Liturgy — Brokenness, Forgiveness, Praise

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After posting about “Liturgy — Response to Forgiveness,” I reflected a lot about that post. I thought: “What have I done?” Not that I made a mistake in anything I had written. Rather that post could easily be seen as strengthening the argument against the use of liturgy. In practical language someone could say, “See, there the liturgy goes over my head and misses my heart.” And that is a problem. So let’s step back for a minute and put liturgy within the context of our brokenness, sinfulness, and the role of Church in all this. So this post is about brokenness, forgiveness, and praise from the perspective of how the Church is to be, and then how liturgy connects to that aspect of the life of the Church.

I read several blogs over the past two days that had to do with some brokenness in some devastating areas of life. Personal hurts, public sins, etc. One in particular, grace is for sinners, noted that the Church often is not a place for broken people. We don’t know how to deal with “them,” either from the stand point of the sin (i.e. Matthew 18 in practice) or from preconceived notions about how “we don’t want that kind of person here.” We don’t know how to forgive and restore people who have been broken by their sin. And yet, in each of the blogs, the constant was there: God’s work of accusing and condemning (Law) brought about spiritual death, but more importantly, God’s work of forgiving, renewing, and restoring (Gospel) brought new life.

So how does this relate to the liturgy? The liturgy is not separated from hard realities of life. In fact, the liturgy gives expression to the full realm of life, sin, death, resurrection, and new life. Our shared confession of sin in liturgy is God’s wake up call—for ALL of us. If I have sinned, even publicly, I’m broken when I hear God’s Law. If I stand aloof or indifferent while a fellow Christian is broken or suffers, I have sinned and must be broken by that Law (even though I might not feel it immediately). Confession unites us at the bottom of the pit. Absolution (forgiveness of sin) brings the forgiving, healing, restoring words from God himself. And thus Absolution unites us in Christ.

What would you do if someone was crying during the confession and absolution? Pretend that it isn’t happening, “it isn’t my responsibility,” look away because of embarrassment? Perhaps we have all been there. As we shift in liturgy to praise, that might be the exact time to stand next to the person who is crying. No words, but maybe a gentle touch on the arm, a hug, if appropriate, even your own tears. Some might think that such an action would “disrupt the solemnity of the liturgy.” My theological evaluation of that response is, “Hogwash!” That is the very heart of praise. A quietness shared in the midst of pain, a heart ready to share, a tear of consolation… isn’t that a response of praise? Maybe neither of them can even sing praise right now. And that is okay. But they are part of the praise community. It will bring us all along, in our time, in our way.

There have been times when I have not sung any of the praise responses, occasionally I couldn’t sing the praise. But I listened to everyone else sing and thus joined them. In that quietness my heart was praising, even though my lips were not moving. At times the praising was right at the edge—would I cry now? Men don’t cry! Would I have to leave in embarrassment? No, over the decades I have learned that men do cry (I’m a living example), and when we are talking about forgiveness of sins, that is not embarrassment, but a relief, a joy to be shared, a life to celebrate. God is at work in the most astounding way possible.

Brokenness, forgiveness, and praise then are at the heart of the liturgy. And liturgy is directed to the heart as well as the mind. I hope that we begin to see that liturgy does not obscure God, rather it forces us to deal with God. In stark terms as a “poor miserable sinner” and as “one forgiven and restored.” And that brings us to praise!

 

Comments — Apologies

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My apologies. I was just made aware that in order to comment on the posts, the person needed to be registered with wordpress.com. I didn’t remember setting that as a condition, but apparently so. It is now changed, so you should be able to post without registering.

That’s what happens when an old codger tries to work with technology.

Liturgy — Response to Forgiveness

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What happens after we have received that tremendous gospel declaration, “Your sins are forgiven”? Here I will encounter a recurring problem: what terms should we use? One of the difficulties we have in the Lutheran Church is using Latin/Greek terms relative to worship and think that since we have done so for decades that “everyone knows what that is.” The reality is most people do not know. Pastors, this is a call for us to teach, teach, teach. At the same time, these Latin/Greek terms express in shorthand the essence of a phrase or hymn. Thus, I have used the terms here but with explanations. BTW the latest hymnal from the LCMS, Lutheran Service Book (LSB) offers an excellent service for worshipers by including both the original Greek/Latin terms and a translation. Likewise, LSB provides the Scripture references for every response.

After the declaration of forgiveness, the service moves us to the appropriate response, which includes three major parts: Introit (Psalm)/Entrance Hymn, Kyrie (“O Lord”), and Hymn of Praise. One of the sad things that has crept into the church is that pastors and congregations often move the hymns of praise (praise songs) prior to the Invocation. This change moves the praise away from a response to the Gospel and to become almost a “pep session” to get us in the mood for worship.

Introit: “The Introit marks the beginning of the church service proper. The word Introit means entrance, so called because it was chanted while the officiating clergyman entered the chancel and took his place before the altar” (Walter Buszin, The Concordia Liturgical Series for Church Choirs: The Introits for the Church Year, CPH: 1942). Traditionally the Introit includes three parts: antiphon (response sung by congregation or choir), Psalm verse, and Gloria Patri (“Glory to the Father”). The antiphon highlights the theme for the Sunday.

Kyrie eleison (“O Lord, have mercy”): This is a series of petitions and invitations for all worshipers to call upon the Lord. These responses are often chanted, which I find very comforting and inviting for worship. Of course, chanting is not required, but is a historic practice of singing Scripture texts.

Hymn of Praise: The texts for these hymns vary considerably. A traditional one “Gloria in Excelsis” (“Glory to God in the highest”) is based on Luke 2:14 and John 1:29. More recently, “This is the feast” is based on Revelation 5:12-13 and 19:5-9. I think this is the place where some of the (appropriate) contemporary praise songs could be incorporated. However, just stringing together some contemporary songs does not do justice to this section of worship. Rather, a smooth transition between 2-3 praise songs could be effectively used to enhance the service and reflect the interaction between God’s work and our responses. I have seen this done very well as suits the worship environment.

 

Liturgy — Confession and Absolution

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Sometimes I am asked why we have the Confession and Absolution(C/A) as part of every divine service (this does not include Martins, Vespers, midweek, etc.). Sometimes the question reflects an attitude of offense: “I haven’t been that bad.” Or indifference: “It doesn’t seem to add much to the service.” Whether it is offense, indifference, or ignorance, it is not a bad question. It forces us to wrestle with why exactly do we include C/A in every service.

I respond that each of us comes to worship with different experiences. Some of us have had a relatively good week; the wife is happy, the kids are okay, and I didn’t even yell at the dog. The implication is that Confession forces me to do something that doesn’t apply to me, at least today. The reality, however, is that no matter how we view how well our week went we have indeed sinned. If not the “big, outward sins” then at the very least, pride in that fact that “I am not THAT bad (this week).” Confession forces us to come to grips with who we really are, “poor sinful humans” who through even one sinful act, through one sinful thought, through one sinful word deserve God’s wrath (James 2:10). Even deeper, even if I cannot identify one actual sin, my sinful self does not want to accept the truth of what I am, a poor sinner before a just and holy God. We join the Pharisee who stated “Thank God I am not like other people” (Luke 18:11). Confession may not be pleasant, but it is necessary. It puts every person at the same level, accused and condemned before God. Unless we have seen ourselves condemned under the Law we cannot hear the Gospel.

The other side of C/A is also critical; that is, the forgiveness of sins achieved because of what Christ has done is not only announced but declared. In speech-act theory this is called “performative speech,” that is, by speaking the words, it accomplishes what it says. When the pastor declares “I forgive you your sins in the name of Jesus Christ,” he is not giving you good information, but the very words are giving what they say, the forgiveness of sins.

This is critical for the person who comes to worship and has been “beaten up by life.” This person is only too familiar with the accusations of the Law, and repeated in the Confession. She may be so overwhelmed by this that she might be tempted to think that “this forgiveness is nice, but it must not be for someone like me.” While we put many faces on exterior, it is often astounding to realize how many people feel this way. We join the Publican unable even to lift our eyes to heaven and mumble, “God be merciful to me, the sinner!” (Luke 18:13). Now the declarative nature of the forgiveness comes to forefront. As the pastor speaks the words God actually forgives the person. This is not information or Bible class material, but words of life, hope, and comfort. God has forgiven your sins — right now!

I encourage people not to rush through either aspect of Confession and Absolution. It is appropriate to take a time of silence to reflect on our sins, to see how horrible we are before God. But even more important to be brought back to life through the Gospel, “your sins are forgiven!” This transform us to move into our hymn(s) of praise so that we can praise God with forgiven, renewed, and restored hearts that truly desire to sing praises to our God.

Liturgy — “Church Catholic”

I am writing more about liturgy, this time focusing on my previous comment about the “catholic nature of liturgy.” By that use of “catholic” I do not refer to the Roman Catholic Church (I will always use this designation, or its abbreviation RCC, to refer to that church body whose head is the pope, located in Rome). My use of “catholic” then is specifically focused on the historical use throughout the history of the church; namely, that catholic (“universal”) refers to all who have confessed the Christian faith, regardless of denomination. I will most often use the phrase church catholic. This necessarily excludes those who reject the teachings of the Ecumenical Creeds (as specifically confessed in the  Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed). Catholic is a good and helpful word for us as Christians to use, just as we can use orthodox, but not in reference to a church body, and evangelical, but not as commonly used in contemporary Christian culture. These last two also deserve their own blog topics.

By using the framework of the historic liturgy for worship, we get the sense that we are participating in something bigger than me individually or us corporately. The church throughout history has confessed the faith in certain ways. Here it is crucial to note that in the early church (AD 30-400) there were simultaneous and connected events: the Scriptures were copied, liturgy was developing, and public confessions were proclaimed as “this is what the church catholic has believed, taught, and confessed.” This means that there is a connectedness between each of these elements. To hold the Scriptures in high regard but to ignore the public confessions is to lose a handle on what is more important in what the Scriptures teach. To hold the Scriptures in high regard but to ignore the liturgical environment in which they were composed and copied is to lose the intimate relationship between the Scriptures, the faith confessed, the personal faith of the Christian, and the worship life of the church.

Thus, liturgy draws us back to fundamentals of the faith. Thus, we can examine liturgy from the perspective of the high point: preaching. But we can do the same from the twin poles of preaching and the Lord’s Supper. The salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ in the first century is delivered through the Word (preaching) and the Sacrament (Lord’s Supper). Everything else points toward those twin poles, thus, demonstrating the catholic nature of Lutheran worship and liturgy.

More on Liturgy

There are parts of the liturgy that remain the same and some that change each week. Regardless, the use of the liturgy invites a common thread over a period of time, not as a straight jacket, but a means to confess the faith faithfully in Word, Sacrament, worship, prayers, etc. While a liturgical church often uses a hymnal, that is not a requirement. In reality, what I have found over the decades (some of which was wandering through the non-denominational route) is that liturgy gets us away from I have noticed: the desire or need or fear that we have to “come up with something new every week.” The common liturgical form allows stability (not my whims) but also freedom. There is also the “catholic confession of the Christian church” that unites us with Christians not just around the world, but throughout history.

Note that by following the three year lectionary cycle the congregation reads / hears about 75% of the entire Bible. How can that be bad? Most Protestant churches I have encountered in worship cover maybe 10-20% of the Bible. I’ll take the lectionary any day, rather than “What do I want to select this week?” The lectionary is set up with readings from Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel, as well as a Psalm of the Day. The three year series follows Series A (Matthew), Series B (Mark, John), and Series C (Luke). The first half of the church year (1st Sunday of Advent through Pentecost) is focused on the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ, while the second half of the church year focuses on the growth of the church. Colors (paraments on the altar/pulpit and stole) help identify the season: Advent (purple or blue), Christmas (white), Epiphany season (green), Lent (purple), Easter (white), and the rest of the year green. Special festivals (red).

BTW over the years as I have taught congregations (and now pastors), I have discovered so many misconceptions about liturgy. When I finish Adult Instruction class in congregations (26 weeks long; the only Book allowed in class is the Bible), the common response is always: 1) What do we study next? 2) I truly appreciate the liturgy now, and 3) Can we receive the Lord’s Supper every Sunday?

“A Liturgical kind of guy”

On another blog, I was asked what liturgy means. I posted a short response there, and repeat it here (slightly edited) because I think it is crucial for us as Lutherans to state where we stand on this issue.

Liturgy = informally described as what is done in a worship service. Even non-denominational churches that claim to be non-liturgical have liturgy. It is just what you do repeatedly service after service. I taught 10 years ago at a Bible college run by charismatics, held at a cutting edge charismatic church. For the worship class, I asked the class members to notice carefully what happened during each service. They were astounded to discover that they were much more rigid in what happened during their service than what is often caricatured as a conservative Lutheran service.

As Lutherans, we specifically state that the proper term for what happens is Gottes Dienst (“divine service”), meaning that God is the primary actor coming to us in Word and Sacrament. We respond to his initiative with praise and thanksgiving. Thus, the Invocation (“In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”), the words of our Baptism, are spoken as the saving-God in Baptism now invites us to come into his presence. Note carefully that we do NOT start our service with the generic Protestant rubric: “We make our beginning in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” To do that reverses the order, putting ourselves as the initiators. The service ends with the Benediction (typically Numbers 6:24-26) in which the “divine service” continues as we leave. Everything that God has done for us, forgiving our sins, strengthening, encouraging, etc. through Word and Sacrament now goes with us until we gather again at the invitation of our saving God. Thus God begins our liturgy and God ends our liturgy… kind of like His saving work.

There’s much more, but I hope you understand a little of what I mean by being a liturgical kind of guy.

Series A — Easter (Gospel)

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Matthew 28:1-10

What an unexpected turn of events. The women approach the tomb as part of their mourning process. The stone was in place, but just to be near where Jesus was buried brought some comfort to them. Their hearts were breaking.

But now… now! Now the stone is rolled away so witnesses could enter and testify to what they saw (and heard). The tomb is empty! How can that be? Can it be? The angel addresses them, “Don’t be afraid.” further, “He is not here; he is risen!”

As they leave to tell the disciples, notice that they were filled with fear and great joy. What a mix of emotions. Is he dead? No. Where is he? We don’t know. How can this be? We don’t know.

Then Jesus himself appears to them. The result is worship of this one who is far more than even they imagined. And Jesus’ first words: “Don’t be afraid.” This is good news. Shocking? Yes, but still good news for them, and for all people. “Don’t be afraid.”

Will the Easter story seem fresh to us? Will we meet it with expectant eyes and hearts? Are we at times afraid? Perhaps our fear is more of what others think about our faith than fear of the God of our faith. Regardless, this is good news. Without the resurrection there is no Christian faith. With the resurrection, we have enough that even death itself cannot hold us captive. That is good news, indeed!

 

Series A — Easter (1st reading)

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Acts 10:34-43

With this kind of text, there is almost too much to preach in one sermon. I wonder whether Peter got it all done in 10 verses? For Easter, obviously vv. 39-40 are central. The one who was put to death has been raised from the dead. Unless there is a resurrection from the dead, our faith is futile, as Paul wrote: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and cyou are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). But indeed Jesus has risen from the dead!

What difference does the Resurrection mean for me?

This forms the heart of the Christian Gospel and affects every area of theology and life. For Peter, it meant a complete upheaval of what he thought he knew about God. The separation of Jews from Gentiles was centuries old, since Jews were the “special” people of God. God had warned them, however, not to think that this specialness was related to the Hebrews themselves ([God said:] “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people…” Deut. 9:6); rather it was God’s faithfulness to the covenant promise that he made.

Peter raised within that false understanding had to unlearn his own prejudice. In Acts 10 he had the revelation that turned him around. Now the message of Jesus Christ (Gospel) especially the resurrection from the dead becomes good news (Gospel) for Gentiles. No longer was prejudice the guiding principle, nor pride, nor one-up-man-ship.

Has the resurrection of Jesus made any difference in my life? Do I hope only that this life will get better? Or do I look beyond the grave, beyond immediate gratification?

As a result, does the Gospel (including the resurrection) make any difference in my treatment of people? Am I looking for them to “become like me” as conditional of acceptance? Do I think in my mind, “Why do those people have to live here?” “What do they expect of me?” Maybe the right questions are: “How can I be a (second-hand) witness of Jesus Christ to the people around me?” “What does God expect of me here?” “How can I live out the Great Commission [Matt. 28:18-20] in the midst of people where I live?”

Series A — Palm Sunday Gospel

Matthew 21:1-11

The image of Solomon entering Jerusalem on a donkey as a sign of David’s (and God’s) choice for the new king plays into the scene in Matthew 21 (1 Kings 1:38-40). The prophetic preparation for a new king, the king, comes from Zechariah 9:9. Extended from that is another prophecy:

Isaiah 62:11b ESV

Say to the daughter of Zion,
“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.”

All of this Matthew brings together to demonstrate that this was not a simple case of a pretender king. Rather, prophetically and now in fact, the one riding on the donkey is none other than the promised king, “Your King, O Jerusalem.” Whether Jerusalem is ready only with words: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD” (Psalm 118:26) or with the heart (Matthew 23:37) remains to be seen.

The question that Matthew the catechizer brings to us today in this text is simple: do we too recognize this one coming into Jerusalem as King, the King of kings, our King. Jesus fulfills prophecy, he offers himself as the full sacrifice for our sins. The rest of Holy week takes us on to the rest of the story. He is the totality of God’s love and righteousness and justice… for us. He reigns over us, now and forever.

Palm Sunday gives us an appropriate time to reflect, mediate upon, and grow in our understanding and appreciation of that truth. But most of all to grow in our faith and trust in him, that he really is who Scripture declares him to be. Hosanna (“save now!”) was the response on that first Palm Sunday. It becomes our response today!

Hosanna to the Son of David!