Glory Be, To All Three

Why do we say or sing “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever”?

This little prayer, named the “Gloria Patri” after its first two words when said in Latin, is also known as the “lesser doxology.”  A “doxology” is short hymn or expression of praise.  A popular one you may be familiar with is “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.”  You’ll notice that even that one ends “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”  The reason for this is that Christian praise MUST be Trinitarian.  Christians worship a God who is three in one, and this mysterious truth is at the heart of everything we believe about God (theology), which in turn shapes the praise we give to him (doxology).  How we pray to and praise God shapes what we believe about Him over time, yet what we believe about God also influences how we worship.  It may seem like the chicken and the egg, but nonetheless it is important for Christians to worship God in spirit and in truth:  To worship Him in truth must include worshiping Him as He has revealed Himself to be in Scripture.  So we therefore use this brief little prayer to proclaim that our praises are for the Triune God of the Christian scriptures.  This is why it is often used at the end of a Psalm:  though the Psalms are all about Christ from beginning to end, He is not mentioned by name, so the use of a trinitarian doxology sets our use of the Psalms apart from their original Jewish context.  Many hymns in the Lutheran Service Book also close with a Trinitarian doxology.  This is indicated by a triangle symbol before the final stanza.  The “Gloria Patri” is the oldest and most well known doxology, dating from the fourth century.  So when we pray this little hymn of praise to God, we are singing a prayer that has united believers across the centuries, just like the Lord’s prayer, and that is continually being prayed around the world today.  Because it is not metered (unlike “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”), it is often added to the end of anything chanted, including the Psalms, Introit, Nunc Dimittis, and the song of Mary.  In a world where many different gods compete for our attention and devotion, adding this little prayer to the end of our praises is a bold declaration that we worship the God of the Bible, who has come to us in the person of Jesus.

No Bulletin Liturgy for You!

Why are we reading from these books in front of us?

What happened to my bulletin?  The words are all gone!

The bulletin today contains only an outline of the service so that we can find our place.  The words of our worship service can be found in the brown book in the pews in front of you, with a gold cross on the upper right of the front cover, called the “Lutheran Service Book.”  It might look like just a hymnal, but it’s actually so much more.  It also includes things such as a daily Bible reading plan, prayers for private devotions, most of the Psalms, the Small Catechism (which summarizes what our church believes), and orders for prayer as individuals or groups.  It truly is an all-in-one worship and devotional resource for church and home.  If you open this book to page 184, you will find today’s order of service.  The pattern of worship we follow is called the “Divine Service,” and it can be  done with different musical versions.  These different versions are called “settings,” and the setting we are using today is “Divine Service 3.”  This is the old, familiar, and sentimental version that many in our parish grew up with and  dates back almost 150 years.  You will notice many of the things being sung have Latin names, such as the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.  Printed right alongside is musical notation to show us how they are sung.  Don’t read music?  No problem!  Just follow the words, and let the sound of the choir, pastor, and organ lead you through the different parts of the liturgy.  Don’t worry, you don’t even have to sing it if you’re not comfortable.  The important thing is that we pray these words.  A wise old man once said “He who sings prays twice.”  The reason we sing all these different songs together is so that we can pray with one voice as a way to worship God when we gather to hear his Word and receive the Sacraments.  These ancient prayers, some dating to before Christ even, have been prayed by the church together for centuries as a way of simultaneously expressing what we believe about God and helping us to form those convictions more strongly over time as we pray them.  You will find that the God we pray to is one who is glorious and holy, yet he loves to show mercy and take away the sin of the world.

Speak, Friend, and Enter

Why do we sing/say the “Introit?”  What is that anyways?

     “Introit” comes from the Latin word for “he enters in.”  Originally this began the service, back when confession was said privately the night before.  As the minister and assistants entered, a portion of the Psalms was chanted back and forth, so it functioned as a processional hymn.  Bar-lines in music had not been invented yet, so they didn’t have hymns with a pulse and beat the way that we sing them today.  The advantage of this, of course, was that where churches sing with chanting, they can simply sing the words of Scripture straight from the Bible.  Hymns require a bit of paraphrase and interpretation of God’s thoughts, at the very least.  When the introit is chanted, it can often have a repeated refrain, called an “antiphon.” The psalm verses sung in the introit are a part of the “proper” of the service.  The elements of the worship service fall into two categories:  the “proper” and the “ordinary.”  The “ordinary” are things that ordinarily happen every Sunday, such as the creed, the Agnus Dei, the Lord’s prayer, and such.  The “proper” refers to those things that change from week to week, of which the most important parts are the scripture readings.  So in addition to the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel readings, and the Psalm that is sung, the “Introit” sort of functions like an honorary “fifth reading” at the beginning of the service.  It’s purpose is to set the tone of the service and introduce some of the major themes of the day.  Today it is popular to use a processional hymn in place of the introit since it does and accomplishes about the same thing (and is easier to walk down the aisle to).  However, the introit can also be read responsively as a call to worship:  God calls us with His words, and we respond with praise.  

From the Large Catechism:  For to be baptized in the name of God is to be baptized not by men, but by God Himself. Therefore, although it is performed by human hands, it is nevertheless truly God's own work. From this fact every one may himself readily infer that it is a far higher work than any work performed by a man or a saint. For what work greater than the work of God can we do?  

The Church as an Army

Why do we march in and out during the first and last hymns?

What is the point of a “processional” hymn?

     Aside from signaling the “official” beginning beginning of the worship service, uniting our voices in song, and directing our attention to the common activity of the assembly, the march in and out (along with many other movements in the service) symbolically represent many different things.  In ancient times, an army would march under a flag to identify which side they were on.  This flag, called a “standard,” was often modeled after the royal banners of their king.  The cross, being the symbol of our King, is the standard of the church militant.  So as it is followed into the chancel for worship, we declare the kingdom of Christ to be our loyalty and confess that we are at war with the kingdom of darkness.  As the cross recesses out of the church at the end of the service, this symbolizes that we are following Christ out into the world to be his servants and soldiers.  There are important two-fold distinctions in the church.  The first is the difference between the church militant (those on earth, still fighting against the spiritual forces of evil) and the church triumphant (those in heaven, whose rest is won).  In the church militant, our lives revolve around a two-fold pattern of gathering and dispersing.  We, as baptized believers, are the church all throughout the week, but one thing the church does is gather weekly around the Word and Sacraments to be nourished by the gifts of God, because Christ is present with us here together in a special way distinct from how he is with us individually throughout the week.  This feeds and strengthens us as we continue to fight the good fight.  After this, we are scattered back out into world, going in the peace of the Lord to  serve Him.  The processional and recessional hymns signify these two stages of the church’s life on earth.  Now, can you count how many hymns I’ve alluded to in the previous paragraph?  

From the Augsburg Confession:  Article IV:  Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins.  This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight.

Every Sunday Has It's Parade

Why do we sing a “processional hymn?"
What is the point of all this theatrical movement in worship?

Psalm 100 says “I will enter his courts with praise.”  We recognize that, as Christ has promised to always be present when we gather in His name, our coming together for worship is an entering into the presence of God in a special way that is mysteriously different from the way in which He is always with us individually.  And thus, we sing to God as we gather together, and as the cross processes, it reminds us of the presence of Christ, which is always among his gathered people.  The processional hymn unifies us for worship and signifies the “official” beginning of the worship service, even though we have already invoked the name of the Trinity, confessed our sins, and received the words of God’s forgiveness.  The confession itself has never been considered a part of the worship service.  Indeed, prior to the Reformation, it wasn’t included on Sundays.  Instead, the faithful were expected to go to private confession on Saturday, and somehow keep from sinning until Sunday morning in order to receive the Sacrament in a “state of grace.”  As Lutherans, we recognize that this isn’t possible anyways, ‘cause sinners gonna sin.  So although our churches still maintain the practice of private confession, we revisit it as a congregation on Sunday mornings to sort of “wipe our feet at the door” as we enter to worship.  The invocation reminds us whose we are, the confession reminds us who we were (condemned sinners), and the absolution declares the Gospel to us.  This establishes our identity as a congregation, and we assemble based on this to worship, unified in our singing.  In our church, songs sung before the invocation and confession are considered “pre-service singing,” because we recognize that our purpose for gathering has not yet been formally declared.  Next week we will discuss the significance of physical movement in worship. 

"I Forgive You...?"

Why does the Pastor say “I forgive you your sins?” Who does he think he is?

In Mark 2:7, the teachers of the Law rightly ask, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  Only God has the authority to give this forgiveness.  What they missed was that Jesus is God, but let us not forget that Jesus is also man.  Because of this (the incarnation), we see that God is able to exercise His authority to forgive sins through human agency.  In the Scriptures, God gives His forgiveness through the means of an actual human person speaking audible words.  In 2 Samuel 12:13, the prophet Nathan declares to David that his sins of adultery and murder are forgiven.  In John 20:22-23, Jesus gives to His disciples the authority to forgive sins.  Why would Jesus give this authority to other men?  So that we can actually hear Christ’s words of forgiveness spoken to us, and not just read or think them.  A spoken word comes to us from outside of us; this gives us the assurance that our promise of forgiveness is not a vain hope, misguided feeling, or figment of our imagination.  Christ has sent (Apostl-ed) His ministers into the world to disperse His forgiveness far and wide, in order that you may receive it.  The Absolution spoken to us by the Pastor is simply a declaration that we have been forgiven through Christ.  However, this declaration also does what it says.  For example, at a wedding, a Pastor might say, “By the authority vested in my by the state of New York, I now pronounce you man and wife.”  Legally, this pronouncement actually makes the couple a wedded family; it’s called “performative speech.”  In the same way, God’s pronouncement of forgiveness, to you, through your pastor, actually gives the forgiveness it declares.  God has given his church the authority, responsibility, and mission to bring God’s forgiveness to a hurting world, and thus it is by His authority that a Pastor says “I forgive you.”  How can we be sure these words work?  What if I don’t feel forgiven?  Believe the words that Jesus says in Matthew 18:18, and Luke 10:16.  The gift of forgiving sins, which is the “keys to the kingdom” (i.e. having our sins forgiven brings God’s kingdom to us), is given to the Church at large, and not just the pastors.  However, when a congregation calls a Pastor to exercise Word and Sacrament ministry publicly on their behalf, we give him the responsibility, through Christ’s authority, to be Christ’s representative (symbolic) in this matter.  So why does a Pastor say “I forgive you?”  Because Jesus told him to, and we asked him to.

Daily And Richly

Why does the Pastor forgive our sins?  What is absolution?

Because that is his job.  A pastor, as a minister of the Gospel, is responsible to proclaim forgiveness full and free for repentant sinners because of Jesus.  The pastor does not have the right to deny forgiveness to those who confess and repent of their sins.  To not proclaim this forgiveness after we have all confessed our sin is to deny it by omission.  It does us no good to admit we are sinners and in need of grace if there is no grace for us to receive.  The forgiveness given to us by the Pastor completes this introductory rite to worship by giving us a profound picture of Christian faith:  Man is a sinner (the Law), but Christ is our Savior (the Gospel).  Our hearts are so prone to forget this and get back on the treadmill of trying to please God and earn his favor that is crucial to have this reminder at the beginning of every worship service that forgiveness is both full and free in Christ.  Everything we do in worship confesses something.  The confession of sin is where we admit our (ongoing) need for Christ and His grace, and in the absolution, the Pastor confesses the goodness of God in delighting to show mercy, assuring us that the “broken and contrite heart I will not cast out.”  The absolution is given for the comfort of sinners burdened with a guilty conscience.  This ought to include all Christians, if they believe the words of God’s law and understand how far we fall short of the life that God calls us to live.  We like to talk about our “personal relationship with God,” but we must always remember that healthy relationships are impossible without forgiveness.  When we fail to fear, love, and trust in God as we ought, this is an expression of unbelief.  Since faith is the foundation of our relationship with God, we need to have this doubt between us dealt with.  When we are absolved of our sins, God is proclaiming that our unbelief does not stand in the way of His unconditional love for us, in order that our faith might be strengthened.  We will explore Absolution and the Pastor’s role in it more next week.

From the Small Catechism:  On the Third Article of the Creed:  I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.

Timing Is Everything

Why do we confess our sins at the beginning of every service?

It may seem like I answered this already last week.  But I want to focus on two aspects of the confession today:  It’s content, and its placement.  First, why are we confessing sin?  If to confess means to simply declare something to be true, don’t we have more important, positive things to confess?  God’s goodness and love for us?  The death and resurrection of Christ?  The true presence of Christ in the Sacraments?  The Christian church confesses it’s sin for one reason only:  So that we can confess God’s free and full forgiveness, for Jesus’ sake.  Even in the creeds, you find sin is only mentioned as the subject of forgiveness:  “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.”  It is God’s kindness, his grace and mercy, that lead us to repentance, and NOT his law, wrath, and condemnation.  You can NOT scare somebody into the kingdom of God.  Be wary when you hear preaching against sin without promise of forgiveness.

So why do we confess sin at the beginning of the worship service?  The Divine Service (traditional Lutheran order of worship) is a mini-drama of the Christian life.  It illustrates our spiritual pilgrimage as believers.  The Christian life begins at Baptism, where the triune name of God is place on us with water.  Our worship begins with the same Name.  Lutherans view confession as a return to Baptism; just as Baptism cleanses us of sin, so God’s Word of forgiveness given to us returns us to the truth that we are clean in God’s sight, eternally forgiven as His children.  Luther said, in the first of his ninety-five thesis:  “It is the will of God that the whole life of believers should be repentance.”  We don’t just repent when we become Christians, we must continue to walk in it.  It is necessary for repentance that we admit the truth about ourselves so that we can receive the truth about what God has done for us.  This is the first step of faith in the Christian’s life, immediately following Baptism, and it is the lens through which the rest of the Christian life must be viewed:  we are on a constant journey of forsaking sin and embracing grace, leading us out of darkness into His eternal light.  The Christian life continues from here by receiving God’s Word with faith, and celebrating His meal with thanksgiving, which we will see as we examine why on earth we do the rest of our strange rituals.

Speak the Truth and Shame the Devil!

Why do we confess our sins every service?

     “I know, I know, I’m a sinner.  Why do I have to remind myself every Sunday?  I thought Jesus took care of that.”  Well, he did!  All baptized believers have an eternally pure conscience in the sight of God, who has removed their sins from them.  On the cross Christ bore all past, present, and future sins of the world.  When you were baptized into Christ, even the sins you have yet to commit were laid on the cross and dealt with.  There!  So it’s all in the past (even the future!).  Why bring it up again?

     Here’s the thing:  confession isn’t for God.  He doesn’t need us to confess each sin in order to forgive it.  Confession is for us.  As much as it seems easier and more convenient to minimize our personal errs or try to forget about them, it is technically impossible for us to do that.  For every sin we consciously commit, there is a burden of guilt placed on our consciences.  Our culture works hard to train us to ignore it.  But Christianity offers something better than “try not to think about it.”  We offer the opportunity to deal with it forever by bringing it to the foot of the cross.  Though we already have God’s forgiveness, in terms of our legal debt to the judge being cancelled, we do not always live as forgiven children of God because we need a continual experience of this forgiveness in order to remind us who we are.  Instead of stuffing our feelings, burying our negative emotions, and putting on a superficial mask when we come to worship, Jesus invites us to be honest with God and ourselves, and confess the truth about who we are and what we’ve done, in order that we might rejoice in the fact that in Christ God accepts us fully, freely, and unconditionally, despite the fact that we can never deserve this.  It is psychologically unhealthy to live in denial of our inability to do what we believe is right.  Confession gives us that freeing moment where we simply admit what is true:  God expects this of us, and we don’t do it.  

     We don’t have to hide our failure from our loving Father in heaven.  He sees, He knows, and He understands.  It is US who begin to think, when we fail to admit to the truth, that either we’ll get it right next time and then God will have to accept us on the basis of our better performance, OR that our sins aren’t really that bad and God probably just looks the other way.  Neither is true.  The truth is better.  God takes evil with the utmost seriousness and punishes it with the utmost severity, but even more than that, he delights to show mercy to his children.  When we confess the truth of our brokenness, we also confess the truth of God’s goodness.  As Luther says in the Small Catechism:  “In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.”  Christ doesn’t just forgive our sins once and for all:  He loves to shower his children with forgiveness, again and again, in order that His kindness might lead us to walk in repentance.  Confession is not about groveling before the angry judge:  to confess is simply to declare something to be true.  In a sense, all of the Divine Service is a confession of something:  The good news of Jesus Christ!  As we confess our sins today, let’s lay our burdens at the foot of the cross, and allow Christ, through His words of forgiveness, to give us the grace we need to carry on. 

From the Large Catechism:  on the Apostles’ Creed, third article:  We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments, and Absolution and through all kinds of comforting promises form the entire Gospel.  ...Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal:  we shall daily receive in the Church nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here.  So even though we have sins, the grace of the Holy Spirit does not allow them to harm us.  For we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but continuous, interrupted forgiveness of sin.  This is because God forgives us and because we forgive, bear with, and help one another.

What's in a Name?

Why do we always begin each worship service with “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”?

This introductory phrase, called the “invocation,” is the best way for Trinitarian Christians to begin worship for two reasons:  the the power of God’s name, and the presence of Christ.  This three-fold name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the very name that was put on us in our baptism when we became children of God.  So we cross ourselves, symbolically binding this name to us, to remind ourselves that God has washed us and made us his own by the power of his Word, binding us to Christ forever.  The Christian life begins at baptism, with the name of God, and thus our worship, which serves as a mini-drama or microcosm of the Christian life, begins the same way.  This is what it means to “call upon the name of the Lord,” (Genesis 4:26), and, as the second commandment forbids us from misusing the name of the Lord, so we as Christians have the responsibility to use God’s name properly.  This is done when we, as Luther says in the Small Catechism, “call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.”  Jesus said, in Matthew 18, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”  So we formally declare that we are gathering in His name, that of the Triune God, because we believe that when we do gather, Christ himself is truly present among us.  We don’t worship Jesus as if he were a nice idea or somehow chained to the throne up in heaven incapable of leaving to visit us.  Instead, we believe, teach, and confess that through the Word of God and the means of grace, Christ himself is heard speaking to us (the Service of the Word) and seen giving himself to us (the Service of the Sacrament).  Many churches today worship Jesus as if he were somewhere else, as if our spirits ascend up into heaven to commune with God there.  But in our churches, we believe that instead that Christ himself comes down to us, through the ministry he sent out into the church, to personally bless us with his gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation.  

From the Large Catechism:  on the Second Commandment:  This command now leads us forward and directs the mouth and tongue to God.  For the first things that spring from the heart and show themselves are words [Matthew 12:34].  ...for His name has been revealed and given to us so that it may be of constant use and profit.  ...this commandment also applies to right teaching and to calling on His name in trouble or praising and thanking Him in prosperity, and so on.  All of this is summed up and commanded in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”  For all this is bringing God’s name into the service of truth and using it in a blessed way.  In this way His name is hallowed, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer.  

THIS Song is Official!

Why do we sing the “Hymn of the Day?”

You may have noticed that one particular song in the worship service seems to be the “official” song of the service.  How is this one different from the other songs in the service?  The “Hymn of the Day” is a distinctly Lutheran addition to the ancient worship pattern of the church.  At the time of the reformation, the only hymns sung in worship were the parts of the liturgy.  But Luther, who was a compulsive catechizer, was searching for a way to use music to help instruct people in the faith so that through singing they might come to understand God better.  An explosion of hymn writing was set off, and many new songs were written specifically to address particular passages in the Gospels.  They began to match up songs with the lectionary readings they were based on in order that they might provide commentary and help focus the congregation’s thoughts on the themes of the day.  So the purpose of this hymn, specially selected for every week of the church year, is to help us interpret, understand, reflect on, and remember the content of the Gospel reading.  Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  So we see that our singing can be a way in which the Word of Christ dwells in us and teaches us His wisdom.  Ephesians 5:18b - 19 also says, “...be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs…”  So when we sing, our music is not only for the purpose of praising God:  We also benefit one another if the music helps us root our hearts and minds in the Word of God.  The Hymn of the Day is written specifically to help us do that with the Gospel reading of the day.

From the Large Catechism  on the Third Commandment:  ...most especially, on this day of rest (since we get no other chance), we have the freedom and time to attend divine service.  We come together to hear and use God’s Word, and then to praise God, to sing and to pray.  ...Indeed, we Christians ought always to keep such a holy day and be occupied with nothing but holy things.  This means we should daily be engaged with God’s Word and carry it in our hearts and upon our lips.  But since we do not always have free time, we must devote several hours a week for the sake of the young, or at least a day for the sake of the entire multitude, to being concerned about this alone.  ...Know, therefore, that you must be concerned not only about hearing, but also about learning and retaining God’s Word in memory.  Do not think that this is optional for you or of no great importance.  Think that it is God’s commandment, who will require an account from you about how you have heard, learned, and honored His Word.  

May the Schwartz Be With You!

Why do we say “The Lord be with You?” and “And with your spirit?”

This repeated exchange between the presiding minister and congregation can occur frequently throughout the service.  The response can vary from “And also with you” to “And with thy spirit.”  What does this mean, what is the difference, and why do we say this every week?  A traditional Hebrew greeting was “Peace be with you,” but as Christians, we refer to the Lord himself, who is the giver of peace.  This little exchange has been referred to as a mini-ordination, establishing a special relationship of peace and trust between the pastor and the congregation.  But rather than referring to official recognition by the synod, it refers to our doctrine of the ministry.  The intention of this response is to establish that the person who is leading in worship has been designated and called by the congregation to do the special work of Word and Sacrament ministry.  After Vatican II, many churches replaced “and with thy spirit” with “and also with you,” to omit the archaic “thy,” but in so doing, it lowered the distinction of the pastoral office and reduced the exchange to somewhat of a “holy howdy.”  Many churches are returning to a balanced approach, “and with your spirit,” which emphasizes the importance of pastoral office without sounding obsolete.  The exchange traditionally happens when the presiding minister resumes leadership of the service, after something led by the assistants, and typically occurs at the beginning of the Services of the Word and the Sacrament (a Pastor’s two chief duties).  Our hymnal schizophrenically uses all three responses.

From the Augsburg Confession:  on the Office of Ministry  So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted.  Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given.  He works faith, when and where it pleases God, in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake.  This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake.  Our churches condemn those who think that through their own preparations the works the Holy Spirit comes to them without the external Word.

Two Thoughts on the Threeness of God

Why do we celebrate “Trinity Sunday?”

What is so important that God is 3 in 1?

The Trinity can seem like a bit of a complicated theological concept, but it is truly the heart of the Christian faith.  The reasons for this are many, but I can think of two that are very immediate and relatable to our lives, hearts, and faith today.  First, the Trinity means that Jesus, the man, is also God.  If Jesus is God, then His death can give us salvation.  Resurrection wasn’t just something that was done to Christ, he participated in the act Himself (John 10:18).  Therefore we can have confidence that He is mighty to save.  Secondly, the Trinity means that Christ is truly present with us, even now.  He promised in Matthew 28:20 to be with his disciples forever.  This happens through the Holy Spirit, who lives in our hearts and can be found in the Words of Christ (Scripture) and the means of grace (sacraments).  Through these things, Christ is more present with us today even than when he walked the earth in human form.  For more information on the Trinity, and to read one of the church’s more articulate and precise definitions of the Trinity, take a look at the “Athanasian Creed,” which can be found on page 319 of the Lutheran Service Book.  This confession of faith may seem a bit narrow and complicated, but keep in mind that a perfect understanding of the Trinity isn’t necessary for salvation, because it isn’t our understanding that saves us:  Christ alone does, by His grace, through faith.  The important thing to remember is that it all comes down to Christ:  All Christian theology is about Him, and the Trinity means God himself is for us and with us.  The beauty of this doctrine isn’t only that Jesus is God, but also that God is Jesus.  Our creator is the same God who lives, bleeds, and dies to win our salvation, and even now is reigning over the universe so that all things work together for our good.  Rejoice!

From the Augsburg Confession:  on the Trinity:  Our churches teach with common consent that the decree of the Council of Nicaea about the unity of the divine essence and the three persons is true.  It is to be believed without any doubt.  God is one divine essence who is eternal, without a body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness.  He is the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible.  Yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  These three persons are of the same essence and power.  Our churches use the term  person as the Fathers have used it.  We use it to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself.

...Toward a "Greener" Practice of Liturgical Worship.

Why On Earth Do We Do That?

What happened to our bulletin?  Where is the church service?

This week we are experimenting with a bit of a different way to do our liturgy.  Instead of printing it out in the bulletin, you will find a laminated card in your pews with everything you need to know/read/say/sing to fully participate in the worship service.  Anything not on the cards will either be read for you by a Pastor/Elder, or projected onto the screen for all to sing.  The goal of this experiment is to simplify and streamline worship participation by limiting your information sources to two:  the card, and the screens.  We hope this proves easier than trying to juggle a hymnal, a Bible, a bulletin, and watching the screens.  Additional information, such as the text of the readings and songs to be sung, will still be included in the bulletin.

What happened to “This is the Feast?”  What is this “Hymn of Praise?”

“This is the Feast” is a hymn of praise taken from Revelation 5 and 19.  It is the song of the saints and angels in heaven around the throne of God:  “Worthy are you . . for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God…”  Throughout scripture, we get little glimpses and pictures of what heaven is like.  We take their songs and join our voices to them as a symbol of the fact that in our worship, prayer, and the sacraments, we are truly joining in the feast and celebration of heaven even while still on earth.  Our “hymn of praise” in this service, while it lacks the refrain, is a paraphrase in metered verse of those same verses in Revelation, sung to a very familiar melody.

...anyways, this new practice will hopefully kill less trees, which we happen to do precisely as the liturgical color of the season turn green!  Next up, I'll be posting our new liturgy with more explanation.

From the Large Catechism:  on the Third Commandment:  Let me tell you this, even though you know God’s WOrd perfectly and are already a master in all things:  you are daily in the devil’s kingdom.  He never ceases day nor night to sneak up on you and to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against the commandments.  Therefore, you must always have God’s Word in your heart, upon your lips, and in your ears.  But where the heart is idle and the Word does not make a sound, the devil breaks in and has done the damage before we are aware.  On the other hand, the Word is so effective that whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used, it is bound never to be without fruit.  

Musings on the Multiplicity of Services

From the services I publish in our weekly church bulletin:

How many “services” do we have in each church service?

You may have noticed there are two “services” in our worship: the “Service of the Word” and “Service of the Sacrament.”  Are these separate services?  The worship of the Christian church has always had two chief parts.  The Jewish disciples of Jesus continued practices of the synagogue, which consisted in readings from the Old Testament, teaching, singing Psalms, and prayer.  We continue this tradition in the Service of the Word, where we read from both Testaments, hear the Gospel proclaimed, and respond with prayer and singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Col. 3:16).  All this proclaims Christ as the substance of our faith, as summarized in the creeds.  As Christians, we have from our Lord himself one other ritual:  the Lord’s Supper, which has evolved into it’s own ceremony for two reasons.  First, the early church welcomed unbelievers to attend the Service of the Word, but since they were not permitted to receive the Lord’s Supper, they were dismissed before it was celebrated.  So it became sort of the “service within the service.”  The other factor in this separate service was its significance:  As Christ is the final sacrifice for sin, putting to an end to the Jewish temple sacrifices, the celebration of Christ’s work on the cross is the rite through which we receive God’s forgiveness.  Thus Christian worship begins with hearing God’s word, responding with praise and prayer, and ends with receiving forgiveness, life, and salvation, the fruit of the cross, in the Sacrament.  The church developed bookends so that the four-fold pattern of Christian worship, found in churches of all denominations and in all centuries, is gathering, Service of the Word, Service of the Sacrament, and concluding rites.

From the Augsburg Confession:  Article 24:  Our churches are falsely accused of abolishing the Mass.  The Mass is held among us and celebrated with the highest reverence.  Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved, except that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed with German hymns.  These have been added to teach the people.  For ceremonies are needed for this reason alone:  that the uneducated be taught what they need to know about Christ.

Why on Earth Do We Do That? Advent/Christmas edition

Here are the first four installments in my bulletin blurb series explaining the worship practices of the Lutheran church.  I'll try to post the individual ones as they are finished.  Up next will be the Divine Service.  Pictured above is an Advent wreath that we saw suspended in mid air at an Episcopal cathedral in New York City.  I know it's a little late for the Christmas season, but I thought I'd get this up while there are still 25 minutes left in Christmas.  Epiphany begins tomorrow.  I hope you enjoyed your 12 days!

Why On Earth Do We Do That?
What is Advent, and why do we celebrate it (part one)?
Advent is a part of the Christian Year, a pattern of seasons which cycle annually to highlight different themes and events from the life of Christ.  It was developed as a method of teaching the faith to believers who lived before literacy was common or people could own Bibles.  The church year follows the story of waiting for the Messiah to come, the birth of Jesus, His baptism, temptation, death, resurrection, ascension, and future return as King.
Did you know that this cycle follows the second article of the creed?  Rotating through the major events of Christ’s life annually keeps the entire story always present in the church.  No matter what else comes along to distract our attention, the change of seasons always brings us back to remember who Jesus is and what He has done for us.  Following this pattern punctuates time with our contemplation of the life of Christ so that remembering and proclaiming the Good News becomes a part of the rhythm of our lives.  This is a part of how the church catechizes, or teaches, in her mission to make disciples.
Even though Bibles and literacy are common today, we maintain the celebration of the Christian year because it serves as an anchor to direct our focus in worship towards Christ that we might be built up in faith and continue to emphasize what is most important.  Next week, we’ll talk more about Advent and the role it plays in the church year.  Remember, if it’s not about the Christ, it isn’t Christian!

What is Advent, and why do we celebrate it (part two)?

Advent is the part of the church year at the beginning of the cycle.  In this season that leads up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus, we remember the thousands of years that Old Testament believers were waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Messiah.  It is often considered a penitential season, similar to Lent, because during this time we prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christmas, symbolically re-enacting the anticipation of Christ’s first coming, or His “Advent,” (from the Latin “adventus,” meaning arrival).  However, like the saints of old who waited for the first coming of Christ, we too are waiting for our Savior, because He has promised to return.  Jesus is the world’s salvation, but that salvation is not fully experienced until we are with Him in paradise.  In the meantime, believers can draw hope from looking to the day to come when Christ returns to judge the earth.  So there is a two-fold emphasis on waiting for Jesus during this season.  Let us set our hearts on the joy that is yet to revealed as we remember that though toil and trouble weigh on our hearts, God has not forgotten us, and after a little while we shall be with Him forever.
Nobody knows exactly when Christ shall return, and the church waits with eager anticipation year round, but we emphasize this waiting four weeks out of the year to remind ourselves that just as God was faithful to his Word to send a Redeemer, so too He will be faithful to take those whom He has redeemed to our eternal home.  Let us remember the words of Augustine who said, “When [Scripture] tells us to watch for the last day, every one should think of as concerning his own last day; lest haply when you judge or think the last day of the world to be far distant, you slumber with regard to your own last day.”  We shall indeed be with Jesus soon.  Amen, come Lord Jesus.

Why do we have a special wreath with colored candles out in December?

There is a wreath positioned horizontally on a stand that has 3 blue or purple candles, one pink candle, and eventually, a large white candle in the center off to the side of the altar in our sanctuary this month.  This is known as the “advent wreath.”  It is a special device we use to mark our progress through the Advent season, one candle for each week in Advent.

What is the significance of the colors?  Purple is the traditional color for Advent because, like Lent, it is a penitential season.  However, Lent and Advent are not penitential in the same way:  Lent is preparation for Good Friday and the cross, but in Advent we prepare for a much less somber event, the birth of Christ.  In order to distinguish this, it has become common in recent years for Advent to adopt the color blue in place of purple.  The third Sunday of Advent is marked by the pink candle.  This candle marks the half-way point through Advent.  Penitential seasons have a tradition of using a “half-time,” or taking the middle Sunday as an opportunity for rejoicing and respite amidst the drab undertones that tend to accompany such seasons.  This Sunday is known as Gaudate, or Rejoice! Sunday, because of the words we begin the service with:  Rejoice in the Lord always!  Even as we await His coming, we rejoice in it’s certainty.  There is one more candle that we will add to the wreathe, in the center, on December 24th.

Candles, candles, everywhere!  Why do we light so many candles on Christmas eve?

Because Jesus Christ is the light of the world.  With the birth of Jesus, “In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  Thus sang Zechariah in Luke 1:68-79.  In the first chapter of John we read that “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  

We light candles all over the place to symbolize Christ.  The suspended candle in a red case is the “eternity candle,” which stands for the presence of Christ among his church (and thus it is always lit).  The two candles on the altar that are lit every Sunday represent the two natures of Christ, that he is both fully human and fully divine.  In this service, we add a fifth candle, the white “Christ candle” to the middle of the Advent wreath, represents the end of the Advent season with the Nativity.  Lastly, at the end of our candlelight service, we take the light from the Christ candle and we begin to all light our own individual candles.  This is a picture of the Gospel going out into the world as we, like the shepherds, bear witness to the light we have seen and give to others this joyful proclamation as freely as we have received it.

Why On Earth Do We Do That?

The other day, in choir rehearsal, we were learning a new musical setting for the Gospel Acclamation (in Lutheran nomenclature known as the “Alleluia and Verse”), and on a random whim I decided to quiz the singers on why we sing this.  Nothing.  Dead silence.  Finally, our Pastor (who leads the tenor section but confessed to skimming his worship class in seminary) blurted out, “Because it’s in the bulletin!”  Well, gotta give him points for honesty.  It then occurred to me that if I desire to be a voice for doxological reformation among churches of the Lutheran confession, I need to take more seriously my responsibility for active catechesis in historic Christian worship.  There’s no point in me cramming the Divine Service down the throats of those who have not the slightest clue what it means and would just as soon throw it out if I were suddenly no longer there.

So in the interest of helping our congregation to understand how we worship and why, I have started a new series in our Sunday bulletin entitled “Why On Earth Do We Do That?”  Each week (ideally) I will take a segment of the liturgy or other traditions that is a part of our worship and take a moment to explain what it is, where it comes from, what it means, and why we do it.  The four questions I intent to answer each time are:  Why do we do this?  What does this mean?  What is the point?  What does it have to do with Jesus?  Through repetition I hope to encourage our people to engage their corporate spirituality with a critical eye to understanding these things in order that God might be worshiped with our minds and our rites not driven by every wind of fundagelical trends.  

As I write this series, I shall be including these blurbs here for anybody who might be interested.  It shall be a great series for those new to or curious about Lutheran worship, because I’ll be breaking things down to explain them at the most basic level.  Many in our church are not from a Lutheran background and aren’t exactly sure what makes our church different from those of other traditions.  They may not be able to articulate why we worship the way we do, but every time I expound on this area it seems to be appreciated.  

So towards the fuller intellectual participation in the prayer and praise of the saints, I give you this new series entitled, “Why On Earth Do We Do That?”  Advent and Christmas blurbs to be posted soon.