The kingdom of heaven is like . . .
This is how Jesus begins many of his parables.
He is explaining something for which his audience has no reference, because no one in his audience has experienced the “kingdom of heaven.” No one in his audience has experienced being in God’s “real” presence. (I had to use quotation marks just now, because I have not experienced this either, and I don’t know of any words that would describe it.)
To get an idea of the problem Jesus faced, think about how you would explain the difference between orange and green – to a person born blind. Such a person has no reference point for understanding or even imagining color.
So Jesus used things his audience did have some experience with – sheep, wheat, vineyards, wealthy and powerful people, weak and powerless people, suffering people, missing coins, weddings – as metaphors for the “real” presence of God (that’s what the “kingdom of heaven” is).
Our relationship with God is like . . . worship.
Worship is a metaphor – or collection of metaphors – for our spiritual connection with Jesus Christ. It’s a series of actions and practices that we undertake together in this world to reflect and convey what is happening spiritually in God’s kingdom.
Jesus participated in a couple of these actions while he was here: he was baptized by John at the beginning of his ministry and he transformed the Passover meal to a ritual we now call communion (or holy communion or Eucharist [Greek: thanksgiving] or “Lord’s Supper”). These are the two actions recognized as “sacrements” by most Christians. He also refered to the miracles he accomplished as “signs of power,” metaphors for God’s creative and healing actions throughout time.
Other actions and practices come from Jewish history and experience: singing, dancing, praying, offering various kinds of sacrifices, studying and meditating, feasting and fasting. God gave Moses very speciic instructions for celebrating the Passover as a reminder of his actions freeing the Jews from Egypt. The Old Testament is consistently specific about relationships with others that mirror Christ’s relationship with the Father and with us. Here is Micah’s summary: He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? [6:8].
Because we live in this world with our five physical senses we have more than enough experience with physical reality – to the point where we assume and act as if this is all there is. But there is a spiritual reality, and each of us has at least some, usually fleeting, experiences with that reality. For a brief moment, we “see” color, and then it’s gone.* We need to regularly experience our spiritual relationship with Christ, even if only through metaphor.
So we seek to meet this need through a wide variety of actions and practices in our corporate worship. Some actions and practices are more appropriate for one aspect of our relationship with Jesus Christ than another, for example celebration or mourning. Some actions and practices are more effective for one group of worshippers than another, such as toddlers or teens or “experientially advantaged” folks.
The best actions and practices enhance our understanding and appreciation of our relationship with Christ and our relationship with one another as his physical presence in this world. But some actions and practices may hinder or interfere with the experience of a group of worshippers, as when the language or activity is inconsistent with the culture.
As we engage in this conversation about authentic worship experiences, I hope the effectiveness of the metaphor can be an appropriate rubric for comparing and contrasting worship actions and practices.
*My first experience of the Grand Canyon is one of my most vivid and memorable “glimpses” of God’s presence – but this is the best I can do in words: As I approached I was looking at the far side of the canyon, but when I reached the rim my eye was immediately drawn to the bottom. I looked down . . . and then left . . . and then right . . . and then back up to the far rim, and I exhaled, “Wow!” And I knew God was present in that vast emptiness beneath my feet.
**The graphic on this page is a colorful “Word Search” that is itself a metaphor for the meanings that may exist in patterns that appear random. Enjoy!