As the people of God, the church is uniquely formed by Scripture. The authority of Scripture is found in its formative properties. One biblical scholar says, “The first and primary way in which Scripture is authoritative in the church is simply that this collection of documents is privileged in the life of the church and, indeed, privileged in such a way as fundamentally to shape that life.”[1] Through the reading of Scripture, the life of the church takes shape. We are invited to “imagine the world that Scripture imagines.”[2] And the world that Scripture imagines is uniquely different than the world we encounter in the course of the week. It is a world where the poor are called blessed, where the last become first, where the least becomes the greatest, where power and position and clout are replaced by a cross a crown of thrones and an empty tomb. And we are invited to become part of that world. Willimon points out that “Behind all Scripture is not simply the question, ‘Will you agree?’ but rather the more political, ‘Will you join up?’”[3] As Scripture is read as part of the liturgy of the church, this question becomes the functional center upon which the entire service turns. The Scripture is read, the sermon is preached not to inform, not to provide facts—historical or ethical—but to pose the question, “Will you join up?” The invitation is to participate in this strange new world the Scripture opens to us. And as the church participates in this new world we are confronted by the upsetting reality that it is this strange new world that is the real world.
We respond in the only way we can—through faith. Faith calls into being what is not as yet fully formed. Faith sees the new world of God’s kingdom proleptically as already here. What we have heard with our ears; what we have allowed to shape our life; what we have felt stirring in our heart, we now proclaim with our mouths. The Nicene Creed sets forth the core Christian beliefs held by the Universal Church since its inception. The Creed was adopted by the first ecumenical council held in 325ce at the city of Nicaea, and has been a part of Christian worship ever since. It has also effectively served as a safeguard and defender against heresy. Confessing our faith together aligns us with the church that not only reaches around the world, but stretches back through the centuries.
If ‘liturgy’ means the work of the people, than the prayers of the people must be the heart of this work. The prayers invite each of us to participate in the praying, not merely stand by as spectators listening to another pray. It is the prayers of the people and so the people pray. Through the prayers, intersession is made for the church, our leaders, the world, unbelievers, our enemies, and for ourselves. And as the prayers of the people conclude, the church is able to examine herself more closely. We remember that we live in a fallen world filled with injustice and oppression. We recognize that we are involuntarily part of systems that contribute to the dehumanizing of others. We acknowledge that even our best of intentions, even when done through the pure motive of love, might still inadvertently hurt and offend others. And so as we prepare for the service of the table, we come to God and confess our sins and our shortcomings.
John Wesley’s oft quoted dictum distinguishing sin properly understood as a willful transgression of a known ordinance of God, and sin improperly understood as mere mistakes or infirmities has unfortunately led to the abrogation of public confession in many churches. It should be noted that while Wesley did distinguish between sin and infirmity, he continually affirmed that even our infirmities were to be confessed, thus appropriating the merits of Christ’s atoning blood.
(1.) Every one may mistake as long as he lives. (2.) A mistake in opinion may occasion a mistake in practice. (3.) Every such mistake is a transgression of the perfect law. Therefore, (4.) Every such mistake, were it not for the blood of the atonement, would expose to eternal damnation. (5.) It follows, that the most perfect have continual need of the merits of Christ, even for their actual transgressions, and may say for themselves, as well as for their brethren, ‘Forgive us our trespasses.’[4]
John Wesley recognized that even a person filled with the love of God is still liable to involuntary transgressions. And these involuntary transgressions need to be placed under the atoning blood of Christ.[5] Our confessional prayer together recognizes both outright sin as well as involuntary transgressions, but even more it recognizes the power of God’s grace to not only forgive, but to overcome these sins—both properly and improperly so called. The purpose of confessing together is not to foster or further the notion of a “sinning church” (i.e. we sin daily in word thought and deed), but to commend ourselves to the mercy of God’s grace and the power of that grace to work in our lives to overcome sin and infirmity, and so perfecting us in love. The good news is, if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come.
[1] Robert W. Jenson, The Art of Reading Scripture. eds. Ellen Davis and Richard Hays, "Scripture’s Authority in the Church" (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing, 2003), 36.
[2] L. Gregory Jones, The Art of Reading Scripture. eds. Ellen Davis and Richard Hays, "Embodying Scripture in the Community of Faith" (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing, 2003), 146.
[3] William Willimon, Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry (Nashville: Abibgdon, 2002), 129.
[4] John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 11, “Plain Account of Christian Perfection” (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002), 395.
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