This is #40 in Crossing the Threshold series.
The first part of Act II ends with the confession of sin; in most traditional services this is a corporate confession followed by the proclamation of a minister’s absolution reminding the church of the finished work of the Cross. In the Hero Journey this stage is called the ordeal and it is where the hero hits bottom and has to face his greatest fears; he must die a type of death in order to be born again. As we weave the Hero Journey and Worship together it should be evident that the ordeal/confession stage is far more than a rote recitation of a liturgical prayer; rather it should be the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in a person heart after hearing the word of God in scripture and in sermon. It truly is a coming into the inner most cave of self and seeing what is left of the old creation and have a willingness to ( confess) die to it, in order to be transformed into the image of Christ.
Act IIB Initiation/Sacrament commences with the receiving of a reward. For the hero on his journey there is usually some type of reconciliation to be experienced after having passed through the ordeal. In the worship services we have been following, “the peace of Christ” is passed after confession. Peace with God has been affirmed in confession and now that peace is to be manifested one with another ….or another word to use would be reconciled one to another. This is absolutely critical for the next stage of the journey is the “road back” where in the worship service the church makes her ascent into the very presence of her Lord in heaven, she does this as one body.
Holy Communion, The Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, and the Mass are all terms used by different denominations to describe the sacramental meal the body of Christ participates in by receiving bread and wine. The one thing that can be agreed upon about this meal is that it looks back to Genesis 1 and forward to Revelation 21 and brings the union with the triune God that was and will be into this moment to experience now. It is the life of the new creation much like the manna in the wilderness was for the Israelites as they journeyed to the Promised Land. In the Hero Journey the road back is followed by resurrection, what better word could there be to describe the sacramental meal that Jesus himself instituted for his disciples?
