The Lutheran Liturgy: The Service of Preparation

Pretend that you are coming to church with me...

If you've never been in a Lutheran Church before you may notice that it looks different from what you are used to. A brief explanation about the layout of the church can be found here.

As we enter the sanctuary, you will notice that the atmosphere is somewhat subdued. Some people may be talking quietly, but others will be listening to the prelude music or have their heads down in prayer, preparing for worship. As we take our seats, I will silently pray a brief prayer of thanks to the Holy Spirit for bringing me to church and asking the Spirit to give me ears to hear the Gospel. You can pray too, if you like. There is a prayer for coming to worship in the cover of the hymnal if you would like to use it, or you can pray an appropriate prayer of your own.

By now, the church should be filling up and there will be music playing. Most often it is our beautiful organ, but sometimes there are other instruments: we have a handbell choir and quite a few musicians who lend their talents (on the clarinet, trumpet, guitar for example) and recently we've had a beautiful flute accompany the grand piano. The music helps to set the atmosphere for the coming service - somber on a Good Friday service, for example, or triumphant for Easter.

We see two acolytes enter the sanctuary to light the candles at the altar. The pastor enters and we stand to sing the opening hymn.

We will remain standing after the hymn and the pastor will face the altar and say "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" and we will respond "Amen". This is called the Invocation. The invocation is based upon Matthew 28:19a

Following the Invocation, we will kneel and confess our sinfulness and hear the pastor pronounce God's forgiveness to us. This is called Confession and Absolution. The words we use for our confession are from 1 John 1:8 "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Following our confession, the pastor will pronounce absolution according to John 20:23, Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18.

With absolution pronounced, we have finished the Service of Preparation and are now ready for the actual Divine Service to begin.

Ok, I can hear you now. Huh??? So, what just happened here? Well, let me try to explain...

To understand what's going on in the liturgy in general, you need to remember that it is focussed entirely on Christ and the saving work that He did, and continues to do, for us. The liturgy is a beautiful reflection of the order between God and man: God acts, we respond.

Our sin separates us from God and prevents us from entering into his presence. On our own we can't approach him - He must come to us. The primary way that he comes to us is through his Word and Sacraments.

So when we gather to worship, the first thing we do is acknowledge that we are not here by our own strength or reason but have been brought by the Spirit. We acknowledge this in the liturgy through the Invocation. When the pastor speaks the invocation, he does so outside of the chancel area; he is still in the nave with the rest of the congregation. As he speaks the invocation, he makes the sign of the cross (we may do so also) by which we recall our baptism and the name of the Triune God into whose name we have been baptized. It is on this basis that we may now approach him. Maybe that sounds like a no-brainer, but notice how it points us firmly back to Christ? It keeps us from thinking that we're here because we have something to "offer" to God. We're not here on account of any merit or work (even the work of praise) of our own - we're "name-dropping" if you will, using God's own name to approach Him, because of what Christ did for us.

But emboldened though we are by God's promise to hear us for Christ's sake, we have some dirty business to attend to first. We are sinful and constantly in need of God's forgiveness. How can we even contemplate entering into His presence in such a state? Our sorrow for our sin causes us to go to our knees and cry out for mercy and forgiveness. God in his mercy hears our cries and assures us that we have been forgiven for Christ's sake. As the pastor pronounces God's forgiveness to us, he remains outside of the chancel, reminding us that he is just a servant and in need of forgiveness as well. What he pronounces to us, he receives himself.

The Service of Preparation establishes the rhythm of our worship: God Himself serves us with his gifts of pardon and forgiveness and we respond in joyful thanksgiving. Now we are ready to begin worship...

The Lutheran Liturgy: To be continued...

About a year ago, I posted an introductory explanation to the Lutheran Liturgy. I'm not an expert on the subject by any stretch of the imagination - but I love the liturgy and I love sharing the depth and the richness and the Biblical foundations of this historic form of worship. I had the best of intentions of posting on it on a regular basis...alas, you know what they say about good intentions and all that.

In any case, I've noticed that I get a dozen or so hits each day from folks who have googled on "Lutheran Liturgy". (Lately, I've been getting many hits on "Ash Wednesday Lutheran" as well.) Clearly, a lot of people have an interest in learning about the historic worship of the Church.

One of the hits I got recently originated from Willow Creek Community Church. Willow Creek, of course, is one of those seeker-sensitive mega-churches in Illinois - it is a decidedly non-liturgical church. As well, they recently revealed the results of a spiritual health survey they conducted among their members that revealed that their "programming" approach to discipleship is not working.

"…increasing levels of participation in these sets of activities [church programs] does NOT predict whether someone’s becoming more of a disciple of Christ."
~The REVEAL Conference, October 14-15, 2008

Now, I don't want to make too much of it, but I just found it interesting that somebody over at Willow Creek has been doing an online search of the Lutheran liturgy. It confirms for me something that I have suspected for a long while: that contemporary Christians are hungry for something more than what the typical Western church is delivering. They're longing for something more solid, with both relevance and roots. The historic Lutheran liturgy provides just that. And so much more.

So...given this interest, I'm going to make an effort to produce a series that will attempt explain the liturgy - in everyday language - to the non-liturgical Christian. I'm even thinking of inviting guest posters. (Anybody interested?)

Thoughts on Confession and Absolution

The beginning of each Divine Service begins with Confession and Absolution.

Below, "P" is for Pastor and "C" is for Congregation. Note that the Pastor says both parts, as he also is in need of absolution. The Pastor stands in the transept for this part of the service. He does not enter the chancel area until after we have made confession of sins and received absolution. This is a symbolic reminder it is not the pastor who forgives sins - only God can forgive sins. The pastor, by the authority of Christ, speaks that forgiveness to us and since he also is in need of forgiveness, he remains outside of the chancel until absolution is pronounced. The Scriptures from which the words of corporate Confession and Absolution are drawn are in brackets below.

P - In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C - Amen. (Matt. 28:19b)

P - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
C - But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1:8-9)

Here we kneel and take a few moments for reflection on God's Word and self-examination.

P - Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
C - Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
P - Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C - Amen. (John 20:19-23)

Lutherans also practice individual Confession and Absolution, although it is not widely used. I have only ever made an individual confession (ie. just me and the pastor - and God, of course!) once in my life. It wasn't for any particularly spectacular sin - I was simply feeling overwhelmed with the awareness of my own sin and really needed to hear the words YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN.

I know that for many of you, the concept of making a confession and hearing absolution pronounced by a pastor is foreign to your experience. You might even have been told that such a practice is improper. I can tell you that Lutheran churches teach and believe that confessing one's sins before God and hearing His pardon pronounced through a called and ordained Servant is proper and biblical. I can also tell you how I personally benefitted from making public confession. It's true, I can always privately (ie. just me and God, no pastor) make a confession and be forgiven. A pastor isn't needed for that and that kind of confession is no less valid than a public or individual confession made before a pastor. I make public confession because there I receive forgiveness AND I hear the words, just as if Christ was standing before me: Your sins are forgiven. That pronouncement is life-giving. It is balm for my tortured conscience. I want so badly to live up to God's high, holy standards, but I don't. I fall flat, over and over again. And believe me, the remedy for a burdened conscience is NOT "try harder". That only makes you feel worse when you inevitably fail again. The remedy for a conscience burdened by sin is: "Your sins are forgiven".

That is the whole point of public confession and absolution and it is why God gave the task of pronouncing absolution to the Church, through her pastors. We need to hear it, and we can never hear it enough.

I'm spilling the beans...

It has been a hard, cruel winter here in Southwestern Ontario. It may only be 3 days until Spring, but for those of us here in the snowbelt there is no end in sight. The heavy snowfalls and colder-than-normal temps that we're enduring means that it could be another month - or more! - before all the snow melts. They're forecasting a late start to spring, and I simply can't wait that long.

So, what's a poor snow-bunny to do? Well, if they have friends who live somewhere warmer, somewhere like, say, oh I don't know, NORTH CAROLINA, then they call their friends and make a plan to escape!

Yes, Denise, you guessed correctly! Debbie has graciously offered to put up with me and Ken for a couple of days in April. She is the BEST! Naturally we are all excited about the prospect of getting together again. I'm sure our cameras will get another work out, teehee. More details to come, I'm sure.

In other news...

I went with my mom and dad to visit my Oma yesterday. She's doing as well as can be expected I guess. She was pretty groggy when we saw her - they're keeping her pretty heavily medicated for the pain. I felt so bad for my dad, it was pretty upsetting for him. I was a bit shocked at how frail she looked, but I was glad to see her. She perked up a bit and we ended up staying for about an hour and a half and she seemed to enjoy the visit. Thank you so much all of you who have been praying.

Yesterday was also my mom's birthday. After we went to the hospital we took my mom out for lunch. It was nice, just the four of us (me and Ken, mom and dad). We had lunch at a truck stop, if you can imagine! The hospital (the one Oma is in) is in London about an hours drive from here, so we stopped on our way back. Ken, who does a lot of driving for his job, highly recommended this truck stop so we gave it a try. It wasn't terribly fancy, but our meals were quite tasty. But I just want everyone to know, this does NOT mean I am a redneck!!

We went to early service yesterday morning (so we could get on the road a bit earlier) and I thought I was going to miss the traditional Palm Sunday procession, but they did it for both services. If you're not familiar with it, the service begins with a procession - everybody participates - into and around the sanctuary. We carry palm branches and sing "All Glory, Laud and Honour" as we process. This is an ancient practice of the church, it goes back at least a thousand years! Another little tidbit - a palm branch from this year's Palm Sunday procession will be saved and then burned and made into ashes to be used at next year's Ash Wednesday service. Cool, huh?

Ken is going to be out of town for the next couple of days for work. He'll be back on Wednesday night. I'm never too thrilled to be left alone, but it is only for a couple of days. I'm glad he doesn't have to go out of town too often.

I can't believe it's Holy Week already! We will be having a traditional Maundy Thursday service on Thursday night and then a Tenebrae service on Friday morning. My pastor told me something that I didn't know: that the Maundy Thursday service and Good Friday service are considered one service. It starts on Thursday and concludes on Friday and even though we go home in between it is considered one service. I will have to do a little research on that and find out more about it. Interesting.

Lutheran Liturgy 101

Sometimes I hear people complain that the ancient liturgy is "dry and lifeless" and "no longer relevant". I personally love the liturgy and I think that complaints like these stem from a lack of knowledge about what the liturgy is and what the liturgy does.

If you are not used to worshipping with a liturgy, you might find your first experience with it to be strange and even confusing. Why does the Pastor wear robes? Why is he holding his hands up like that? Why is everybody standing up and sitting down? Believe it or not, in the liturgy every word, every gesture, even pauses, have significance and a purpose. If you understand the significance and purpose of the elements it can enhance your understanding of what is going on in the worship service. When you understand the biblical and historical roots of the liturgy, you realize that far from being "irrelevant" it is in fact a timeless reflection of the spiritual order between God and man.

I would like to take some time to tell you about the liturgy. There is no way I can tell you everything about it in one post - I will have to split it up over several. I hope that you find it interesting and edifying!

What is the liturgy?
In its broadest sense, the liturgy is a proscribed order of service. It provides the structure of the service - when the hymns are sung, when (and which) Scriptures are read, when the Pastor should speak and when the congregation should respond and so on. In some ways, traversing the liturgy is like being on a journey: we begin in a posture of supplication in the Service of Preparation, our faith is nurtured in the Service of the Word, and our worship culminates in bodily communion with our Lord in the Service of the Sacrament. The liturgy underscores our purpose in gathering ourselves together: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42).

The historical roots of the liturgy
The liturgy is patterned after the services that God commanded to the Isrealites going all the way back to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. These worship forms had a set pattern and were retained by the New Testament church.

The early church retained the Jewish understanding of the purpose of worship as well. For a Jewish person, there was but one purpose to Temple worship: to receive forgiveness through the sacrifices of the priests on behalf of the people. It was not about bringing his praise and worship to the Lord (although he could rightfully do so once forgiven) - it was about coming in supplication to the Lord and receiving his mercy. You will notice that liturgical churches place an emphasis on what God did (and continues to do) for us in worship rather than what we do for him.

The physical layout of the church
You'll notice that in our church there is a single aisle going up the center of the nave (the main body of the church, ie. the seating area) that meets with an aisle (called the transept) that transverses the front of the church creating a cross. Positioned at the center of the cross is the Baptismal font. This is no accident - it reflects the centrality of Baptism within Lutheran sacramental theology. The placement reminds me of this Scripture from Paul's letter to the Romans: "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

You'll also notice that there is a railing around the chancel (the front part of the church where most of the service is conducted) that separates it from the nave. In the middle of the railing there is a gap and the gap represents the curtain that was torn in the Temple, signifying that the barrier between us and God has been torn down. Anytime the Pastor or a celebrant enters the sanctuary, they do so through the gap, indicating that because of the Son we now have unfettered access to the Father.

That's all I can think of for now about the history etc. of the liturgy. Next up: The Service of Preparation!

The Apostles Creed

The First Article - Creation

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

What does this mean? I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.

He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.

All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

This is most certainly true.

Priestly garments

From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses. (Exodus 39:1)

I think I've told you before that our pastor is kind of an old-fashioned guy. Well, maybe "old-fashioned" isn't exactly the right word for it, but he has been restoring some older customs that over the years have fallen out of practise at our church. He is really good about explaining the reason why we do these things, the biblical significance they have and the meaning behind them. It has been really edifying to learn the relevance of these old (in some cases ancient) customs and they become more than just empty rituals.

Our pastor, vicar and acolytes all wear vestments when they are serving in the sanctuary, but up until now our lay ministers have not worn any special garments when they are ministering in the sanctuary. Our church's santuary and altar area are loosely modeled after the Tabernacle and in the Tabernacle whenever the priest entered the Holy Place - which corresponds with the area of the Altar behind the Communion rail in our church - the priest was required to cover himself with a special garment. The pastor wanted to resurrect this custom and have the lay ministers wear albs to cover themselves when they serve behind the Communion rail, so several months ago he brought this forward to the lay ministers for their approval. Although the wearing of albs, or any liturgical vestment for that matter, is considered a matter of adiaphora (indifferent thing) for our church, they accepted the counsel of the pastor and have now begun wearing these albs.

Today was the first day they were used. I knew this was coming 'cause my hubby, who is a lay minister, told me about it beforehand. But it was still a bit of a shock for me to see my husband dressed up like a priest! I wish I had a picture of him though to show you - he's such a cutie!

The Liturgy Serves Us

Reading about your worship experiences has been interesting and informative for me. I have to admit, I get a little jealous. Our worship is so highly structured that it doesn’t seem to allow for much variation, even when it is clearly called for like I described here. There’s a part of me that is attracted to having a bit more freedom, and I am thinking about how I could exercise it a little bit, (in appropriate ways, of course!)

On the other hand, I couldn’t imagine giving up the liturgy entirely. That’s partly because it’s what I’m used to; it’s comfortable and reassuring. Yes, sometimes - if I let it - it can become automatic and routine. I don’t like when that happens; when I join in worship, I want to MEAN it, you know? Not just go through the motions.

But at the same time, I have to face the reality that sometimes “going through the motions” is all I can manage. When depression is at its worst and I can barely function, “automatic” and “routine” is a gift. It allows me to fully participate in a way that I couldn’t if full participation were dependent on my emotions. It takes the emphasis off me and puts it back on God.

I promise that this is the last I'm gonna blog about this (for a while anyways *wink*). In the meantime I leave you with the following essay written by Rev. Robert Zagore, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Niles, Michigan. In these brief reflections, he reminds us of the very practical nature of the Church's liturgy and hymnody.

Sometimes the most valuable insights come from recognizing the genius of things which are always there.

When I was in my second year at seminary, a couple of friends asked me if I would help start an overnight chaplaincy program at a local inner city hospital. I thought of it as a great opportunity for mission work. The 11 pm to 7 am hours would guarantee time to study, even sleep. I just had to be on site. The nurses would call if there was a crisis. I'd run in, proclaim God's Word and allow the healing balm of the Gospel to bring relief-or so I thought.

My vision of meaningful, humorous, reasoned, dialogues with the distressed and dying was soon demolished. On my first night I received a call: "Code Blue." I ran down to the proper hospital wing and looked for the room. The bustle told me which it was. I stood in the doorway. The doctors and nurses worked furiously to revive an elderly man. I had decided to stand in the doorway, but a nurse grabbed me by the arm and moved me to the head of the bed. "We've been waiting for you," she announced.

I was speechless and overwhelmed. The sights and sounds flooded my senses. I had never seen someone dying before. I searched my brain for an appropriate response. I placed my hand on the man's head and said the only words which would come into my mind, "Our Father, who art in heaven. . ." As I spoke, I noticed others were praying too. As the "Amen" rang out, I continued the pattern I learned from praying the "suffrages" in church: "I believe in God, the Father almighty. . ."

Around the room, lips moved in unison. Only the occasional doctor's order broke the liturgy of the unscheduled evening prayer.

The room was no longer the valley of the shadow of death. It was the gate of heaven, through which, that night, a righteous man passed. "You did a nice job, thanks," someone said. At the time, I wasn't sure what I had done.

Time passed and my experience grew. I began to learn the importance of the Church's prayer. Before, I thought of it as a Lutheran family heirloom. The liturgy seemed to be like grandmother's china. It was set out for family gatherings and special occasions. It wasn't for everyday use. Besides, it was so old; no one except the family could appreciate its beauty.

I was wrong.

During those months of overnight chaplaincy, I would often be called to attend those who were in shock, unconscious, near death, critically injured. I was called in to speak to families enduring devastating trials. The work was always easier if they knew the liturgy-and surprisingly, many did.

For some, the words were only the vague shadows from a childhood ritual. But they still were true. With others, I saw the time-ripened fruit of an ongoing relationship with God. I didn't have to teach them the words. They didn't have to struggle through their tears to understand. They knew the words, and the words brought hope. Christ crashed through their darkness and pain. They weren't alone.

In the emergency room one night, a nurse watched as a family gathered around their stricken father. I had learned to ask if they went to church and where. With the answer, I knew how to proceed. "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." "Amen." "Lord have Mercy. . ." "Our Father. . ." Christ was there in the words they had spoken with him since childhood. The Church was there, as they spoke the same words they learned in the pew. I told the nurse what it meant. "I thought the room seemed crowded," she smiled. She was in church the next Sunday, joining her prayer to theirs.

The scene was always much different with unbelievers. False hopes and worldly goals are little comfort when facing death or grave trauma. God's Word still brought hope, even created faith. But a deathbed is a hard place to teach the faith. It is much better learned day by day, week by week. In this way, the words of the liturgy make incremental deposits in our hearts and minds from which the fruits of hope are drawn in times of trial.

The structure and timeless nature of the Church's worship calls order out of the chaos of a crisis. It perfectly provides pastoral care at the end of life, because the peace and hope it gives have been accruing for a lifetime. It is familiar, easily recalled, and theologically solid. The words revive a thousand moments in the presence of a merciful and loving Father, and bring us there again.

In the parish, I have found that this same truth holds. I have been the pastor of an Alzheimer's patient who struggled to remember even her daughter's name. But she could speak every word of the Divine Service. I witnessed her blessed relief as hope, faith, and peace-giving words broke through the hellish torment of a languishing mind. Christ had come to her. It was a gift from my predecessors. Because they had taught her the liturgy, she had the words to greet her God.

When parishes cultivate a liturgical life, they arm their sons and daughters with words ingrained with the Gospel. They implant a resolute and joyous hope. Reinforced over a lifetime, they are unshakable, even by death.

Recently, a dear saint died. For thirty years she faithfully took her place behind the organ week after week. In her last decade, she couldn't leave her living room chair. During visits she recalled the church with the coal fired stove and a foot pumped organ that graced the German settlement. The prayers and litany we spoke, and sometimes sang, she had learned as a girl. We prayed them through continued illness. We spoke them through tears when her only son was murdered.

When I last saw her, she was in the hospital bed she would not leave alive. The last words I spoke to her were 3400 years older than she. Through three and a half millennia, these words had given what they promised. For nearly a century, they were the words with which her pastors had blessed her. "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you peace."

She knew he would. The last word I heard her say, I overheard her say to God: "Amen."

Perhaps I should clarify...

Oh boy. Sometimes I forget that even though we all serve the same Lord, as Christians we don't always use the same words interchangeably. Beth specifically has asked for clarification of what my understanding of "worship" is. And she's right to ask because our respective understandings of what constitutes worship are informed by our different faith traditions.

Beth describes her understanding of worship thus: "...worship isn't about us...at all - it's only about giving thanks and praise to Him. It is due Him simply because of who He is. It is not about receiving anything other than being received into His presence."

In this model of worship (as I understand it) the purpose of worship is for the worshipper to bring praise and thanksgiving to God for who He is. A Lutheran would whole-heartedly agree that our God is worthy of honour and praise and that in all places and at all times it is appropriate to do so. Where we differ is that a Lutheran understands the worship service itself not primarily as a vehicle for us to give (our praise and worship) but as a vehicle for us to receive (God's gifts of forgiveness and salvation, by way of Word and Sacrament).

Here is how our hymnal Lutheran Worship describes it:
"Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise. ...Saying back to Him what He has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure. ...The rhythm of our worship is from Him to us, and then from us back to Him. He gives His gifts, and together we receive and extol them. We build one another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs."

The reason for this kind of an understanding is simple. We believe and teach that in establishing a faith relationship with the Father, God always acts first. Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

In fact we deny that man, spiritually dead in His trespasses, even has the capacity to choose Christ, apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. This is important here - it's kind of the key to understanding all of Lutheran theology. We believe and teach that:

--> We are saved by grace (alone)

-->and we receive grace through faith (in Christ alone)

-->and that faith, which receives saving grace, is not of ourselves, but is itself a gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

In a nutshell, God does it all. It's not surprising then, that our worship practises should reflect that understanding. Historically, the phrase used to describe Lutheran worship is "Divine Service". This helps us understand the rhythm of worship—that it is first and foremost God serving us with His gifts, and then our service to Almighty God in thanksgiving and praise for all He has done.T his rhythm of God giving His gifts and our giving Him thanks is conveyed aptly in the term, Divine Service.

This pattern of worship is not new, nor is it unique. The early Christians used this pattern as well: Acts 2:42 42 "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine (the Word of the Lord) and fellowship, in the breaking of bread (the Sacrament), and in prayers."

I need to clarify a couple of other things as well to address Sara's comments:

It should be noted that Lutheran churches have a adopted a wide variety of worship styles - some are quite contemporary, others are traditional. In Nicaraugua they worship under wooden pavillions, singing hymns accompanied by a guitar. In Nigeria they worship in the open air and their worship music has a distinct African flavour.

This is from the LCMS website: "The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod believes that God's Word never changes, and that the church has no right to change anything clearly taught in or commanded by God's Word. At the same time, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod believes that the church has no right to make absolute commands that are not contained in Scripture. Where Scripture does not clearly speak, there must be freedom and room for change. Other issues, of course (such as varying sensitivities to change within the congregation, appropriate decorum in worship, the desire to avoid either giving or taking offense unnecessarily) must always be taken into account when a congregation is considering changes that are in the realm of Christian freedom. Since the Bible says nothing about "ushers" (as an example), the LCMS has never made any rules or requirements in this regard. Many congregational traditions have changed in the LCMS over the years for various reasons (such as women sitting on one side of the church and men on the other), but the LCMS is absolutely committed to changing nothing that is clearly taught in God's Word."

Me now: I'm not opposed to allowing contemporary worship, nor do I consider it less "valid" than other forms. I do question the wisdom of offering multiple worship styles in a single church if it's done in an attempt to cater to spiritual immaturity. I'll give you an example: my in-laws attend a church that has a "worship cafe". It's a VERY informal worship service that includes coffee and round-table discussions. My in-laws don't attend that venue themselves, but they speak enthusiastically about it: "it really brings in the twenty-somethings!" I personally think it's unfortunate that the twenty-somethings don't have the spiritual depth to be able to receive God's gifts and give him praise unless their surroundings are tailored exactly to their liking. I may have a preference for a traditional worship style, but that doesn't mean that I can't worship outside of those circumstances. Like the author, I think that offering cafeteria-style worship services actually stunts our spiritual growth because it encourages us to fulfill our own desires first.

I know this is a touchy area. The "worship wars" have raged long before I decided to step in to the fray and have been argued eloquently - on both sides - by minds much greater than my own. But for what it's worth, the objections I have are held out of love and concern for my Brother. Above all, I long for the the day when we will worship as one - Pentecostal beside Lutheran! - before the throne of the Lord.

iPhone schm-iPhone

The reviews of Apple's newest gadget are starting to come in and they're not great. That won't matter a bit. This is the newest "must-have" status symbol and people will line up for days to get their hands on one, despite the $500+ price tag. Because, of course, anybody who's anybody will have one.

Here in Waterloo, home of the Blackberry, the iPhone debut is mostly being ignored. Disdained even. Apple making a smartphone? Please. The consensus is, when people discover the drawbacks of using their iPhone they'll quietly put it away and return to using their Blackberries. Until the next new thing comes along.

It's rampant consumerism and it makes my teeth rattle. Thank goodness Christians aren't like that, right? Not so fast.

Here's an interesting article that examines the influence that consumerism has had on Western Christianity and the danger it poses to the message of the Gospel. It's a bit long, but an interesting read.

I'd never thought before how consumerism may or may not have shaped the church. We're called to be in the world but not of the world, yet it's sometimes hard to not be influenced by the secular worldview that we are exposed to every day. In some cases, the secular worldview is so pervasive we're not even aware of it's incompatibilty with Christianity, especially if it has also entered the church.

We used to go to a Lutheran church just down the street from where we live. This church has embraced a "contemporary" style of worship services. While we attended there, I didn't mind it so much, but we ended up leaving the church because we found that on the whole it was shallow. (Please don't misunderstand me, I love my brothers and sisters at Messiah and it was not a bitter parting.)

We now attend a church all the way across town where the congregation is quite orthodox. The services are wholly liturgical, the music is traditional...and the members are more spiritually mature. No one ever complains that the music "isn't relevant". They understand that worship is not about getting their needs and desires met. It's about receiving God's gifts, and having received them we are empowered to go back out into the world to serve Him.

Like the iPhone, we tried contemporary and it just had too many drawbacks. We're going to stick with traditional.

Trinity Sunday

Each Sunday in the Divine Service we make confession of our common faith in the words of either the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed. Once a year, on Trinity Sunday, we say the Athanasian Creed. If you are not familiar with this one, you may read it here. It's a long one, so I'm not typing it out. It is used on Trinity Sunday because it is a really good summary of the Trinity as we understand it from the Scriptures.

The Psalm for the day is Psalm 150. I love this Psalm - so full of joy!

Praise the LORD!Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!