St. Boniface House

 Some of my fondest childhood memories come from the hours spent on summer evenings playing with the other children in the neighborhood.  We would play baseball, basketball, kick the can, and other games until it was time to go home.  But the way my brother, sister, and I knew it was time to come home was unique among all the children of the neighborhood.  We were informed of the day’s end by our mother’s piercing whistle that could be heard throughout the neighborhood.  When that shrill tone rang out in the summer air, everybody knew that we were going to grab our ball, bat, or whatever, jump on our bikes, and tear off for the house.

Accounting for the profound difference in significance between a mother calling her children home for dinner or to prepare for bed and the Lord calling his people to covenant renewal worship, this “calling home” is analogous to what happens at the beginning of our worship service each Lord’s Day.  The elder, ministering in Christ’s name, issues forth God’s sovereign summons to his people to come into his presence with the sacrifice of praise and hearts prepared to receive the blessing of his presence, correction, and instruction.

When my mother would whistle for us, three things were expected:  First (obviously) we were to come immediately, and not only that, we were to alert one another to the call, in the unlikely event that someone didn’t hear it.  One does not show up for dinner without one’s little sister. Additionally, we were to holler out “Coming!” from wherever we were so Momma wouldn’t have to stand on the porch whistling over and over.

It is for reasons similar to these that following the call to worship we have a response, and then we sing a Psalm or a hymn together.  The Lord says “Come”, and his people respond with a vigorous and joyful, yet solemn, “We’re coming!”  By making the response corporate, we also exhort one another to worship. The emphasis is on God’s sovereign beckoning of his people into his presence on the Lord’s Day.  Incidentally, this is why we do not have an “invocation” (a prayer to ask God to be present in our worship) in our Lord’s Day liturgy.  He calls us to worship, we respond and come, but we don’t call him to this service.  As Jim Jordan has pointed out, we need a Call to Worship, if we really know what’s happening in Worship and who we’re worshipping, because we’re afraid to come. It would be appropriate for us to wait in the back, receive the call to worship there, and process in as a congregation, but the way we’re doing it is fine, too.

How should we do it?  First of all, after the announcements are over the elder begins by instructing you to stand for the Call to Worship.  This isn’t just so you can stretch your legs out.  Worship is martial.  It is the gathering of God’s army to prepare them for war, so our standing here is a call to attention.  How should you stand if the King of the Universe is calling you to attention and beckoning you into his presence?  You should stand up straight when you are called to do so, and you should give your attention to the Elder who is delivering the call to worship.  You should listen carefully to the words he is reading.  They often recount the great things Yahweh has done for his people, and remind us of his special mercy toward us.  Then, as he closes and announces the ordinary words for the call, you should respond robustly and vigorously, as with all call-and-response portions of the service, and then sing out with strength and joy in the opening Psalm or Hymn.  Our Lord is summoning you into his presence.  Will you respond feebly and half-heartedly?

Lessons in Liturgy is a series of short, practical essays originally written for a church in which I formerly served, and then revised and presented as brief lectures for the congregation of Trinity Covenant Church to help us understand what we are doing in our worship service and why.  Accordingly, the essays will sometimes name TCC folk and will assume familiarity with the circumstances of the congregation.  Nevertheless, they may be helpful to a wider audience.  Astute readers will recognize my dependence upon Pastor Jeff Meyers of Providence Reformed PCA in St. Louis and his excellent book The Lord’s Service, as well as the work of Jim Jordan, Peter Leithart, and many others.