The First 300 Years: Liturgy and the Story of Redemption
How public worship shaped identity through narrative
We are in a war between narratives
Is America a nation irreversibly stained by white supremacy or a nation committed to equality and slowly living up to its ideals?
Were COVID policies governed by science or were they governed by powerful elites seeking a global reset? elites out of touch with the common citizen?
Is Hamas a terrorist organization or a liberation army?
Is sex biologically given or determined by personal preference?
How can we determine which narrative is true?
People once thought that such questions could be answered by research into data and evidence. But in an age of narratives, research no longer matters. The role of scholarship is to gather evidence and squeeze it into a pre-conceived story.
Narratives have always existed.
This war between one way of interpreting events and another is nothing new.
If you could travel back to the Roman Empire in the centuries after Jesus you would find a narrative. Simply put: Rome was the greatest Empire ever. Her domination was due to her politics, her piety, and her practical skills.
While counter-narratives existed, they were not allowed to get traction. To fall out of line with this story of Roman glory was treason. More than that, it was impiety. Rome would crush you.
What was it like for the early Christians to live in an Empire with such a dominant sense of destiny and glory? and the power to enforce it?
The Story of Redemption is a contra-narrative.
If you read the New Testament carefully, you will find a call to Christians to interpret circumstances and live their lives based on another narrative.
God’s redemptive narrative is the only one that matters. And his narrative is about creation, the ruin brought by sin, the sending of a Redeemer to put an end to sin, the rule of the Ascended Jesus who ever expands his kingdom through the proclamation of the Gospel to all nations, and his return to usher in his everlasting and righteous kingdom forever.
No book is so given to this counter-narrative than the Revelation of John. Roman glory? No, says Jesus, Rome is a beast rising from the mouth of the serpent — a beast that will be defeated by the Lamb.
In days before books were easily accessible, how did the early pastors keep the story of the Lamb before their people?
The Gathered Church: Weekly Calls to Interpret Life in Light of God’s Story.
The pastors of the early centuries shaped the people of God into the true story of God’s narrative. Fully aware that their flocks lived in an Empire full of pride and boasting in its glory, they made sure that when the church gathered the people were reminded of the story they were now in.
How did they do this?
They did this through a carefully planned order of worship (called a liturgy). As the people of God gathered, the liturgy reminded people of the reality of the true God, the certainty of judgment, the weight of sin, the provision of a Savior, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and their new identity as members of God’s people, the church.
They prayed and sang and read Scripture. An elder proclaimed the story of God’s grace to all mankind in their sin. They acknowledged the greatest evil in their world — their sin. Pastors assured them of the sufficiency of Christ’s death for sin. Liturgy gave them the true story and called them to live in it. They marked out those who belonged to Christ with the waters of baptism. They fed by faith on the bread of heaven.
Those “boring creeds” were identity shaping.
In the face of the mighty power of Rome that dwarfed the tiny church, these wise pastors repeatedly told the Christians that Jesus was at the right hand of God, that there would be a day of judgment, and that his kingdom would triumph over all others forever. They called them to recite the true story in creeds.
Consider the power of these words to shape a congregation into the story of God’s redeeming purposes:
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord . . .
Christian — forget the many gods of the world. This is the true God, Creator, Triune.
was crucified, dead, and buried, on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
Christian, Jesus died for you and triumphed over all his enemies. He reigns over all the powers of Rome. The end of history is in his hand. No one will get away with wrongdoing. No good work will be forgotten.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Christian, your life is marked by God the Spirit residing in you. he is forming his new people, the church. He offers forgiveness to all who trust in Christ. He will raise you up from death and bring you into his eternal life.
The power of the true narrative.
In those early centuries, Christians were a despised minority. Powerful elites considered them ignorant, irreligious, and treasonous. The weapons of the State and the mob often rose against them.
In the face of these loud and dominating realities, each week wise pastors reminded them of the true story and the triumph of Jesus in the end. No wonder many of them lived with such patience in well-doing and died with such courage.
How did worship become all about me?
Somewhere in my early years of ministry, someone dreamed up the idea that church should be attractional. We were told that if we scratched where people itched and did away with rote liturgy and made worship and preaching relevant to people’s sense of need — they would come. And in many cases they did.
But what did they come to?
They came into a different narrative: Jesus is the good news of God giving us meaning in life, a sense of practical skills to be better people. Worship is an opportunity to have a cathartic experience with God. God’s certain kingdom through the cross and glory of Jesus is rarely heard. That he will return to judge the living and the dead is considered too serious a topic.
When God’s purposes are small, false narratives will fill the void.
Can I give an example of the fruit that comes from more than a generation of this? The American church got caught up in a culture war narrative. We found another captivating big story to make sense of life. For some it became acceptable to say, “Jesus is my Savior and Trump is my President.”
Such perversity is a failure of discipleship. The gathering of God’s people is often no longer a reminder of the great story of redemption and the triumph of the Lamb over all our sins and all the powers of darkness.
Christian: God is writing the story of his plan, and you get to play a small part.
As I reflect in the life of the early church (and modern churches that are powerless and small and poor), I am struck by their grasp of the power of narrative.
God’s story is about what he has purposed before the worlds began, what he has secured through the sending of His Son as the Redeemer, what he is accomplishing in calling people of all nations to faith through the ordinary announcement of the Gospel. It is powerful when I place my life into it, grateful that he has made me a forgiven son. It shields me from being captivated by the glamorous and loud narratives of this world, even in an election year.
Can you hear the call to interpret your life in light of this story?
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1 Pet 2:11-12 ESV)