Can I get an amen? It's origins, meaning and when to use it | Mark Katrick faith column
Some of my most memorable and enlightening conversations have happened greeting worshippers at church, after the service. They often begin with an open-ended question like, “Where do you find all these corny jokes you tell in your sermons?”
On one occasion, a gentleman gently and thoughtfully asked this question: “Why wasn’t there an ‘amen’ with the Prayer of Dedication, after the offering.” I’d have liked to give him some deep-seated, biblically or theologically based answer. But the truth of the matter was, the worship resource from which I copied and pasted it didn’t have an “amen.”
This is sheer speculation on my part, but the denomination that publishes these liturgies has Holy Communion on a weekly basis. Perhaps they are saving their ‘amens’ for after sharing the bread and the wine or grape juice that represent the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. According to dictionary.com, “Amen is commonly used after a prayer, creed, or other formal statement. It is spoken to express solemn ratification or agreement, and is derived from the Hebrew āmēn, which means ‘certainty,’ ‘truth,’ and ‘verily.’“
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The word “amen” occurs 30 times in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, it is used as an expression of faith or part of a liturgical formula. When Jesus teaches us to pray the Lord’s Prayer he closes it with an “amen.”
“Amen” can be used informally like when the Cleveland Guardians finally win the World Series, and the Browns finally win the Super Bowl. It was like an Amen Chorus at my place when the Cavaliers brought home a championship title in 2016.
My personal preference as a pastor and worshipper is to have an “amen” at the end of any prayer, whether it is spoken by me individually or corporately with the congregation. But I would be OK if there was only one rousing “Amen!” offered at the end of the service with the Benediction.
This is because any “amens” that you and I may offer, spoken or unspoken, are not only the ending of one prayer but the beginning of the next. In my Prayer Journal, the next time I write “amen” will be on the very last page.
The older I get and the deeper my connection with the Holy One gets, I’ve come to realize that everything I think, do, feel and pray throughout the day is a prayer. In other words, from sunrise to sunset and throughout the night, our lives are like one big AMEN CHORUS in all capital letters!
Mark Katrick is a pastor and spiritual guide.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Mark Katrick faith column: Origins, meaning, usage of the word amen
