At the beginning of our worship services the pastor says the words:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,

and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And the congregation, the assembly responds:

And also with you.

Often referred to as the Apostolic Greeting, or the simple title in our Guides: “Greeting”,

This is something we repeat so often, it becomes part of the background, and we don’t often take much time to think about it. 

But it is a very important part of the service, one that doesn’t change from Sunday to Sunday.

Where does it come from? 

Well, we get the answer in our New Testament reading today, 

from the ending of Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians.

This greeting is the most elaborate blessing in Paul’s letters.

Many letters mention Paul’s desire that 

the grace of the risen Lord Jesus Christ be with his readers, 

but here, he goes even further, wishing that

“Through Christ’s redeeming work and its revelation of the love and saving purpose of God, 

that Christians come to know God’s kindness.”

On this Holy Trinity Sunday, it’s important to note that this is not a formal description of the Trinity, that would come centuries later,

But we can take this as a description of central facts of Paul’s life. This is a blessing that made sense to Paul himself.

It was the grace of Christ which found him on the Road to Damascus, and turned his life around.

Despite Paul’s resistance, Grace found him.

He discovered that God had forgiven him, despite his many failings and his persecution of the early followers of Christ. 

The trinitarian blessing also comes at the end of a letter where Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to let go of their conflicts and their disagreements, and to find unity. By grounding his farewell message in the identity of the Trinity, he was modelling what we need to do as well.

The Trinity has separate persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), 

but they are all united in the Trinity.

So we as a community of different persons, different identities, various ideas,we need to discover our common ground. The Trinity is a great place to start.

 

Grace for Paul, is the most important item of faith, and so that’s what he begins with: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ:

“The undeserved but freely given and powerfully effective favour of Christ, which not only opens the way to faith and new life, 

but also continues to give the believer the daily help needed.”

Grace is always bigger than we can imagine. 

As the old favourite hymn tells us: 

“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me”.

We hold no claim on Jesus’ grace…it is a free gift that makes all the difference in the world: 

we are called God’s children and know God as a loving parent. 

It is grace that enables us to believe this and to receive eternal life. 

And it is grace that gives us the daily bread, 

all that we need, 

the help to get through life’s tough situations.

 

The second portion of the greeting is

 “the love of God”:

Which

“Is the outreaching, active good will by which God, who has sent Christ for our salvation, 

freely gives all further gifts needed to complete his divine purpose to save humanity.”

God’s love is the basis for everything!

God is no mere judge, but exhibits good will to all. 

God loves us all, and the proof of this is how he sent his Son to save us from all which would separate us from that love, as Paul writes in Romans:

neither death, nor life, ..nor things present, nor things to come,… nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Knowing and reminding ourselves often of God’s love changes our relationship with God. 

We don’t have to fear God or imagine God as being distant or far away…rather we can envision God as a divine, caring lover who just wants the best for us.

 

The final portion of the blessing is 

“the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

In the old translation that some of you might have grown up with, 

it is the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit”. 

The original Greek word “koinonia” can be translated in a few ways: 

fellowship, communion, participation, the sharing in. 

It’s a rich word that has a variety of interpretations to describe this

“fellowship with God and with the other members of Christ’s church which is established and sustained by Christians by the presence and the working of the Holy Spirit.”

Or in a different definition:

“the sharing in the Holy Spirit enjoyed by all members of the church.”

It is a binding together, a forming of a special community by the Holy Spirit,

So that we can have Communion with God, that we can be in relationship with God,

The Holy Spirit does the work for us, so that we can enjoy its benefits.

In a way, this is a description of the church, 

and a reminder that the church is

“Not just a social group with a common interest in religion, 

[it is] more than a gathering of people for worship or 

[even simply] an organization of people for the service of others, 

The church is a new divine creation, a community knit together by the Spirit”!

The communion of the Holy Spirit brings lonely individuals together, 

It gives them power, and it sustains them.

We are no longer solitary Christians, 

but part of a bigger whole, 

when we become one with the church!

Through this communion of the Holy Spirit, 

the church has power to preach the Gospel 

and to make a Christian impact upon the world.

Without the communion of the Holy Spirit, 

We would wither away and lose sight of God’s love.

 

In 2nd Corinthians 13 the words used by the Apostle Paul to greet the churches 

accompanied greetings from all the other churches,

And as the fullest greeting we have by Paul, it makes sense that it is the greeting we use in our worship services to formally begin our time together.

It is an ecumenical greeting, and one that is used in a million churches every Sunday, and so when we use it, we are mindful of all other Christians through time and space, and how we are connected with them.

In our services there are two parts to this greeting:

First the presiding minister greets the assembly with Paul’s words.

Then the Assembly greets the Presiding Minister in return: and says: “and also with you”

It is a mutual Greeting (a back and forth, just like a 

“hi how’re you doing, 

Good, and you?)

But this greeting is a little more formal and it establishes two facts: that there is a presider 

and an assembly, 

and they are both held in the triune life of God!

God’s love holds presiding minister and congregation in God’s hands, 

and for the duration of the worship service, 

we are all mindful of this.

God’s assembly (the congregation) is to be

 “the communion of the Holy Spirit around the grace of Jesus Christ 

and the love of God, spoken and given in Word and Sacrament.”

The presiding minister is speaking this into reality 

and the words are meant to do what they say. 

It’s not just a potential wish, 

but a statement of fact. 

“Then the assembly, by its response, 

acknowledges and prays for the triune God to be with the one who is presiding for them. 

The Presiding Minister is acknowledged and welcomed as the “one who presides here.”

This isn’t just a one-directional relationship. 

The pastor needs the congregation’s blessing and good will to proceed.

Think of it this way: Imagine I said “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ etc.” and after that 

there was dead silence. 

Crickets.

That would be a sign that this relationship was broken 

and the service couldn’t proceed.

In a way this initial back and forth 

is like a mini-renewal of call.

As a congregation you affirm that you will accept me as pastor, 

as minister for this service, 

and I as pastor confirm:

“sounds good, I will be your minister.”

So this greeting performs a valuable function: 

it establishes the relationship for the duration of worship 

of Presiding Minister and Assembly!

It is a Mutual moment! 

Because you need two partners in this relationship. 

You can’t just have one.

Imagine a worship service with only the pastor 

and no congregation.

That would be silly. 

I’d just be talking to myself.

Likewise, a worship service with a congregation 

and without a leader could maybe work, 

but it would be a lot more difficult 

as you figure out by consensus 

who should be talking at any given monment, 

and how the service should proceed. 

Even in very egalitarian, democratic Christian traditions 

like the Quakers, 

you usually have one person who prepares and leads the service.

 

While the assembly responds "and also with you”,

Generally the presiding minister would respond with a bow. 

It’s unnecessary for me to say thank you, 

but I could I guess, 

but instead a bow represents the same thing:

The minister accepts the blessing with gratitude, honour and respect for the assembly as the body of Christ.

For “the principal sign of the body of Christ in the room 

is the people who have been baptized into Christ 

and assembled in his name!”

The pastor recognizes that the body of Christ is present 

in the group of assembled Christians (whether 2 or 3 or a thousand), 

and acknowledges through the bow, 

that the minister is the servant of all. 

The word minister means servant. 

The minister isn’t the Lord and master, 

but merely the servant tasked with ensuring the liturgy, 

the work of the people, happens in good order.

And so with this Apostolic Greeting, 

the beginning of the service is established, 

and the service can officially begin, with a song or prayer.

There may be things that happen before the greeting, like Prelude, Announcements, even Confession and Forgiveness, but the service officials begins with the greeting.

 

Paul’s closing words to the Corinthians with which we begin worship 

is one of the most important parts of the service, 

and is often overlooked as it is quite brief, 

and is repeated identically each time.

However in its simplicity, it reminds us of how

“the rich resource of God’s constant gracious presence 

works with power to meet every need of all Christians, 

And of how God so loves and helps us to live our lives 

In fellowship with God and one another.

So what better way to conclude this sermon then with those same words of greeting:

(words from the conclusion of Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians:)

The grace…

—-

*Hymn of the Day 412 “Come, Join the Dance of Trinity” 

Sources: 

Interpreter’s Bible (2 Corinthians)

The Sunday Assembly (Gordon Lathrop)