The Liturgical Turn: Worship and the Between

I was reminded recently of one of my loves – really big words.   I know it can be a little pretentious to use certain terms in dialog or writing when there are perfectly good colloquial words that say the same thing.  But let’s face it philosophers and theologians aren’t the only ones who do this.  Every field, whether professional or academic, has terms that are specific to them and stand in need of clarification to the rest of us. When I’m working on the car with my dad, there are plenty of terms that he uses which need to be defined for me (such as ‘flux capacitor’ – ok, I wish). Of course my dad can simply point to the part of the engine in question or my doctor can simply describe the surgical procedure in order to clarify my confusion.  

But maybe that gets to part of my point.  I find it rather interesting that there seems to be less reaction to, say, a doctor using a technical term than to a theologian.  Could it be that technical terms used in auto mechanics or medicine seem to have more practicality attached to them as opposed to theological or philosophical terms?  I would be one to argue that every idea has practical (as in praxis) outworkings, but, if not, at least I’ve given a disclaimer for the use of a philosophical term that rather fond of – metaxological. 

You’re impressed, I’m sure.  The metaxological, besides being a beautiful term that just rolls off the tongue, is a metaphysical understanding associated with the philosopher William Desmond.  In an essay entitled “Neither Servility nor Sovereignty: Between Metaphysics and Politics,” in Theology and the Political: The New Debate he describes a metaxological metaphysical perspective as one in which “there is more to be said” (p. 160).  He derives this understanding from the double meaning of the Greek meta as ‘beyond’ and also as ‘in the midst’ allowing him to locate reality in the metaxu or ‘the between’.  This allows us not to get trapped in the ontological violence of radical immanence or univocity because it affords the experience of objects, people, and communal entities as more than the experience of raw materiality.  Instead it allows us to perceive materiality with an opening up to the ‘something more’ that is beyond it. Moreover it causes us to find ourselves needing to traverse the porous boundaries, not only between transcendence and immanence, but between others as other. In other words it gives us an understanding of trees, rocks, humans, etc. as more than they naturally are but also reveals the fact that immanent reality exists within transcendence thereby acknowledging boundaries that we believe to be solid are really rather porous (a word he likes to use).

The metaxological gives him a way to envision politics not bound by univocity and its attendant will to power.  Desmond notes that in the between, there are diverse forms of community that serve as intermediations of the transcendent good.  He specifically details four different communities.  The first is the family, which forms intimacy, the second is the network of utility, which focuses on economic values, the third he calls the community of erotic sovereignty whose goal is social and political power, and finally the community of agapeic service whose main service is to the neighbor and other humans. Each intermediates a form of the good and relativizes the communities underneath it.  What he means is this: the community of agapeic service will mediate the good of service to the neighbor in itself, but also calls the community of erotic sovereignty forth to rightly distribute and exercise power and justice in such a way that it avoids its temptation to tyranny. The boundaries between the communities are necessarily open to the others otherwise we would find ourselves reverting to univocity. 

Desmond describes the agapeic community as the community on the boundary of the ethical and religious, which “deals with transcendent good. It is most released to ethical care for the other as other.  It releases something of the promise of universal love of being, both in respect for the value of nature as other, and for other human beings with whom one shares the gifts of the between” (p. 169). For Desmond this community can rightly perceive the transcendence within all humans and nature.  As such it is not tempted to objectify nature for its own self-asserting utility.  It can truly show love to others and seek to do them good since it sees them as more than objects that need to be governed by power. 

But what does all this have to do with liturgy and worship?  Desmond himself near the end of his essay describes this agapeic community as one that is lived out in between the human and divine (p.177).  This plays itself out in prayer, liturgical rituals, praise, and care for others.   The agapeic community (as I read it) can become a descriptor for the Church and metaxological becomes a great term to describe the Church’s understanding of reality.  It is the understanding that is or should be formed by the continual worship of the Trinue God – the one who is wholly Other and perfect relationship. 

There is much more to be said and I’m going to pick up here with my next post in which I want to bring Desmond into conversation with specific liturgical theologians.  But here, I want to make a bit of turn and ask what are we doing to facilitate this kind of vision.  If in worship we are ‘gathered’ to encounter God and ‘sent forth’ into the service of God’s kingdom, what are some things that are happening within our churches that are forming us into “seeing the world” rightly?

I can think a three things specifically from my own experience.  One this the “opening acclamation’ from the Book of Common Prayer – “Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit / And Blessed be His Kingdom now and forever, Amen” We acknowledge that we are coming into the presence of the God who has been self-revealed as the Trinity, the second person of which become incarnate in order to bring us into union with the life of the Trinity.  What better example of transversing porous boundaries non-violently could there be? 

The next thing is directed prayer.  My church is beginning to incorporate prayer evenings into our life together.   The basic structure of which includes songs and extended times of prayer in which a leader – usually myself – gives specific topics to pray about.  I typically structure the prayer so that it starts with pure praise of God and moves progressively towards praying for those in need around us as well as vision and willingness to go and serve. 

Lastly – song selection. As a song leader, I try to be very conscience of the songs that I present to my community.  Two that I’m rather fond of that I think help to aid in this kind of formation would be “God of Justice” and “Everlasting God”.  The first calls us to service of the poor and the second gives us a vision of the everlasting faithfulness of our God who is the ‘defender of the weak’ and who ‘comforts those in need.’

So there are some of my examples.  I know should have mentioned the obvious – Word and Table, but I’m curious as to what else within the gathered time of worship seeks to form the church into a community of agapeic service? 

Comments

[Zwingli 2.0]

I'd add bells. The sound of bells makes the call to worship very concrete and objective, in a word, public.

In ‘For the Life of the World’, Alexander Schmemann has an interesting passage about ‘ekklesia’ really (and literally) beginning when people start leaving their houses on Sunday mornings.

John Updike plays with some of the same ideas in his first Rabbit novel. Rabbit Angstrom’s in bed with a woman (a prostitute?) on a Sunday morning. When the bells of the church across the street start ringing, he collects himself and peers out the window at the congregants filing into the building. Angstrom eventually starts talking about religion with his ‘friend’; he says he can’t help it.

That a ringing bell is ‘public’, like the gospel itself, though our responses (positive or not) can only be ‘private’ is fascinating, as is the fact that our responses can be very complicated. Updike’s character, for example, doesn’t run off to church, but he’s nonetheless affected by the bells.

[Eric Speece]

Zwingli - Thanks for this. This is an excellent observation! Bells are something I just realized I haven't heard on a Sunday morning in years.

It also made me remember a time when I was on a retreat at a place in WI a couple of years ago. One of the traditions of this place was that a bell rang periodically throughout the day and when it did, everyone was supposed to stop their activities and observe silence until it rang again. It was a great reminder that the Holy Spirit is always at work in the world.

[roger flyer]

Bell choirs are methodist deals...