Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

by Tish Harrison Warren

Christian worship is arranged around two things: Word and sacrament. The Word, in this context, refers to the Scriptures, both read and preached. The sacraments, for most Protestants, are baptism and Communion, also called the Eucharist.1 Together, Word and sacrament are, inseparably, the centerpieces of Christian worship. The reading and preaching of Scripture is fulfilled and completed by the proclamation of the gospel in the Communion meal. Communion, in turn, is interpreted and given context by the preaching of the Word. And both Word and sacrament are profoundly related to food. These two central acts of worship, Scripture and Communion, are compared to my bowl of taco soup, my daily bread. Both are necessary because both, together, are our nourishment. In Ezekiel and again in Revelation we find the startling image of God commanding his prophets to eat the scroll—the words of God set before them (Ezek 3:1-3; Rev 10:9-10). In his temptation in the wilderness Christ says that we are not only nourished by bread but by “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). Later, Paul compares God’s teachings to milk and solid food (1 Cor 3:2). At the Last Supper Jesus tells his disciples to eat in remembrance of him. Of all the things he could’ve chosen to be done “in remembrance” of him, Jesus chose a meal. He could have asked his followers to do something impressive or mystical—climb a mountain, fast for forty days, or have a trippy sweat lodge ceremony—but instead he...