Christ's Priesthood and Our Praises

Hebrews tells us that even now Jesus is our leitourgos, the true worship leader in every service. Christ continues in his office of High Priest. By the Holy Spirit, he stands in our midst and reveals his Father to us. Christ also offers us in worship to his Father. While Jesus is our High Priest, we too are given a crucial role. We have been made "priests to his God and Father" (Rev. 1:6). The church gathers the world into its worship. We give voice to the hearts of men and women everywhere. But more: we exercise the unique human gift of speech on behalf of all creation. We give words of praise to the inarticulate worship of sea and rock, tree and bird, molecules and stars. This workshop will explore the implications for liturgy and preaching which arrive from recognizing afresh 1) the reality of Christ's priesthood and 2) that we are, in George Herbert's phrase, "Secretaries of thy praise."

Presented at the 2008 Calvin Symposium on Worship.