By Pastor Brian Phillips

The Consecration

Following the Confession of Sin and Assurance of Pardon, we enter into Consecration, the longest portion of the worship service (primarily because it contains the sermon). Consecration corresponds to the burnt offerings which, as Leviticus 9:15-16 says, were to be offered after the sin offerings. The burnt offerings were to be totally consumed (Leviticus 1:8-9), used for food, and the aroma of them was “a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17).

We refer to this part of the liturgy as the “Consecration” because it is marked by the complete giving over of ourselves to God, particularly by hearing and submitting to His Word. We hear the Scriptures, from the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel readings (following the Lectionary to ensure we hear the same passages read in the Church around the world).

A few things should be noted about the reading of the Scriptures in corporate worship.

First, the readings should be heard, not simply followed. While we do encourage parishioners to bring their Bibles to worship with them to follow along in the sermon (following the example of the Bereans in Acts 17:10-12), learning to hear the Word is a vital discipline. It encourages mental discipline and aids memory.

Second, there should be multiple readings (multiple witnesses). Deuteronomy 19:15 says, “Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” In that context, it is referring to accusations of crime. But, in Matthew 18:16, Jesus applies it to Church discipline as well, saying, “But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” The Apostle Paul does the same in 2nd Corinthians 13:1 – “Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.”

Finally, the Lord Jesus applies this same requirement to His testimony about Himself. He said, in John 5:31-33, “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.”

The Bible itself should be seen as a multitude of witnesses – Old Testament and New Testament. This is why the Church has historically had multiple readings in the worship service (Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel). To make the point clearer, the readings are done in a multitude of places (behind the lectern and standing in front of the congregation), and often by multiple readers (a clear multitude of witnesses – in person and voice).

Third, we stand for the Gospel readings. There is an ancient habit of standing for the Gospel reading, not because the Gospels are more inspired or more important than the rest of Scripture, but because the Gospels record the words and actions of Christ, who is the Word of God incarnate. So, the practice of standing is not just a physical sign of respect, it is also showing reverence for the whole Word of God – written and incarnate. The Gospels tell of how Christ walked, healed, ate, blessed, spoke, suffered, died, rose in His body. So, it is fitting that as we hear of these things, we respond with our bodies.

Fourth, the readings must be seen as a necessary part of worship. In 1st Timothy 4:13, Paul tells Timothy, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” Interestingly, in the Greek text, each of the three areas Paul mentions – reading, exhortation, teaching – have a definite article in front of them. In other words, Paul is telling Timothy to devote himself to “the readings, the exhortation, and the teaching,” as if each of them were specific duties. Luke does the same in Acts 2:42 when he describes the life of the Church immediately following Peter’s sermon at Pentecost – “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (emphasis mine). These are definite duties required of the Church – the readings, the teaching, the exhortation, the fellowship, the breaking of bread (communion), and the prayers were all specific times and responsibilities.   

At the conclusion of the readings, the congregation responds, “This is the Word of God.” In so doing, we are acknowledging that we do not follow our own wisdom, authority, and thinking, but God’s – and that in its entirety, Old and New Testament alike. 

In consecration, we do not offer up an animal sacrifice to be consumed (Hebrews 10:11-14). We are the “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1-2) and we offer ourselves up entirely, in complete submission to God and to His Word. We follow the readings with the preaching of the particular Word, the sermon text. The sermons are centered on the text of Scripture and ended with a prayer of commitment (again, notice the pattern of submission and consecration). This all parallels the burnt offerings.

The sermon, by its very structure, takes more time than any other single aspect of the liturgy. This, combined with the heavy emphasis of the Reformation on the supremacy and sufficiency of the Word of God, has led most to conclude that the sermons must, therefore, be the most important part of the worship service. That is not the case.

The sermon is important. As we have already seen, Paul told Timothy to “devote” himself to particular duties, one of them being “the teaching.” He commands him, in 2nd Timothy 4:1-2, to “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

So, I am not saying the sermon is unimportant. Rather, I am saying it is not the most important part of the service. Such a statement would likely leave many American Christians speechless. Allow me to offer a few more thoughts here.

First, in a Biblical liturgy, the Scriptures fill the worship service. If you have paid attention to any of the previous essays in this series, you should notice that, by the time we get to the sermon, the congregation has already been given a steady diet of Scripture. The service begins with Scripture, the Call to Worship is taken from Scripture, the congregation reads a Psalm selection responsively, the exhortation before the Confession of Sin is drawn from Scripture, the Assurance of Pardon is proclaimed through Scripture, and the congregation sings from the Psalms.

All of that happens before we even get to the public readings from the Old Testament, Epistles, and Gospels!

So, lest anyone think that I am advocating a turn from Scripture, I would simply say, “Check the tape.” Covenant Renewal Worship (the liturgy being described in this series) is absolutely soaked in the Bible, and this is not surprising, because its pattern is drawn from the Bible.

Second, the sermon cannot be the “main event” because of its place in the liturgy. The sermon is part of the Consecration, but if we return our minds to Leviticus 9 (from whence we get this whole pattern for worship), we see that there are still more offerings to be made – the grain offering (Leviticus 9:17) and the peace offering (9:18) must be offered, and the benediction must be pronounced (9:22). While we will discuss those in more detail in later essays, the point for now is simply that the sermon cannot be the end or the culmination.

The sermon is concluded with prayer and then the congregation responds with the Lord’s Prayer. In our congregation, we sing the Lord’s Prayer, but whether spoken or sung, it plays an integral role here because it is a prayer of submission and, even by praying exactly what Jesus said, we submit to His wisdom.

The offerings of the congregation are brought forward at this time, corresponding to the grain offering in both content and order (Leviticus 9:17). It is an offering to God, but it is largely for the benefit of the congregation, its ministry, needs, and pastor. Traditionally, a doxology is sung as the offering comes forward, recognizing that it is only through the blessings of God that we have anything to offer Him and His church.

The last part of the consecration section is our confession of faith. We recite one of the ecumenical creeds (Apostles’ Creed or Nicene Creed), and we do this because we are again pledging that we believe what Scripture says, from beginning to end. The creeds of the Church are accurate summaries of biblical teaching. So, when we recite them, we are confessing that we believe the whole counsel of God, the whole Word of God. We recite them in hopes of eventually having them memorized for the same reason (that our minds be given to God).

The Apostles’ Creed was originally recited by baptismal candidates or their parents (which is why it begins with “I believe”). The Nicene Creed was written to respond to Christological heresies in the 4th century (which is why it begins with “We believe”). In our congregation, we alternate recitation of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creed in order to aid in memorization of both, and to remind us that we are to submit to the truth of Scripture and cling to the faith both individually and corporately (both “I” and “We”).   

Reciting the creeds reminds us of our connection with the Church catholic (universal and historic). The problems of individualism and pragmatism have swallowed up American Christianity, and one way to avoid, or come back from, such problems is by consistently reminding ourselves of the stream of Christian history of which we are part. The Church is bigger than us. 

What does the Consecration teach us? What are we to take into the rest of life from this part of the service?

Submission to all of Scripture is a requirement. As one of my Baptist college professors was fond of saying, “The Bible is not a buffet line. You don’t get to just take a little of this or a little of that, and leave what you don’t like.” The liturgy teaches us this. We are to submit to all of the Bible for all of life.

Our lives should be saturated by the Bible. The whole liturgy teaches this, but the Consecration clearly emphasizes it. We should read it, hear it, sing it, memorize it, consult it, meditate upon it, talk about it, etc. As Deuteronomy 6 says, the truth of God’s Word should be with us when we talk, walk, lie down, and rise up. Being a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1 – note this is literally a “living dead thing,” dead to sin and self, alive to God) means we are “transformed” and our minds are “renewed” by God and His Word.

Practically, I would say this means taking steps in our lives to return to the ancient practice of morning and evening prayer, which includes multiple Scripture readings. The Book of Common Prayer is, in my opinion, the best resource for this.

No more “Lone Ranger” Christianity. One powerful result of submitting ourselves to the ancient practices of the Church, like the multiple readings from the Lectionary, reciting the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creeds, is that we are reminding ourselves that we are stones in a far bigger Temple, members of a much larger Body, the Church.

Modern evangelicalism, with its almost exclusive emphasis on individual salvation, entertainment, church hopping, and focus on personal feelings, is foreign to a Biblical view of worship and the life and habits of God’s people. Particularly in the Consecration, we are being reminded weekly that we do not belong to ourselves. We belong to Christ, but we belong to Him as part of His Bride. When we find any vestige of such cancerous individualism in ourselves or our congregations, we must confess it and ask the Lord to cut it out.

We are to be wholly given to the Lord. As we hear the readings and submit to them (“This is the Word of God”), hear the sermon and submit to (responding with the Lord’s Prayer), give of our finances in the offering, sing the Doxology (acknowledging that all of Creation and every blessing therein comes from the Triune God), we are being reminded that not a single aspect of life is to be held outside of submission to the Lord and His Word.   

To be continued…