"Amen."

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

We end the Lord’s Prayer with “Amen.” The same way we end all of our prayers. When someone makes a true statement we affirm it with the exclamation, “Amen!” This little word is a sacred and solemn word, and we should not use it lightly or flippantly. It has a deep theological meaning. I hope to show you today some of its meaning and why we use it.

1. Amen in the Bible

Let us look at its meaning and how it is used in the Bible. Amen (אָמֵן) is a Hebrew word that means truly, surely, indeed. Its basic meaning is that something is reliable, trustworthy, or firm. It is related to the Hebrew nouns  “steadiness,” “trustworthiness” (אֱמוּנָה), and “truth” (אֱמֶת). The OT uses amen 30 times. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT, leaves the term untranslated as “amen” (ἀμήν) in seven cases. In the other cases, it translates amen into Greek using various terms — as a verb “may it be” (γένοιτο), as an adverb “truly” (ἀληθῶς), and as an adjective “true, faithful” (ἀληθινόζ) as in Is. 65:16 that speaks of the God of amen, of truth. We will come back to this meaning.

By the time of Jesus’ life and ministry, “amen” had become a sacred word that was well established in Jewish liturgy. The New Testament transliterates the Hebrew term אָמֵן (amen) into Greek as ἀμήν (amēn). The NT uses amen 129 times, with 99 of these spoken by Jesus. We will come back to Jesus’ use of amen. The OT and NT and both Jewish and Christian liturgy and worship have used amen in similar ways.

(1) As a strong affirmation of a prayer, song, doxology, or praise to God by the assembly or an individual. “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord” (1 Chron. 16:36). “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Rom 11:36).

(2) As an affirmation by an individual to instructions or words spoken by another person or God. In 1 Kings 1:36, Benaiah says “amen” in response to the king’s command to appoint Solomon as the new king. In 2 Cor. 1:20 Paul teaches that all the words and promises that God speaks are true, reliable, and trustworthy. Therefore, our resounding response to God is “Yes.… Amen.” “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

(3) As an affirmation of an oath, blessing, or curse by the assembly or an individual. In Deuteronomy 27:15–26, Moses calls the assembly to respond “amen” to each of the 12 curses for transgression declared by the Levites. “Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!” (Deut 27:16)

Thus, amen is the verbal commitment of agreement by the listener. With amen we affirm the truths stated or prayed, saying, “Let it be so. So be it. This is true. This is God’s will.” This is a solemn and sacred word and using it is a serious matter. Extraordinary value is attached to its speaking. We can respond “amen” only if we are certain that the spoken words are God’s biblical truth and if we fully agree with the spoken words. In 1 Corinthians 14:16, Paul instructs the congregation not to say “amen” unless they fully understand and can agree with the blessing given by a speaker. “Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say ‘Amen’ to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying?”

When we say “amen” we acknowledge the validity and truth of the statement and that it has authority and is binding for us. We confirm the personal acceptance and application of God’s instructions and commandments. In this sense, amen, means, “It’s true. We obey. We will do it.” With amen, we confirm the personal application of a vow, oath, or curse. With amen, we commit ourselves to the engagement to fulfill that vow or oath. With amen, we place ourselves under the blessing or curse. Also, with amen, we affirm our confession of the praises of God expressed in our worship. And we confess God’s blessings pronounced to us. With amen, we receive and make these blessings operative in our lives. They become true and active. When we say amen to the blessing at the closing of our service, we are not wishing and hoping that the blessing will become true. We are saying, “It is true. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with us. The love of God the Father is with us. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with us.”

2. Jesus Is the Amen

And now we come to the last use of “amen” in the Bible. It is used as a name or title for God and Jesus. Jesus is the Amen. Is. 65:16 says, “… so that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth (amen), and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth (amen) …” And Revelation 3:14, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation” (Rev 3:14).

Jesus is the Amen. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him” (Jn 14:6). He is the faithful and true witness of God’s kingdom and all that God has done, is doing, and will do. He is the Word. He is God. He is the Amen, He is the Truth.

And this brings us to the 99/129 times when Jesus uses “amen.” He uses amen to acknowledge and affirm the truth and authority of his teachings and statements. These are his own words. They are valid, reliable, and true because Jesus himself is the Amen. He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life. He is the reliable and true Witness of God.

3. “Amen!” — To Worship in Spirit and Truth

Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Jesus taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and through this prayer we worship in spirit and truth. Here, in the Lord’s Prayer, is truth. When we say “Amen” at the end, we express our assent to the Lord’s Prayer. We affirm that Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life. In this prayer Jesus teaches us truth and through this prayer we express the truth. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us the truth—the truth to whom we belong, where we are moving, what we really look like under our masks, our true sinful and weak selves. It teaches us the truth that only God provides, forgives, saves, and protects us. It teaches us what the true kingdom, power, and glory look like.

This prayer makes us more truthful and faithful so we can know the truth. We must be transformed, forgiven, and born again so that we can acknowledge the lies upon which our lives are based. So that we can dare to surrender our lives to God and trust Him to make our lives turn out all right. Then we can pray this prayer in the Spirit and in truth and affirm its truth with “Amen!” We affirm that we believe in Jesus Christ. We accept, acknowledge, and affirm his Word as true and having authority over our lives. Therefore, with “amen” we affirm the demands of his Word and commit ourselves to obey and put his words into practice.

Remember that in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “Our Father,” we ask for the forgiveness of "our sins," and we pray for "our daily bread." None of us could make it in this faith and journey alone. We need our sisters and brothers in the church. We need the saints down through the centuries, to teach us to pray, to help us to pray. Let’s be honest. Along the way, we keep getting it all wrong, praying to the wrong gods (putting our trust in the wrong things), and asking for the wrong things. We keep being disappointed when God does not answer our prayers as we thought God ought. Many times our prayers are just formal, mere words, and not coming from the heart. Therefore we desperately need one another. We learn to pray as Jesus taught us together as the church. Prayer is both public and private. One way to become truthful is by praying in public. In public, said aloud, our prayers and our lives are held up to the scrutiny of our sisters and brothers in Christ. We are corrected and held accountable to the witness of the believers. We offer our faith to others, and they offer their faith to us, and we all are strengthened as disciples in the process. Public prayer on Sundays and other occasions is about learning to worship in spirit and in truth. And corporate prayer together, prayer in concert, is powerful. Praying the Lord’s Prayer and affirming its truth with Amen is powerful.

Story of the Lord’s Prayer in WW2 prison camp — In a prison camp in World War II, on a cold, dark evening after a series of beatings, after the hundreds of prisoners of war had been marched before the camp commander and harangued for an hour when the prisoners were returned to their dark barracks and told to be quiet for the rest of the night, someone, somewhere in one of the barracks began saying the Lord's Prayer. Some of his fellow prisoners lying next to him began to pray with him. Their prayer was overheard by prisoners in the next building who joined them. One by one, each set of barracks joined in the prayer until, as the prayer was ending with, "Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory," hundreds of prisoners had joined their voices in a strong, growing, defiant prayer, reaching a thunderous, "Amen!" 

And then the camp was silent, but not before the tables had been turned, the prisoners had thrown off their chains, and a new world had been sighted, signaled, and stated. Wherever, since the day that Jesus taught us this prayer, and this prayer has been prayed, even in the darkest of days, the worst of situations, prisoners have been set free, the blind see, the lame walk, the poor have good news proclaimed to them, and a new world, God’s kingdom has come in this world and our lives. Karl Bath said, “To clasp hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” It is standing up and firm against the evil one and standing for God’s reign and glory.

In teaching us to pray, Jesus is making us more truthful, and more faithful. He is making us his disciples. In praying, our lives are being bent, turned away from our natural inclinations, and turned back toward God. We are becoming the very holiness, obedience, and forgiveness for which we ask in the prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is a humble prayer of petition, which allows us to engage in direct and intimate dialogue with God, to become friends with God. Our souls are raised up to God, we converse with Him in spiritual affection, and adore Him in spirit and truth.

The Lord's Prayer becomes the summary, the crescendo, the climax, of the church's worship. We find our lives caught up in the great drama of God's redemption and restoration of the world. We are swept up into an adventure more significant than our lives would have been if left to ourselves. Heaven is open, the kingdom is come, and we shout, "Amen!" 

Paul prayed for the believers, “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you . . . I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:3-4, 6).  

Let the last words of the New Testament serve as our last word, our Amen: "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. (Rev 22:20-21)