On Fridays I'm going to start writing little summaries of the Liturgy. These are not meant to be in depth teachings on the liturgy, but rather little summaries that help us meditate a little more on what we are doing on Sunday mornings and throughout the week in our worship life together. Today then we start with the invocation.

The Divine Service starts with the Invocation, which is, "In the Name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit, Amen." Why does the Divine Service begin this way? Is it to get everyone's attention so we can get things going? Is it a way to set things in good order so the service isn't just a chaotic mess? Well, good order is a good thing in our worship life, but that is not the primary purpose of the Invocation. The Invocation begins the service because it is the service of the people of the One True God. The Divine Service is the Triune God coming down and serving man for his forgiveness, life, and salvation. The Divine Service is not about man doing something for God, but rather the service is God coming down and meeting man in his failures and sin in order to deliver him unto life everlasting.

The Divine Service begins with the Invocation because the service is about God coming down and serving man; therefore, the Name of God is invoked, or called upon, to come down and serve man by the forgiveness of our sins. The Divine Service then is about God doing His work on us poor sinners. It isn't about what you can offer God, but rather is about what God offers to you. And what does God offer to you and give to you in the Divine Service? He gives you the gifts of the cross. He heals you body, soul, mind, and all of you in the preaching of the Gospel and the distribution of the Sacraments.

It is in this understanding that we enter into the presence of the Triune God in the Divine Service. We invoke His Name every Divine Service because and we are Named with His Name in the Service. We first received His Name in our Baptism, so every time we receive His gifts in the Divine Service, we renewed in our baptismal grace. When we invoke God's Name, we are reminded that we are the baptized, and that we receive the gifts every Lord's Day because we are His children. The Divine Service then is a baptismal service, a service in which our Loving God serves us in keeping us in the promise of our baptism.

My friends, let us meditate on the Invocation this weekend as we anticipate receiving the gifts of the cross in the Divine Service. May you meditate on the reality that you receive these gifts, not as a son of wrath, but as a baptized child of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We invoke God's Name in the service because it is all about Him serving us in the forgiveness of our sins.

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the voice of your Savior Jesus, Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull