We participate in the Eucharist weekly at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. The Word and Sacrament are the center of our worship, our community, and our Christian lives. Rev. Paul Peterson, a former pastor of Our Saviour's, says, "The Eucharist is the most intimate meeting with the Risen Christ…The Word and Sacrament is where the Church on earth and the Church in heaven meet". The intimate, unifying Eucharist is a mysterious experience. The sanctuary and its fixtures (specifically the altar, baptismal font, and pulpit) are designed to offer insight into this experience. When combined with the circular sculpture, they affirm that the fullness of Jesus Christ is made available to us through the work of the Holy Spirit in the unity of Word and Sacrament.

Imagine yourself entering Our Saviour's sanctuary for the first time. Visualize the picture from the pew. Take note of the general sanctuary design, the altar, baptismal font, and pulpit. Consider the circular sculpture in relation to the sanctuary design and fixtures. What do they say about the personal and communal mysteries of the Eucharist? How does the circular sculpture, in particular, enrich participation in the Eucharist?

Sanctuary Design

The modestly sized sanctuary has a contemporary, present day feel. People and ministers are brought together by the semi-circle seating and a chancel that is pressed forward toward the assembly. One is reminded of the Eucharistic liturgy, "Lift up your hearts" when we read the description written by Rev. Max Schaefer, "The whole structure, both from within and without, directs our attention upward toward God."

Altar, Baptismal Font, and Pulpit

The altar, baptismal font, and pulpit are designed to be flexible, yet interdependent. They may be rearranged, but remain united. Wooden spacers were created to visually connect Word and Sacrament. Rough burnt wood is joined with hammered copper to depict the rugged cross and glorious victory it signifies.

Circular Sculpture’s Interpretive Role

Suspended from the ceiling and spanning slightly more than five feet in diameter, the circular sculpture has an interpretive role for Word and Sacrament in the worship space. Wood and copper clearly connect it to the altar, baptismal font, and pulpit. Such a large circle provides a sense of wholeness, eternity, and community. The Trinity figures prominently in the forms of a dove, Christ crucified, and the Father's eye. The sculpture's detail illuminates three interdependent themes: (1) the fullness of Christ made available to us, (2) by the work of the Holy Spirit, (3) in the Unity of Word and Sacrament.

The circular sculpture is part of a larger picture from the pews during most of the liturgy. As the assembly stands, sits, and kneels, one remains at a distance from its details and the meditation it might evoke. Drawing nearer for the distribution, however, makes an entirely different perspective available.

Now imagine yourself processing forward for distribution. The community is singing "I come, O Saviour, to Your table, for weak and weary is my soul…", or "Draw near and take the body of the Lord...", or "One bread, One body, one Lord of all; One cup of blessing which we bless...". Standing in front of the sculpture, ready to receive the Body and Blood, it captures your whole view. What does it say?

The Fullness of Christ Made Available to Us

The sculpture is perfectly rounded, balanced, and complete. Inside the steel rim, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus swell. Clay symbols of His miracles, burnt wood of His cross, and butterfly of resurrection all point to an exalted Jesus. He does not slump, but appears victorious on a stylized cross. One is reminded of God's word to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9 NRSV). The apparent deficiency the world finds in the teaching and suffering of Christ, is in fact God's fullest act of revelation and mercy. In Eucharist we are united with and comforted by the sufficiency and fullness of Christ. The Reformers took great comfort in the promises of the Lord's Supper when they wrote, "Believers receive it as a certain pledge and assurance that their sins are truly forgiven, that Christ dwells and is efficacious in them." God redeemed the world through Jesus Christ. As the Word made flesh, what He said, what He did, and what He continues to do is sufficient and efficacious for our forgiveness. This is the Eucharistic comfort for our consciences.

By the Work of the Holy Spirit

The dove is superimposed as the largest form on the sculpture, bridging God's work of salvation through Jesus Christ and humanity. The work of the Holy Spirit is to make available the fullness of Christ and to call forth faith. The sculpture suggests that there is no connection with the life or person of Jesus apart from the Spirit's intervention. This intervention is eternal and personal, teaching us and reminding us of Christ. The Spirit is nurturing faith, healing and comforting hearts with the Gospel, and moving us toward love of God and neighbor. It is probably intentional that the dove descends toward the altar, signifying the answer to the Epiclesis (the calling down of the Holy Spirit in the Liturgy of the Eucharist). The Eucharist provides the tangible reality of connectedness to Jesus Christ through the eating of His body and drinking of His blood. Only by the power of the Spirit are the simple elements of bread and wine transformed into the Lord's true presence. Only by the power of the Spirit is faith possible to comprehend the mystery and grace brought to us by Word and Sacrament. The Sculpture stirs our meditations toward the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish these things.

In the Unity of Word and Sacrament

The sculpture is made of the same wood and copper as the altar, baptismal font, and pulpit in order to offer insight into the unity of Word and Sacrament. The materials are basic, humble elements of the earth that point beyond themselves to Christ like the bread and wine when combined with God's Word. Simple written and spoken words sacramentally bear grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. In the sculpture we find Word and Sacrament intertwined. The Word is represented in the virgin birth, the miraculous feedings, the calling of the disciples, and the great commission. Sacramental images of baptismal water and Eucharistic loaf and cup complement the Word. Together they represent the mystery of Jesus Christ's fullness and presence among us today. This Eucharistic mystery is so important that the sculpture includes three obvious communion symbols: grain and grapes, five loaves and two fish, and the loaf and cup. These forms combine to emphasize the mystery of Word working in Sacrament, and Sacrament conveying Word. Peering at the waters, one is reminded that we stand before God, receiving the bread and wine, pondering these mysteries, only by virtue of baptism. Life in Christ, begun at baptism, is nourished and renewed by the Word and Sacrament united in Eucharist. Our hearts are moved to believe what our eyes see; namely, the fullness of Christ is made available by the work of the Holy Spirit in the unity of Word and Sacrament.

The Eucharistic center draws baptized Christians together on earth as it is in heaven. Do the symbols of community (circles, Mary holding Jesus, the waters of baptism, etc.) stir you to gratitude for those around you? In what ways are you an important part of this community? What unique things is God accomplishing through you?

The fullness of Christ from His humility to His glory is "given and shed for you." Look closely and you will see the Christ figure is leaning forward from the sculpture. He is the Incarnation, breaking into your life through the bread and the wine you have taken into your body. What comfort do you feel in burdens lifted? What joys do you have to share?

"Do you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16).

The copper dove is a reflective mirror. Look into the mirror and see you - the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is working in you. Where have you noticed the Holy Spirit's impulses? How might your role as a temple affect your attitude during the coming week?

The unity of Word and Sacrament are as woven together as the Liturgy today. Do the clay forms touch you with the Word? Does being a disciple challenge you? Have you laid a burden, like Judas' 30 silver coins, at the foot of Jesus' cross? Has the bread and wine been a sign of grace that brings joy like the sun or the butterfly?

The Word and Sacraments find a unique expression at Our Saviour's. Our testimony to God's timeless and universal mystery of grace in Jesus Christ is inspired by the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are and have been present in our faith community. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, "To each is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good" (12:7). The Holy Spirit has inspired our common good with the creative insights of musicians, liturgists, artists, educators, preachers, and the general assembly, who have shaped our sanctuary and liturgy to help us contemplate the mysteries of Word and Sacrament. Thanks to all of you for enriching our worship life.