Liturgy As Proclamation of The Word: by S. M. Gibbard
Liturgy As Proclamation of The Word: by S. M. Gibbard
Liturgy As Proclamation of The Word: by S. M. Gibbard
by
S. M. Gibbard *
This Quarterly is one of the results of the confluence of the ecumenical,
liturgical and biblical movements. Though these movements are of
comparatively recent growth, we may live to see them used by God to
promote a renaissance of Christendom.
For the purpose of this article I take liturgy to mean the full pattern
of corporate worship of the various Christian confessions. Within such
pattern I should not wish to exclude "free prayer". There is evidence
for it in the liturgical practice of the early church. The General Assembly
of the Church of Scotland, when authorizing admirable set forms of
prayer in the Book of Common Order in 1940, stated that "the pro-
vision of such forms implies no desire to supersede free prayer" 2.
Again in the canon of the Roman mass the celebrant is directed at the
two Momentos to pray somewhat ('arat aliquantulum') for individuals:
and I have even noticed in some of the 'avant-garde' Roman catholic
churches members of the congregation have been permitted at these
moments to offer up aloud brief petitions.
Within the liturgy in this broad sense most Christians would, I
presume, give primary place to the eucharist; and for the sake of brevity
I shall have to confine myself to the eucharist in this article.
It seems to me that there is a great deal to be said for having the Bible,
not only read, but also preached as the Word of God at all the main
celebrations of the eucharist: and for this there is much precedent in the
practice of the early church. But many from almost all parts of Christen-
dom are dissatisfied with the lack of a balanced relationship between
the liturgy and the Word in our present practice. Karl Barth wrote over
twenty years ago words which are still widely and unpleasantly true:
"What we know to-day as the church service both in Roman Catholicism
and in Protestantism is a torso. The Roman Catholic church has a sacra-
mental service without preaching. And we (protestants) have a service
* The Revd. S. Mark Gibbard il a member of the (Anglican) Sotiety of St John the Evan-
gelilt (Million HOUle, Marston Street, Oxford, England).
I The original draft of this article was read at an ecumenical liturgical conference
at Swanwick, England (see page 75 of this issue) and at at an ecumenical liturgical
weekend at Rotterdam, Holland.
6 2 Book of Common Order, Preface, p, iii.
with a sermon but without sacrament. Both types of service are im-
possible" 1.
But many are now pleading for better ways. Dr. Max Warren, one of
the most respected leaders of the Evangelicals in the Church of England,
has written: "The sermon itself is an act of worship not to be divorced
from but most closely associated with the breaking of the bread and the
blessing of the cup" 2.
And from the Roman Catholic side at an international liturgical
congress at Assisi in 1956 Cardinal Bea, a Jesuit, declared, "The
assembly of the faithful who gather together for the eucharistic sacrifice
is in reality the most propitious place for the reading and faithful
exposition of the Word of God.... (Here) the liturgical movement
and the biblical movement ought to meet and to fuse so as to interpene-
trate. A priest who knew how to celebrate the holy sacrifice, 'fractio
panis', but did not know how to break for the faithful the bread of
the Word of God, would be only half a priest" 3.
The primitive balance of Liturgy and Word; its loss and resto-
ration
Almost all over Christendom there is a "return to sources", not least
amongst liturgists; but this is in no spirit of antiquarianism. The dis-
tinguished liturgical scholar Josef Jungmann, S.J., speaks for many
outside as well as within his own communion, when he says, "The
liturgy of the Catholic church is an edifice in which we are still living
to-day. In the course of the centuries the structure has become more
and more complicated with constant remodelings and additions, and so
the plan of the building has been obscured. Hence we must look up
the building plans, for these will tell us what the architects of old
really wanted, and if we grasp their intentions we shall learn to appre-
ciate much that the building contains and even to esteem it more highly.
And if we should have the opportunity to make changes in the
structure or to adapt it to the needs of our own people, we will then
do so in such a way that, where possible, nothing of the precious
heritage of the past is lost" 4.
The earliest full description of Christian worship is, as all know, the
1 K. Barth, The Knowledge of God and the Servi&e of God, 1938, p. 211.
2 M. A. C. Warren, Strange Victory, 1946, p. 114.
3 Art. in La Mauo« Die", 47-4 8, pp, 140-145.
4 J. A. ]ungmann, S.]., The Early Liturgy, Eng. trans!' 1959, p. 2. 7
First Apology of Justin Martyr, (c. 150 A.D.) with its two accounts
of the eucharist; in the latter (c. 67) he states that all Christians come
together on the Lord's day; a lector reads from "the memoirs of the
apostles or the writings of the prophets as long as time permits"; then
the president in a sermon "urges and invites to the imitation of these
noble things"; after some prayers bread is brought, and wine and
water; the president offers up "to the best of his ability" (8G'Y] M'Vaf.lt~
avrcp) prayers and thanksgivings (evxaetG-dw;), and the people assent
by saying Amen. This seems to correspond to the later eucharistic
prayer or anaphora or canon, and at this date it appears to be "free
prayer". All receive of the elements (evxaetGr'Y] 19 e'VuJ)'V), which were
also taken by the deacons to the absent, presumably because of the
importance attached to this weekly bond of eucharistic union of the
faithful with one another and with the Lord. It was possible to substitute
for that first part of the service, which preceded the bringing of the
bread and wine, some other service, such as baptism (Justin Martyr,
Apology, I, 65) or the consecration of a bishop (Hippolytus, Apostolic
Tradition 2 - 4; 21 - 23: early in 3rd century). But in the second
century the normal Sunday service seems to be this eucharist with the
reading of the Old and New Testaments and preaching of the Word
of God and the receiving together of the sacrament. How much earlier
than Justin this practice was we cannot say with assurance. Certainly
St. Paul combined preaching with the breaking of the bread at Troas
"on the first day of the week" (Acts 20.7-12). But Cullmann seems
to me to go far beyond the evidence when he says of New Testament
wor ship: "The Lord's supper is thus the basis and goal ofevery gath-
ering">, Similarly although Jewish forms of prayer influenced early
Christian worship, we cannot say exactly to what degree, because to
the best of my knowledge the oldest extant forms of the Jewish liturgy
are later than the rst century A.D.
But before the end of the fourth century of the Christian era this
balanced pattern of Word and liturgy, as seen in Justin's Apology,
was beginning to disintegrate. First the general communion of the
faithful on Sundays disappeared. Already in the fourth century St. John
Chrysostom in the East thundered at his non-communicating people,
"In vain do we stand at the altar; there is no one to partake. Art thou
then worthy of sacrifice, but not of the participation? If so, then
1 A. Deissmann, Bibtl!/udien, p. 9 1 •
2 E. G. Selwyn, r Peter (1946), p. 167.
3 F. W. Beare, I Peter (195 8), p. 105· II
whom I formed for myself, that they might set forth my wonderful
works", aeeTck), he changed the LXX 6t1]yeraDat (set forth) for the
stronger e~ayyO.;'etv. Dr. Selwyn boldly renders it "advertise".
The Bible shows that the Church is called to a threefold duty of
proclaiming the mighty acts of redemption: (i) as good news to the
world outside, (ii) as praise before God, and (iii) as a living word to
the worshipping congregation. These three duties, evangelism, worship
and preaching, are all related to the eucharist, the first indirectly, the
second and third directly.
I ]. P. Audet, Didache (Gabalda, Paris, 19,8), pp. 372-410: and art. in Studia
Evangelica (Berlin, 19'9). 13
he underwent for those who purify their souls from sin; and that we
should at the same time give thanks to God both for his having created
the world and all that therein is for the sake of man, and for his having
delivered us from the sins in which we were born, and overthrown
with an utter destruction the principalities and powers of evil" (41.1).
Our next witness is in the eucharistic prayer of Apostolic Tradition
of Hippolytus, where God is praised for his creation of all things
through Christ, for the coming of Christ into the world, for his
"voluntary suffering that he might abolish death and rend the bonds
of the devil and tread down hell" (4.8) and for the Lord's resurrection.
The corresponding anaphora in Book viii of the Apostolic Constitutions
(probably from Antioch c. 375) gives thanks to God at great length
for creation, for his mighty deeds towards the old Israel as well as for
his redeeming work in Christ.
Thus there is something like a continuous tradition, from the Old
Testament right up to the classical form of the eucharistic prayer, of
blessing God for his mighty works. This must be kept in mind in all
liturgical reform.
1 See H. Kahlefeld, L'organisation des lectures de la messe, in La Maison Dieu, No. 51:
and G. Ellard, S.]., The Mass in transition (Milwaukee, 19S6), ch, 12.
2 H. de Candole, art. in Theology, December, 1960.
3 Lambeth Conference Report (19S 8), 2.82. 17
Confirmation by the Church of England Liturgical Commission. This
document also shows a good and practicable way of using psalms in
eucharistic worship, and provides models for eucharistic homilies 1.
The suggestions in this article are not merely academic: they are
pastoral. First, they would help our people to come to communion
with a living faith: "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word
of the Lord" (Rom. 10.17). Secondly, they would make clearer that at
communion the faithful are called in response to God's redeeming love
to offer themselves in union with the perfect offering of Christ. Thirdly,
they might well bring our people to grasp more firmly what it means
to be the Body of Christ, in practice as well as in title, in worship and
in life.
For the implementing of these suggestions the various Christian
confessions need one another. Roman Catholics and Orthodox bring
to this task, besides their great erudition, a tradition of spirituality,
rooted in the liturgy. The Protestants and the Reformed have a com-
paratively clear site for liturgical reconstruction, as they are not so tied
to rigid forms from the past. What disadvantages and advantages
Anglicans may have in this field, it would be invidious for me to say.
We all need one another.
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