When I first wrote this post I didn't have the commenting feature but I did get some responses by email. Now that I do have commenting, I'm curious to see what folks have to say. I hope what I've said in the second paragraph (about continuing the hymn) is accurate. I ran it by someone else to make sure it was, but if it is not, somebody please let me know...

In Galatians 3:27, Paul states, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Many scholars believe that when Paul was writing his epistle to the Galatians, he was making reference to an early Christian hymn. By using a worship song familiar to the Christians in Galatia, Paul was able to emphasize the point he was trying to make. Paul was not defining Christian theology, he was making reference to a pre-existing theology that was already being expressed at the time through the worship.

This is no secret to the eastern Church. After Pascha- Easter in the West- there is a seasonal hymn that is sung in the Divine Liturgy. The words go "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." This hymn is a perfect and dramatic example of the Orthodox Church's continuity with early Christianity. The Orthodox Church did not select a New Testament verse and then insert it into the Liturgy. This hymn was sung in the first century Church, as evidenced by Paul's reference, and the Eastern church continued to sing it throughout the centuries up to the present day.

For Western Christians who are more used to basing worship and theology on the Bible, it is difficult to grasp the concept that The Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles were written around the worship and experiences of a Church that today goes by the name of Eastern Orthodox. The New Testament is a product of the Orthodox Church. A subdeacon sent me this note on the same topic:

Once the truth sinks in that the Church really exists prior to, and remains separate from, the writing of Scriptures the veil lifts and one enters into the church/kingdom.

Let me say this again, the Church really exists prior to, and remains separate from, the writing of the Scriptures. Notice I use the present tense: exists. It is not just that she existed historically prior to the writing of Scriptures, it is that her existence is always separate and apart from the Scriptures. Her existence is not predicated upon nor dependent upon the Scriptures. It is the Bible whose creation and continued existence depends upon the Church. The Church is the eschatological in-breaking of the Kingdom of God. The Church continues the ministry of John the Baptist, she is the forerunner, the advance party of the Kingdom that is coming, except the King comes, Christ arrives. We are not just "Waiting for Godot" i.e. for someone who never arrives. In Liturgy the Kingdom arrives, the King is present and becomes incarnate in the chalice!

The message of the kingdom, the message of the Eucharist, is fulfilled here already, now already, in our midst, in this location in our own space and time. God as Trinity is experienced and acknowledged, "We have seen the true light, we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith, worshipping the undivided Trinity: for He hath saved us." Scripture is the by-product.

Being curious can be a good thing, if it leads you somewhere: "Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened unto you." Matt 7: 7.