Worship as Warfare

We speak of worship as covenant renewal, because that is what sacramental worship is. We are called in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit -- the Name in which we were originally baptized. We, the baptized, leave Egypt and enter the Kingdom anew in the Confession and Absolution. We ascend to heaven to hear the Word proclaimed, and then sit with our Lord in the heavenlies at His table. Finally, we are commissioned and sent forth, with a benediction pronounced in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

This covenant renewal structure is found everywhere in the Bible, and it has been important for us to recover it. There is more to our heaven-positioned worship, however. Worship is also holy war.