January 1, 2006 - The Challenge of the Sanctus

Words are peculiar things in that they can convey different meanings depending upon who is the speaker and who is the listener. Let me give you a quick example; two friends meet on the street and exchange pleasantries. Upon parting one of them says, “I’ll see you soon,” to which the other replies, “O K, see you soon.” The interpretation of one little word in this greeting ritual can change what the two friends are led to expect regarding when they will meet again. To one person “soon” may mean sometime later in that very day or within no more than a week, to the other it may mean an undefined time in the future, depending upon circumstances. The word “soon” can represent different periods of time to each of the friends, depending upon many variables such as experience, education, upbringing and cultural understandings. In Mexico, for example, I had a carpenter make a set of bookcases for me and when I asked him when he would be finished he said “Soon señor.” Three months later he was still working on the bookcases. Obviously “soon” meant something entirely different to him than it did to me.

So understanding words and their varied meanings can be quite important at times. One of those times is in our Eucharistic worship. In my last few sermons I have undertaken to address, what for me, are meanings inherent in various segments of the Eucharistic liturgy. It is my contention that the Eucharist contains a pattern that shows us through words and actions how we can grow into the spiritually mature human beings God created us to be. Each segment of the Eucharist is meant to lead us into a fuller realization of our relationship with God and how we are to apply that understanding in our daily lives. This Sunday I want to address the portion of our Eucharistic liturgy referred to as the “Sanctus.” Since “Sanctus” is the Latin for “Holy” that is where I will begin. I will use the contemporary wording of the “Sanctus” from Rite II for my commentary. What follows is the meaning of the “Sanctus” that has evolved for me since I first heard it as an eleven year old to this day and time fifty-seven years later. You can find the wording I will use on page 362 of the Prayer Book.

Let me begin, as promised, with the word’ “Holy.” The following are meanings attached to that word by current dictionaries: that seem appropriate to me. “Relating to, belonging to, or coming from a divine being or power; devoted to the service of God,” and also “of a unique character, evoking reverence.”

These phrases seem to me to most accurately reflect the meaning most people attach to the word, “Holy.” Now, my question is, “When we sing these words do we really mean it, not only during our worship but also in our ongoing lives? Do we live, work and relate with others as if we were doing so in the presence of One whom we deem to be worthy of reverence, which, by the way the dictionaries tell us means feelings of deep respect and devotion. Speaking for myself I can only confess that I fall short of the mark more often than I like. Yet at every Eucharist I proclaim my deep devotion to that power I understand God to be. Yet as a child of our culture I must admit that the pervasive presence of that One who is to be revered is not always an actively conscious part of my behavior. Yet I am confronted, as we repeat the “Sanctus,” with a declaration that I revere God, as I understand the word, and that that reverence pervades most of what I do. I don’t know about you but thinking about it in that way is very sobering to me, in that I cannot lay claim to its actuality in many parts of my life. It is in the Eucharist to remind me, indeed all of us, that no matter what we may experience, God’s pervasive presence is with us whatever we do and wherever we go. I view the Eucharist as a weekly remedial reminder of what the Christian faith claims regarding the omnipresence of God. Speaking for myself it might be a good idea to start each new day by saying the “Sanctus”. It sure couldn’t hurt me and it might well help me.

Next I want to talk about the words “God of power and might.” I wonder what meanings are attached to that phrase by each of us. The dictionary understanding of power that I find most helpful is, “control and influence over other people and their actions.” Before I get to the word “might” let me say that I do not understand God as a grand puppet master who manipulates we humans to do what God wants done. The power of God is mentioned in the Eucharist because it is in this act of our corporate worship that we are called to remember and give thanks for God’s willingness to suffer, so that we might know how much God loves us. I see the Eucharist then as a declaration that the power of God is not impositional, but rather it is invitatory. The Eucharist is a clear and cogent invitation to join with God in servant hood rather than dictatorship. Jesus is the central figure in this liturgical rite because Jesus is the exemplar of how God perceives human life to be conducted, at least that is what our Christian faith holds to be true. If we are in agreement with this understanding we need to hear the question, “Do we exemplify our exemplar?” Again, speaking for myself I have to confess that I fall a good bit short of meeting the standard. Yet, amazingly to me, I am privileged to stand at the altar and act as a host at the table of God. This is also a very sobering thought and the more I examine the Eucharist and its components the more awe struck I am at God’s acceptance of my actions, on behalf of gathered worshippers, at God’s table. Here is a question for each of us, “Do we come to God’s table for comfort or for strength to exemplify our Lord?” That’s a tough question I know, yet I have to honestly say that it is, at the same time, a critical question in regard to how we exemplify Christianity.

Now, to the word “might,” which the dictionary tells us means “great power or influence, “Might”” is an interesting word, it has served the advertising world very well over the years. We are very influence-able creatures, we humans, which is why Jay Davenport from Hendrix University tells us that the religion of America is consumerism. That does not speak too well for our willingness to be placed under the influence of the One we call God. Yet every Sunday we say “God of power and might,” or words to that effect. I do understand that each of us has moments when we intentionally act to place ourselves under God’s influence, as we understand it through Jesus Christ. The critical issue is degree. So I ask myself, “On a scale of one to ten, what degree of my life do I intentionally work to place under the influence of God, as I understand that word?” Well, I can tell you that it’s not a ten for me, yet I pray that God’s grace may guide my life towards that goal. How about you? What number enters your mind as you review your willingness to place your life under the influence of God? That is another tough question that is critical to how we, as a parish, affect our community. A bunch of you must have some pretty good scores on this because my wife tells me that she often hears from people, when they learn where she worships, that St. Paul’s is known for its active concern for others.

Now I want to address the phrase, “heaven and earth are full of your glory.” All you have to do is pick a newspaper for any day of the week and you’ll see information that seems to contradict that heaven and earth are full of God’s glory. Of course it is a given that we cannot say that heaven isn’t filled with the glory of God because we have no evidence to the contrary. I have no acquaintance with anyone who has been to heaven and come back to give a report on what it’s like. So, regarding heaven I have decided to trust that God is in control of the state of being that we call heaven until it can be proven otherwise. As to the earth, that is the realm of material reality, I have to conclude on the basis of what is reported and my experience, that our world cultures and religions need a lot of “cleaning up” before we can say that the “earth” is filled with the glory of God.

Yet there is the consideration that a lot of God’s work goes on unnoticed. I dare say that anyone who is a cynic might point out to us that what we are declaring about God’s glory revealed in creation sure doesn’t seem to bear up under careful examination. Yet what are we to say of those many unseen acts of love and concern that I propose happen every day all around our globe? What about their effect on those who experience them and pass on the benefit? And yes, there are a lot of places on our globe that are engulfed in violence and the unnecessary loss and degradation of human lives. Those are the things newspapers present as front-page news. Remember that a maxim of the newspaper business is that, “If it bleeds it leads.” Unfortunately that seems to demonstrated every day. The multitude of kindly actions and expressions of concern for others that make up a great deal of human activity are lost in the oft ignored inner pages of newspapers, if they are even noted at all. Yet they are an ongoing and ever present part of human interaction. Therefore I would suggest to you that the phrase “heaven and earth are full of your glory” can best be understood as a prayer of hope ,thanksgiving, and an ability to discern God’s grace at work around us.

Now we come to a passage that is often misunderstood because it uses the word, “Hosanna.” Modern dictionaries tell us that this is a shout of praise to God. Yet the Greek word used in the New Testament story of Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem is understood to mean “save us now,” or, “succor us now.” So properly understood this is a cry for help and not just any cry, it’s a mighty shout of Help, for it says “Hosanna in the highest.” Interspersed is the sentence, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” I believe we can appropriately change the masculine pronoun used here to, “the one,” so that it reads, “blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” followed again by “Hosanna in the highest.” Put all together I understand these two segments to mean, “God please make yourself known to us, we need your help desperately to be able to embody the holiness you call us to through Christ.”

And immediately following this declaration the consecration prayer of the Eucharist begins. I see the implication of the placement of these two passages in the Eucharist as being a clear reminder to all participants that God will provide what we need to move toward being exemplifiers of Jesus Christ, the exemplar of God’s unremitting love for all of creation. We are given the spiritual reality of the Christ Spirit each time we receive the Eucharist, what use we make of this gift is up to each of us. So, I conclude with a question for each of us to consider, “How often do we accept the Bread and Wine as the real presence of the Christ Spirit that will enable us to more fully demonstrate God’s Love for all creation?”