Teaching Moment: "AMEN"

Occasionally I am going to offer a moment of teaching on worship before or during Sunday’s service. Today is our first teaching moment.

There are two Hebrew words which Christians have carried over into nearly every language without translating them. Do you know what they are? If you do, shout them out.

They are ‘alleluia’ and ‘amen.’ These words were so common and so meaningful to the earliest Christians that they did not translate them. ‘Alleluia,’ of course, means “praise the LORD,” while ‘amen’ means “let it be so” or “so be it.” It is not merely a way of ending a prayer. Rather, it is a word affirming one’s assent and agreement with the words that have just been prayed. It was the practice of the early church, and still is the practice in many churches for the whole congregation to end a prayer with ‘amen,’ after the prayer has been spoken by the leader. Saying ‘amen’ is a way for the congregation to say together, and to God, “We affirm and ask for what was just prayed. We add our prayers to the prayer of the leader.”

And so, it is my earnest desire that we begin saying ‘amen’ together, as a whole congregation. It is not so hard to tell when a prayer has ended, when it is time for everyone to say ‘amen.’ Prayers often end with something like this: “In Jesus’ name” or “through Jesus Christ our Lord” or some prayers have a Trinitarian ending, such as “through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.” After each of these types of endings, it is fully appropriate for the congregation give their agreement by saying, ‘amen.’ However, you may want to wait for a brief moment to make sure that the prayer is really over before you say ‘amen.’

So before the service today, I want us to get in some practice. Get ready to say ‘amen’ after each of these prayer endings. Ready? Here we go.

“In Jesus name,” amen.

“through Christ our Lord,” amen.

“through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.” Amen.

Okay? That’s all the practice we get. From now on, let’s be ready to give a whole-hearted ‘amen’ all together as a congregation in affirmation of the prayers that are prayed in our midst. You will have plenty of opportunities today to become accustomed to this practice.

One more thing: you may either say ‘ah-men’ or ‘ay-men.’ Pronounce it as you like.