This Is Light of the Valley

Worship Why's: The Color Red

TL;DR = We use red in church to remember the work of God the Holy Spirit who enables us to confess and live our faith, preserving us in that faith until the Last Day when Jesus returns to judge and end all evil. 

What's up with all the red?

Hopefully you’ve noticed all the red in our sanctuary right now. Red represents the tongues of fire that rested on the Apostles’ heads when the Holy Spirit came to them on the first Pentecost (see Acts 2). Red also symbolizes the blood of the martyrs who died for their faith. Red reminds us that the Holy Spirit comes to us, too, creating faith in our hearts and enabling us to confidently proclaim the good news that we are saved through the redeeming work of Jesus’ perfect life and innocent death on the cross. 

Why a downward-facing dove on the red banners?

The dove represents the bodily manifestation of the Holy Spirit, who descended from heaven at Jesus’ baptism (see Matthew 3:13-17), strengthening Jesus as he began his public ministry. The downward-facing dove on our banners and paraments reminds us that the Holy Spirit, God himself, comes down to us as well - equipping us for the work of spreading the Gospel, working faith in people’s hearts through our sharing of God’s Word, and strengthening us too when our faith is weak.

Why do the paraments say, "Come, Holy Spirit"?

Our red altar cloth is inscribed with the words “Come, Holy Spirit”. With this phrase, we eagerly invite the Holy Spirit to us to come and do the things he does (see previous paragraph). Believers have prayed this for centuries. King David implored God to “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grand me a willing spirit to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:12). The Veni Sancte Spiritus (Latin for “Come, Holy Spirit”), a chant or hymn traditionally sung before the reading of the Gospel, first appeared in the 13th century. Many Christians today pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon them to renew their hearts as a regular part of worship.

What’s up with the “A” and horseshoe on one of the red banners?

These are actually letters in Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written. A is alpha and Ω is omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet (like the English A and Z). Multiple times in the book of Revelation Jesus describes himself as “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (see Revelation 1:8; 21:6; & 22:13). We are reminded that our God is eternal, that he has no beginning and no end, and that everything is under his control. We needn’t fear when life gets challenging because everything begins and ends with God, that nothing is outside of him just as all the letters of the alphabet are between the Alpha and the Omega. He rules over all things, always has, and always will. Like the Christians who came before us, we struggle with many hardships in life, from difficulty sharing our faith, to persecution and, in some parts of the world, even martyrdom. However, we can absolutely trust that our Alpha and Omega, eternal God has a plan for us and will see it through.

Guest author: Danielle Geistfeld