Psalm 105:1-11
Some of you are probably by now thinking to yourselves; Pastor Connor never shuts up about the liturgy. He’s obsessed and sees it everywhere. Are you thinking that? You’re right. So I’m going to do it again here with Psalm 105. But not without cause. Really; Psalm 105 has a lot to teach us about the liturgy. It lists off things we do, and it puts forward their end, their telos and purpose. From this we can meditate on the some of the greatest truths of what liturgy is, why we engage in it, and for what purpose we pray it.
And so , that’s what we’re going to reflect upon tonight. What is Liturgy? What is its purpose? What is its movement and content and shape? What is its meaning?
And to do that we’re going to look at the text of Psalm 105 itself, and then draw out a few meditations upon it.
reading from the NABRE, the text is as follows;
Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name;
make known among the peoples his deeds!
2 Sing praise to him, play music; (may possibly read; sing Psalms, see NKJV)
proclaim all his wondrous deeds!
3 Glory in his holy name;
let hearts that seek the Lord rejoice!
4 Seek out the Lord and his might;
constantly seek his face.
5 Recall the wondrous deeds he has done,
his wonders and words of judgment,
6 You descendants of Abraham his servant,
offspring of Jacob the chosen one!
7 He the Lord, is our God
whose judgments reach through all the earth.
8 He remembers forever his covenant,
the word he commanded for a thousand generations,
9 Which he made with Abraham,
and swore to Isaac,
10 And ratified in a statute for Jacob,
an everlasting covenant for Israel:
11 “To you I give the land of Canaan,
your own allotted inheritance.”
Looking at this text as a whole, zooming out just a little, what we see is a collection of things that we do in Christian liturgy,
- giving thanks
- invoking God’s name
- singing praise
- making known His deeds among the people (teaching)
- the playing of music
- the proclaiming of His wonderful works
But we also see the deeper purpose of all these things, of all the singing, of all the proclaiming, even of the invoking of God’s name is for the sake of bringing us to a place of remembrance (or remembering) or, an Anamnesis of God’s person, work, and promise for us and for our salvation. And that’s really what Liturgy, all the parts of it, and everything involved in it is about. At its heart, at its core, at its essence, liturgy is Anamnesis. But what that means, so many of us have forgotten. What that means, so many of us – need to “remember.”
So; let’s begin as our Psalm begins, and as we ourselves begin every liturgy; with the invocation of God’s name. Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name; (Ps. 105:1).
what does it mean to invoke something? Do you know? It’s an archaic word, in a sense, but – translating it in a more modern “equivalent” such as ; call upon His name, unfortunately loses much of the techincal/legal/liturgical/theological baggage that gives this term meaning and purpose. Defined in its technical/legal/liturgical/theological sense, the word invoke means to “cite or appeal to (someone or something) as an authority for an action or in support of an argument.” That is to say, it is to cite GOD, or appeal to God as our authority for what we do in the liturgy. That all we do, we do in His name, according to His command, by His authority, and with His promise. He is our authority for this action. He is the one who commanded it, He is the one that empowers it. He is the one who is the very substance received in it and by it. He is it’s content, its inventor, its motivator, and its prime actor. ANd that’s really important. Becuase what this liturgy is, and what happens in it, and what we do in it is not just say or sing words as fleshly noise-makers. BUt rather, what happens is that we forgive sins, we raise the dead, and heal the broken. In short; we do things we have no authority to do, and things we have no reason to believe can be done. And yet we do them. We do them because He commanded us to, because He gave us authority to, and because in them, and through them, and by them, His promises to us are made present realities.
And so as we enter into the church to gather for public liturgy, or as we pray at home the daily offices or even as we pray privately ourselves we begin and end in the very self-same way. And how is it that we do this? IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. And as we do so we mark ourselves with the sign of the holy cross. Marking ourselves with the mark of our own salvation. Calling on the name of the one who saves us. Appealing to Him as our authority, – requesting that He be present here, and to make our worship real, and full of His saving presence. NOt because we said so, but because He promised so, and SO, we believe so. And so it is that as we gather and sing and pray and preach and proclaim – we don’t do so in vain, merely speaking words and singing songs, but rather in our speaking and praying and singing and proclaiming, God’s person, God’s promises, and God’s saving work is present and active to us, in us, upon us, and for us. What happens in the Liturgical invocation is “ignition” of God’s saving power as it comes to us through the words and actions of one another (the work of the people for the sake of the people).
And not just this but also; as we hear God’s name,. And receive the placing of GOd’s name upon us, we receive the substance of His name. And so as we invoke God as Father, we receive our relationship with Him as adopted sons. To invoke the name of Jesus, (meaning God saves) we receive God’s salvation. As the invoke the paraclete, (the advocate, the comforter), we receive His gifts of comfort and advocacy. And so it is as we call upon God as creator, as savior, as sanctifyer. So it is when we call on God as Messiah, and redeemer, and Lamb of God. So it is when we call upon the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of adoption. For the name of God bears the act of God and the grace and promise of God. The name o God bears the character of God. The love of God,. The relationship that we have in God, through God, and with God, all by God. This is what is made present to us through the proclamation of God’s name, through the invocation of Gods name, and through the marking of ourselves with God’s name. And so it is that we worship we do so in God’s name, and because of God’s name, and BY God’s name.
And as we do so, we do so, moving on to what the psalmist beautifully refers to as the “giving of thanks.” And this, while we all grant the importance of giving thanks for all things, in all things, and concerning all things (to quote the Coptic Orthodox), we do so best through and because of and unto the greatest thanksgiving of all , the thing in fact named after thanksgiving – which is, the Eucharist. Whcih in greek means – you guessed it; thanksgiving. To say “give thanks”, is to say, let us Eucharist, let us invoke God’s name. Let us invoke God’s presence. Let us invoke God’s promise. And how do we best do this? By, through, and to, the Eucharist. And this we see and hear and say ourselves in the liturgy LITERALLY RIGHT BEFORE THE EUCHARIST IS CONSECRATED AND RECEIVED, saying in the Sursum Corda; “lift up your hearts, let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” That is; lift up your hearts (that is, to the heavenly liturgy, together with all the church, together with angels and archangels, together with cherubim and seraphim, together with noble fellowship of the prophets, together with all of the saints, and the Holy Apostles, and the white robed army of martyrs); Let us EUCHARIST. But not only do we say this and do this here, right before the sacrament of Communion, but through the whole liturgy, and in all our prayers we do this. Through the whole liturgy and all our prayers we Eucharist. Through our lives lived in faith and service to God and His Holy People and all our neighbors of the world we do this. Because the Eucharist isn’t JUST the sacrament of communion itself, but the whole liturgy around it, the whole service of the Word, and the proclamation of His saving deeds, and the declaration of His gracious character, and Gospel of redemption, and our whole lives lived as sacrificial offerings unto Christ our God. And so it is that we as the ones who are saved by this God of grace are filled with thanks by and through the giving of thanks (through the Eucharist), that our whole lives might be, as St. Paul says, offerings and sacrifices of thanksgiving (of Eucharist) and praise to the lord our God. And so it is that the Liturgy of the Divine Service noticeably has a climax, beginning with the invocation and moving toward the Eucharistic sacrament, so also the liturgy of our whole Christian life comes into climax with the Divine Service at the center of it, and the body and blood of Christ received at the centre of the centre (the Lambseye, if you will). And so – Liturgy expands beyond into the Eucharistic sacrifice of everyday life – as well as contracting inward upon itself at the Eucharistic sacrifice of the sacramental altar, like the inhaling and exhaling of human breath. So we breathe in the person, promise, and present work of Christ our God, and so also we breathe Him out into the world around us through our words and actions toward others.
This is liturgy. Liturgy is invocation. Liturgy is God’s presence. Lluturgy is teaching. Liturgy is procalmation. Liturgy is formation. Liturgy is prayer. Liturgy is a song. Liturgy is praise. Liturgy is offering and sacrifice, and thanksgiving.
But – liturgy is also, as our Psalm tells us, REMEMBRANCE (anamesis). And so also we hear this in our liturgy,y not only implicitly through the readings and songs and sermons and creed which recall God’s mercy and grace giving to us and His holy saints. But most explicitly in the Eucharist itself, wherein the words of institution our Lord says ; DO THIS, IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. OR , TRANSLAted literally, do this FOR MY REMEMBRANCE. Meaning, not OUR recollection of what He’s done, but – that His once-for-all sacrifice, His covenant, His promise, might be remembered. in the biblical sense. And i say biblical sense, because, rememrbace to us in the modern West is merely an intellectual recollection of facts. But to the Jews, to the writers of the Holy Scriptures, to the Lord Himself and therefor eto the Christian church as it was and still is, remembrance is something entirely different. It’s something active and alive. It’s something present and performative. The words of Scripture on the matter of remembrance (think, Noahic covenant, think Magnificat, think benedictus) – it ALWAYS HAS TO DO WITH THE COVENNENT AND PROMISES THAT GOD HAS MADE WIHT AND TO HIS HOLY PEOPLE being fulfilled and manifest in present reality. And, – AS HE REMEMBERS, and says HE REMEMBERS, or WILL REMEMBER, or HAS REMEMBERED, He acts for our salvation. When He “sees the sign in the clouds” (Noahic cov) He “remembers” His covenant with Naoh and all creation; and relents from destroying. When He “Remembers His promise of mercy” (Magnificat), God becomes man. Just so also, when the body ad blood of Christ are lifted high at the altar of the sacrificial sacrament – for His remembrance, He acts, and we are forgiven of all our sins. He acts, and we are saved. He acts, and we are renewed and restored, cleansed and purified. He acts, and He becomes present. That’s what it means for God to remember. For God to remember is for God to act. And what God is remembering, in Psalm 105, and in Gen 9, or in Luke 1, or in the wordsof institution is… His covenant. That is,His promise of mercy. And what it means for God to remember His covenant is for Him to stay true to His promises and to make good on them. God’s remembrance, or, theological anamnesis, IS – salvation.
And liturgy is about remembrance. That is to say; liturgy IS salvation. Not promised; but manifest. Not foretold, but fulfilled. Not recalled as past event, but enjoyed, in the present moment. Because liturgy is the covenantal promises of God actively at work and present in the here and now. That is to say; liturgy is a sacramental participation in the saving work and promises of God. Given (through our mouths to those around us) and received (from their mouths to our ears). The work of the people for the sake of the people.
And so, as we engage in this liturgy, and do these things in remembrance of Christ and lift up the sign of the new and eternal covenant of God cut in the blood of Christ, shed for the forgiveness of our sins, what’s happening is that God is making Himself savingly present according to His salvific promise. He does so in the here and now, in the present, as we act and participate in the midst of it,. And make ourselves part of it; participants, recipients, and actors in its dramatic unfolding.
And so it is that in this, by this, and through this, the LOVE OF GOD, the FACE OF GOD, the PRESENCE OF GOD, is made present to us in the here and now. And as we dwell in this liturgy week by week and day by day, we seek His face exactly where He promises that it will be found, shining on us, saving us (Ps 31:16/Aaronic Benediction). This is how we dwell with Him. This is how we make Him and His presence PRESENT WITH US, TO US, AND FOR US, In the every day here and now; for the forgiveness of sins, for the salvation of souls, and for the restoration and redemption of the whole world.
And so in this way; liturgy is not just for us. Liturgy is for all people. It is not just recollection, but recreation. It is not personal taste, but relational feast. It’s not preferred style, but the eternal, creative, and performative song of the redemption of all things, sung by the resurrected people of God; once dead, now alive. Once silent, now singing. Once lifeless, now liturgical. Moving, breathing, and acting for the invocation of God, His name, His work, His promise, and His covenant. Here, now, forever, and for all. The work of the people for the sake of the people – to make Christ, His promise, and His salvation present to all people.
Let us Eucharist; for the remembrance of His covenant; for the Remembrance of His Christ.
