Quote of the Day – Balentine on Ritual in Leviticus

From Samuel E Balentine, commenting on the tamid in Leviticus 6:13 and elsewhere in Leviticus (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching), p 65:

… All religious rituals are more than practical or even symbolic acts, as important as these may be.  At their core, rituals are a form of liturgical exegesis that engages both mind and body in the drama of theology. [emphasis in original]

Of course, many of our Christian rituals lack drama, are not based on exegesis of anything in particular, and mostly engage our backsides with the pew.

I recall communion at one Methodist church I visited.  The pastor was clearly excited about what he was doing and saying.  He’d filled in those places in the Hymnal where it calls for words appropriate to the occasion.  One felt engaged in the ritual of breaking the bread.  Even more importantly, he clearly saw the ritual as leading to action outside of itself, and used it to focus the message.

I wish more rituals were like that.

(Before someone thinks I’m criticizing my home church, my pastors at First UMC Pensacola are doing an excellent job of engaging people in the liturgy, especially at the ICON service.  It is a struggle, however, to disengage people from the pews and engage them elsewhere.)