Voices In My Head Podcast Episode #274: A History of Christian Worship Part Three - The Second and T

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Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James. I'm a recording artist, a singer-songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is your source for discussions on music, literature, movies, pop culture, theology, and more. Now sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of the Voices in My Head podcast. And don't forget to let the voices in your let your head be heard by following me on Twitter @RickLeeJames and sharing your thoughts about today's show.

Welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I am your host Rick Lee James, and I'm glad that you could be here with us for another week in our study of a history of Christian worship. This is part 3. If you haven't heard parts 1 and 2, you may want to go back and listen, but we're going to keep continuing right on with what will, I believe, be a 10-part series on the history of Christian worship. Today we're going to deal with the 2nd and 3rd centuries. So buckle in, it's going to be quite a ride. Christianity faced a number of new challenges as it entered into the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Having defined itself as separate from, but in relation to, Judaism, the church was now confronted with the religions and philosophies of the Greco-Roman world. We will see that Christian initiation rites undertook significant developments when confronted by cultural and religious diversity of the day. First of all, we're gonna look at baptism in these centuries. By AD 303, the time of the Diocletian persecution, there were at least 40 basilicas in Rome with thousands of members. This rapid growth had not happened because the church had made membership requirements more accommodating.

No, no.

In fact, quite the opposite was true. Because the church had found itself in a largely pagan environment, the practice of baptism became a distinct way for the church to define itself against that culture. Baptism for the Christian was not a momentary rite. By the way, this is important. It was not a momentary rite. It was a long process of initiation with several steps. So just to clarify before I get into these steps, this was not a time in Christian history in the early church where they were doing a quick pray-through and then you're a Christian. There were actually some strict requirements to be a Christian in the early church. You couldn't just do something as simple as what we often say makes you a Christian. So let's start looking at the Christian initiation of baptism. In the second and third centuries. Step 1, the first step was examination. Who were not admitted for baptism? So this, this is a list of people who in the early church you would be disqualified for baptism. You would not be accepted as a Christian into the Christian community if you were one of these people: circus performers, actors, gladiators, magicians, Idolaters, pimps, harlots, and astrologers— they were rejected because of their associated pagan connotations. Also, soldiers and government officials were not admitted because they were subservient to the state. The Christian's allegiance was to the kingdom of God, and loyalties could not be divided. So if you were a soldier, a person in the military, you were not permitted to be a Christian in the early church until you resigned your post. Also, who were hesitantly admitted for baptism. Artists and teachers could be admitted, but they were highly suspect because they were notorious for dabbling in pagan myths and fables. So for those of us who are a little more artsy, or those of us who teach, we would be suspects for sure. So who were admitted for baptism? If circus performers and actors and gladiators and magicians and idolaters and pimps and harlots and astrologers and soldiers and government officials and some artists and teachers were all disqualified for baptism, who were admitted? Well, I'll tell you who. Hearers were admitted, or hearers were also known as catechumens, you know. Candidates, hearers who submitted to a 3-year period of instruction of Old Testament readings and worship. And then hearers were permitted to attend the first part of the Sunday worship service but were dismissed before the Lord's Supper was received. So when you're in this 3-year period of instruction to become a Christian, to be baptized, you were actually dismissed before the Lord's Supper happened in service. Then after this 3-year period, those hearers who had proved themselves by their virtuous lives and their knowledge of the faith were admitted as candidates for baptism. So quite different than how we talk about in evangelicalism of making Christians. The early church, they only admitted those who submitted to a 3-year period of instruction in the Old Testament readings and worship, and they had to prove themselves by their virtuous lives. There was an actual accountability. So if a person couldn't prove by their virtuous life and their knowledge of the faith, then they were not admitted into baptism. This was sort of a self-protective thing that the church, I think, had to do in order to preserve itself when it was new in this time. Because again, we said it, it was sort of associated with Judaism at this point, but not exactly. It was kind of trying to set itself up apart from it. So a few weeks before Easter, candidates were given instruction in the gospel. They were exercised daily. And yes, that's what we mean when we say someone has an exorcism. They were exercised daily. So if you thought it was just for demon-possessed people, they made good and sure that you didn't have a possession. So daily you were exercised. They were examined thoroughly, and on the Thursday prior to Easter, the candidates would bathe. On Friday and Saturday, candidates fasted. One final exorcism was also carried out on Saturday, followed by a night-long vigil of reading and instruction. At the first light of day on Easter Sunday morning, a prayer recalling the many connotations of water in salvation history was prayed over the baptismal waters. The baptismal prayer recounted these things: the waters of creation, the water of the grave, the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses and the water flowing from the rock, the water of Naaman's immersion, the water in the womb of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the River Jordan, the living water Jesus spoke of to the woman at the well, the water that flowed from the pierced side of Jesus. And the waters of Paradise. According to the Didache, living water was to be used if available. Living water was water flowing from a fountain or poured into a tank from above. Now, a house church discovered in Dura-Europos in AD 232 had a special room designed for baptisms with a box-like pool to resemble a tomb. This design was intended to recall the life-death meanings associated with baptism, making the image of living water all the more significant, as candidates would die to the old self and be reborn to new life. Because nothing was alien to go down into the water, candidates removed all clothing and jewelry, renouncing Satan and all his works. Two anointing oils of thanksgiving and exorcism were blessed prior to the ceremony, and at this point, the oil of exorcism was rubbed over each candidate by a deacon. Exorcism was big back then. The deacon would then lead the candidates into the water. Now, in the water, the presbyter and the individual candidate would interact as follows. The presbyter would say something like this. So I'm going to give you the presbyter, what they would say, and then the candidate who was going to be baptized. So it's sort of a responsive reading type thing. So the presbyter would say, Do you believe in God the Father Almighty? The candidate would respond, I believe. The presbyter would then lower the candidate under the water. Then the presbyter would say, Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and was dead and buried and rose again the third day, and sat at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead? The candidate would respond, "I believe." Then the presbyter would lower the candidate under the water again. Then the presbyter would say, "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy church, and the resurrection of the flesh?" And the candidate would respond, "I believe." The presbyter would then lower the candidate under the water for the last time. Now, it's significant to note that the Apostles' Creed grew out of this baptismal rite of confession, in case that sounded familiar to you. That's where we get the Apostles' Creed from. So at this point in the ceremony, each person being baptized was anointed with the oil of thanksgiving, clothed, they were led into the congregation, and were presented to the bishop, who would then confirm the baptism with the laying on of hands and the anointing with oil. The presbyter would then make the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the newly baptized 'Kiss them and greet them, saying, "The Lord be with you."' And then the newly baptized Christian would respond, 'And also with you.' So now, for the first time, the new Christians would join the faithful in prayer. The prayers would be followed by a kiss of peace and the Offertory. In the Offertory, the candidates who had been fasting for 2 days were offered gifts of food., and the newly baptized would then receive their first communion. In addition to the bread and wine, the new Christians were given a cup of water to symbolize their inner baptism and a cup of milk and honey to symbolize the fulfillment of the promise the Father— uh, the pro— sorry, the fulfillment of the promise the fathers of entering a land flowing with milk and honey. In the I'm sorry, in the Easter Eucharist, the presbyter would instruct the initiates in the meaning of each part. Now, according to the Apostolic Tradition, this was the basic form of Christianity in Rome and probably beyond in this period of the early church. So by the 3rd century, the baptism of children from Christian families was also widely accepted. Instruction was given that the children answer for themselves if they could, but if they could not, then their parents or someone from their family could answer for them. Children were baptized with the understanding that their families would nurture their faith as they grew to maturity, which is why we still baptize children to this day in the belief that the family and the family of God, their congregation that they worship with, will nurture their faith as they grow to maturity. So for the early church, baptism was incorporation into the body of Christ. Christian initiation into the community of faith. This was how you became a Christian in the early church. There wasn't a simple praying through at the altar. There was 3 years of work to be done, and then you could even be turned away if your life did not prove as virtuous as they would like. So the early church requirements of baptismal candidates affirmed Tertullian's statement that Christians are made not born. Baptism was not a lucky rabbit's foot given lightly to anyone who wished. The Christian life required a conversion, a costly conversion, and the requirements of baptism symbolized this cost. To emerge from the baptismal waters was to emerge into a new life. They really expected you to be a changed person when you called yourself Christian. They expected the old way of life to go, which is why they were so strict. They were about making disciples, not about gaining numbers. Well, let's move on. Let's look at the Eucharist. Baptism qualified believers to gather at the sacred table to receive the Lord's Supper. By the 2nd century, communion was most commonly referred to as Eucharist, which means thanksgiving. Theologian Walter Brueggemann friend of this show, friend of mine, reflecting upon the importance of the Eucharist in Christian worship, says this: I have come to think that the moment of giving the bread of Eucharist as a gift is the quintessential center of the notion of Sabbath rest in Christian tradition. It is gift. We receive in gratitude. Imagine having a sacrament named thanks. We are on the receiving end without accomplishment, achievement, or qualification. It is a gift, and we are grateful. That moment of gift is a peaceable alternative that many who are weary and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care, receive gladly. The offer of free gift faithful to Judaism might let us learn enough to halt the dramatic anti-neighborliness to which our society is madly and uncritically committed. Dr. Brueggemann faithfully points out that the neighborliness of a meal like communion is, is just powerful, and I agree with him. That's why I am such a proponent of the Eucharist, the great Thanksgiving meal. Early Christianity knew that it was a high honor to be a part of such a Thanksgiving meal. The early church believed that God himself was the table host, and like the call of the prophet to prepare the way for the Lord and make straight paths for him, the church was now the voice crying out in the wilderness. To those who had heard the call and had dedicated themselves to the preparations, this meal was the feast they had been waiting for. The Didache tells Christians, "On the Lord's Day, meet and break bread," and offer the Eucharist after having first confessed your offenses, or your sins, so that your sacrifice may be pure. While there are precious few sources that tell us about the order of worship, such as the Didache and St. Justin Martyr's Apologia, we have only rough sketches of a basic pattern for Sunday worship in the 2nd century. Thankfully, By the 3rd century, we have the actual wording of the Eucharistic Prayer, and a clear shape for Sunday worship emerges for us to see. In these services in the 3rd century, we can see that not only was the table central to early church worship, but it was the table which specifically made the worship Christian. It was the communion table that made Christian worship Christian. It's what separated it from other forms of worship. That is to say, according to the early church, if you didn't receive communion, your worship was not considered Christian. Alright, so Hippolytus, one of the most important 3rd century theologians in the Christian church in Rome, attempted to write down the correct rites and customs of worship so that they would not be destroyed by mindless innovators. In his description of the Eucharist, we can see the following. Here we go, buckle up. Only baptized persons could participate in the Eucharist, which we already saw. The meal is the climax of Sunday worship. So you weren't to take the meal at the beginning or the middle. It was the climax. It was the place you were heading for. It was the Christ moment. It's often what we do at altar call time. Then it was the table that was the climax moment. Now, after the sermon, the deacons collect loaves of bread and jugs of wine. The bread and wine are presented to the bishop. The bishop stands and presides at the table, and then this introductory dialogue was then spoken between the bishop and the people. Again, sort of a call and response, almost like we do with responsive readings. The bishop would say, "The Lord be with you." The people would respond, "And with your spirit." The bishop would say, "Lift up your hearts." The people would say, "We have them with the Lord." The bishop would say, "Let us give thanks" "to the Lord." And the people would respond, "It is right and proper." After this, the bishop recites the Eucharistic Prayer. Then the presbyters standing on each side of the bishop extend their hands before the table and over the offering. Then the prayer of consecration contained these various parts. Okay, so again, this is kind of a bit to take in as you're listening, but I hope you can. These are the parts that were contained in the prayer of consecration. First, the introduction, the thanksgiving: We give thanks to you, God, through your beloved Son Jesus Christ, whom you sent to us in former times as Savior, Redeemer, and Messenger of Your will, who is Your inseparable Word, through whom You made all, and in whom You were well pleased, whom You sent from heaven into the womb of a Virgin, who being conceived within her was made flesh, and appeared as Your Son, born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. It is He who, fulfilling Your will, and acquiring for you a holy people, extended his hands in suffering in order to liberate from sufferings those who believe in you. Now, just a quick note: when Jews bless food, it is always a thanksgiving. It isn't "bless this food." Rather, it is "bless the Lord who gave this food." And another side note: the introductory section of this prayer directly corresponds to the Apostles' Creed. The introduction itself is a sort of a summary of the apostolic teaching and preaching about Christ. So, moving on, that was the introduction or the Thanksgiving. The next part of the Prayer of Consecration before Communion was the Narrative of Institution. The Narrative of Institution goes like this: Who, when He was delivered to voluntary suffering in order to dissolve death, and break the chains of the devil, and tread down hell, and bring the just to the light, and set the limit, and manifest the resurrection, taking the bread, and giving thanks to You, said: Take, eat; for this is my body which is broken for you: likewise the chalice, saying: This is my blood which is shed for you. Whenever you do this, do this in memory of me. One more note before we move to the next part of the prayer of consecration. When we read these words of Hippolytus, it becomes clear that the Eucharist is not a funeral dinner or a wake. It is a resurrection feast celebrating the victorious Christ. All right, we'll move on to the next part, the Anamnesis, or the remembrance. It said this: Therefore, remembering his death and resurrection, we offer to you the bread and the chalice, giving thanks to you who has made us worthy to stand before you and to serve as your priests. All right, another side note: for Jews, to remember is to make the past present. This recalling of a past event makes it present. So this remembrance part of the prayer is not a remembering of a dead past. It's a proclamation that what was done in the past now exists in the present. It might be more appropriate to call this a proclamation than a remembrance. So we are bringing what has happened in the past through Christ into the present. Well, then the next part of this prayer of consecration The Epiclesis, or the invocation: And we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to the oblation of your holy Church. In their gathering together, give to all who partake of your holy mysteries the fullness of the Holy Spirit toward the strengthening of the faith in truth. Another side note: The Epiclesis asks for a divine response, invoking the Holy Spirit upon the offering and the participants. It doesn't ask for the bread and the wine to be changed to the body and blood of Christ. This will come later in the Eastern Church, but it is invoking a response of the Holy Spirit. The next part of the prayer, the doxology, or praise is what that means, says this: That we may praise you and glorify you through your Son Jesus Christ, through whom to you be glory and honor, Father and Son, with the Holy Spirit, in your holy church, now and throughout the ages of ages. Amen. A couple more notes here. There isn't a great distinction in the Greek between the words for thanksgiving and praise. They are nearly one and the same. And so this prayer of thanksgiving, it ends with praise. Also, the final amen acknowledges the people's participation in all that has happened in the prayer. At the conclusion of the prayer, the believers moved forward to receive bread and wine at the table of the Lord. There's one more very important thing to note as we close this session on worship in the second and third centuries. At the close of the worship service, the deacons would gather the leftovers so that they could be given to the poor. As the worshipers would make their exit into the hostile world, many would pay greatly for their faith. However, in baptism, they have become new people, and at the table, they have tasted of a joy that is worth any cost that they may have to pay. May it be so with us, my fellow Christians, today. May we see our task of worship not just to feed ourselves, But may we gather the leftovers from worship so that they can be given to the poor. I don't just mean the food we share, because let's face it, most of the time we just receive bread and the juice, and in many of our churches we don't even do that very often. But I'm talking about what we have been given in Christ. We are to go out and give to the poor in spirit of the world. So that's really the end for this week. I pray it would be so with us, that as we enter, many of us, into a very hostile world— for some of us it's becoming more hostile all the time. Different parts of the world, I know, listen to this podcast, and many of you, you hear these words and you truly are the persecuted church. I thank you for listening. I can see many of you outside of the US and some of you in some places that are very hard. And I pray that you would take heart and take courage and be reminded that in baptism we have become new people, and at the table we taste of a joy that is worth any cost that we have to pay. And Jesus has paid such a cost for us. All right, some things to think about this next week. Um, what do you think is made What do you think is meant, rather, by Tertullian's statement that Christians are made, not born, when we're talking about baptism? Maybe something to think about this week. And then think about, maybe dwell on a bit, the meaning of the word Eucharist, a word that means thanksgiving. And as I discussed in this episode, thanksgiving and praise, you really can hardly distinguish those two. How have you been doing on Thanksgiving and praise? Also, what Walter Brueggemann said that I read during this episode, he calls the Eucharist the quintessential center of the notion of Sabbath rest in the Christian tradition. Why do you think Walter Brueggemann calls the Eucharist, the Great Thanksgiving, the quintessential center of the notion of Sabbath rest. Something to think about this week: the center of Sabbath rest. And something else to think about: how often does your congregation receive the Eucharist? Are there discussions in your congregation about this? Does your church board discuss the regularity of the Eucharist? Is it something that's important to your church as part of making disciples? And the last question for today: the early church, they gathered the communion leftovers to feed the hungry. This week, let's think about some ways that a renewal of early church Eucharistic practices could lead us to serve those in our community who are in need. Is there something we could actually do to literally feed the poor in our community that the Eucharist, as we worship together, could guide us to? Is there a meal that we could partake together? How can we do this? How can our worship lead us to literally serve others in our community? Well, thank you for being a part of this. I hope you're enjoying this journey. It's been a lot of work, but it's been a lot of fun for me too, and it's been very rewarding to do this study into the history of Christian worship. This has been part 3. Next week we're gonna go into part 4, and I hope you will join us for that. Again, thank you very much for listening to Voices in My Head, and I hope that if you're in— well, actually, just go to my website, Rick Lee James rickleejames.com. You can look up my schedule there if you're in any place that I'm going to be playing or speaking in the next several months. I'd love to see you there. Let me know in advance if you're coming. One thing that I, I want to just remind you, in July— gosh, it's 16 days from today— Escape to the Lake. It's going to be me and a bunch of other great artists. I should say a bunch of other great artists and me. People like Dove Award Songwriter of the Year Krista Wells, she's going to be playing there. Andrew Osenga, Nick Flora, our old friend who's been on this podcast a number of times. Who, by the way, this week, uh, the reintroduction of Nick Flora, that album turned 5 years old. Brothers McClurg, our friends, they're going to be there. And, and I get to lead the Eucharist on Saturday morning when we gather together, and I'm just really excited about being a part of this whole event. So if you've not looked up UTR Media's Escaped the Lake, please look that up. Join us if you can. It's very affordable this year. Your meals are included. We're going to be in Cedar Lake, Indiana. It's going to be a great time. All right, that's enough of me babbling on. Thank you for listening to Voices in My Head. We'll see you back here next week, God willing. Thank you so much.

Thank you for joining me here this week on the Voices in My Head podcast. I hope you'll visit me on my website at rickleejames.com. Follow me on Twitter @RickLeeJames. Like my artist page on Facebook at facebook.com/rickleejames. And keep up to date on what writing at my author page on Amazon.com. Make sure to follow my calendar on the website, and if you would like to have me come to your town to do a concert, a speaking engagement, or a book event, you can book me through my website by clicking on the link for Pare Booking Agency. That's P-A-R-E Booking. And finally, it would mean the world to me if you were to leave me a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible this podcast is on the internet.

And now the benediction.

May the God of peace, who raised Christ from the dead, strengthen your inner being for every good work. And may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and dwell within you this day and forevermore.

Amen.