I believe that the Son of God
through his Spirit and Word,
out of the entire human race,
from the beginning of the world to its end,
gathers, protects, and preserves for himself
a community chosen for eternal life
and united in true faith.
And of this community I am and always will be
a living member. - Heidelberg Catechism 54
Class Reference:
Called to Serve, Essays for Elders and Deacons (Michael Brown, Ed.)
Additional references:
Welcome to a Reformed Church (Daniel Hyde)
Recovering the Reformed Confession (R. Scott Clark)
Reformation Worship (Jonathan Gibson, Mark Earngey)
Preliminary thoughts:
- We are saved by God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are made Christian by the church.
- “He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the church for his mother.” Cyprian of Carthage
- They tried to kill us, God saved us, Let's eat. The people of Israel knew they reenacted the phases of institution, fall, redemption and consummation in their God-facilitated ancient worship. It would have been entirely confusing and foreign for New Testament Jewish Christians to suddenly lose that applied exegesis of their entire history. While Christ fulfilled the law and obtained forgiveness and salvation for his people, eliminating the ceremonial and sacrificial particulars of temple worship, the covenantal, reenactment principles of worship remained.
- The Reformed are Catholic. They're just not Roman
- The Bible is a covenant charter. If this is true, the church has a grave burden to carefully consider how she conducts her worship
Worship is centered on, and founded in holy scripture. There is no sense in worship unless it is directed and guided by the Word. To ensure worship is
conducted according to the principles taught in God's Word, an ongoing examination and conversation of the liturgy is essential work for the elders of the church. The congregation is to be educated in the principles of worship, the meaning of and reasons for both the elements and circumstances of the liturgy.
The elders should have a consensus on the construction of the liturgy and remain vigilant in their study of the theology from which worship is derived. They must consult with churches in federation and compare liturgy with them. Pulpit-sharing and visitation are helpful.
There is a challenge to the maintenance of the liturgy when visiting pastors lead worship, and elders have the duty to ensure the liturgy is understood by those who are not already conversant with the particular church's program.
The Reformed believe that two services on the Lord's day is proper for worship. This is a product of historical practice reaching as far as synagogue gathering in antiquity. There is some precedent in the Hebrew morning and evening Sacrifices. It is practical, conducive to the standard of the Lord's Day being set apart for worship, and to minimize personal worldly engagement.
As worship is to be entirely based on holy scripture, singing, the congregation's response, is most rightly reflected in the Psalms. Psalmody is the rich, thoroughly Biblical, and comprehensive system of verse that most accurately meets the principle of Word-oriented worship. Arguments for hymns are not invalid, and there is a grand historic precedent for singing non-inspired works insofar as they are biblical and suited in reverence and reason for worship. While exclusive psalmody is ideal for confessional worship, it is not so vital that hymnody, or canonical hymnody (singing scriptural verse along with the explicit Psalms) cannot be included.
The benefit of Psalms having priority in singing as worship is that they are catechetical and in keeping with the tradition set deep in scripture. When the congregation sings directly from the Word, they are protected from the shifts in theology over all time - the poetic license, mysticism and subjective views of man are restrained. God has always directed how his people converse with him, even in these last days when the temple is on Zion, the curtain is removed, we recognize that God has given his final say on what is the right conduct of worship.
Liturgical structure, founded in scripture, is essential for Christian worship. It restrains innovation, and promotes the objective nature of the relationship between God and his people. As God relates to his people by way of covenant, we perceive in the Word a distinct and robust system of covenant renewal as the consistent standard for his call and our response. This begins in Genesis and does not terminate in Revelation. The Canon is thoroughly liturgical in the motif of covenant renewal. It includes the authoritative states of God's specific calling of his people, his crushing with the law, blessing with the gospel, and his sending out. Within this scheme, the people respond with form and substance that is intentional and God-given.
"Like preaching and the sacraments, prayer and praise - especially public worship - occupy a covenantal context." - Michael Horton
The liturgy is catechetical, a chief emphasis in Reformed piety and practice. Christians' primary source of doctrine and discipleship is the Lord's Day worship. This means that an interactive, learning-based liturgy is fitting for not only the communication of God to his people in renewal, the means of grace, but in sanctification by encouraging theological maturity. The well-accepted standard among all orthodox Christians is strong knowledge of scripture for growth. A solid, Biblical liturgy that emphasizes the objective, clear teaching of the Word is the ideal for Christian worship.
The distinction in Reformed worship, as typically differs from modern evangelical liturgies, is the dialogue that occurs between God and his people. The minister executes his duty by expressing God's authority in all aspects of worship. This includes calling the people, directing and leading their responses in singing, corporate prayer and intercessory prayer, faithful delivery of the law and gospel, the Word and the sacraments, and continuing with the authoritative finality of commission of the people and cessation of the liturgy. As our theology is derived from scripture, our interaction with God is just so, and the minister facilitates this in his leadership by working from scripture, and only scripture, as the people of God have done throughout the Bible.
There are elements and circumstances in worship. Elements are those things which are explicitly commanded in scripture for employment in worship. They are the non-negotiable parts that belong in liturgy. In some cases, the order of worship, the functional liturgy, has reason to be flexible. This would be an example of circumstance, wherein certain events can be changed for emphasis, practicality, or cultural impacts. Circumstance includes details of how elements are conducted, including types of singing, dress, posture and musical styles. The offering can fit into different phases of worship, as can the intercessory prayer (or Prayer of the Church). Typically the order of worship is straightforward in a sense that comports with scriptural examples, and these circumstances are applied as seen fit by the elders of the church.
Elements:
The formal call to worship is explicit in scripture. God always calls his people out of their daily, worldly routine to special recognition of and participation in his kingdom. This is seen in the ascent to mountain-top temple worship, Sinai, the Jerusalem temple, and ultimately Zion. The people do not spontaneously gather for worship, subjectively sensing the right time or need for communion with their God. The king speaks and the people listen.
"With idolatry, the object of worship is passive and the worshipers are active, but speech announces the presence of the other. When the king speaks, the kingdom falls silent." - Michael Horton
The reading of the law is critical to the liturgy. It is how God has initiated and renewed his covenants in scripture. The believer must be reminded of his sin and misery, and that contrition, confession and repentance are the regular marks of Christian life and piety. A life of repentance brings believers closer to their God. In addition, the next phase of worship requires context. There is no gospel without reason for the gospel.
Confession of sins, and absolution, or declaration of pardon for those sins is integral for the comfort of the believer. Assurance is not in simply hating sin, but in confession and in hearing that they have been forgiven. The Reformed churches do not expect to find assurance in a simple often subjective statement of belief or that one is "saved" or "born again." There is a rich, objective aggregation of objective evidence that comprises Christian assurance and comfort. As we sin perpetually, always by our nature inclined to hate God and man, we must be reminded as much of our shame and misery, but also that God has promised a solution, which includes forgiveness.
Included in this confession is the confession of belief. Christians do not simply acknowledge sin and ask for forgiveness, but recognize the reasons why they must and may. Confessing the ecumenical, or historic faith of the church is a ideal means of closing the argument of sin and forgiveness, therefore worship includes corporate recitation of relevant creedal, catechetical, or confessional statements in expectation of the declaration of pardon.
The declaration of pardon is not a formality or good-to-have element of worship. It is probably the most significant statement God makes to his people. The terror of hearing "I will judge you" is mitigated by the sheer comfort of "I have forgiven you." It is a great loss in mainstream evangelicalism that this entire process of confession and absolution have been generally eradicated. Usually it is ignorance at fault, though the theme of "that's Roman Catholic" is a deeper, common assault on what is clearly a scriptural element of worship.
Included in absolution is the unequivocal proclamation of the gospel and the believer's place in Christ. Forgiveness is pointless without the particulars of the eternal relationship of God with his chosen people. If one is not in Christ, righteous by a court decree based on Christ's righteousness, then forgiveness is no less than a return to Adam in the garden, without sin but ready to sin, and guaranteed to sin, for Adam's nature is still in us. Without the imputation of righteousness, we are unchanged.
The center of worship are the Word and sacrament. Preaching is commanded and vital; so much so that even the most liberal and mainstream churches still practice some form of it. God's people are people of the Word, not of mystic oneness or transcendental subjectivity. The scriptures are the element that proves this, as faith and assurance are derived from the hearing of the Word. The pastor, for God, proclaims the Word of God for the sanctification, exhortation and comfort of the flock. As the Reformed declare the center of holy scripture to be Jesus Christ, this is how Christ is communicated to Christians - by hearing.
"The semirealized eschatological event occurs each Lord's Day. It is through this event that the church receives anew each week the gift of Christ and his benefits, through which the Spirit creates and sustains the faith by which the church exists. To the extent that this heavenly banquet is corrupted or diminished, the community gathered in Christ's name withers and eventually dies. Even if it continues to exist as a historical organization, it is no longer apostolic, and its candlestick is removed." - Michael Horton
In concert with the scriptures, the Lord's Supper is both ratification of all that has gone before, and seal of the gospel message that has been received by the congregation. It is the gospel to be perceived by the senses, touch, smell, sight and taste. The Supper is a reminder of our entire removal from the existence of the dead and senseless to new life in Christ, as revived image-bearers in communion with the Father. It seals the truth of scripture to us in physical, sacramental means. What benefit is the hearing without the consummation of its implications? When the Reformed speak of this sacrament, it is not out of pure symbolic, feeling-based subjectivity, but out of the consistent, objective message of sacramental meals found in scripture. It is mystical, because God has not seen fit to convey how it works, but he has told us that it works, and why. This means by which grace is conveyed to the believer is through participation in Christ's body and blood. It was true for ancient Israel in word and sacraments, and remains so for God's people in the last days.
"Through the sacraments, with the Word, the Spirit relocates us from whatever niche demographic we inhabit in this present age and makes us citizens of the age to come." - Michael Horton
This article is comprised of notes from the 06 September leadership class at my church. Quotations from Michael Horton have been added to expand on the study material from Called to Serve, Essays for Elders and Deacons by Michael Brown (Ed.), chapter 11, "What Our Service Should Look Like" by Horton.
Additional passages from The Christian Faith, Michael Horton:
"Regardless of the personal holiness of its members, the church (understood in terms not only of its local but also of its broader assemblies) is holy simply because it is the field of divine activity in which the wheat is growing up into the likeness of its firstfruits, even though weeds are sown among the wheat. In this conception, the church admits people into her fellowship not because they are inherently holy, but because the Lord has consecrated this space as the place of his holy action."
"Even if only one parent is a believer, the children are holy (1Co 7:14). This is due not to any inner transformation or infused grace, but simply to God's promise. In covenantal thinking, the tree is holy even if some of it branches will finally fail to yield fruit and be broken off to make room for others (Ro 11:16-24). "The tree is holy neither because it is collectively identical to Christ, nor because it is the sum total of the regenerate, but because of the eschatological connection of the covenant people to their living root (Ro 16, 18-20)."
Cold Coffee and Flannel 