Chad Brooks

August 28, 2009

WO560

Final Paper

Worship, Eschatology and Sacramental Imagination

 Attempting to write a thorough response to our intensive class on sacraments gives a wide

range of application towards topic. The last year of my life has been spent in deep times of

prayer and reflection towards how my two favorite theological topics, worship and eschatology,

go together. This has been more of a pastoral task instead of an academic endevor, and I believe

I found some finality through our week together studying Sacramental Celebration. On the first

day of class, we were prompted to express a desire about the class to someone next to us. I told

my classmate that I wanted to learn to express sacraments in a more cohesive and less academic

manner, in a way that shows how they are the joining glue of the Christian life. What I found

through my reflections and readings was how the sacraments interact with my two favorite topics

and a wonderful answer to my desire expressed on the first day. My aim below is to show how

the three topics (worship, eschatology, and the sacraments) dance together to provide a fuller un-

derstanding of Christian devotion. After outlining a few concerns and directives, I will use

Revelation 19:1-4 as a case study towards applying my topic.

Eschatology Versus Apocalypse

Modern Western popular culture is fascinated with the idea of an apocalypse. Through

the task of modernity, the idea of a divine originator has been taken out of the universal story of

the world. Instead, the belief is that the world started by chance (through the various theories of

creation and evolution) and that the only way it will end is by apocalyptic chance. The church

has bought into this movement as well, especially since the mid 1850’s, with the development

and popularity of pre-millennial dispensationalism. Whereas the church used to have a view fo-

cused on fulfillment, it has shifted to theories of judgement and escapism.

 This can also be traced to modernity and the rise of the individual. With the idea of “in-

dividual” comes the philosophy of “individual religion”. The Church shifted from the Patristic

teaching regarding communal fulfillment to a concern with the individual after death bringing a

preoccupation with “the multiplicity of affections and appetites that mark the spiritual progress

of the individual believer.”1 The community of God has lost its focus on the sacramental nature

of community and how it serves as a beacon to the relationship that exists within the Godhead.

Our eschatology bears this fact, and underpins our entire soteriology. Reclaiming an eschato-

logical view focused on the eschaton, instead of an apocalyptic theology that bypasses a sacra-

mental view of the end will be a primary task for the historical Christian church in the 21st cen-

tury.

Understanding Sacramental Vision

Forming a post-modern eschatology is different from merely critiquing what has been

done in recent evangelicalism. It would be easy to fall on modern liberal historical criticism to

draw a new exegesis, and to simply interpret the apocalyptic texts of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Reve-

lation as fables and take a liberal preterist stance, denying prophetic realization. But this does

not allow for an engagement with the Biblical text as a living breathing sacramental object. Sec-

ondly, it takes the biblical story and divorces it from an embodied, communal Christian lifestyle.

M. Robert Mulholland writes on the idea of vision in his book “Holy Living in an Unholy

World”, a commentary on St. John’s Revelation. He begins the book with a lengthy section on

how vision interacts within Revelation and christian life in general. Vision is a holistic experi-

ence that take up the entire human psyche and “impact the totality of the human being and go

1 Colin Morris, The Discovery of the Individual, 1050-1200 (Harper and Row, 1972) pgs 139-152
beyond the limits of human beingness. Such experiences appear to be holistic and unitive im-

mersions of the person involved in the larger matrix of reality of which human existence is

part.”2 Admitting to the Christian life and the mystical teachings regarding the sacraments al-

lows this type of experience, and builds an environment of worship that recognizes this aspect of

the Holy Spirit in sacramental practice.

Sacramental Imagination
Defining sacramental imagination is the first step towards leading people to a participa-

tory view of the relationships that exist inside worship. Having a sacramental imagination al-

lows a picture to be painted of a world that exists inside the liminality of the kingdom of God.

Viewing the world as being in constant interaction with the divine can be a stretch for those

whose sacramental theology is based in passive remembrance. The Pastoral task is to find ways

to teach this to congregations which might be clamoring for a grasp relevant to current society.

Some of our best teachers of sacramental imagination are the Patristic Mystagogical ser-

mons. These sermons were used to teach the baptismal candidates about the mysteries of faith,

guarded secrets in their time. During the time preceding baptism, sermons would be preached

that explained every piece of the churches liturgical action. A marker of mystagogy was its play-

fulness. It was not out of disrespect or irreverence, but the desire to really explain the intricacies

of the faith by using examples from everyday life. The catechumens had spent month being

taught the scriptures, so they understood the strands the fathers were trying to bring together by

narratively journeying through the story of God. Craig A. Satterlee and Lester Ruth’s text

2 M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Holy living in an Unholy World (Francis Asbury/Zondervan, 1990) pg 18
‘Creative Preaching on the Sacraments”3 is a great blend of mystagogical thought and contempo-

rary praxis.

What bearing does eschatology have on my faith?

Another initial issue that will take pastoral leadership is bringing eschatology back to

forefront of Christian experience. The historical events surrounding eschatology only make

sense by us realizing a view of the future that revolves around God completely unifying himself

back with humanity and through this the redeemed humanity understanding the full extent of

who the Triune God is. A second tier to this task would be also stating that eschatology is in the

context of promise and not threat.

Through the sacraments engaging with eschatology we are thrust into a new imagination,

our baptism is our entrance and our Eucharistic celebration is our expectation. We understand

the foreign nature of our earthly citizenship, existing in St. Augustine’s dual City of God and

City of Man. We remember the kingdoms place in eschatology, and the fact that we live inside a

timeline thats end is actually eternal. While there is a bracketing around human time, time

doesn’t exist within the divine and the framework after the bracket is directly governed by the

eternality of God. Salvation has an ultimate end of recovery and understanding the relational

nature of the Father. An evangelical experience is not the final point of a journey towards God,

and to think that our Enlightenment idea of “saving faith” is the preeminent explanation for the

actions of Jesus Christ would be a grave mistake. Dons Scotus (via James Torrance) thought

“even if the Fall had not happened, the incarnation still would have taken place.”4 For our escha-

3 Craig A. Satterlee and Lester Ruth Creative Preaching on the Sacraments (Discipleship Resources, 2001)
4 James B Torrance Worship, Community & the Triune God of Grace. (InterVarsity Press, 1997) pg.73
tology, this has an extreme bearing. The Triune actions of grace through the sacrifice of the cross

bring us to the fullest understanding of God that can a created being (earthly or heavenly) can

possess. Salvation is tied up in eschaton because of the proleptic vision that the church has to-

wards Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our worship dually celebrates and is the fulfillment of

Christ's coming. The definition of !"#$%&' is linked with the idea of restoration. The church has

an eschatological character, a participation in the admittance of both the reality of the kingdom

now and the coming eschatological kingdom.

Worship and the Sacraments

Growing up inside the free church tradition, sacramental understanding was minimal at

best. Worship was primarily understood as something that the church participates in because of

what God has done for us. It was an individual action separated from any sort of participation,

human or divine. Worship was confusing, because it was never named, defined or fleshed out; it

instead just functioned as another line item to prop up the sermon.

Worship must be pointed towards something. The central place of how the Trinity oper-

ates as “By the Father, through the Son and in the Spirit” provides a rubric that allows humanity

to interact with the divine. Instead of worship being an action that is just us directing action to-

wards God, or us worship with some type of divine grace being given to us, we understand

(through sacramental imagination) that our worship is a constant dance with the Trinity and the

Saints. The place of baptism and the table are markers in the Christian life, and means of grace

that are a process of divination. Our approach to the Father is only possible because of the per-
petual offering of Jesus Christ. We also give up the pretenses of confusion and fear of pentecos-

talism to admit to the Holy Spirits place in our worship and His5 role as Paraclete.

Revelation 19:1-4 as applied text

19:1 After these things I heard a tremendous voice, like of a crowd of many people speaking;

! ! Hallelujah! Salvation has come and glory and power belong to God alone;

19:2-Because of his true and righteous judgment He has weighed the great idolatress, who de-
stroyed the earth with her idolatry, He rescued the blood of the servants out of her hand.

19:3 And a second time they said;

! ! Hallelujah! The smoke from her city ascends into the eternity of eternity

19:4 And the twenty four elders and four living creatures fell and worshipped God who sits on
the throne sing;

! ! Amen. Hallelujah6

! Entering into the heavenly vision of St. Johns Apocalypse in chapter 19, we come into the

story late. The characters have already been long introduced and many of the cryptic elements

have already taken place. We see an interaction between the redeemed church and the creatures

of heaven that speaks to the eternal placement of those who are found in Christ. This is a great

text for us to look at, because it allows us to think of heavenly worship, eschaton and an envi-

sioned sacramental reality of participation in the throne of God.

! A brief description of the heavenly creatures is needed. They are introduced in chapter 4

of Revelation and are woven throughout the narrative. Books have been written identifying these

5The nature of God is asexual, and referring to God as male or female is problematic. This reference is used in the
spirit of classic orthodoxy, and not out of misogynistic desires.
6 Authors own translation
characters, but most agree that the four creatures represent the totality of creation wrapped inside

the existence of the Father. Their role that has been played out since the beginning of time is one

that identifies and protects the holiness of the Father. The twenty four elders have put them-

selves is a posture of constant submission towards who God is. They represent those who have

passed through the salvific efforts of God into a new reality. These are heavenly creatures, full of

the knowledge of the divine, but do not have an earthly home.

! The interesting part of this reading is found in vs. 4, with the antiphonal response of the

heavenly creatures; Amen, Hallelujah. Glossed, this is contemporarily translated as we agree,

Praise the Lord. These are two words that are heard in church often, and are part of the Christian

vocabulary that many people might take for granted. But there is deep meaning in this response.

G.K. Beale notes this response as a “formal expression of ratification” 7 by the creatures. These

words are the endorsements of the truth spoken by Christ’s church. The creatures of heaven and

operating in agreement with the redeemed church. The creatures, since they are holy beings, un-

derstand the function of the incarnation as rescue, and the activity of God recovering His world.

It is a “reckless indiscrimination” 8, salvation as the action and the very make-up of the Father,

Son and Holy Spirit.

! God is also doing this with us, enlisting us in the saving action, by our entry into the

kingdom through the sacraments.9 We understand our Eucharist as a “Transporting Feast”, as

7 G.K.Beale The Book of Revelation (Eerdmans,1999) pg 929

8 Eugene Peterson Reversed Thunder (Harper & Row, 1988) pg 153
9 Ibid 166
Charles Wesley wrote, bringing us into a timeless reality of action with God.10 The sacraments

are the best vehicle of participation, a vehicle that God provided.

! But what does this antiphon have to do with us today? Does it hold some sort of secret

regarding our salvation? Gleaning contemporary meanings out of Revelation without diverting

off into crackpot prophecy is a skill that is not practiced well by many church leaders. I think

that our answer lies in the liturgical and textual analysis of v.4. Why are the heavenly creatures

agreeing with the words of the redeemed? To think that the church holds more understanding of

God than the creatures that have surrounded him in heaven for eons is bold. But to reference

Dons Scotus again, the incarnation is a fundamental action that would have happened regardless

of the fall. Christ came not because of sin, but because God desired a complete union with hu-

manity that could only be finally realized by grace. This does not discount what Christ did re-

garding sin, or say that Adam and Eve were not truly perfect, but that the fundamental attribute

of God is salvific. The creatures that have been responsible for naming and protecting the holi-

ness of God are agreeing because as a saved people, we understand the things of God better than

they do. The heavenly creatures can understand the idea of grace, but they can never understand

it as an action because they haven’t received it.

! This makes salvation not about perfection, but a deep holy love and desire for relation-

ship. Sacrifice for the sake of salvation is in the very being of God. The twenty four elders and

living creatures were saying to the redeemed, “This is now your song to sing, because of grace

and that you now know God in a way we cannot. While me may understand the complexities of

his holiness, you understand him through the radical, sacramental power of grace.” This pro-

10 Daniel B Stevick The Altar’s Fire (Epworth, 2004) pg 129

vides a very Wesleyan way to look at the eschaton, as fulfillment that is couched in the marriage

supper of the lamb. As humans we look towards this privilege with expectation.

Sacramental Vision today

! At the heart of our sacramental vision is memory, the anamnesis, the constant active

memory of the Church. We use our memory to locate ourselves not in the plight of postmoder-

nity, but in the story of God. It orients us towards a narrative that is built out of rescue, renam-

ing, and bringing the lowly to places of Holy prestige. It gives us coherence, meaning and a

frame of reference that is built in the creator of the world. Because of this we “are not trapped

and confined in the present moment but can locate it as the invention of temporal processes and

actions, which gives us the wherewithal to transcend the limitations to which the here and now

restrict us”.11 We do know what has happened before us and we know the design of the world.

In participation with anamnesis is prolepsis, the active engaging of the future. We know that our

world is on a timeline, and that it is originated with the divine. Placing our worship in the lan-

guage of eschaton allows us to give service to this idea that is able to stay away from the lan-

guage of revenge and judgement. We know that these things will happen, but that more is writ-

ten regarding how humanity will be eternally positioned in relation to God. The liturgical Sanc-

tus of the church is a recognition of how creation and end are in relation towards one another,

and that end does not mean a final point, but a reconfiguration. Schmemann says “This is the

ultimate purpose of all that exists, the end, the goal and the fulfillment,because this is the begin-

ning, the principle of Creation.” 12

11 Barry Harvey Can These Bones Live? (Brazos Press, 2008) pg. 47
12 Alexander Schmemann For the Life of the World (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1973) pg.40
! When we worship, we place ourselves on this timeline. We shift back towards renewal,

and again think that our sacramental actions are a reality and sign of our communion with God.

The baptismal waters and the Lords table re-members us back into humanities proper place with

God. But unlike Adam and Eve, we live knowing the radical sacramental powers of grace. Wor-

ship ceases to become a spiritual filling station and returns to the chief story of the Church. An

ancient-future practice both grounds us and thrusts us towards the Trinity.

! The Church’s mission as an eschatological oriented people is one that understands we do

have a storyteller. We tell of what happens when we will all know more about the story than

ever imagined. Our Eucharist is the time in which we taste an appetizer of the anticipated heav-

enly reality. We are in between memory and hope, and we look forward to the time in which we

will be able to do the things of heaven best; because we have a savior standing like a slain lamb

that has brought us a redemption steeped with the grace that God gives his restored people.
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Morris, Colin. The Discovery of the Individual 1050-1200. University of Toronto Press, 1987. "

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Stevick, Daniel B. The Altar's Fire: Charles Wesley's Hymns on the Lord's Supper, 1745 Intro-
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