Theology 101: Yes, you can say worship is where heaven and earth meet

Photo: Gerald Farinas.

As a general unwritten rule, we in the Reformed tradition don’t necessarily use mystical language like Catholics do when explaining our theology.

But sometimes we have to embrace that mystical nature to see how poignant, how poetic, how so utterly beyond our understanding what happens to us is when we go to worship.

As a Presbyterian elder and an armchair theologian, I have always been drawn to the idea that in worship, earth and heaven meet.

It is not just a pretty image. It is a truth that runs deep in the faith and practice of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

In our tradition, worship is not simply us talking to God. It is God meeting us where we are.

The Book of Order says worship is a meeting between the triune God and the people of God.

When we gather, the Holy Spirit lifts us into the presence of Christ.

In that moment we are not alone.

We are joined with the Church (capital c) in every time and place. That means we worship alongside Christians, even our Catholic siblings down the street, believers across the world, and the saints who have gone before us into glory.

So when Rev. Kristin at the Edgewater Kirk, Father Charles at Atonement (Episcopal), Father Alejandro at St. Ita (Catholic), Rev. Monty at Immanuel (Lutheran), Rev. Arnel at Edison Park (Methodist) all call us to worship, we are literally joining each other in one place.

This is not something we make happen through our own effort. It begins with God.

In Reformed theology, worship is always God’s work first.

God calls us.

God comes to us.

We respond with praise, prayer, confession, and thanksgiving.

When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the “heaven and earth” image becomes even more vivid.

The table is the kingdom of God. The Eucharist or Communion is a foretaste of the great banquet where all are gathered and all are fed. in this way, the table is where our covenant is sealed.

For a moment, what is promised in eternity breaks into the present.

I think about this whenever I am in worship.

The music, the prayers, the reading of Scripture, the sermon, the bread and the cup are all part of this meeting place between the human and the divine.

And it is not really about emotion or atmosphere.

It is about the reality of Christ’s presence.

So yes, I believe with all my heart that in worship, earth and heaven meet. And that it is theologically sound in the Reformed tradition.

It is a meeting that God starts, Christ makes possible, and the Spirit brings to life.

Every Sunday, we step into that space together, and for a little while, the distance between here and eternity disappears.