then I realized that a problem solver in me was insisting on finding a clear and practical answer to what it means to be a worshiping community in a very messy pandemic situation where I am not an objective observer. We all wrestle. Pretty much every week, our team tries to figure out how to make an embodied liturgical practice meaningful in the livestream.
Speaker 2:It truly is a work of love. I hope you feel it. We're all in it, all of us. And the only way to move forward is to keep engaging. Keep engaging the livestream music.
Speaker 2:Keep engaging all the creativity that's coming out of the season. Keep engaging Zoom groups, pastoral conversations, daily prayers. And trust. Trust that our ritual is forming us in profound and beautiful ways which we cannot yet fully comprehend. How about we make the question into a statement?
Speaker 2:Worship is a ritual for our life together at all times. And in this particular season, I invite you to see worship as an act of belonging, which means two things. First, you belong here. You are a part of this community, and it won't be the same without you. Some of the most delightful connections I've made this year happened in the Zoom lounge, and some of those people I've yet to meet in real life.
Speaker 2:And second, this community belongs to you. Our team might be putting services together and live streaming them from this building, but worship of God is the work of the people of God. We are all creators of our experiences on Sundays and during the week. Our worship is always first person, plural. So as you keep leaning into this ritual, may you love God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
Speaker 2:May you find ways to express this love, and may it be your worship. Let us pray. Loving god, every day you meet us in a myriad different ways. And every day, we learn how to be worshipers, how to live responsibly, how to live truly, how to see our living rooms and our whole life as your sanctuary. And as we reframe our ritual this season, we trust that your grace will help us to be kind to ourselves when we struggle, to wrestle with our questions together, and to seek ways to be present and creative in how we make room for one another.
Speaker 2:In the name of Christ who gives us life. Amen.