A Persistent Response
By: Erika Kobewka
There is immense value in recalling, studying, celebrating, and commemorating God’s saving events in history. As worshippers within the twenty-first century Christian community we are by very definition called to celebrate God’s works of salvation in our present lives and in the history of our past. After Christ’s ascension, early Christians were quick to develop outward ritual practices, liturgical texts, and Church services dedicated to the celebration of Christ’s work, past and present, in the life of the individual and community. As Christian leaders, we continue to seek holistic vitality and innovative creative outlets in the day-to-day out-workings of our worship expressions. The worship languages and symbolic rituals within the early church of Acts through to the sixth century are a testimony of the early church’s growing pains— their search for order and structure, their desire for practical out-workings of their Spirit-lead giftings, and their need to embrace their humanity as creatures living lives of love offerings to their Creator. By recognizing, acknowledging, and learning from the early church’s worship expressions we preserve their legacy and awaken ourselves and our communities to continue the narrative and celebration of God redeeming and rescuing his creation.
One of the most prevailing worship expressions within our twenty-first century church that was established early on within church history, is music. However, it continues to take on different roles and levels of significance within today’s church depending on the personality and denomination of the community. Music within the church appears under a vast number of stylistic headings (traditional hymns and chorus’, choral arrangements, contemporary rock songs, local songwriting) and instruments (guitar, piano, drums/percussion, organs, small orchestras). For some Christian communities, music is a vital, life-giving component of their gatherings, for others, it is subservient to the pastoral message. Likewise, for some communities it is a continuously evolving creative outlet, while other communities are content with the traditional voices and melodies of their conservative origins. However, the unifying element of all music stylings within the early and present-day church, is the cohesive truths of Scripture upon which all lyrical texts are rooted. The early church of Acts regularly assembled together to pray, sing, and share meals. Spiritual hymns, doxologies, and psalms sung in unison were common components of their meetings. The text of the hymns often reflected the language and imagery of the book of Revelation. God was addressed as “Father” or “Lamb of God” and the church community was conscious to ascribe Him eternal “glory, dominion, blessing, honor, power, riches, and wisdom” in their lyrics. “Alleluia” (meaning “Praise the Lord”) chorus’ were sung in the Jewish synagogue and temple prior to and during the life of Christ. These chorus’ quickly translated themselves into early Christian communal worship. The word “Amen” (translated, “let it be so”) was to preface and conclude all worship in the early church. The worship symbolism used in Revelation also continued to be very influential in the development of Eastern liturgical texts. From the first century onwards to the end of the sixth, church music slowly evolved into a highly organized, structured matter. Elaborate performances consisting of candles, incense, and colourful processions came to replace the simple ceremonial practices of the early house-churches of Acts. Church communities slowly yielded to a well formulated structure of liturgy, flavouring their services with remembrances of local heroes and Christian martyrs, agricultural seasons, and other cultural traditions within their particular region. Today, the twenty-first century church continues to express struggles similar to St. Augustine, teetering on the brink of “dangerous pleasure” rather than music supporting a “healthful exercise” within our worship expressions. Churches must maintain a balanced attitude and refrain from promoting a musical worship expression that is ordered, practiced, and professionalized to the point of prideful indulgence.
The celebrated act of Baptism and the participation in the Lord’s Supper were in the crux of all worship expression within the early church. Today these practices continue to be significant outward actions of any believer’s commitment to and continual union with Christ. In the early church of Acts, Baptism signalled an individual’s acceptance and incorporation into the church body, the forgiveness of sins, the union with Christ in His death, and the new life Christian believers experience because of His resurrection. Baptism was often an immediate outward response to convicting Apostolic teaching and often included “entire households”. Beginning in the second-century, fasting, prayer, and lengthy instruction came to preclude baptism . The second-century also shows a shift in church-construction from small “house-church” domestic buildings to elaborate basilicas fit to accommodate larger gatherings and on-site baptisms. Key figures in history arose in the second and third-centuries that gave instruction and structure to the Baptism and Eucharist celebrations. Key to the implementation of this structure was the Didache (“The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”) which provided key instruction in the area of fasting, prayer, as well as Baptism and the Eucharist. Justin Martyr’s First Apology (d. A.D. 167) also gives further direction in the area of instruction to baptismal candidates concerning prayer, confession, and fasting. By the early third-century, Baptism signalled a believer’s renunciation of all evil and wrong-doings in their life.
In the early church, the Eucharist was celebrated weekly in the context of a meal with its primary purpose being the commemoration of all that Christ has done, and invoking Him to do more, both in the present and the future. It was exclusive in nature with the intention of bringing unity to the entire body by only involving members of the church community. Today, as people gather around the Lord’s Supper to partake in the elements (the bread and the cup) symbolizing the flesh and blood that Jesus spilled on our behalf, they are continually reminded of the gravity of the Christ’s sacrifice and encouraged not to take part in it frivolously nor carelessly.
Inheriting most of their traditions from Judaism, prayer played an active role in the lifestyle of early Christians with their own Christological implications. Daily prayer in the morning and evening were common components in the prayer-life of early Christian communities. The prayers of the morning were offered at dawn with thanksgiving and praise to God for the new day. The rising sun was a daily reminder and symbol of the new-life all believers receive because of Christ’s death and resurrection. Evening prayers provided an opportunity to reflect on the day and reconcile themselves to God for any recent wrong-doings. These prayers were offered with a continued recognition of Christ as the light of the world who dispells all darkness, and a closing petition to God for protection throughout the night. After the conversion of Constantine, daily public prayer in the morning and evening, offering thanksgiving and praise to God for his good works became a common practice in most towns and cities.
The early church of the second and third centuries began to follow liturgical patterns in order to provide a basic order and structure to their services of prayer and confession. Early church leaders, theologians, and intellects of this time produced many writings that assisted in the structuring of prayer practices within the Christian community. Such evidence is seen in the prayers and blessings associated with the celebration of the Eucharist outlined in the Didache. These prayers are consistently similar in structure to the Jewish prayers and blessings said before significant meals on specific days, such as the Sabbath. The Apostolic Tradition (Hippolytus, d. A.D. 236) embraced the exhortation of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray with out ceasing” ushering in an athletic lifestyle of prayer, most prevalent in desert monastic communities. Monks desired to maintain a lifestyle of ceaseless vigil through constant meditation, prayer, and hard work. For them there was no differentiation between work and prayer. It was of utmost importance that one take opportunity to listen to the voice of God therefore, silent meditation on the Psalms and other portions of Scripture, not oral praise and intercession, were the most common form of prayer in monasteries.
Today, prayer continues to be a major component to the Christian life both personally and corporately. We are continually encouraged to embrace the same exhortation that monastic communities took seriously to “pray without ceasing” whether at work, or at rest. The Jewish tradition of prayer centers around the Synagogue and the home. We attest to this tradition by offering prayers of thanks before partaking in a meal. We honor the early church of Acts and continue to petition God to continue His saving work in our broken lives by calling upon church elders and our local Christian Bodies to offer anointing prayers of healing for the sick.
The Didache and Apostolic Tradition, among many early theological writings give evidence to the oral liturgical traditions and worship expressions once held by early Christian communities. These liturgical recitations and rituals continue to contribute to the worship gatherings of the present-day church. Music continues to give expression to the heart-songs and prayers of worshippers as creation continues to groan for the arrival of God’s Kingdom in the present. Our worship expressions within the twenty-first century church cannot divorce themselves from the history of the early church’s acts of responsive worship. All history has shaped our perception and experience of reality in the present therefore, to deny the history of our Christian predecessors is to deny a portion of ourselves. It is of great value to recognize and celebrate the out-workings of God’s saving works within history as well as the present. More specifically, God’s saving works seen in and through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ demands a response in our lives—praise, thanksgiving, gratitude, and death to our our sinful nature. Through worship, we continue to respond to this mysterious and remarkable act of salvation.
Bibliography
Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005.
Webber, Robert E. Ancient-Future Time. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004.
Webber, Robert E., ed., The Complete Library of Christian Worship Volume 2: Twenty Centuries of Christian Worship. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1994.
White, James F. A Brief History of Christian Worship. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993
Wright, N.T. (Nicholas Thomas) Simply Christian. Great Britain: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2006.
