Justin Appel

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today’s New Testament reading from Revelation features a remarkable scene of worship, in which God, who sits on a throne, is holding a scroll, which “no one was found worthy to open.”

This scroll is opened, in the end, by Christ, who is present as “a Lamb who was slain.” When he takes that scroll in hand, twenty-four elders (think of the glorious Saints of the Church) and four creatures (frightening Angelic Beings) fall down before the Lamb, and erupt into a new song of praise, extolling the Lamb and his redemption of the world.

As this song of praise rises up, accompanied by “harps of gold,” the elders hold bowls of incense. The text baldly states that this incense is the prayers of the saints.

In the whirling temporal vortex (a brilliant image suggested in the notes of my Bible) of the Revelation, it is significant that incense is one of the main elements found in this worship. Not only was incense a critical part of the tabernacle worship of the Israelites, but it is part of the worship that goes on in heaven.

Here in Revelation, we learn that incense is the prayers of offered by the saints on earth, in a worship which participates in the ongoing heavenly worship. As my notes remind me, incense was a means of dedication and honor in the ancient world, as it is today. We burn incense in church, a dedicated place, as we present ourselves as a living sacrifice, in response to Christ’s eternal sacrifice. Heaven and earth, time and eternity meet in beauty, light, and resinous materiality.

How sublime it is to experience this biblical, traditional, multi-sensory worship, and to be reminded powerfully (especially through scent) of the times we have been called into this worship before—and even, of that eternal liturgy above.

Trisagion — Holy God, Holy Mighty, Georgy Sviridov (sung by a wonderful Ukrainian choir!)

Yours in Christ,

—Justin