Getting Beyond Church Rites & Rituals

Getting Beyond Church Rites & Rituals

Class Teacher

Larry R Evans

December 1, 2012

Reflections to Begin Our Study

“And when God saves his people, he not only rescues them from the oppressor but he saves them for himself.  ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians.’ He said ‘and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself’ (Exodus 19:4).  This is the theme already mentioned that ‘salvation’ and ‘covenant’ belong together.  Similarly the ‘new song’ of praise to Christ in heaven declares: ‘thou was slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God’ (Revelation 5:9)”  -- John Stott in Christian Mission in the Modern World.

Over and over God wishes to remind us through the symbols of faith and trust that He works to bring us to Himself.  The symbolical services of the Lord’s Supper, Communion, foot washing and baptism all emphasize redemption, commitment and restoration.  Each represents God’s desire to be one with us.

Questions to Consider

Before we begin our study I invite you to consider a certain perspective that God has that is behind His intervention for us.  Let’s review Exodus 19:4-6

4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt,  and how I carried you on eagles’ wings  and brought you to myself.  5 Now if you obey me fully  and keep my covenant,  then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.  Although the whole earth  is mine,  6 you  will be for me a kingdom of priests  and a holy nation.’

Nearly everything the Egyptians taught or tried to teach the Israelites was wrong – there were not many gods but there was One; the Creator was good and evil was the result of rebelling against Him.  God’s blessings are not obtained through magic and manipulation but rather come about by being free to lovingly submit to him.  So Ex. 19:4 reminds us that God not only freed them from oppression but He did so to bring this people to Himself that they might experience true wholeness.

We would like to challenge you to consider this same principle of God’s intervention into your life.  He isn’t just setting us free from sin and all the terrible consequences that can come because of its results.  God is calling us to Himself that we might experience the wonder of His Presence, find the joy of fellowship with Him  become transformed into His image.  This character transformation is a journey, a process if you will,  that needs reminders along the way.  I would like to suggest that the rites and rituals of our study today are reminders of His purpose as we take this journey – a journey that we take together.  

1.         Religious rituals are something of the past.  (Deut. 6: 4-12) False

The meanings behind “rituals” have a deeper  and richer purpose than just some kind of religious activity.

4 Hear, O Israel: The  Lord  our God, the  Lord  is one.  5 Love  the  Lord  your God with all your heart  and with all your soul and with all your strength.  6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 

2.         The Lord’s Supper, foot washing and baptism are biblical expressions and conduits of God’s grace.  (Matt. 28:19,20; Jn 13:14; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)   False

The key word here is “conduits.”  The church of the Middle Ages identified 7 acts of the church as “sacraments.”  It was taught that these acts infused God’s grace into the person’s soul.  Furthermore, it was believed, priests alone had the ability to dispense such power, and it could be given out without regard to the spiritual condition of either the participant or the priest.  This is why the text we read at the beginning Ex. 19:6 is so important – a whole nation of priests!

3.         Baby baptism should be done to strengthen the spiritual commitment of the parents.  (Rom 10:17; Acts 2:38)   False

A baby dedication helps serve this purpose but it is not salvific by nature.

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”  (Rom 10:17]

“Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 2:38) 

4.         “Who is the greatest?” is a political question and is not directly linked with the ordinance of humility.  (Luke 22:24-47) False

We need to keep in mind that the God’s purpose, as we saw earlier in Exodus, is to draw us to himself.  Pride, arrogance, hostility towards others can all be barriers.  Luke positions this account immediately after Jesus had the Passover supper with the disciples.  The Passover symbolized God’s intervention.  God’s delivery from Egypt was much more than a political intervention.  He was calling His people to Himself.  What Jesus saw in His disciples alarmed Him and He asks a penetrating question:  “Who is greater?”

Jesus had a way of turning the tables on the values of the day as He taught about a kingdom that so very few could comprehend.

5.         At a Communion service Christ is crucified again and is a continual reminder that He sacrificed His life for us.  (1 Cor 11:24-26; Rom. 6:10)   False

There are those who teach that Jesus dies again at each communion service.  Notice what Romans says,

“The death he died, he died to sin  once for all;  but the life he lives, he lives to God.”  Rom 6:10

What is it that we are to remember about Jesus? How do we remember?  By a ritual?

23 For I received from the Lord  what I also passed on to you:  The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,  24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,  “This is my body,  which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,  “This cup is the new covenant  in my blood;  do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.   I Cor. 11: 23-26

6.         Each Communion service is a reminder of the second coming of Christ.  (1 Cor. 11:26)  True

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Cor. 11:26

Concluding Thought

There is something about the word “rituals” that sounds cold to me.  When religion becomes too formal it become a heartless ritual so this pressed me to think beyond the title given to this lesson.  There really isn’t anything wrong with the title.  It just strikes me wrong.  The good thing about it, however, is that it forced me to think even more carefully about the meanings behind the words:  Rites and Rituals.  This is why Ex. 19:4 seemed so appropriate and why that theme to me connects so much of God’s activity shown throughout Scripture.  God is all about bringing us into fellowship with Him!  Symbolic services teach that too.  I don’t want my prejudices, bad experiences of the past, to interfere with what He is wanting to teach me, to remind me of and use to lead me.  Each one seems to suggest that my most appropriate response should be:  “I’m ready now to listen to what You want to reveal to me.”