From the Archives: "Liturgical Juxtapositions"

Each month, our blog features articles from the archives of Liturgy. Our goal is to share the wisdom from decades past so that we might celebrate the work and insights of these excellent ministers and scholars.

Mark I. Wegener

In 2004, Liturgy published an article by Mark I. Wegener, entitled “Liturgical Juxtapositions and Literary Metaphors.” Wondering about how metaphor works to give worshippers the experience of God’s presence in the world and salvation in Christ, Mark Wegener explores the work of liturgical theologian Gordon Lathrop. Inspiration from music theoretician Jeremy Begbie regarding how art functions metaphorically drove Wegener to consider the images from scripture and the images in worship that work to impact our lives. Comparing the functions of liturgy with metaphor, he proposes a way to shorthand the connections between them (and between liturgy and art) by applying claims about metaphor to the liturgy. In brief, liturgy is discursive, commonplace, contrary, creative, affective, cognitive, and sticky (meaning repetitive). This article is based on a research paper he wrote for the pastor-scholar program of the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Selected Quotes from

“Liturgical Juxtapositions and Literary Metaphors”

~ ~ ~

“My inspiration for connecting things worshipful with things metaphorical was a suggestion near the end of Jeremy Begbie’s Voicing Creation’s Praise. In the final chapter entitled ‘Art and Metaphor’ Begbie argues, first, that ‘it makes good sense to describe a work of art as a human artifact—i.e. it must have been produced by a human being.’ And, second, he proposes that ‘art is distinguishable from other forms of communication in that it functions metaphorically.’”

~ ~ ~

“Although Begbie does not draw this conclusion in so many words, it follows that liturgical worship itself—an ‘artistic production’ of human endeavor—is a great metaphorical enterprise. If it is true for artistic experiences, it may also be true for our worship experiences that ‘we are taken out of ourselves in order that we may return to a deeper appreciation of the reality in which we have our ordinary existence.’”

~ ~ ~

“What is it we do when we are assembled that creates meaning for our lives? We could engage in straightforward ceremonies that communicate directly with a minimum of ambiguity. The opening ceremonies at the quadrennial Olympic games, for example, are devoid of subtlety and easy to interpret. Athletes from various nations march into the arena in an order determined by the alphabet rather than by size or prowess or other rank, and the Olympic torch is lighted by a flame that has been carried across continents. The message is clear and unambiguous. . . The church’s rituals, however, are never that straightforward and obvious. Rather, we convey our meaning by engaging in less straightforward, more suggestive actions.”

~ ~ ~

Mark I. Wegener is a semi-retired Lutheran pastor who, over forty-five years served rural, racially mixed, central city, and suburban congregations in Illinois and Minnesota, including Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis and Woodlake Lutheran Church in Richfield, Minnesota.

If you would like access to this article, please follow this link:

Mark I. Wegener, “Liturgical Juxtapositions and Literary Metaphors,” Liturgy 19, no. 3 (2004): 41–52, https://doi.org/10.1080/04580630490459486.