In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This is how worship services begin in our congregation: in the name of the Triune God without commas, with the sign of the cross.
This is also the way Christian life begins as we are baptized into the name of that same Triune God without commas, with water and the Word of God.
Some pastors, priests, or ministers add the words "We begin..." to this invocation. Personally, I choose not to do that. "We begin..." is not how you invoke a name.
In the days when kings and queens, emperors and pharaohs ruled the world, their names were invoked to show the authority by which a task was done.
One place we see a true invocation in our contemporary culture is in George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. Here are the words Ned Stark uses to execute the Night's Watch deserter, Will.
"In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, First of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm, I, Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, sentence you to die."
As we come before the Lord of the universe in worship, we do so by His own authority and in His own name, a Triune name without commas. It is an official act, a formal act, a solemn act. It does not require the words "we begin..." for the words themselves are a beginning, a notice. They move us into a new time, a new act.
In this name many official acts occur. We are baptized in this name. We are forgiven in this name. We are blessed in this name. We are confirmed in this name. We are married in this name. We are sent on new adventures in this name. We are installed in various roles in our congregations in this name. We are commended to the Lord for death in this name. We are buried in this name.
From first to last, beginning to end, the name of the Triune God is placed upon us again and again without commas but with authority.
