How many rituals do you have? How many procedures do you follow on a regular basis? Many of you make a pot of coffee upon waking in the morning or stop at Tim Horton’s because you wouldn’t dare start your day without a caffeine hit. That’s a ritual. Brushing teeth after meals is also a ritual, as is eating turkey on Thanksgiving. When a ritual is practiced often enough, one can do it without thinking. That’s not a big deal when it comes to rituals like brushing teeth, but it is a problem when it comes to procedures that we really do need to pay attention to when we do them. Driving to work might be a ritual we repeat every day, but we’d better stay focused on the task of we’ll quickly find ourselves involved in a fender bender.
Staying focused is also important when it comes to worshiping our God. The Lutheran church often follows a pattern of worship over a thousand years old called the liturgy. It’s a good pattern to follow because it places Jesus and his Word clearly at the center of our worship. But since the liturgy is a ritual that we repeat week after week, month after month, year after year, the danger is that we can begin to do it without giving it much thought, like brushing our teeth. For the next several weeks we will take a closer look at some of the individual parts that make up our worship ritual. It is my prayer that by doing so we will all understand our worship better, will appreciate it more, and will be able to participate in our worship more thoughtfully and more meaningfully.
Our sermon today will focus on words that are usually spoken after the opening hymn: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This “Invocation,” as it’s called, is more than a churchy way of saying: “God says, ‘Hi!’ He’s glad you came to church today.” No, the Invocation reminds us of where we are, and it reminds us of who we are.
Listen to our text from Genesis 28:16, 17. “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’” Do you remember what prompted Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, to speak these words? He had received a dream in which he saw a ladder that stretched from the earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. At the top of the ladder stood God himself. Why was this dream significant? Well consider Jacob’s situation. He was running away from home because his older brother Esau had threatened to kill him. Jacob had stolen Esau’s birthright when he deceived their blind father Isaac by dressing up like Esau to receive the blessing. Although it’s hardly the same, consider how you would feel if a co-worker picked up your Christmas cash bonus saying he was going to deliver it to you, but then ran off to Mexico with it.
After a hard day’s journey during which Jacob must have kept looking over his shoulder for his angry brother, he finally lay down to sleep but didn’t even have a sleeping bag. In fact he had to use a rock as a pillow. You would have expected Jacob to have nightmares of his brother chasing him and his father Isaac shaking his head in disgust at the deception. But instead Jacob received this curious dream about a ladder and angels, and best of all he saw God and heard him say: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Genesis 28:15).
When Jacob awoke, he spoke the words I read earlier: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God” (Genesis 28:17). Jacob’s campsite may not have looked very impressive—just a level clearing in the wilderness with a few slabs of stone on the ground, but what a special place it was. As Jacob said, it was the house of God, for God was there. And so Jacob was in awe, absolute awe. He had been in the presence of the holy God himself!
We too this morning have come to the house of God. Yes, even in this junior high school cafeteria because we too are in the awesome presence of the holy God. The Invocation, with which we begin our worship, reminds us of that. This is the house of God, not because of what the building looks like, but because of what is taking place here: the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is speaking to us. And so Jacob’s words ought to be in our minds and in our hearts whenever we come to worship – whether in a new church building or in a school cafeteria. Any place we gather to hear God speak to us is awesome. The words of the Invocation should help us remember that. And so you can even speak the Invocation when you begin your family devotions. Wouldn’t that help you remember that even with pizza crusts on plates and crumpled napkins here and there, that the family dinner table is an awesome place whenever God’s Word is shared there?
And why is it so awesome that God speaks to us? Well look at what God’s words did for Jacob. The night Jacob spent in “the house of God” out in the wilderness gave him a little respite from his fearful flight from his angry brother. It reassured him that God would be there with him, wherever he went. It comforted him by letting him know that although he had sinned by deceiving his father, he was forgiven. And so Jacob knew he could get up the next morning and continue on his journey with renewed strength and uplifted spirit.
In the same way, the hour or so we spend each Sunday in God’s house also gives us comfort and the reassurance of God’s presence and forgiveness—comfort and reassurance that renew our strength and lift our spirits so that we can continue on our journey in life when we leave this house of God. When we enter God’s house, we get our spiritual batteries recharged so that we’re ready to go back into the world, ready to stand up to the temptations of the devil, ready to face the problems and pressures of life, ready to work and witness for Christ.
Each and every time we hear those words, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” may we be reminded of where we are. We’re in a special place. We’re in an awesome place. We’re in a holy place for we are in the presence of God!
But the Invocation also serves another purpose. Not only does it remind us of where we are, it also reminds us of who we are. The words “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” are what our Lord commanded us to say when we baptize (Matthew 28:19). And so each time these same words are spoken at the beginning of our worship services, we are taken back to our baptism. The Invocation, then, reminds us of who we are: baptized children of God.
That’s so important because whenever we come into God’s presence our reaction should be the same as Jacob’s. Sure, Jacob marvelled at the awesome dream he had received from God, but Moses, who tells us about this incident, also records that Jacob was afraid when he woke up from his dream. Indeed, Jacob had every right to be afraid. He was a sinner, and he had come into the presence of the holy God. By rights, God should have appeared to him that night, not to reassure him, but to punish him. And by rights, you and I should expect the same thing when we come into the presence of God. King David wrote in Psalm 24:3, 4 “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” But who among us can claim to have “clean hands,” hands that have never hurt others or taken what isn’t ours? Who among us can claim to have a “pure heart,” a heart that has never nursed a grudge, never entertained a lustful thought? A heart that is always loving and forgiving? The fact is none of us has the right to come into the presence of God; none of us deserves the honor of entering his house. But God himself gives us that right. He does so through holy baptism. In baptism God washed away our sins as gently, yet as thoroughly as a mother washing her newborn for the first time. Likewise through baptism God not only cleansed us but claimed us as his children. So while there should always be that element of awe whenever we come to worship because we are standing in God’s presence, there should also be an element of comfort. For when we come to worship, we’ve come to our heavenly Father’s house, and therefore we’ve come home.
Next time you hear those familiar words, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” don’t just let them go in one ear and out the other like you do when you hear the lead flight attendant go through the seatbelt check before takeoff. The presiding minister doesn’t speak the Invocation because it’s part of a script he must get through. No, these words are meant to remind you of where you are: in the presence and in the house of the holy God! And they also remind you of who you are: a baptized child of God who belongs and who is about to hear words of comfort and strength from the Lord himself. May God continue to help us remember these truths so that our worship doesn’t become a mindless ritual. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
(Fill in the blank.) The pattern of worship we usually follow in the Lutheran church is called the ______________. This pattern of worship is over __________ years old. The words: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” are called the _________________.
Summarize the dream Jacob received and explain why it was such a comfort to him.
If Jacob were here with us this morning, why would he say that this junior high school cafeteria is awesome?
Where else, other than at the beginning of most Lutheran worship services, have you heard the words “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”? Why then is it comforting to start a worship service with these words?
(Not addressed in the sermon.) The presiding minister makes the sign of the cross when he speaks the Invocation. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox worshippers will follow suit and cross themselves at these words in their services. Why could this be a good practice for Lutherans to adopt (again)? Why might it be a practice we wouldn’t want to adopt?
