Trinity, Worship, and Dialogue

Peter J. Leithart, December 18, 2004

INTRODUCTION
We�ve been looking at Christian worship in the light of Scriptural patterns of sacrifice. This gives us an overall order or sequence of worship. In this session, I want to examine two main issues: First, the Trinitarian basis of worship, and second, the dialogic structure of worship. These are connected in my mind, though I�m not sure that I can communicate exactly how.

ACCESS TO THE FATHER IN SON AND SPIRIT
Scripture makes it clear that our approach (�drawing near,�Eqorban) to God in worship is a Trinitarian event. This is evident already from the sacrificial character of Christian worship. Jesus�Eself-offering in the Spirit to the Father (Hebrews 9:14) fulfills the sacrifices of the OT (as is clear from the context of Hebrews 9), is the basis and foundation for our own self-offering to the Father, and sets the pattern for Christian worship. Through the Son, our High Priest, and in the Spirit, we offer ourselves in our praises to the Father. Or, we can equally say that the Son offers us with Himself in the Spirit to the Father. This is what is happening in our worship.

The clearest passage in this regard is Ephesians 2:11-22. A few comments are in order. First, the overall context has to do with the inclusion of Gentiles in the �one new man,�EJesus Christ. Those who have been excluded strangers to the covenants and commonwealth of Israel (v. 12), those who were far off (v. 13) are now brought near (v. 13). Jesus�Edeath not only builds a bridge between God and man, but breaks down the wall that separated Jew and Gentile in the Old Covenant. Second, because of this, Jews and Gentiles together not only make up a new �man�Eor new humanity (a new Adam), but also make up a new �household�E(v. 19) and are being built into a temple for the Lord, a dwelling of God by the Spirit (vv. 21-22). The phrase �strangers and aliens�Egoes back to Numbers, which denies access to the holy place to those who are �strangers�E(Numbers 1:51; 3:10). Thus, the union of Jew and Gentile is specifically a liturgical union.

In this context, Paul speaks of the �access�Ethat we have to the Father (v 18). This common access of both Jews and Gentiles depends on the work of the Son and the Spirit. The access is �through Him,�Ethat is through the One who �is Himself our peace,�Ewho �abolished in His flesh the enmity,�Ewho �reconciled them both in one body to God through the cross,�Ewho �came and preached peace�E(vv. 14, 15, 16, 17). And our access to the Father is also in the �one Spirit�Ewho is given to both Jews and Gentiles. Thus, our approach to God involves the whole Trinity: We approach the Father through the mediation of the Son, and in the power of the Spirit. (Basil the Great spoke of the Spirit as the �place�Ewhere we worship the Father through the Son.)

As Robert Letham has explained it, �the worship of the church is the communion of the Holy Trinity with us his people. We are inclined to view worship as what we do, but . . . it is first and foremost something the triune God does, our actions initiated and encompassed by his. . . . Since our salvation is received in union with Christ, what is his by nature is ours by grace. Thus, in his self-offering to the Father, he offers us his people in him. We are thereby enabled to share in the relation that he has with the Father. . . . Thus, Christ is, in reality, the one true worshiper, and our worship is a participation in his. A focus on our worship, on what we do, is inherently Pelagian. Further, our worship is by the Holy Spirit in Christ. As John Thompson puts it, �If one understands the New Testament and the view it gives of how we meet with and know God and worship him as triune, then worship is not primarily our act but, like our salvation, is God�s gift before or as it is our task.�� We join in Jesus�ESpirit-infused praise to the Father, His prayer to the Father, His self-offering.

GOD�S WORK ON US
This is one side of things: The Triune God, as it were, surrounds us and enfolds us so that we can come into fellowship with Him in worship. On the other hand, there is also a more �over-against�Easpect to worship. Our worship takes place �within�Ethe Trinity, but our worship is also our worship of the Trinity, to which we are obviously not identical. Here too, we need to heed Letham�s point that worship is not ultimately about what we do. We do respond in prayer, adoration, praise, faithful hearing, receiving bread and wine. But these are responses, reactions to God�s prior action. God calls us to renew covenant with Him, and renewing covenant is finally God�s work. Through the Son and in the Spirit, the Father renews fellowship with us.

As Jeff Meyers has pointed out, this helps us to understand why it is we gather for church on Sunday. Reformed folk often criticize the idea that we gather to receive from God, arguing that worship is God-centered and thus we gather to give God something. But this is dangerously one-sided, and is in danger of becoming Pelagian. The chief poles of worship are Word and Sacrament, and both are God�s gifts to us, not something we conjure up for God�s benefit. We gather for worship so that the Triune God can renew us by cleansing our sin, instructing us in the way of righteousness, and feeding us at His table.

DIALOGUE
It is easy to make a case for a dialogic form of worship from Scripture. First, there are examples of dialogues in the worship of Israel (1 Chronicles 16:7-36; 2 Chronicles 5:11-14; Nehemiah 8:1-8), and these dialogic elements are evident in the heavenly worship in Revelation 4-5. Second, the Psalms are set up to be read, chanted or sung antiphonally. This is quite evident in Psalms 136 (alluded to in 2 Chronicles 5), where there is a refrain in every verse. But many of the other Psalms are also written in parallel lines, constructed for antiphonal liturgical use. Richard Leonard writes, �In antiphonal music, groups of performers answer one another in statement and response. Examples in biblical worship may be found in the Psalms (Pss. 24, 118) and the �Holy, holy, holy�Eof Isaiah's seraphim (Isa. 6:3), in a vision no doubt influenced in its expression by the chanting of priestly choirs. This last feature suggests that the congregation, as well as trained musicians, may have been involved in the musical responses of the service.�E

This is reflected in the large-scale dialogue between God and man in historic liturgies: God calls, we respond by entering His courts with praise; God calls us to kneel for confession, and we kneel; God declares us forgiven, and we rejoice; God speaks to us, and we confess our sin; God invites us to the table, and we come to eat and drink. And this dialogic element is also evident in the various traditional interchanges of the historic liturgies (sursum corda; �The Lord be with you�E; �Thanks be to God�E).

But what is the root of this dialogue in worship? One might say that it�s basic to the covenant-making between God and man, and that�s true. The minister is ordained to speak the words of God for the people of God, and in responding to the minister the church is responding to the authorized representative of God. (If this sounds like it�s unduly elevating the minister, the effect is in fact the opposite. On this view, the minister has NO authority of his own to say anything �Eno authority to call people into God�s presence, no authority to declare absolution, no authority to teach Scripture, no authority to invite people to the Lord�s table, no authority to send people out �as the Father sent the Son.�EIf the minister is NOT a representative of God in the liturgy, then by who or what authorizes him to talk so boldly, not to say blasphemously?)

We renew fellowship with God through a liturgical �conversation.�EBut I think there�s something deeper. The dialogic pattern seems to be rooted in the Trinitarian realities of worship. The Spirit dwells in us, and intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26). When we pray in the Spirit, the Spirit prays with us, and we are caught up by the Spirit into the inter-Trinitarian conversation. Similarly, if our prayers are prayers in and through Jesus, then again our prayers have been incorporated by grace into the inter-Trinitarian communion. Worship is dialogic not only accidentally, but fundamentally, because worship is fundamentally about our inclusion in the Triune �dialogue�E(�trialogue sounds hokey).