Every Knee Should Bow: Amen

I love our Lutheran liturgy! Even though I've been blessed to experience it my whole life, I am still affected by the corporate confession of sin we begin each and every Sunday with. It never fails to escape me that as I'm publicly confessing my own sin, it's the people I share a pew with that get to live with those faults and often take the brunt of my weaknesses and failures. How sweet it is to hear words of absolution from the mouth of my own husband speaking as a called servant of Christ and by His authority! 

Amen.

Yep. I'm a liturgy lover. And it's not just for church - I bring it into our home too. 

I decorate liturgically. Seriously. Those colours you see changing on the altar at church throughout the year? I do that at home. Right now it's the colour purple found in my candles, runners and napkins. Notice how stark the altar looks during Lent without any flowers? I do that at home too. Except I take down all my tchotchkes and knicknaks and don't replace them with anything. It's bare and plain and bonus: I can dust easier! I also have a "Lenten tree" which has artwork of Jesus' passion history hanging from it's branches. For Lent I take off my toe nail polish that I usually keep pretty year round. I blame my mother for that weirdness. What's the point if I'm still wearing boots this time of year?  I look down at them in the morning, at night and once during the week when I take Hosanna to swimming and I'm wearing flip-flops. In all these cases, they are reminders I surround myself (and my family) with that remind me of my need and point me to my Saviour in random moments throughout the day.  
There's more but I fear I may have overwhelmed you;)

The purpose of the liturgy (and what I strive to do at home) is to keep our eyes on Jesus. Everything points to Him. Every part teaches us about Him. Our hymns are taken directly from Scripture and tie into the service. The colours and banners and paraments all have meaning and point to Him. Because Amen is used so often in all of it, we can easily gloss over the weight of it's meaning. It's important to be reminded of why we say this word and that it's only through Christ and His saving work that it holds any certainty! 

But Amen as a name for Jesus is such a perfect name to meditate on as we begin Lent! As we enter this season of repentance and renewal, reading the words to the church in Laodicea are words meant for you and me too. My first reaction to reading this section was Yikes! Glad He wasn't talking to me! Until I realized He was ...

Enter: repentance. Sweet sisters-in-Christ, let us stand together in spirit and unity if not in body when we worship on Wednesday night and recall the words our great Amen spoke when he said in Revelation 3:19-22, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Amen promises to forgive us in our repentance! He's speaking to His children here, His church, as we are members of this family. It's objective truth. Not based on whether we feel forgiven or not, we can know that His Word is truth. 

Your assignment for this week: make an effort not to gloss over this word used so often but meditate on it. Take the time to appreciate both uses of it - the subjective use that often is part of our prayer life and liturgy - but also the implication it brings as a name of Jesus! Find comfort in the assurance of your forgiveness. 

What does the liturgy mean to you? How do you keep Lent and how does that point to Jesus, our Amen?