Reformission Rev. Review Pt. 5: The Nether Regions of Francis Turretin

Driscoll recounts at various points certain lessons he learned for preaching that I found helpful.

He says that early on in the history of Mars Hill he gave theology lectures as sermons. While he was very interested in theology, he came to realize that his sermons needed to touch down on the ground right were the people were living. He realized that his sermons needed to speak into the world of sin and darkness of the people in Seattle. Around this time, he also started preaching through books of the Bible. He found this to be a helpful way to get off his theological hobby horses, explain what a text meant in general and then apply it specifically to his people.

Driscoll also says that somewhere along the line he stopped caring how long his sermons were. He would sometimes preach for over an hour, and he still does and does so unapologetically since for many people this is the only Bible they get in a given week. People routinely have the time and patience for an hour or longer in other venues. People who complain about long sermons are either complaining because the preacher is bad or because they don't think the Word of God is as important as football or movies or concerts or stand up comedians.

And speaking of comedians, Driscoll noticed that there are very few men in the world today who can hold the attention of large audiences apart from certain musical artists and comedians. So, even while Driscoll quit worrying about how long he was going, he also started taking homiletics courses from the likes of Chris Rock. And along the way, he started preaching straight through books of the Bible.

A couple of things that really resonated with what Driscoll relates here: First, I think it's a pretty sorry state for the church to be in when people complain if the pastor preaches for much longer than a half an hour. If God invites us to His house for dinner once a week and has a word for us, I daresay we ought to listen even if its running over into lunch time.

But there are several angles to this discussion:

First, there are some in the Reformed tradition who believe that Christians are large brains with arms and legs attached for some reason. Sanctification is largely the uploading of theological data on Sunday mornings in a lengthy theological discourse that might as well be delivered as a series of ones and zeros. The worship service in these churches is a hymn sandwhich with a big, whopping piece of theological minutiea in the middle. Favorite forms of this sermonic bloat are readings from the nether regions of Francis Turretin (Lord bless him) and diagrams of the glories of supralapsarianism. These services are marked with furrowed brows, solemn tones, morbid introspection, and an occasional Holy Ghost grunt between the "we affirm the latters..." and "we deny the formers..."

Obviously if preachers are begging for twenty more minutes of slogging through five syllable words while beating the drums of damnation and hellfire, then I'd much rather the twenty minute version. Make it five minutes for that matter and be done with it.

But related to all of this is the fact that the sermon is not the only way that God ministers His grace to His people. Hymns and Psalms, Scripture readings, prayers, creeds, fellowship, and the sacraments are also significant parts of worship that God promises to bless and fill with His presence and Spirit. People were made with bodies and passions and minds and senses, and God intends to remake this fallen and broken humanity in its entirety. This means that singing and hearing music is part of the ministry of the Spirit. Eating bread and drinking wine in faith is part of the ministry of the Spirit. Hearing the Scriptures read is God's Word to His people as empowered by the Spirit.

Sermons don't need to be long as though that's the only way God speaks to His people. That's sort of like a husband insisting that his wife kiss him for twenty minutes every time. That may make for a great marriage or it might make for lots of babies, but it's not necessary because that's not the only way a husband and wife express love for one another. Talking, meals together, taking walks while holding hands, gifts, poems, and countless words and expressions display loyalty, love, and care. And God does the same thing with His people.

At the same time, a husband and wife that still like long, passionate kissing are probably still in love after all those dirty diapers and frenzied moments of childer-chaos. It's probably a sign of a healthy marriage. And my point is that a congregation that is hungry for God's Word, hungry for the Word read and explained and applied, hungry to grow in Christ, and doesn't mind the preacher going on for another fifteen or twenty minutes is probably a healthy congregation.

But secondly, there are some who are concerned that church services just not go too long. An hour long service is long enough, and an hour and a half, is extreme. And two hours is just downright unreasonable.

But I just don't get this. We'll go to the movies and watch a freaking long piece of garbage and pay twenty bucks for them to let us in. And we call that having a good time. Or we'll go to a concert and pay fifty or eighty or a hundred bucks to get into a stadium filled with screaming teenage girls for two hours. Or we'll watch a game on television for several hours and call that relaxing and fun, but if the people of God are invited to get together, to sing, to fellowship, to hear God's word to them, everybody's all of sudden watching their clocks? Do you really have something better to do? Do you really have something more important than God? Then maybe you should just leave. Maybe you shouldn't bother with the whole church thing.

Again, I appeal to the marriage analogy: what healthy marriage has a husband or wife a few minutes into making love glancing at the clock and hoping it will all be over in a few minutes? Love isn't like that. But worship is a love song between Jesus and His bride. There ought to be other occasions like Sunday School and Bible studies for in depth study of the Word, but the Word preached comes at the people of God in a unique and powerful way. And the people of God should be hungry for that kind of food. And pastors should work hard to prepare a filling feast. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He feeds His sheep in many other ways, but in so far as preachers are called to preach, they shouldn't shy away from the task.

Of course some worry about the kids. Adults can sit through a two hour service, but what about the kids? And some answer this objection by carting the little people off to special rooms where they can worship God in their own little way. But somehow that just seems wrong. When I eat dinner with my family at home, I don't send the two year old to her bedroom to eat her dinner so my wife and I can have some peace and quiet. And somehow I suspect that Jesus wouldn't do that either. In fact he probably hates the fact that so many churches do that to the little children of the kingdom.

But does that mean that sermons just need to be short and sweet and keep the services moving along so we can get in and out like a television sitcom? And what about the crying babies?

I would suggest at least three things here: First, if the pastors and elders are committed to having children in worship then that means that they must speak to them during the course of the service and invite their full participation in the service. This means that they should learn to shout their "Amens" and sing their parts of the liturgy. We should look for ways to include them in the choirs and helping in various capacities that are suited to their abilities. They should know that they have a full place at the table of Jesus, and they are quite welcome to partake of His meal. And parents need reminding and teaching on this. Secondly, It also means that we should be full of grace for their immaturity. If they fall asleep, that's OK. If they need snacks, that's OK. If they need to draw pictures, that's just grand. We obviously want to be teaching them to follow along as much as they are able, but we also remember their frames. We also bear with their squirms and giggles and squawks. And parents need to be reminded that their children do not have to leave all their childishness at the door when they come to meet with Jesus. Jesus doesn't despise them for being little. Jesus loves them, and He is glad they are there with us. And when the kids need instructing and discipline in the middle of the service, we should carry it out gladly and cheerfully, not with an embarrassed fury at the four year old for pulling his sister's hair. Of course they need teaching and correcting: they're kids. But that's nothing to be ashamed of, and it's certainly not a good reason to try to make church as short as possible. Lastly, pastors should work at preaching well. This means being conversational, straight forwardly explaining the Bible, and without being showy or sentimental, telling stories and jokes that make the points the text makes. The best preaching is always able to explain what a particular text means within the immediate context, show the congregation how it fits within the broader redemptive-historical context -- pointing to Jesus, and finally what it means for people who live in 2011 in America (or wherever).

Of course there's no magic or holy minimum or maximum with regard to time, and I'm not saying pastors should lay burdens on their people that are too heavy to bear. I'll I'm saying is that we should be growing hungry congregations, saints who are hungry for the word of God and pastors should be eager to serve up a gospel feast from the Word.

You can find the previous posts in this series here, here, here, and here.

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Reformission Rev. Review Pt. 2

In the early days, Driscoll recounts how some of their biggest challenges seemed to surround finding a good music leader. He recounts various musicians, drummers, and guitarists who filled the positions at various points in the history of Mars Hill. While I grew up in a fairly contemporary Christian worship music scene (true confessions: I played bass guitar for our church's worship team for a few years), I have over the years become more and more convinced that most of what is offered under that name is less than helpful, even though I am always open to finding good, new worship music (and I think the church should be committed to producing quality, new worship music/songs).

I have some familiarity with the worship music scene at Mars Hill -- I've listened to a few of the recordings posted on the Resurgence website -- (so I wasn't really surprised), but my initial reaction was honestly still that these "struggles" seemed trivial, sort of part of the immaturity of the early days of the church plant. Sort of like a young high school punk complaining that his garage band hasn't gotten any gigs. I'm tempted to tell the kid to grow up and get a job. Get married, have some kids, and join the *real* world. I admit that I was *tempted* to feel the same away about the Mars Hill music leader struggles. Grow up and find a hymnal, I sort of wanted to say. But on second thought, it's just a fact that music and worship is really important to God, and even though I would quibble with the electric guitars and garage band style of worship music, it dawned on me that this concern and trial was actually in some ways a really good sign that the church was on the right track.

Worship is central; God loves music. God loves when His people sing to Him with joy and love in their hearts. This doesn't dismiss the quality and culture issues, but the fact of the matter is that there are many believers who worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth with guitars and drums who will entire the Kingdom before the proud antics of Christians with high brow organs and violins. And furthermore, in so far as these struggles were borne out of a heartfelt love for Jesus and a desire to worship Him, Jesus was pleased with their baby steps and believers who walk in the obsessed love of Christ grow up into maturity. And this goes for all of us, whether we're plinking out old hymns on a piano or making a glorious ruckus on a Fender.

You can read the first part of this review here.

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Grace That's Still Amazing

We’ve seen this morning that God’s power and presence are ultimately aimed at the goal of love and mercy which ought to cause us to erupt in thankful praise and worship. Our liturgy, our worship service, understood rightly is meant to walk us through something of the same theology. We begin our service with an exhortation which is meant to call us to confession of sin. While we greet one another with cheerfulness and we go into the house of the Lord with singing, there is a regular weekly reminder that grace is still grace. It’s not as though Jesus undoes grace, such that in Christ, we now deserve the grace of God. Forgiveness in the blood of Christ and union with Christ are nothing but grace, but we do not begin by grace through faith and then proceed by some kind of score keeping. Nor is it as though salvation is just a ticket you get at the beginning of the Christian life, a free pass to heaven. No, salvation is the entire recreation of the world; salvation is the healing of all brokenness, the undoing of every wrong. And this is why we confess our sins as a congregation at the beginning of every Lord’s Day service. We still need grace. It is as much a confession of faith, that we are here because of grace, and that grace is still grace. We are still here by a miracle. If you’ve come to Church for 20 or 30 or 50 or 90 years it doesn’t matter. It’s still grace. And that’s why cry out for mercy and grace even after the absolution, not because we worry or fear that our sins might still be sticking to us, but because we know that we are just people, little people, very small. And we are frail and weak, and we still need more grace. God speaks to us in His mercy and lovingkindness, as a Father to His own children through the Word read and preached. We mill about like giddy little children hugging and kissing one another in thankfulness for the love that our Father has lavished on us, and then we respond in offering up our tithes and offerings and prayers, all that we are to God in Christ. And then we sit down here at this table as welcome and beloved sons. But this is all still impossible grace, overwhelming grace. Here God insists that He loves you, and that He sent His Son for you. As you take this bread and drink this cup, God gives Himself to you and for you specifically in all your weakness, in all your doubts, in all your brokenness. And He promises to be God for you still. Amazing grace is the only kind of grace there is. The kind of grace and love that we don’t deserve, that we have not earned, that we should not have. And therefore, all that we can do is worship. All that we can do is give thanks. All that we can do is praise the name of the Lord. So receive these gifts as nothing less than God’s infinite and amazing grace for you and for the world, and revel in them until you are amazed.

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Educating for Worship

[Originally posted back in 2006, the following is an excerpt from a chapter I wrote for Veritas Press' Omnibus III Textbook. This excerpt was published in VP's "epistula" e-newsletter in September 2006.]

For many, Adolph Hitler was the conservative, “family values” politician. Hitler passionately cared about the German family. He argued vehemently for rights of common workers, he spoke out against the so-called “liberation of women” from their callings in the home, and he encouraged a community culture that welcomed children and large families. Nazi papers, movies and educational curriculum consistently encouraged sexual fidelity and chastity, and they honored the responsibilities of mothers and wives in the raising of children and supporting their husbands. Hitler furthered his claims of defending the sanctity of the family through his suppression and execution of homosexuals throughout the war. Gypsies were another people group generally known for their immorality and less-than-orthodox lifestyles. These Hitler likewise suppressed and persecuted in various ways, gaining respect from the average German family. When Hitler came to power, his economic policies dramatically improved the nation almost overnight. Jobs were created largely through efforts to mobilize Germany for Hitler’s plans of expansion. Highway systems spread through the country to enable quick transportation of troops and supplies. Factories and technological plants sprang up in months, producing weapons, supplies, food, clothing and, of course, all the Nazi literature and media central to educating the masses in the Nazi program. The famous Volkswagen Beetle also appeared on German roads at this time, encouraging and allowing the common German man the freedom of economical travel. While Hitler outlawed all trade unions and every other political party, he silenced a great deal of dissidence with prosperity. German workers were given holidays and vacation time, plenty of work produced plenty of income, wives were encouraged to be home-centered, new schools and educational programs revitalized education and gave many opportunities to the children and youth of Germany. These family values, this sort of successful conservative progress, looked to many like a new Christian Germany emerging from the ashes of the liberalism of the previous fifty years. Hitler was also outspoken against communism, the atheistic political program of the Soviet Union. Hitler claimed to have a high regard for the right of private property and many basic, everyday freedoms. Hitler and the Nazi Party seemed to Germany to present the way of progress and rebirth. Ever since the First World War, Germany had suffered terribly from economic depression, political indecision and infighting; here at last, Hitler and the Nazis presented a unified and confident alternative to liberalism and socialism.

Recognizing all of these supposed “blessings” of Adolph Hitler as ruler is important for pointing out how the Christian faith dramatically diverges from Hitler. As we have seen, Hitler’s plans were larger than just some idea of “struggle.” Hitler believed that in, addition to pure blood, the next most necessary provision for progress and evolution was Lebensraum or “living space.” In order to win the fight, to prevail in the struggle, Germans needed bigger backyards. This necessity justified the expansion of German borders. It was the greater good of progress and freedom for the Aryan race that warranted the invasion of France, the annexation of Austria and the lightening warfare (or Blitzkrieg) that conquered a number of other eastern European countries within days. It is important to point out that the Scriptures also teach that the Kingdom of God will expand. In fact Jesus sent his disciples into the whole world, to every land and people, to make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them how to live like Christ. In other words, King Jesus has sent His people on a mission of world conquest. But the significant differences between this world conquest and what Hitler imagined are in the method of conquest and the reason for conquest. Where Hitler believed that a pure race of Aryan peoples would subjugate all the inferior races of the world and use them as slaves, like so many cattle, the Great Commission of Jesus sends His people into the world to declare the good news of salvation to every land and race. In fact, faithful ministers of the gospel are declaring that there is only one pure-blooded man, and His name is Jesus, and He shed his blood for all the nations of the earth to make them pure and blameless before God. Where Hitler lifted up Aryan blood and condemned the nations of the world, we lift up the perfect blood of Christ and proclaim the salvation of the world.

This story of Hitler’s “wooing” of Germany also serves as a solemn warning to American evangelical Christians. Given that Christians are some of the most enthusiastic supporters of “family values” and “conservative politics,” we must recognize the slippery slope of following strategies like voting for the “lesser of two evils.” One of the most important ways we must protect ourselves and our descendants from the temptation of seeing politics as our savior must be the determination that all reformation begins in the Church. Faithful worship results in honest, joyful living before the face of God, and honest, joyful living is what results (eventually) in economic blessing, political stability and peace. Germany bought the lie that they were completely backed into a corner; they believed that Hitler really was the only way out. But Christ has promised that we are part of a Kingdom against which the gates of Hades will not prevail (Matt. 16:18).

And so here you are in high school in the 21st century. Why are you in school? Why are you reading this page? Why are you reading Mein Kampf? You may be wondering these very things yourself; or perhaps you are quite sure it was your teacher’s fault or that your mom or dad “made you do it.” But let me offer you an even more meaningful reason. You are studying and reading this book because you are training to be a faithful worshiper of the Triune God. Hitler was absolutely right: education’s central purpose is to train young men and women to be the most useful subjects of the kingdom. However, he was terribly wrong for believing that any amount of struggle–however heroic–would amount to anything in the blender of Fate. He was terribly wrong to believe that Germany, a plot of land in central Europe, was the pinnacle of civilization. In the end, all his dramatic posturing is like watching a small child wrestling in a sandbox with his eyes closed pretending to be doing deadly battle with some unseen foe. God looks down from heaven and laughs; He holds in scorn all those who set themselves against His Anointed. But we do well to consider: What is the chief end of man? What is the greatest calling of every subject of the Kingdom of God? Your central purpose from beginning to end, first to last, your greatest task and privilege is the worship and glory of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This being the case, the central purpose of education is the training of Christian worshipers. The reason you are reading this essay is so that you might chant, sing, clap, pray, kneel, raise hands, listen, eat, drink and shout with understanding, reverence and joy to the end that the God of heaven and earth will send justice like summer rain and mercy like a downpour on the earth. The reason you study math, science and art is so that your imagination will be filled with wonder and awe at the Creator of the most mind blowing project ever: the world. And whether you are learning to read music or playing an instrument, whether your hand is holding a pencil or gesturing in the theater, you are training yourself for the warfare of worship. You are teaching your body gratitude; you are teaching your soul thanksgiving. There is hardly an adequate evaluation of your progress, but the best grade you can receive is the outworking of a thankful heart. If you have truly learned Algebra, if you have mastered the story of Western Civilization, if you can tell me the names of the constellations that whirl about our heads, then you will do it with laughter in your voice, you will do it with joy in your heart and gratitude in your bones. Worship is the point of learning because worship is the point of life. And worship is the point of life both because this is the chief honor of every faithful subject in the Kingdom of God and because it is the head of many waters, the council chambers of the King of all the earth. From the world gathered at the table of the Lord issues the great judgments of the King.

Hitler’s world is the story of eternal collision, unending struggle and violence. In that world blood and genes are the fundamentals of life, and pure Aryan blood is Hitler’s absolute best. But the Christian story scoffs at the small-mindedness of German nationalism even as it scoffs at American imperialism. The Lord of Heaven derides Hitler’s arrogant racism and sickening genocide as much as He abhors the slaughter of the unborn in our own country. But this is all the inevitable end of evolutionary thought. If the world is a galactic mosh pit, then bigger is better, might does make right. However, history tells the story better. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. But blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. And the sons of God are welcome at His table. The gospel declares the pure and undefiled blood of Jesus Christ, whose blood purifies every nation of the world. Hitler was right: pure blood will conquer the world. But ironically (for Hitler) that blood is the blood that was shed by an innocent Jewish man two thousand years ago. The sons and daughters of the Most High are family through the blood of Christ and are therefore invited to the family meetings. The Christian faith encompasses all of life, visible and invisible. Forgiveness cleanses the soul, and fruit proceeds out of the heart. In a mystery, the visible and invisible mingle and mix. In a wonderful glory God adopts us into His family with water and faith, He feeds us with His word and bread and wine. And we bless one another with words and smiles and hugs. Joy makes bones strong, and wisdom gives long life. We live in the world that God made, a world where heaven and earth touch, for we have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. In Christian worship we ascend into the throne room in heaven to ask the Father for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Fate speaks, destiny beckons and all of the scrapings of Hitler are like sand in the wind. But the Lord speaks, the Triune God beckons and the prayer of the righteous man avails much.

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Man: Homo Adorans

"To name a thing, in other words, is to bless God for it and in it. And in the Bible to bless God is not a "religious" or a "cultic" act, but the very way of life. God blessed the world, blessed man, blessed the seventh day (that is, time), and this means that He filled all that exists with His love and goodness, made all this "very good." So the only natural (and not "supernatural") reaction of man, to whom God gave this blessed and sanctified world, is to bless God in return, to thank Him, to see the world as God sees it and -- in this act of gratitude and adoration -- to know, name and possess the world... "Home sapiens," "homo faber" ... yes, but, first of all, "homo adorans." The first, the basic definition of man is that he is the priest. He stands in the center of the world and unifies it in his act of blessing God, of both receiving the world from God and offering it to God -- and by filling the world with this eucharist, he transforms his life, the one that he receives from the world, into life in God, into communion with Him. The world was created as the "matter," the material of one all-embracing eucharist, and man was created as the priest of this cosmic sacrament."

- Fr. Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World, 15.

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Passing the Peace and the Resurrection

Robert Webber at the end of a discussion remembering an Ash Wednesday service he once attended, says that the Passing of the Peace at the close of the liturgy is a reminder of the resurrection. "As I said, 'The Peace of the Lord be with you,' shook hands with my neighbor, and heard the words, 'Peace be with you,' I was hearing the resurrection. Here in these words that Jesus first spoke to his disciples in the upper room (see Luke 24:36-49), is the promise that the dark side of life in the world and in us will not prevail. The power of the evil one has been overcome." (Ancient-Future Time, 106)

And this is true of the liturgy every Lord's Day. We greet one another as heralds of the resurrection every Sunday before gathering to the table to celebrate the Eucharist, and this further highlights the celebratory nature of the Lord's Supper. We greet one another in peace because Christ is risen, sin is conquered, and we are about to participate in the wedding feast of the Lamb brought back from the future into our present. In the Passing of the Peace, we are enacting by faith not only the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we are also enacting the resurrection of our own bodies and the bodies of our neighbors, greeting one another in the peace of the Lord as though we had just woken up at the Last Day, that great Lord's Day.

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A Continual Sacrifice

Hughes Oliphant Old points out that the worship of the Temple was daily worship. Every morning and evening there were sacrifices in the temple and "these daily temple sacrifices were called the tamid, the continual sacrifice." One of the places Old is referring to is Exodus 29 where Yahweh commands Moses regarding the sacrifices that are to be offered at the Tabernacle. The priests are to offer two lambs, "day by day continually" (Ex. 29:38). One lamb was to be offered in the morning and the other was to be offered in the evening, and He explains that this morning and evening sacrifice is to be "a continual ascension offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the face of Yahweh" (Ex. 29:42). This morning and evening pattern is perpetuity; this rhythm is continual worship, day by day, following the pattern of creation, morning and evening, morning and evening.

Old also points out that the daily sacrifices "were accompanied by prayers and particularly the singing of psalms." Perhaps this originates in practice following the golden calf incident where Moses moves the tent of meeting outside the camp, and from that time on when the glory of God's presence descended upon the tent, the people would all worship from afar, falling down on their faces in the doorways of their tents (Ex. 33:7-11). But Old says that the "Christian discipline of daily prayer is ultimately derived from these continual sacrifices." Old cites Daniel who would maintain the Temple sacrifices even in exile, "There three times a day, at the regular hours of the Temple sacrifices, Daniel went to his room, opened his window toward Jerusalem, and said his prayers..." Related to this was the command in Deuteronomy to recite the Shema "when you lie down, and when you rise up...," every morning and every evening. Thus the faithful meditate on the law of God "day and night" (Ps. 1:2).

Old says that surely this is what the Apostle has in mind when he exhorts Christians to pray "continually" (Rom. 12:12), "without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17), offering "supplications and prayers night and day" (1 Tim. 5:5). And it's therefore no wonder that from the earliest centuries of the Church, Christians were known for these daily sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving and prayer. While Old recognizes the great work of monastics in preserving and glorifying the daily prayer services throughout the middle ages, he also notes that by the time of the Reformation it was necessary to restore prayers to the laity. Thus, in Geneva, Strassburg, and Augsburg, and apparently throughout the continent, morning and evening common prayers were restored to the people, often including sermons from the Reformers. In England and Scotland, the practice of daily prayers was emphasized in particular connection to the family which is probably related to the growing interest in covenant theology as well as the complex religious and political circumstances facing reformers at various points. Fathers were charged with the sacred duty of diligently instructing their families and leading them in the morning and evening prayers. Pastors would make regular visits to parish families to inquire about daily prayer habits and encourage fathers and mothers to grow in this practice. With the coming of Pietism, this practice degenerated into an individualistic "quiet time" which became the standard of Evangelical piety.

As we recover this pattern of continual prayer, it will surely take on slightly different forms in various places depending on many factors, but it is a gift of our heritage to be recovered nonetheless.

(References from Worship Reformed According to Scripture by Hughes Oliphant Old, 147-151).

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The Vision of God by Vladimir Lossky

Note: This summer I have the privilege of conducting an independent study with Dr. Hughes Oliphant Old, professor of reformed liturgics at Erskine Theological Seminary who also used to lecture at Princeton Theological Seminary. As part of that study, I have been reading a number of books related to our studies of Christian worship. I will attempt to post my summaries of those books as I complete them. Here is the third.

The Vision of God by Vladimir Lossky

Vladimir Lossky’s The Vision of God is an intriguing historical study concerning how a number of church fathers, leading up through the Byzantine tradition, have sought to reconcile the complete “otherness” and incomprehensibility of God in his essence with the promise and hope of in some sense seeing, comprehending, and even partaking of that “divinity.” Lossky notes that by “vision of God” we mean “theology” in its most basic sense: that is, knowing God.

Lossky begins by noting this great mystery and question in Scripture, the promise that at some point the people of God shall “see him as he is” (1 Jn. 3:2) coupled with the statements that God has not been seen at any time (Jn. 4:12) nor can he be seen (1 Tim. 6:16). There are various ways of tackling this tension. Some have differentiated between the present unperfected state and the final glorified, beatific state. Others insist that a distinction must be made between God’s essence and his “energies,” distinguishing that aspect of God which truly is unknowable and that which may be revealed and partaken of by creatures. At the heart of this conversation are of course questions of ontology and epistemology, basic presuppositions concerning being and knowing. And this, Lossky maintains, is central to why many more recent western theologians (16th and 17th century theologians and their successors) have misunderstood the Byzantine tradition on this subject. Working from a late medieval scholastic framework, these later theologians see the denial of a “vision of God” in his essence in the early eastern Fathers culminating in Gregory Palamas (1296-1359) as an incomprehensible error, particularly as the western tradition had formulated a very favorable affirmation of the possibility and hope of seeing God. Lossky suggests that this misjudgment is rooted in a clash of philosophies and terminology as well as an unwillingness to give charitable readings to theologians in a different tradition on a difficult subject matter.

From this introduction, Lossky proceeds through a brief sketch of the biblical data relevant to the question of a “vision of God.” Clearly such an idea is prevalent throughout the Scriptures. From the reoccurring “angel of Yahweh” or “angel of the Presence” to the experiences and aspirations of Moses and Job there is a clear expectation and understanding that while such an experience might be frightful it is one to be desired and one which human creatures are in some sense capable of. Lossky finishes this section noting that one of the important New Testament texts is found in 1 Corinthians 13 where the context concerns Paul’s theology of love. Here, the apostle insists upon a right relationship between love and knowledge, maintaining that the former is a necessary prerequisite for the latter. And therefore the statement concerning our “face to face” knowing and the promise that “I shall know just as I also am known” (13:12) must be understood in the context of this love-based knowing. Lossky says, “An object is known; this is an imperfect knowledge in which there is no reciprocity; where there is reciprocity of knowledge, knowledge signifies a relationship between persons, it is determined by [agape]” (p. 31).

At this point, Lossky begins his historical overview, summoning up a number of witnesses for examination to consider the views on “vision theology.” He begins with several early church fathers (prior to Byzantine theology proper) and then traces significant themes up through the centuries. St. Theophilus of Antioch (late 2nd century), writing from such an early period, is not working with a highly developed terminology to describe what he means. Nevertheless, Lossky suggests that Theophilus puts most of his emphasis on the eschatological reality of a vision of God, that is, at the resurrection the Christian will experience a manifestation of God “to the extent that he has become worthy of seeing Him.” However, while there is no “direct vision” yet, Theophilus does acknowledge the present/historical manifestation of God in creation and particularly in and through the Son and the Holy Spirit. St. Irenaeus of Lyon writing around the same time, follows Theophilus by emphasizing the present revelation of the unknowable nature of God in the Incarnation. He says, “The Father is the invisible nature of the Son, while the Son is the visible nature of the Father” (p. 36). Irenaeus develops this in a distinctly Trinitarian direction: There is a “prophetic vision” of God through the Holy Spirit re-establishing the image of God in mankind, there is the “vision of adoption” which the Son secures, and finally a “vision of the Father” which will occur at the resurrection. This final vision Irenaeus seems to suggest is causally related to the life of the resurrection. What formerly humans could not see will now become the very source of the incorruptible life. This Trinitarian vision is a process of increasing “participation” in the life of God which Irenaeus traces through the Old Testament economies through the Incarnation and projects forward to the consummation of all things which continues this growing vision of God which bestows more and more of the incorruptible life upon humanity. For Irenaeus, this participation in God is the ontological basis of all being.

Next, Lossky examines early Alexandrian theology as represented by Clement, Origen, and Athanasius. Here, Lossky notes that these theologians were heavily influenced by Platonic and Gnostic thought. They were certainly able to resist full capitulation to the Hellenistic milieu, but rather than “Christianizing Hellenistic spirituality [as they hoped], Clement and Origen almost succeeded in spiritualizing Christianity” (p. 68). Their emphasis was heavily trained on the intellectual faculties of meditation and contemplation which ultimately resulted in what one writer described as a “super-intellectualistic mysticism” (p. 47). While Athanasius would do much better, recalling the Irenaean emphasis of participation, and recognizing this in the life of the church, he would nevertheless still describe this participation in terms of being raised “beyond all sensible things,” ceaseless contemplation, and other descriptions which strongly remind readers of his forbearers.

The Cappodocians, facing the challenge of Arianism and (its extreme proponents) the “Anomoeans,” insisted on defining the essence or ousia of God in terms of the Trinity. This meant distinguishing between the outward acts, energies, operations, or names of God from God’s essence. Thus contemplation of God and participation in deity became explicitly Trinitarian, contemplation of the persons and participation in the communion of the Trinity. But where Origen and Clement and (to some extent) Athanasius assumed a Platonic cosmology and ontology, the Cappodocian fathers spoke of that which transcends creation as God himself, the communion of the Trinity (instead of some sort of disembodied, spiritual-mental existence). Furthermore, the knowledge of God is transcended to become love of the persons of the Trinity, a personalism has developed which on the one hand still sounds somewhat esoteric and mystical and yet on the other hand clearly shows the potential for more.

In the Syro-Palestinians and Cyril of Jerusalem we find another interesting Christological emphasis and trend in theology. Where many of the previous theologians have stressed the elevation and transcendence necessary for humanity to have a vision of God, to participate in the divine life, these theologians placed greater stress on the incarnation and the revelation of God in the humanity of Christ. The incarnation became central to understanding how humanity might have intimate communion with the Trinity. Just as God became man, filling (and fulfilling) a human body with the life of the Trinity (and the Son in particular), so too every human has the capability of being filled with the divine life and brought into the intimacy of the Trinity. Therefore having the Holy Spirit indwell humans is to have the life of Christ indwelling. This being the case and Christ being the revelation of the glory and beauty and life of the Trinity, humans filled with this same Spirit are made partakers of the divine life.

Following these developments, Lossky surveys several ascetics, a couple of whom follow in the Origenistic “intellectual mysticism” paths while at least one, St. Diadochus of Photice, sought a better way. Diadochus uses a great deal of mystical sounding vocabulary, but what differentiates him from the others is his distinction between essence and energies and his stress on the revelation of God being found in the incarnation and the Son. But Lossky argues that it is finally in the St. Dionysus the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor of the sixth century where Origen (and Platonism) is left behind. In these two theologians the distinction between essence and energies is maintained but in addition, the physicality of humanity and creation is reclaimed from the spiritualism of Origen. Again looking to the incarnation as a model, the attributes or energies of God (his “names” as some refer to them) are, by grace, bestowed upon humans much like the hypostatic union of the natures in Christ. In this perochoretic union of divine and human natures, the intelligible and sensible faculties, both body and soul are no longer opposed but reunited and united in persons to commune with the Triune persons of the Godhead.

This study finally comes to a climax with chapters devoted to St. John Damascene (and Byzantine spirituality in general) and St. Gregory Palamas. In John Damascene we see again the distinction between the essence and outward attributes of God, and he points out the pneumatological dimensions of human participation in God. The transfiguration of Christ is pointed to as a revelation not of something new but rather of that which was always true but veiled to the eyes of most. Thus it is the Holy Spirit who fills humans and reveals to their eyes the Incarnate Son as the revelation of the Trinity. This united contemplation (of heart and mind, body and soul) has been the emphasis of Hesychasm, a particular method of prayer in the East which is often criticized by the West. While Lossky seeks to defend the Hesychasts from their critics, his main intent seems to be to show how many of these same theologians grounded this “vision of God” in the liturgical life of the Church. This grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit were seen to be available to all through baptism (p. 148) and central to the prayers of the people of God. Ultimately, according to Lossky, Palamas’ naysayers have re-embraced Origen’s Platonism (p. 156) where they (Palamas’ critics) have made grace an avenue, a habitus which leads them down a path. Fundamentally, Lossky says the disagreement over the “vision of God” is based upon the understanding of the “nature of grace” (p. 156). For Palamas and many of his Eastern predecessors, grace is not the possibility or potential for communion with God; grace is the presence of God in and with us (p. 166).

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Lord of the Temple by Ernst Lohmeyer

Note: This summer I have the privilege of conducting an independent study with Dr. Hughes Oliphant Old, professor of reformed liturgics at Erskine Theological Seminary as well as a visiting lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary. As part of that study, I will be reading a number of books related to our studies of Christian worship. I will attempt to post my summaries of those books as I complete them. Here is the second.

Lord of the Temple by Ernst Lohmeyer

Lord of the Temple is a short but very insightful exploration of what the subtitle describes as the “relation between cult and gospel.” Beginning with a presentation of the basic complexities and tensions surrounding the person and work of Jesus in the gospels and the Jewish cult centered in the temple, Lohmeyer seeks to survey the literature of the synoptic gospels (with passing comments on other New Testament texts) examining how the words and actions of Jesus challenge, confront, and transform the ritual system of sacrifice, ceremonial cleanness and purity, as well as reaffirming the very central aim of communion with Israel’s God prescribed in the Old Testament.

Lohmeyer begins by describing what he calls “The Problem.” The “Problem” or tension which exists in Lohmeyer’s estimation is found at several levels of the interaction between cult and gospel. First, Lohmeyer points out that after the advent of the gospel, not only did the Jewish cult die out but all cultures widely impacted by the gospel saw the gradual dwindling of cultic practices. At the same time, it is recognized that there grew up a certain Christian cult which in some sense “preserves” certain elements of that old Jewish cult while roundly rejecting a large portion of it. Thus, there is tension between the Christian cult and its Jewish roots. Secondly, Lohmeyer suggests that there is a distinction to be made between faith and cult, between the historical and particular and the eternal and universal. He points out that cult, as an institution from God, is already seeking to join these realities as the eternal, universal reality of God is intervening into history at a particular time in a particular place in the specific form and action of the cult. Lohmeyer says that in “this way the sacred becomes history and history becomes sanctified, yet in both a fulfillment is required which is not history” (p. 8). The point seems to be that the sheer fact of the transcendent particularizing in history always necessarily points beyond itself and ultimately looks for an eschatological fulfillment. Thirdly, and related to the previous point, Lohmeyer describes the tensions resident within the three-fold identity of God’s people: their birth, law, and sacrificial system. Here, he explains that all three of these elements exhibit the gracious actions of God, and yet there is still a tension that exists between “the particularity of outward cultic forms and the universality of its inward sacred reality” (p. 17). Another way of saying this is that there is a moral element woven throughout the cultic landscape which must always be reckoned with. While the cult has moral elements to it, if the two become absolutely identified then morality is reduced to mere outward cultic acts. Nevertheless, there is an element of the outward cult that always demands more, looking beyond itself to some greater fulfillment, and this itself is a balance to self-congratulatory moralism. To these questions, problems, or tensions Lohmeyer asks, how does the gospel confront, answer, and challenge these concerns? Given the prophetic literature in particular where both a hearty denunciation of cultic abuses and hypocrisy are combined with a number of Messianic prophecies foretelling the renewal of the temple, one expects to find these tensions and problems addressed in the person and work of the Messiah.

Lohmeyer proceeds in the following chapter to the gospels themselves and begins examining the various ways in which Jesus takes upon himself the form and function of the Temple cult. Jesus makes people “clean,” a cultic category in itself, and furthermore, a cultic action and pronouncement that only the High Priest might make. With the titles “Holy One” and “Son of Man” Jesus forgives sins, heals the sick, and casts out demons. And in all of these things Jesus is clearly challenging the traditional cultic system of the Jews, even that which was explicitly commanded by God. Where God had established the sacrificial system and the priesthood to forgive sins and establish cleanliness, the “Son of Man” is now taking upon himself these tasks and doing so by his own authority. Thus, a new tension, a new problem arises in the gospel, and it only increases. His famous activities of association with “sinners” and “tax collectors” and his regular feasting with such outcasts also challenge the Jewish cult. Furthermore, not only did his actions challenge the cult, but they did so on the basis of Jesus’ own certainty that he was ushering in the “kingdom of God,” the eschatological fulfillment of the Old Testament cultic system. Jesus also challenges the definitions of “clean” and “holy,” insisting (contrary to Moses) that purity and holiness were tied to “the inner world of the human heart” (p. 31). Given Jewish cult, it is a revolutionary statement for Jesus to say, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Lohmeyer moves on to the Triumphal Entry of Jesus in Jerusalem and points out that he enters the city not only as the King spoken of by Zechariah, but given his destination (the temple), he enters as “the Lord of God’s Temple” (p. 34). This is confirmed by the fact that his immediate action after entering the city is to go into the temple and “look around.” He inspects the House of God with the authority of the High Priest. Of course the following scene, the “cleansing of the Temple,” famously continues all of these themes. Lohmeyer points out that Jesus’ words and actions are curious in several ways. First, the actual area that Jesus cleanses is the “Court of the Gentiles,” not an area of the temple particularly concerned for cleanliness or purity at least as far as the cultic “purists” would have been concerned. In fact, Lohmeyer suggests that this Gentile Court would have been viewed as a serious compromise by many of the strictest Jews. Their hopes for the eschatological deliverance of Israel would likely have included the destruction of such elements “contaminating” the pure worship of Yahweh. Secondly, Jesus’ quotation of Isaiah’s prophecy calling the Temple a “house of prayer for all peoples” is strange given that the Temple was largely used for sacrifice and cultic ritual. There is also an interesting tension within Jesus’ own ministry where he on the one hand instructs his disciples to “go nowhere among the gentiles” and on the other his various references to the coming inclusion of the nations of the earth (and this cleansing of the court of the Gentiles at the Temple). Finally, Lohmeyer examines Jesus’ own words regarding the coming destruction of the temple and his establishment of a new or “Christianized” Jewish feast in the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Lohmeyer closes this section by comparing the synoptic gospels and their appreciation or critique of the Jewish cult.

Next is an examination of what the gospels teach regarding cult in general. Given that there can be no faith without cult (p. 62), Lohmeyer examines the words and actions of Christ in terms of cult itself. Jesus places a significant importance on the “kingdom of God” in his teaching and often in particular “entering” the kingdom of God. Given the fact that the temple was itself the throne of God, the place were God ruled and judged his people, it is not strange to see a parallel between the entrance regulations of the Temple and this new proclamation of “entering” the kingdom of God. This “kingdom” (basileia) is closely connected with the “assembly” (ekklesia), and indeed Lohmeyer says they are “interchangeable” ideas. He explains that “Basileia means from God’s point of view that which the word ekklesia describes from the Master’s point of view” (p. 67). Additionally, Jesus says that he will destroy the Temple and “build another”; Lohmeyer connects this “building” with his words to Peter concerning the Church which he intends to “build.” Thus we see that in the “house of God” motif, the Temple, the Kingdom, and this new ekklesia are all bound together, and Jesus insists by his words and actions that the people who will make up this household are those who were formerly outcasts, sinners, and unclean (i.e. excluded from the cult). This insistence challenges and transforms those three identity markers of the Jewish people. Birth is no longer the issue but re-birth. Law is also challenged in Christ’s contradiction of the sacrificial and cleanliness laws but also in His use of the prophets. Lohmeyer suggests that prior to Christ the prophets had not received the same canonical status as the Torah. Lohmeyer writes: “What Jesus did was to replace the cult by the prophets, and to treat them not as mere interpreters of the Law as the Jews had done, but as themselves bearers of the word of God in their own right” (p. 72). The gospel transforms the cult in this sense by insisting as the prophets had that there was something deeper that all the sacrifices and purity rituals pointed to. The love of God and neighbor had been what they always aimed at, and now with the coming of the eschatological kingdom, Jesus insists that this is what God wants: a sacred fellowship binding himself to his people and his people together. Ultimately this is what is established in the Eucharistic meal. The Son of Man who “combines in his person this trilogy: king, judge, priest,” those old functions of the Temple and its ministers, establishes a new center, a new fellowship and communion. Thus, the answers to “The Problem” of the cult found in the gospel seem to be found largely in the reality of the eternal, heavenly holiness truly breaking into history in the form of once-for-all baptism and the communion meal. This in itself fulfills what the ancient cult always pointed to and simultaneously establishes a new cult but one that embodies and reveals the fullness of the eschatological reality of forgiveness and fellowship with God.

Lohmeyer’s study has many things to commend it. His in-depth and meticulous analysis of the gospel literature is invaluable for its attention to cultic references and assumptions. While this limits his study in many helpful ways, his modernistic assumptions show through in places where he discounts other New Testament literature (e.g. John and Hebrews) as less than reliable, and thus handcuffs his inquiry unduly in other areas (see pp. 68-69, 110). His broad understanding of “sacrifice” to include more than mere expiation for sin or cleansing but also the end goal of fellowship and communion was an excellent insight and one that is not nearly emphasized enough (e.g. p. 14, passim). Yet in places, one is left wondering how Lohmeyer understands the need for “forgiveness” and “holiness.” While he recognizes the need for the inward and outward realities to match and coincide according to the revealed word of God, his temerity and unwillingness to regard the death of Christ as sacrifice suggests that he holds a less than biblical view of sin and the Fall. Nevertheless, given the New Testament descriptions of Christian worship in cultic and sacrificial categories, it is hardly surprising that the historic Church has not shied away from using such language to describe its work. Lohmeyer’s study is a welcome contributor to this discussion.

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Doxology: A Summary

Note: This summer I have the privilege of conducting an independent study with Dr. Hughes Oliphant Old, professor of reformed liturgics at Erskine Theological Seminary as well as a visiting lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary. As part of that study, I will be reading a number of books related to our studies of Christian worship. I will attempt to post my summaries of those books as I complete them. Here is the first which happens to be the only full length book by Old on the list.

Themes & Variations for a Christian Doxology by Hughes Oliphant Old

Themes & Variations is a collection of essays built on the thesis that “doxology” may serve as the best foundation for a theology of worship. Old constructs this theology of worship around the “themes and variations” of epicletic doxology, kerygmatic doxology, wisdom doxology, prophetic doxology, and covenantal doxology. As the title indicates, the intent is less to construct a systematic theology of worship than to explore and suggest a more holistic biblical theology or worship. From the outset, Old explains that while he is working within the Reformed tradition of worship, he does not follow some of the later, more rigid hermeneutical principles of some but rather prefers Oecolampadius’ approach which insists that worship should be “according to Scripture” but not limited to explicit commands. This approach is appreciative of the entire scope of Scripture and open to the broad swath of literary genres found there as well as a liturgical theology that can be developed from more typological readings of its entire corpus. Thus, Themes & Variations seeks to offer thoughts and observations following this thematic and typological exploration of Scripture while considering how the historic church — and particularly the Reformed church and her forebears — has understood these themes and sought to put these considerations into practice.

By epicletic doxology, Old means the basic function of worship as “calling upon God’s name.” As an embodiment of the first simple acclamation of the Lord’s Prayer, “hallowed be Thy name,” this basic affirmation is the positive result of heeding the first four commandments of the Decalogue but particularly the third commandment prohibiting the taking of the Lord’s name in vain. All sorts of epiclesis are found in Scripture and appropriate for God’s people to offer, prayers of praise and adoration as well as prayers for help and mercy. Old suggests that the Old Covenant tetragram of YHWH which was a revelation of God’s saving and delivering power and intent has been replaced in the New Covenant by ABBA, the name of God as Father, who is preeminently the Father of the Lord Jesus, but in Him the Father of all who call upon Him in faith. Old points out that many of the epicletic prayers and hymns of the Christian heritage are built upon strong typological correlations between events in redemptive history and the present circumstances of those in need (e.g. the negro spirituals’ use of Exodus imagery and themes).

Kerygmatic doxology is worship based upon proclamation. This proclamation is based upon the deeds and character of God. Old examines the prolific praise of God in the Psalter, particularly the acclamation of praise found in the “Hallelujahs.” This acclamation of praise to God as savior and king has obvious royal and political overtones, and this becomes explicit in the New Testament where Jesus is declared to be the Christ, the Messiah, who was to come to set all things right. All the psalmic acclamations of the Old Testament become centered in the coming of the Messiah and upon His rule as God’s only begotten Son, the great and final Solomon. The Christian canticles and hymns of the church from the earliest days clearly reflect this realization that the sovereign rule and reign of God has now been revealed in Jesus and therefore Christian worship has always had royal overtones and a sense of regal dignity. Preaching has always been considered to be part of this doxology as the preaching of the gospel has always been the proclamation of Jesus as the King who has brought salvation to the world.

Wisdom doxology seeks to understand worship as the outworking of the prominent themes of word, wisdom, and logos found woven through the story of Scripture. While this has been a rather neglected aspect of liturgical studies, Old suggests that the great resurgence in the study of wisdom theology presents a wealth of material for willing liturgists to begin to integrate into their “themes and variations.” Old points out that the Psalms do not shy away from wisdom themes and often consider the law of the Lord or the fear of the Lord, and the personification of Wisdom as a fine woman to be sought after (from Proverbs) found its way into at least a few allegorical interpretations of the Song of Solomon. All of this wisdom doxology culminates in its most explicit formulation in the prologue of John’s gospel where the logos/wisdom of God is identified with God and has become incarnate. This incarnate wisdom of God continues to work within the categories of marriage and love by immediately being presented as the bridegroom come to his bride in the miracle at Cana. It is the study of wisdom theology that connects this marriage and feast theme with the final consummation pictured in Revelation’s great wedding feast of the Lamb. Wisdom doxology affirms that the study of the Scriptures in faith is itself worship, and preaching, in this regard, has often particularly flowered as it studied the Scriptures for typological and allegorical revelations of the wisdom of God. While the reformers for the most part preferred a rather toned down or tamed version of Scriptural exegesis (i.e. redemptive-historical), the study, preaching, and even singing of Scripture itself has always been a turn to contemplating the word as the revelation of the Word. The Eucharist has also been seen as the revelation of the wisdom of God in so far as it is a foretaste of that wedding feast and the sacramental communication of the bread of life to God’s people.

Prophetic doxology is the insistence on the holiness of God and therefore the requirement for His worshippers themselves to be holy. The prophetic literature is replete with condemnations of hypocritical worship, rites and rituals that are empty because the lives of the people carrying them out do not coincide with what the words and actions proclaim. This does not imply that worshippers must themselves be sinless, but it requires that sinners approach God in need of forgiveness (witness Isaiah). Old makes the simple and yet profound point that righteousness has to do with right relationships. To be righteous or just is to act lawfully toward all of those in one’s life. Fidelity to a spouse, care and discipline of a child, submission to authority, and care for the poor would all fall into this understanding of righteousness. Of course a right relationship toward God is preeminent and must be diffused throughout all of the others. And thus a prophetic doxology insists that the morality proclaimed by word and action in worship must inform and be implemented throughout the worshipper’s life. Old argues that this is what is meant by “spiritual” worship. It is not an opposition of material to immaterial, as though “spiritual” was merely non-physical, rather what is meant by “spiritual worship” is a fundamental ethical quality in one’s service to God. It is an honest seeking of right relationships (i.e. righteousness/holiness) because of God’s holiness and for His glory. Here, Old examines Christian art in this prophetic context, distinguishing between the iconography of the medieval and “high church” traditions and the protestant religious and illustrative art. Given the second commandment, this contrast represents a prophetic element of protestant worship in so far as it seeks the ethical purity of worship. He closes by pointing out how fitting the “giving of alms” is in Christian worship. It is a tangible declaration of this righteous aim: it responds to the holiness of God rightly and makes provision for the maintenance of the Church and the care of the poor.

Finally, Old examines worship as a covenantal doxology. The Scriptures clearly present the relationship between God and humanity in covenantal terms and even more so, this is done in the context of worship. The covenant was always affirmed and renewed when God’s word was read or declared, and it was often sealed with sacrifices and a meal. The praise of God’s people is also highly covenantal as it recites the faithfulness of God to His promises. Declarations of faith, oaths, vows, and prayers all serve as the human side of the covenant renewal as well (see his discussion of the use of the word sacramentum). As God is declared to have been faithful to His people, His people in turn declare their willingness and intention to be faithful to Him. At the center of this covenantal doxology is the Eucharist of course. Fulfilling the sacrificial and festal realities of the Old Covenant, and given the promises of God that included a salvific destiny for the whole world, a covenantal doxology is necessarily an evangelistic doxology. A renewal of the covenant is a renewal of the Christian Church’s missional identity and calling. This is simply because the love of God always spills out into love of neighbor. Old closes this final exploration with consideration of some of the more recent architectural trends in the Christian Church. Recognizing that worship space is itself a kind of liturgical theology, Old celebrates some of the modern attempts in church architecture which recognize the centrality of the word and sacraments but also the centrality of the covenantal people of God who gather together before their covenantal head. It is simply a fact that the acoustics, layout, and arrangement of people, furniture, and other accoutrements display a covenant theology of worship (or betray a sorry ignorance of the same).

This brief treatise is an excellent introduction to an understanding of historic Reformed worship. While Old does not go into many details (e.g. concerning the precise wording of prayers, the order of the liturgy, etc.), what has been presented is a suggested beginning and methodology to constructing a biblically Reformed theology of worship. More important even than answering all of the sorts of modern questions we may have about worship, Old has illustrated a method of inquiry into the biblical text (and historic practice) and examined five themes which wind together to form a center from which one may continue to study and explore how the people of God ought to offer their doxology.

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Lohmeyer on the Cleansing of the Temple

Lohmeyer points out that Jesus words and actions in the temple cleansing scene are both strange and revolutionary. First, the portion of the "temple" that Jesus cleanses would hardly have been considered the temple proper in the first century. Most Jews would have viewed the court of the Gentiles as a compromise and/or syncretistic bone tossed to the pluralistic culture they were living in. Thus, for Jesus to go there and call it "God's House" is rather startling. Secondly, Jesus insists that God's house be called a "house of prayer." This is from a prophecy in Isaiah 56:7, and thus it is not a particularly original concept, but again, given what the temple was for (i.e. sacrifice and ritual cleansing), Jesus' reference suggests a transformation of the house of God. Notice too that Jesus' actions (e.g. knocking over tables, driving out the merchants, etc.) disrupt (at least momentarily) the sacrificial system. Both his actions and words suggest that there is coming a new way to be ritually clean and a new way to have one's sins forgiven. It will no longer be found in the other precincts of the temple where various washings and sacrifices occur. Instead, it will occur in the court of the gentiles where people gather for prayer. Thirdly, the rest of the quotation from Isaiah is that God's house will be a house of prayer "for all nations," and this is particularly important for the location of these actions. Jesus is acting like the Court of the Gentiles is the center of the Temple, and renaming it God's "house of prayer for all nations" indicates that Jesus is ushering in the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. Not only will there be a new way of ceremonial cleanness and purity, a new avenue for the forgiveness of sins, but this way will be opened not only to the Jews but to all nations.

Far from this scene being a moralistic parable about not selling stuff at church or the greed of the first century priesthood, this story is the revelation of God's purpose to rebuild and transform his Temple, to make a new house, a house of prayer for Jews and Gentiles where all nations can be forgiven, cleansed, and made holy.

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The Feast is Holy War

When Moses first goes before Pharaoh his request is that Israel might go three days journey into the wilderness in order to hold a feast/festival to Yahweh (Ex. 5:1-3). The general request for the freedom to go out of the land is resubmitted a number of times, but this specific request (to feast) is made again at the onset of the eighth plague when Pharaoh asks who will go. Moses insists that it will be young and old, sons and daughters, and flocks and herds that will go to hold the "feast to Yahweh" (Ex. 10:9).

Interestingly, the next "feast" we witness in Exodus is the feast of unleavened bread and the Passover. In the narrative, it seems that since Pharaoh has not allowed Israel to go into the wilderness for the feast, Yahweh has commanded his people to hold the feast in Egypt. This was of course one of Pharaoh's early compromise suggestions (8:25-27), but Moses insisted on leaving the land of Egypt because the sacrifice/feast would be an "abomination" to the Egyptians.

As it turns out, to hold the feast to Yahweh in the land of Egypt is not merely an abomination to the Egyptians but it results in the destruction of the first born of Egypt. It was not merely an extraneous nicety for Israel to worship a "three days journey into the wilderness"; it was for the safety of Egypt. For Israel to feast/sacrifice/worship Yahweh was for Yahweh to draw near, and the very presence of Yahweh is life and freedom and blessing for his people but judgment and death and destruction for those who do not know Him. An abomination is something "devoted for destruction" (hb. "herem") (e.g. Dt. 7:26), and thus in a great twist of irony, Israel does hold their "abominable" feast in the land and then the land is utterly destroyed.

Of course all of this has important ramifications for Christian worship. For Christians to be worshipping in any land, to be keeping the feast (cf. 1 Cor. 5:1), and to celebrate the Eucharist is to endanger the native inhabitants. In fact, "herem" is itself the term used for Israelite holy war which resulted in the "utter destruction" of many cities in the land of Canaan during the conquest (e.g. Josh. 6:17). But the archetype of this holy war was the Exodus, the conquest of Egypt, in which Yahweh fought for Israel while she held a feast and worshipped Yahweh. Christian worship is holy war; it is the feast to which the Triune God promises to drawn near. Therefore all who are not of God's people are in danger. This means that there must be conflict; and worship is the center of this struggle.

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Seventh Sunday in Epiphany: Worship VI: Worship and Culture

Opening Prayer

Introduction
We believe that what we do here impacts the rest of the world. We see this taught from the beginning verses of Genesis (2:10ff): the garden/sanctuary is to flow out to the four corners of the world. We see this in the worship of Abraham as the proto-conquest of Canaan, the worship that is integral to the conquest (ie. Jericho), and even the war-Psalms of David. The vision of Ezekiel sees the river flowing out of the temple getting deeper and deeper as flows out into the sea for the healing of the nations (Ez. 47:1-12, cf. Rev. 22:1-2). This means that the aim of our worship here is establishing a culture informed by worshipping the Triune God. We want to eat, drink, sleep, dress, write, run, and breathe for the Trinity and for the healing of the nations.

Love of Wisdom
Our worship is both Word and Sacrament. It is mind and body because Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth. This means that we must be lovers of wisdom, lovers of the wisdom of God. We need to be people of words and people of the Word. This means that as individuals and as families we are to seekers after wisdom, hungry for understanding and knowledge. This hunger must be ultimately a hunger for God, but knowledge and understanding in itself without love is hot air and empty pride (1 Cor. 8:1-3).Central to this love of wisdom must also be a disdain for foolishness, a contempt of the cool. What is hip and trendy largely hates God and loves death. The mall wants girls to dress like prostitutes and men to dress like they just rolled out of bed. This is not the love of lady wisdom; this is the love of easy, casual sex. Not only must we stay away from it; we must learn to make fun of it. This is not a call to be rude; this is a call to hate evil and to mock it (Prov. 8:13).

Love of Feasting
Secondly, a culture that is shaped and formed by robust, biblical worship will be a culture of celebration. This does not mean that every meal should be a “Thanksgiving” meal, nor is this in anyway a slam on simplicity, simple means, or even fasting. This isn’t just a call to buy and eat more food. This is a call to joyful living; this is a call to the continual feast of faithfulness (Prov. 15:15). This festal living starts in the home, but it must spill out. Your Sabbath tables should be getting fuller as the years go by, not only with your own children but friends and neighbors whom you invite to share in the feast. The meal that Jesus gave us was a table of fellowship and love that he gave to us to be for the world. Learn to open your homes, your lives, and fill your tables. Not only should we literally feast, but we need to learn to see the world as a table set for us. God created Adam and Eve and put them in the garden and the first thing he told them about was the menu (Gen. 1:29). The world is our banqueting table. This means that whatever lawful thing you see in the world that delights and rejoices your heart is yours for the taking, exploring, and delighting in. Like every meal, begin with giving thanks and then dive in. Physics, sewing, mathematics, book binding, politics, mechanics, theology, philosophy, athletics, housekeeping, writing, organizing, building, cooking: the world is your feast.

Love of Psalms
Finally, music, singing, and the Psalms should be central to the recovery of Christian culture. This means that it is not sufficient to only sing Psalms and hymns on Sunday at church. Paul exhorts the Colossians to let the word of Christ dwell in them richly by singing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col. 3:16). James also says that if anyone is cheerful (Gk. happy/courageous) let him sing Psalms (Js. 5:13). First, we need to recognize that these are imperatives, commands to sing. Secondly, we see that singing is a means to allowing the Word to dwell in us richly and a witness of our joy. We want to build a culture of vigorous psalm singing not as something we have to do but something we get to do. Robust, vigorous Psalm singing is also the answer to any discussion about worship music. The issue is not old versus new, traditional versus contemporary. The issue is the depth, glory, and militancy of the Psalms. Finally, the Psalms teach us how to respond in faith to every situation of life. There is a wonderful appendix in Athanasius’ On the Incarnation where he recounts the words of an old teacher friend who saw the Psalms as able to put words to every circumstance of life (p. 107ff). If we want to be faithful, we must learn and sing the Psalms. The Psalms are the war-songs of our King.

Conclusions and Applications
We are seeking to recover the centrality of worship in all of life. That means principally gathering here as God’s people to worship God in spirit and in truth. But if this is the garden sanctuary, the new temple of Ezekiel, the heavenly Jerusalem, then what we do here must impact and affect what we do Monday through Saturday. It is not sufficient just to say “be good Christians.” The words and patterns of speech and action must characterize your speech and action out there. We are taking the riches of the kingdom out into the world. If you confess your sins here, you must confess your sins there. If you read and hear the word of God here, then you must do it out there. If you sing Psalms and hymns here, you must do it out there. If you hear the word of God here and say ‘Thanks be to God!’ then you must thankfully obey the word of God out there. If you greet one another in peace here, then you must be peace makers out there. If you feast before the Lord here with thanksgiving, then you must be festive out there. If you receive the blessing of God here, then you must extend that blessing to the world.

In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Concluding Prayer: Almighty and glorious Lord, we know that you have promised to overrun this world with your grace and mercy. You must reign until every enemy has been placed beneath your feet. We rejoice in that hope and promise. Thank you for calling us to be your ministers of that hope and promise. Grant us the grace to live in the patterns and speak with the words of your kingdom.

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Sixth Sunday in Epiphany: Worship V: The Lord's Day II: Hebrews 4

Opening Prayer: Our Father, we confess that when it comes to the subject of the Lord’s Day and the Sabbath we are a confused people. We come to you now trusting and believing that your Word is our life and our hope and our rest. Speak to us words of correction where we need to be corrected, encouragement where we need encouragement, rebuke where we need rebuke, and comfort us by your Spirit. For we are your children, called by your name, and it is in Jesus’ name that we pray, Amen!

Introduction
The subject of the Lord’s Day has been one of the most abused and controversial of many practical subjects in the church. While all Christians give some allegiance to the Ten Commandments and very few would seriously attempt to throw any of them out, the fourth commandment has perhaps been the most confusing. On the surface most everyone knows that Sunday is in some sense what Saturday was for the Jews. And yet there still seems to be some kind of significant differences.

The Context
First of all we need to understand the overall argument and flow of the book of Hebrews. While there is a lot going on, the writer is preeminently concerned with the temptation some Jewish Christians are facing to return to Judaism. His point is not to argue against Judaism per se but rather to show that it has been fulfilled and glorified in Christ (e.g. 3:1-6). As the Israelites were delivered from Egypt and led toward the Promised Land by Moses, so too the new Israel has been delivered from the ultimate Egypt and is being led toward freedom from the bondage of old, deformed Judaism. Examples of this bondage are particularly evident in the Pharisaical Sabbath regulations (e.g. Matt. 12, Mk. 2-3, Lk. 13:10ff). Just as there were forty years of wandering in the wilderness for old Israel, there was around 40 years between the ascension of Jesus and the destruction of the temple.

A Sabbath Remains
It is in this context that the writer exhorts his audience to enter the rest of God by faith (3:13-14, 18-19, 4:2). The rest that was set before Israel was clearly on the surface the Promised Land (3:7-11). But the writer says that it was actually more than that: it meant entering the very rest of God from creation (4:3-4). The Sabbath day was a weekly memorial looking back to the finished work of creation, but also a longing for the return to the garden (Ex. 20:11). The Jewish Sabbath also looked back to the Exodus, the great re-creation work of God (Dt. 5:15). Every day was always an opportunity to mix the good news with faith, as long as it is called Today (3:13, 4:7), but this rest was more than just the Promised Land because David is still talking about entering this rest almost five hundred years later (4:7-8). This means that the Jewish Sabbath day was anticipating something more than the Promised Land. It pointed to something bigger. And his conclusion is that there remains a Sabbath for the people of God (v. 10).

Resting from Works
Verse 10 is a little tricky because of the pronouns. But it simply cannot be referring to people ceasing from their “works” trying to earn their salvation because the comparison doesn’t work: “just as God did from his.” Are man’s attempts to earn his salvation comparable to God’s work of Creation or Redemption? Of course not, but the work of Christ is comparable to Creation and Redemption. Creation has already been spoken of as the “work” of Christ (1:10), and in the immediate context “his works” refers to the works of creation (4:3-4). Therefore the “he” in verse 10 must be Christ who has finished his new work of creation/redemption and entered his rest just as God rested from his original work of creation. The seventh day Sabbath could only have changed to another day if the world was remade and God saved his people with something greater than the Exodus, and that is exactly what has happened in the resurrection (Heb. 4:10, cf. Lev. 16:31).

Conclusions & Application
So what does this mean for us? Too often sermons and books on the Sabbath have run straight to a list of ‘thou shalt nots’. But the Sabbath is to be delight (Is. 58:13). Why is the Sabbath a delight? We get to imitate God’s pattern of creation and re-creation in Jesus. It is a delight because we get to picture physically and temporally what is true everywhere and at all times: God is our strength and our blessing. This is the way the world works: you can accomplish in six days what you can’t do in seven. The Sabbath is trusting God to bless us and make us fruitful.

The Sabbath is also a delight because it is a festive celebration. The Old Testament Sabbath was supposed to have been a feast day (Lev. 23:2-3), but the priests and Pharisees had turned it into a painful dirge. If the Sabbath was a feast in the Old Covenant, how much more so ought it to be a festival in the New Covenant? The Lord’s Day should be our favorite day of the week. And our children should know that it is our favorite day of the week.

All of this flows out of a rightful understanding of worship. Worship is the center of the Lord’s Day, the center of the Day of the Lord. While we gather in God’s presence, his living presence draws near to earth, and God creates, names, judges, fights, and raises up his own. The Day of the Lord is the day of God’s great work; our Sabbath is centrally resting at the feet of Jesus, hearing his word proclaimed, sharing bread and wine with Jesus, and receiving his blessing with faith. But a Sabbath remains for the people of God. In God’s goodness, he gives us rest. Growing a robust Sabbath culture is a declaration of what Christ has done in his death and resurrection and what that means for this world.

In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!

Concluding Prayer: Almighty God, you have done great wonders in our midst. When we were in slavery to sin and darkness, you remembered your covenant, the covenant that you made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and you came to us in Jesus, bearing your right arm, and you have thrown down the principalities and powers with your outstretched arm, and you have brought us out of darkness into your marvelous light. When Jesus burst from the tomb on the first day of the week, he finished his great work of redemption, and we praise you and thank you for the rest you have won for us in Him. Give us wisdom as we seek to follow after you in this.

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Fifth Sunday in Epiphany: Worship IV: The Lord’s Day I

Opening Prayer: Gracious Lord, too often we come to worship assuming that this is a social club, a theological society, or we think the main point is to have you pat us on the back and tell us “It’s Ok.” But you are fierce in your mercy, and your judgments are justice and truth. Come to us now by the power of your Spirit and blast our foolish assumptions to pieces. For you are God, Father, Son, and Spirit, and there is no other, and we plead with you to empower Your Word now, for your glory and honor, through Jesus Christ, Amen!

Introduction
We’ve considered worship as sacrifice, worship as covenant renewal, and worship as empowered by the order and militancy of the Spirit. We now turn to the time of worship. We call Sunday the Lord’s Day or the Day of the Lord preeminently because it marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But Jesus’ resurrection is not the first or last Day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord
To begin to speak about the day of the Lord, we have to begin with the first days. We learn in Genesis 1 that a day of the Lord is the time of God’s working and structuring of the universe. When God comes on these days, he comes to create, divide, name, and evaluate. Where there is harmony/communion with God this meeting is joyful and blessed, but where there is sin, there is pain and cursing (Gen. 3). This motif continues throughout the Scriptures where the day of the Lord is also referred to as the “day of visitation” and “day of judgment.” The day of the Lord is the day of God’s fierce judgment (Jer. 46:10), a day of battle (Ez. 13:5), a day of de-creation (Is. 13:9-10, Joel 3:14-15), a day of thick darkness and clouds (Joel 2:1, 11, 31, Zeph. 1:14-15). This reminds us of the covenant renewal at Mt. Sinai where God’s presence was in the thick, black clouds. The day of the Lord is also a day where God shakes the heavens and the earth (Joel 3:16). This great judgment/battle/destruction occurs while God shakes the heavens and the earth, but in all of these passages God’s people are saved and preserved (Joel 3:16, Jer. 46:28).

The Resurrection
Some of these “days of the Lord” refer to judgments that God brought against his people, but others (Joel cf. Acts 2:16, Mal. 4:5-6) refer to the work of Christ. Even Hosea refers specifically to being raised up on the third day (Hos. 6:2). We also need to remember that the third day was also the eighth day, the day of renewal, cleansing, and circumcision (cf. Lev. 9:1, 12:3, 14:10). In Ezekiel 43, the prophet sees a vision of the renewed temple, and it is on the eighth day that sacrifices and offerings are accepted (43:27). After the resurrection, the disciples immediately began meeting on this day, and it was the day that the risen Christ appeared to them (Jn. 20:19, 26, cf. 1 Cor. 16:2). It was on this day that John was in the Spirit in Rev. 1:10. What does John see occurring in heaven on the Lord’s Day? He sees a worship service. The Lord gives exhortations to the seven churches, and then John witnesses the worship of heaven and the consequences of this worship. When worship takes place (ch. 5) the Lord goes out to conquer (6:2) and to bring about great destructions (6:4, 8, 15-17). Then again the numberless multitude worships God (7:9-12) and great judgments are poured out on the earth (8:5, 7, 11ff). When heaven is filled with worship there is a great storm of earthquakes, lightening, and thunders (11:15-19). John is witnessing the Day of the Lord.

The Lord’s Day
If we remember what God’s Spirit presence is like: a great and terrible storm of battle, the day of the Lord is the meeting of heaven and earth. It is not as though God is normally lounging on a Persian rug, eating grapes and once in a while he gets really mad. God’s presence is a storm, life in abundance, overwhelming joy. The presence of God is as Isaiah said: it undoes us. And John shows us that it is this intense life and joy that we enter in worship.

Interestingly, the only other place where something is described as the “Lord’s” is in 1 Cor. 11:20 in reference to the Lord’s Supper. This surely is not an accident. It is the meal where God promises to meet us that is the center of the Lord’s Day. Here, the apostle says, God judges us. Those who receive the favor of God in faith and childlike trust are blessed and strengthened, but those who despise the goodness of God are cursed (1 Cor. 11: 29-30).

Applications and Conclusions
This cuts several ways for us. First, when we gather for worship on the Day of the Lord, we are gathering in the storm presence of God. It is the day of God’s judgments and destructions. But this day of the Lord is the day of resurrection, the day of the vindication of Jesus who passed under the judgment of God. When we worship God, he comes and shakes the earth and heaven, dealing with our sins but also with the sin of the world. Our worship is not a private event. It occurs in the heavenly places and from the throne of God issue judgments and destructions. This means that worship is not only our response to God’s salvation; it is also the enactment of God’s salvation in the world.

Just as God came to Israel and the nations of the world to destroy them and raise them back up, in Christ, God comes and kills us week after week and raises us back up again to resurrection life. This is not because your salvation is in jeopardy; this is because resurrection life is learning to die. Do you want to live? Then you must die. This is the fierce storm life of the Trinity where the Father dies to the Son, and the Son dies to the Father, and the Spirit dies to the Father and the Son. You must not forsake this gathering because here God is teaching you how to die, how to die well. You are called here to die because this is the life that we offer to the world.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!

Final Prayer: Almighty and gracious God, we confess that you are life, and that your life is fierce and glorious and wild. Remake us now in your presence. Undo us, destroy us, and revive us. Teach us to live as you teach us to die; that our lives may be living sacrifices, holy and blameless before you.

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Second Sunday in Epiphany: Exploring our Worship III: John 2:1-11

Opening Prayer: Almighty God, you have come into the world in Jesus Christ to save the world and fill it with your endless glory. We draw near to you now covered with the blood of Jesus; cut us up with the sword of your Word. Arrange us on the altar, consume us by the power of your Spirit, and so transform us into living sacrifices that we are pleasing and acceptable in your sight. For we pray with faith, knowing that you are a consuming fire, through Jesus Christ the righteous, and Amen!

Introduction
We have considered worship as sacrifice, and last week we explored worship as the fierce order of God’s army, his warring hosts. One of the other most important images of worship in Scripture is the wedding/wedding feast. Epiphany or Theophany is the celebration of God’s revelation to us in Christ, God revealed in human flesh. Our gospel lesson today is particularly concerned with the first sign of that revelation of the glory of God: the miracle at a wedding in Cana where Jesus turned water into wine.

The Glory of the Bridegroom
This first sign that Jesus does is no incidental reference. John has already introduced Jesus as the Word made flesh who reveals the glory as the only begotten of the Father (1:14). When John finishes this episode with the explanation that this was the first sign that Jesus did to manifest his glory (2:11), we cannot forget that this is the glory of the Father. The fact that it is the first sign must also indicate its priority, indicating something primary about Christ’s mission. God comes into the world as a man, and after being baptized, the first thing he does is go to a wedding and turn water into wine. First, notice that Jesus is standing in for the bridegroom. The master of the feast calls for the bridegroom and praises him for setting out this “good wine” not knowing where the wine had come from (2:9). Jesus reveals God to us as the bridegroom come for a bride, come to give the good wine for a wedding feast.

Resurrection and New Creation
Secondly, notice that John labels this event as occurring on the “third day” (2:1). Given the gospel story and John’s tendency to pack meaning into texts, we cannot ignore this reference to Jesus’ mission. Here, Mary “mistakes” Jesus as the bridegroom, but we know that at the end of this gospel, Jesus will rise on the third day be “mistaken” by another Mary for a gardener. Again, remembering what will take place later, we see that this “third day” occurs just a few days after being hailed the “lamb of God,” a clear foreshadowing of Passover, death, and resurrection. On the third day, there will be wine for Israel (cf. Is. 25:6). But this “third day” reference also comes in a line of other time references. John opens famously with the phrase “in the beginning” and begins expounding Jesus as the “light of the world” followed by several references to “days” (1:29, 35, 43). Depending on how one does the math we might see this miracle on the “third day” as actually occurring on the sixth or first day of the week from the “beginning.” This creation week motif is unmistakable. Jesus manifests God as the Creator God, come to remake his people, to turn their water into wine.

Wine of Purification
Not only has God come in Jesus as the bridegroom and the creator, he comes as a new Moses-like teacher. He fills the water pots used for Jewish purification with wedding wine. The purification rites of the Old Covenant were a reminder of the Exodus: they passed through water before coming to God (at Sinai) and the land of grapes/ wine (Canaan). The old Jewish purification rites are being transformed in this new creation; as God came as a bridegroom and married Israel at Sinai, so God is come again in Jesus to marry his people. This new marriage (or remarriage) will have a new purification rite, one that involves the drinking of wine. The Old Covenant water is growing up into the New Covenant wine. Both the wedding/bridegroom theme and the wine point to the idea of maturity. In Jesus, God’s people are growing up (Gal. 4:2ff); wine is a symbol of maturity as an aged drink. And a wedding is one of the steps in maturity, the beginning of a new household. In Jesus, God is coming to his people for their graduation to adulthood; he’s coming to marry them, to renew covenant with them, to purify them with wine.

Conclusions & Applications
Worship is like a wedding. We are gathered here, week after week, to renew our wedding vows with our husband. Corporately we are the Bride of Christ, and he calls us out of the world to renew our marriage covenant. This is one of the reasons why our service is dialogical. Throughout the service there are spoken responses between the minister and the congregation. We see this pattern in the covenant at Sinai, and we still have this in our own weddings where vows and promises are made between the husband and wife. But a wedding is also a fitting description of the proper decorum of worship. Our worship is wedding-like in its solemnity and joy. It is not solemn like a funeral; it is solemn like a wedding, like graduation. It is full of deep joy. Our bridegroom still brings wine to the feast.

In this sense, worship is covenant renewal. We considered the theme of sacrifice a few weeks ago and noticed that our worship follows the order of sacrifices outlined in Leviticus 9. We also pointed out the pattern there is resident in the act of creation and in the Eucharist. But that pattern is also plainly seen in making covenants: Call, Rehearsal of separation, instructions, fellowship/meal, blessing/commission (e.g. Abram, Sinai & Israel, David). We see that this is the same pattern we saw before in creation, the sacrifices, and the Eucharist. And our worship follows the same pattern.

We are in some ways exactly like the bridegroom at Cana who was praised by the master of the Feast. Our offertory is offering up (somewhat sheepishly) what we did not make ourselves. Our bridegroom gives us gifts to give to him and for the world.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!

Final Prayer: Almighty God, we thank you that you have invited us (and the world) into your life and fellowship. We confess that we have attempted to horde this life and have believed that eternal life was found in fat theology books and thinking certain thoughts. But your life was manifest and gave joy to a wedding feast; your life was manifest and gave health to broken bones and hope to the broken hearted. Give us that life; and put to death our death. As we greet one another in the Peace, enable us to do it as images of your Triune love. And we ask that our peace and fellowship would be for the world.

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