It’s Not Just a Decoration: The Importance of Symbols in our Spiritual Lives
By John Thomas III, Editor
On Good Friday, I attended a Seven Last Words service at the church of a friend who is a member of a different denomination. The service centered around the seven last words spoken by Jesus Christ, before his death on the cross, with various preachers offering brief homilies based on the texts. At the conclusion of the final preacher’s message, the sanctuary was darkened, and the ushers and acolytes recessed carrying various items from the altar. First, the candles were taken, followed by the Bible. The final usher carried the cross out, which left the altar completely bare. The combination of this ritual and the somber tone of the service were deeply moving.
The image of the bare altar stayed present in my mind over the next few days. I talked about the experience to lay and clergy friends in the AME Church and several of them had seen a similar ritual or even practiced it in their churches. I began to reflect on the symbols in our churches and how we often take them for granted. There are several AME Churches were there is no altar or cross displayed nor anything in the pulpit aside from chairs and a lectern. The Good Friday service reminded me of the importance of having tangible symbols of our Christian faith walk ever present before us—and what we lose when they are not there.
The altar, candles, Bible and pulpit paraments are not just decorations. The altar is a tangible symbol of God’s presence in our lives and in the sacred space of the church sanctuary. The candles remind us of the light that Jesus brought into the world and the light that we are to spread throughout the world as His disciples. The different colors that adorn the pulpit follow the liturgical calendar which helps us to focus our faith by following the Christian journey from Jesus’s birth to the birth of the early Church at Pentecost. The next time you walk into your sanctuary, look around and see how your church uses these symbols…or are they even used at all?
We are called to make the Gospel accessible to all who come into our sanctuaries and explaining the intricacies of the liturgical seasons or why one should never run across an altar rail may seem to distract from the true purpose of any worship experience—saving souls and making disciples. The symbols, however, are reminders that when properly taught and used can help us to develop and focus our faith. Just like I will never look at an altar the same way after seeing it bare, we need to look at our sanctuaries with new eyes and not let routine dull us to the importance of what is displayed. Likewise, we should not let the desire to be “modern” move us from these needed displays of what it means to be a Christian and let our lives follow the steps of Jesus Christ.
