Exhortation, July 25

Our chief goal in organizing the worship of God is to conform to Scriptural patterns of worship. When we look at the whole biblical teaching on worship, we learn that worship is basically covenant renewal, and we also learn that many features of traditional liturgical worship are grounded in Scripture. Not all, mind you; but many.

One of the side benefits of the kind of worship we do here at Trinity is that our children are able to participate fully in the worship. Because we do many of the same things every week, our children can learn large portions of the liturgy by heart. They can sing along with the Gloria in Excelsis; they can say Amen after we finish singing a hymn or Psalm; they memorize the Apostles�ECreed and the Lord�s Prayer; and they learn some Scripture passages that are sung for the offertory. As we seek to increase the congregation�s participation in worship, that will make the liturgy even more child-friendly. Children love repetition, so that the repetitions of the liturgy are not only pedagogically sound but enjoyable.

Many of the children of the congregation also participate weekly in the Lord�s Supper, and that, I believe, is fully biblical. Children shared with their parents in every feast of Israel �Ethey were allowed to feast at Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths. Whenever their parents ate from a sacrifice, they were allowed to eat too. This runs counter to centuries of traditional practice in the Western church, but at this point I believe we have to challenge the tradition if we are going to be faithful to God�s word.

But, the children do not participate in the service automatically. They need to be encouraged and trained. The liturgy itself trains them to a degree, but we should not let things rest there. You parents need to make sure that you give them the training and encouragement they need at home, before they come to church.

Specifically, there are many things you can do both before and during the service: Sing the regular parts of the liturgy at home, so that the children are ready to sing when they get here. Nudge them during the service to say Amen, or to pay attention to a Scripture reading. Remind your children throughout the week, and especially on Saturday night, that the Lord�s Day is coming. You may need to change your Saturday schedule so you are not out too late on Saturday and your children are alert enough to sit through a service. You can begin all this at a very young age, so that the children are fully part of the service from their earliest remembrance. The structure is there to allow your children to participate in worship. Your responsibility as parents is to make sure that they do.

This ultimately will benefit adults as much as children. Worship is always for children; we enter the kingdom of God as little children, if we enter at all; and we should come to worship with a childlike trust, and engage in it with childlike enthusiasm. As we encourage and train our children in worship, they will in turn encourage and teach us what it means to worship our heavenly Father.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, July 25, 2004 at 08:23 AM

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