“I will not participate.”
Years ago, a church member had sent me this response after I had encouraged the congregation to respond to the public reading of Scripture with “Amen.” For this member, any sort of standard or formal response amounted to stifling the Spirit’s movement in worship.
This perspective is common among many in the church today. It’s easy for us to let feeling and experience determine the spiritual worth of our worship. We can adopt the mindset that if it feels good, the Spirit was moving. If it did not, the Spirit was absent. The question is: Do habit and ritual really stifle the Spirit? Or could they soften our hearts toward him?
Throughout the history of the church, across a number of traditions, congregations have responded to the public reading of Scripture. Some have responded with a simple “amen.” Other congregations find the reader of Scripture concluding with, “This is the Word of the Lord,” followed by the congregational response, “Thanks be to God.” Congregations might also respond with statements such as “Praise you, O Christ” after a Gospel reading.
I want to make the case that a congregational “Thanks be to God” is both a biblically justified and spiritually beneficial response to the reading of Scripture in corporate worship. God commands the church to devote itself to the public reading of Scripture and to give thanks in all things. When these two commands are considered in light of the Bible’s repeated description of congregational response to the read Word, we have a solid biblical and theological case that such a practice is spiritually edifying.
The Public Reading of and Response to Scripture
The Bible itself depicts God’s people corporately reading and responding to it.
First, God commands the public reading of Scripture. He instructed his people to read his word publicly in the Old Testament (Exodus 24:3; Deuteronomy 1:1, 27, 31:9-12; Nehemiah 8), and does the same in the new. (1 Timothy 4:13).[1] Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, further commands that Colossians and 1 Thessalonians be circulated and read in local churches (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Revelation states plainly, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear (Revelation 1:3). God intends for his people to hear the voice of the risen Christ beyond the reading of the sermon text. We are to read the law, the prophets, the writings, and the gospel. As Stephen Presley has written, “Following these examples and exhortations, the early church has always prized the public reading of Scripture. They could not image a worship service without someone reading healthy portions of Scripture drawn from across the canon.”[2]
Second, congregational response to the Word is modeled in Scripture. Throughout the Bible, God speaks to his people, and they respond. After Moses reads the covenant stipulations in Exodus 20-23, the people respond, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” (Ex 24:3) Upon hearing the covenant curses and blessings, the people respond with, “Amen” (Deuteronomy 27). Call and response are clearly woven into the structure of several Psalms (106, 118, 136). During the covenant renewal in Nehemiah 8, the people respond corporately to Ezra’s reading of the law by raising their hands and saying, “Amen, Amen” (Nehemiah 8:6). If these examples are not persuasive, perhaps we should note that call and response is part of the liturgy of heavenly worship (Revelation 4-5). Finally, it is worth meditating on the fact that the canon’s last words are a call-and-response.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen (Revelation 22:20–21)
Cultivating a Thankful Church
But a congregational praise to the Lord in response to hearing his word is not just biblical. It’s spiritually beneficial. Why? Because it cultivates the gratitude that God commands his people to have.
God commands the church to give thanks in all things. The Christian life and worship in the body of Christ are to be characterized by thanksgiving. The Psalms instruct us to enter God’s presence with thanksgiving (Psalm 95:2, 100:4). Of particular importance for our purpose is Paul’s command in Colossians 3:15-17 for the church to give thanks in the context of corporate worship.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:15–17)
Along with Colossians 3:15-16, I do not believe it is an exegetical stretch to apply Paul’s commands for the church to give thanks in everything (Ephesians 5:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:18) as support for the spiritual benefit of congregational response. As the saints gather to hear the Word of God, responding with “thanks be to God” upon hearing the Word read is a beautiful expression of corporate obedience to God’s command to give thanks in all things.
Is the formula “This is the Word of the Lord, thanks be to God” explicitly found in Scripture? No. It is, however, deeply biblical. God has commanded his people to commit to the public reading of Scripture. He has commanded us to give thanks in all things and provided numerous congregational responses throughout Scripture.
As you gather for corporate worship, prepare your heart to respond joyfully and boldly to the words “This is the Word of the Lord.” The living God speaks to his people by the living Word of God. How can we not give thanks?
[1] Although some translations may imply a private reading is in view (KJV, NKJV), the pairing of exhortation and teaching with the command to read Scripture only makes sense if the reference is the public reading of Scripture. See Sam Waldron, How Then Shall We Worship?: The Regulative Principle and the Required Parts of the Church’s Corporate Worship (Evangelical Press, Great Britain, 2022) 206-207.
Nathaniel R. Martin 