Copyright: © 1997 Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. This document may be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes with credit and mention of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site http://www.worship.ca/ as the source.

Acts of Worship appeared as a series of articles in Canada Lutheran, the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Richard Stetson is Assistant to the Bishop with responsibility for worship.

Let all who are able rise with joy.

In terms of common courtesy, standing is a sign of respect, such as standing when a judge enters the court. But in the service of the church, as we stand, we are proclaiming that in baptism we have died and risen with Christ. It goes with the Easter greeting, "Christ is risen! Alleluia!"

According to Hebrew tradition, standing indicates a willingness to hear and obey (see Ezekiel 2). Standing for prayer was the usual Hebrew custom. We read in 1 Samuel 1:26 that Hannah had been standing in supplication before the shrine of God at Shiloh. Jews still stand for prayer as, for example, before the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

During the first thousand years of Christian worship, Christians generally stood for the liturgy. In the fifth century, the Ecumenical Council of Nicea even outlawed kneeling in church on Sundays or during the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost when believers particularly honored and identified with the risen Christ.

Seating in a church was often only provided around the altar for the presiding clergy and against the walls of the nave for the aged and the sick. After the time of the Reformation (and only in Western Europe), pews became common church furnishings. Even so, congregations continued to rise for the gospel, the creed, certain prayers and the blessing. Standing for acts of praise and song has also been common.

In many churches, the congregation now stands for the Great Thanksgiving, beginning with the greeting, "The Lord be with you," through the "Holy, holy, holy Lord ...," a prayer of thanksgiving with the Words of Institution, and the Lord's Prayer. Standing has always been the practice of the presider at the Lord's Table. In Deuteronomy 18:5, standing is noted as the posture of priests when exercising their ministry. The whole congregation standing with the presider shows that the priesthood of all believers is being exercised in the praise and thanksgiving which have provided the setting for the Lord's Supper since its first celebration.

So let all who are able rise with joy. Honor the resurrection of Christ Jesus with your heart and soul, mind and body--your whole self, a visual alleluia in God's service.