Saturday, April 25, 2015

What does it mean that Christ descended to the dead?

When we recite the Apostles Creed in a worship service, it's a good thing that we don't have to stop and explain what each line means. Here's one that's especially difficult: "He [Jesus] descended to the dead." Some versions of the Creed actually leave that part out, while others translate it differently by replacing "dead" with "hell." In any case, what does it mean?

The church holds an ancient belief that Jesus went to the realm of the dead -- perhaps that is hell, or Hades, or some other place -- in between his death and resurrection. The only scriptural support for this belief comes from some the New Testament's strangest verses, including 1 Peter 3:19-20. (Click that link to pull up three different translations side-by-side. Notice how different they are.) Peter never mentions hell specifically -- only that Jesus went to "preach to the spirits in prison":

And it was by the Spirit that he went to preach to the spirits in prison. In the past, these spirits were disobedient—when God patiently waited during the time of Noah. Noah built an ark in which a few (that is, eight) lives were rescued through water. (Common English Bible)

"The Decent to Hell" by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 14th c.
Part of the problem with understanding these verses -- and the 3 or 4 surrounding them -- is that Peter seems to be quoting some kind of hymn or poem. Or if he's not quoting it verbatim, it appears that he is referencing or alluding to someone else's writing that his readers might have known.

I do indeed think Peter was being quite creative here. The first three words of verse 19 are: ἐν καὶ. If those letters are written right next to each other, without spaces -- which is how these books of the Bible were originally written -- those letters look quite a lot like the name Enoch in Greek. You may remember Enoch as one of Noah's ancestors, with a brief account in Genesis 5. Here's an interesting fact about Enoch: he never died. The Bible just says that "God took him." Now around the time of Jesus someone wrote a set of documents in Enoch's name. Obviously, Enoch didn't write them, and they were never considered to be a part of the Jewish scriptures, but they were known to some of the New Testament authors. For example, 1 Enoch 1:9 is quoted in Jude 14-15. So did Peter originally write verse 19 about Enoch, and some later scribe "corrected" the letters to make the verse read better? Or was Peter being clever as he knowingly used three words that would look like Enoch's name, right in the middle of a section that is discussing death, resurrection, and Enoch's grandson Noah? I wouldn't put that past him.

Noah's place in verse 20 is important for at least two reasons: God's anger before the flood had to do with strange spiritual beings (see Genesis 6:1-6), and the ark is symbol of baptism. The person of Jesus ties all this together. Christ cheats death, just like Enoch did. And in Christ the water of the flood takes on new meaning in baptism, which is like a mini-resurrection for each one who experiences it.

The identification of Christ with hell does something else for our belief: it affirms that Jesus experienced all aspects of humanity. Ephesians 4:7-10 also tells us that Jesus "descended to the lower, earthly, regions." We sure would like to believe that Jesus went to preach the good news to those who had already died. This "harrowing of hell" -- or as Dr. Warren Smith puts it, "Christ's commando raid on hell" -- has captured the imagination of Christian artists for many centuries. We may not know with certainty where Jesus spent Friday night and Saturday, but we are sure that his death and resurrection defeated the effects of sin and death. And that's the main point of the Apostles Creed.


Saturday, April 18, 2015

What is Gentle Worship?

Today a group of churches in the area hosted a special event for families dealing with autism. A resource person from the Autism Society of North Carolina talked to us about the help that their organization can offer. Then we ate lunch before we worshiped together. The worship service was especially tailored after a style known as gentle worship.

Think about your family, friends, and neighbors who have children with some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Odds are they don't attend church. Christian worship services are places where one is expected to be quiet and still for lengthy periods of time. Many children with ASD are unable to do that, so when they grow out of the nursery's age limit the entire family stays at home.

Playing with sand
Today's gentle worship service was designed specifically with these families in mind. We met in a fellowship hall that allowed for easy coming and going -- no doors to open or slam shut. There was no expectation of participation or non-participation -- sitting still and outbursts were both welcome. The only thing no one was allowed to do was shush someone else!



Not too loud, not too soft
A worship band played at just the right volume: quiet enough to not overwhelm those sensitive to sounds and loud enough so that no one needed to sing if they didn't feel like it. One table was set up with tactile stimulants like clay and magnetic sand. Pillows and blankets were available for those who preferred the floor to sitting on chairs. Pastor Julia's 6-minute sermon was a story accompanied by photo boards. Prayer time was a period of 5 minutes when people could pray silently or seek out a pastor to pray with them. The entire service was finished in 30 minutes.

This was my first time to participate in a worship service like this, and I certainly hope it is not my last. There are many families -- not just ones dealing with ASD -- who could benefit from this kind of service. I hope more churches find this is a ministry they can offer to families who struggle to attend church.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Space vs. Place

place - noun: a specific area or region of the world : a particular city, country, etc.

Where are all the people?
space - noun: an area that is used or available for a specific purpose

Most of us use the words "space" and "place" interchangeably to talk about locations where things happen. In everyday usage these two words are synonyms -- the Merriam-Webster definitions above do not indicate much of a distinction. However, some people who study social theory like to define each term a bit differently. They see space as a raw material which people make into meaningful places by what they do in them. For example, philosopher Edward Casey wrote that place is more than a "mere patch of ground" -- an arbitrary space that happens to be inhabited by a group of people. Places are formed out of spaces by people performing and enacting a common life together -- places are to be seen as "more an event than a thing." Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan teaches that people make places via performances of spoken language and songs to create places out of their physical surroundings (see 1991 article called "Language and the Making of Place").

So how does this apply to worship? I have heard lots of talk about "worship spaces" but not much at all about "worship places." It seems to me that we often describe worship "spaces" using technical descriptions about the size of a building, its acoustic responses, amplification systems, and seating capacity. To use the framework of the theorists mentioned above, we tend to talk about worship spaces with antiseptic descriptions about the rooms. Rarely do we discuss how people speak, sing, and pray things that make a place meaningful. If you search Google Images for "worship spaces" nearly all the photos will come back without people in them.

Would we worship leaders do better to add "worship places" to our vocabulary? If places are formed out of spaces, then we would add the technical descriptions of the room to what people actually do in them. A worship place would be the materials and the activities -- the entire package. People matter in worship, don't they?

Saturday, April 4, 2015

What is Easter Vigil?

Easter morning sunrise services have their roots in an ancient celebration known as Easter Vigil. The service happens between sundown on Saturday (which is traditionally the beginning of the next day) and sunrise on Sunday. It is the first service of Easter Sunday, and since it starts in the darkness some churches light a fire outside and carry lit candles into the sanctuary.

Candles lit for an Easter Vigil at an abbey in Austria
Easter Vigil was the time when the ancient church would baptize new Christians. After spending a significant period of time learning about the scriptures - sometimes for the period of 40 days we call Lent, sometimes for a year or longer - these new initiates would be introduced to the church's sacraments during the Vigil. They would be baptized and then receive Communion for the first time. In some cases they were told nothing about either ritual beforehand but were meant to experience each as a newborn would, symbolizing their new life in Christ.

Today's Easter Vigil services can remember each of these components by breaking the service into four parts:
  1. The Service of Light
  2. The Service of the Word
  3. The Service of Baptism
  4. The Service of the Table (Communion)
The Service of the Word narrates God's entire salvation history from creation to the resurrection of Jesus. This may consist of several scripture readings and songs to take the worshippers on this journey of God's work in the world. If you were being baptized on Easter, this would have been the culminating event of all the lessons that you had learned leading up to this day. Imagine how this might have worked in days when scripture portions were rare or not available: someone would have had to memorize the important stories -- such as the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt -- in order to tell them to the congregation.

These four parts can take place in one long service, or they can be broken up over two or three separate services from Saturday night until Easter morning. They took place at night for spiritual and practical reasons. It is true that Christ rose from the dead before dawn, but the first generations of his followers would have gone to work when the sun came up. Sunday was the first day of the week, not a day off.

A Manual for Personal Piety: The Book of Hours

Book of Hours manuscript kept at Harvard University People have always encountered God outside outside of the times and spaces designat...