Can I Get an Amen, Somebody?

“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:13 

Humans have a tough time trusting one another, so we pack validating qualifiers into our conversations.  “I’m not kidding; I’m positive; Really?; You don’t mean it; I don’t believe it; I’m telling you the truth; Get out!; You’re lying to me!; Stop it!”  When we do answer in the affirmative, we attach conditions to our commitments.  We sometimes give an emotional yes.  We have even written the right to renege into our laws. 

So, what do you mean when you say, “Yes?”  Will you marry me?  What does it mean when a prospective spouse says, “Yes?”  Do you agree to buy this house?  What does it mean to sign on the dotted line?  Do you accept this job?  What does it mean to go to a new job?  Will you agree to this surgery?  What does it mean to sign for an operation?  Saying yes gives power and permission.  It means I accept all the terms, conditions, responsibilities, costs and risks that go along with this agreement.  Your signature says, “I affirm you, and I confirm my acceptance of this proposal.” One party initiates and the other party responds. 

Amen is an untranslated word.  It means true or faithful.  We say amen to affirm and confirm a statement.  When used at the beginning of a sentence, it emphasizes what is about to be said.  Used at the end of a sentence, it signifies agreement with and affirmation for a statement.  The Jews needed to hear God speak by the voice of the prophet and say Amen to their decisions. “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.”  1 Kings 1:36. Under Old Testament law, if a woman accused of adultery denied the charge, she had to drink the waters of jealousy.  She had to say “Amen, Amen,” as a personal confirmation to her denial.  Amen was attesting the praise of God in response to doctrine.  For instance, when the priest of God declared a truth about God, the people had to say, “Amen,” or “I agree, I concur.” “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.” Psalm 41:13.  

Note the distinction between Yes and Amen.  Yes, is the DIVINE INITIATIVE.  “Let there be…” Amen, is the HUMAN RESPONSE.  “So be it…” In Jesus, we see both the divine initiative (Yes!), and the human response (Amen!). “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” 2 Corinthians 1:20. When God initiated the need for a savior, Jesus became the human response. Jesus was both the Yes and the Amen! He was both the source and the response. 

God is still saying, “Yes,” but who is saying, “Amen?”  The bodily presence of Jesus is no longer here to respond.  That leaves us—the church.  The church is now the answer to the divine initiative.  God is now saying, “Can I get an amen, somebody?”  “And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ‘See that no one knows it.’  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. Matthew 9:28-31.

God has spoken.  He is waiting for your unconditional, eternal, irrevocable, “Amen!”  “Amen” to the Holy Ghost; “Amen” to service to Him; “Amen” to consecration; “Amen” to the Word of God.  Your human response answers to God’s divine “Yes!”