Monday, September 8, 2014

Not my preference. . . nor yours. . .

It is so often assumed that how the liturgy is conducted is an expression of a pastor's personal style and preference that it has become accepted truth, namely, that style and substance are not only distinct but different and seemingly unrelated.  Such is the fallacy of the modern era that has heaped upon us much in the way of terrible liturgical experimentation and the adoption of texts, rites, and ceremonies alien to our confession.

In a conversation recently I was asked about a comment made that our congregation has a rather "pompous" or elaborate ritual and form.  It must be true, I was told, because this person had been to a variety of other Lutheran congregations in which the liturgy was "simpler" or "plainer."  In other words, we are the odd duck and a more basic form and ceremony is the norm for Lutheranism.  Well, that depends.  It may be true that we have a more elaborate form and practice of the Divine Service than some Lutherans but the real question here is not what is normal in practice as measured by statistics but what is normal in practice as defined by our Confessions.

Lutherans are not Amish catholics.  We are not plain people on Sunday morning.  Just the opposite.  The Lutheran Confessions were written from the perspective of a rich and elaborate ceremonial, musical, and liturgical shape of the Divine Service.  The foolish and quite juvenile debate over where this perspective prescribes what must be done or describes what was done has often overshadowed the reality of what Lutherans looked like on Sunday morning for the first few centuries after the Reformation.  The same idea could be used of all the doctrines contained in the Book of Concord -- these do not prescribe what must be believed by those who would call themselves Lutheran but merely described what the Lutherans then believed, taught, and practiced.

We are pompous or showy or elaborate because we do what?  Chant?  Bow?  Wear Eucharistic vestments? Have a weekly Eucharist? Use the Chalice? Have liturgical art?  Have a rich musical and choral tradition?  Talk about private confession?  The list could go on.  My point is this.  When the Lutheran documents that became our Concordia or Confessions were written, they did not in any way, shape, or form imagine that the liturgy would not be sung by both pastor and people, that the Sacrament of the Altar would not be celebrated at least on Sundays, that the pastors would be vested, that the ritual of the mass kept, that good and faithful music would serve the cause of the Word, and that the people assembled would gone to confession before communing...  That these are not now "normal" in the sense of universally practiced was not only not envisioned within our Confessions but marks a significant departure from the orthopraxis that is and always accompanies orthodoxy.  Theology is not theoretical.  Doctrine is not theoretical.  Theology must sing (said Martin Franzmann) and doctrine is lived out from the altar, font, and pulpit.

This is not about high or low culture.  This is not about pastoral preference or the people's preference.  This is not about style divorced from substance.  The practice of this parish is not elaborate at all.  We use incense only rarely.  We do not enforce rubrics like liturgical gestapo.  We do not make people genuflect or cross themselves.  We do not sing in Latin.  We do not repristinate a moment in time from some golden age of liturgical life.  Maybe it should be MORE elaborate.  The point is that what we do is not at all on the high side of what Luther did or Bach knew.  In the end, if we are out of step with the Great Reformer himself and if we are on the fringe of the greatest Lutheran musical genius, who is the odd duck?  I would say it would be those who attempt to be moderately liturgical while at the same time trying to be moderately evangelical and Protestant.

My liturgical preference counts as little as the liturgical preferences of those in the pew.  What counts is whether or not what we do on Sunday morning looks, acts, and sounds like what we believe, confess, and teach in our Book of Concord.  I challenge anyone who thinks we are "high" to read the Book of Concord and then tell me where we exceed the liturgical shape of this confession.  In fact, I would say that we are normal -- the normal that counts in terms of faithfulness to our Confessions.  Any other normal (statistical, for example) does not matter in a church body which claims it is all about theology and doxology.

Now some of you are probably thinking, "My God, that guy is arrogant."  You may be correct.  I am a sinner and humility is not something I have in abundance.  But perceptions are not the issue here.  What we believe, confess, and teach -- these are the issues.  So, condemn me as arrogant, a cultural snob, "high" as a kite, or a liturgical showman...whatever.  Just read the Confessions and tell me where our practice deviates from the expected, anticipated, and assumed normative liturgical and devotional life of the Church of the Augsburg Confession.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reading the Confessions instantly shows how many LCMS churches and pastors are not following the doctrine and practice of their ordination/confirmation vows. So, we pray that there would be more normal Lutheran pastors like you and that there would be more normal leaders to uphold this. Thanks for another great piece that exposes the truth and points out where correction is needed.

Janis Williams said...

If it looks like an odd (liturgical) duck, quacks (chants) like an odd duck, then it must be a Confessional Lutheran duck!

Anonymous said...

Does God work through Word and Sacrament? The Liturgy is chock full of God's Word. The hymns are chock full of God's Word. Does He work the made up liturgies of man?

Steve Finnell said...

MODERN DAY-APOSTLES? BY STEVE FINNELL

Some claim that there are apostles alive and well, living among us. Is that fact or fiction?

QUESTION: What purpose would modern day apostles serve?
QUESTION: If there are apostles today, why do they not mirror the acts of the apostles of the first century?

Acts 2:43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

Are people being filled with awe by the so-called modern day apostles? If that were true it would be on every TV network. It would dominate the cable TV channels. The Internet would flooded with accounts of these so-called modern day apostles.

ACTS OF THE FIRST CENTURY APOSTLES


The apostle Paul cause the magician Elymas to be temporarily blinded.(Acts 13:8-12)


Are the so-called contemporary apostles causing men to go blind? No.


The apostle Peter brought Tabitha back from the dead. (Acts 9:36-41)


Are the 21 century pretend-apostles bring people back from the dead? No. If they could bring men back from the dead they would invite TV crews into funeral homes, to witness their miracles.


The apostle Peter predicted the immediate death of Sapphira. (Acts 5:1-11)


Can the false modern day apostles predict the immediate death of people who lie to God? Of course they cannot.


The apostle Peter immediately healed a lame man who had been lame from birth. (Acts 3:1-10)


If these so-call modern day apostles could heal men who were lame from birth it would on every, nightly, TV news broadcast.


THE SIGNS OF AN APOSTLE


2 Corinthians 12:12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.


The so-called modern day apostles are missing the signs of a true apostle. Be careful not to get detoured down the wrong road by following false sign makers.


WE DO NOT NEED SO-CALLED MODERN DAY APOSTLES!


We have the completed Bible. We have all the information we
need for salvation and living the Christian life. God's word was confirmed by Jesus and the apostles of the first century.


2 Timothy 3:15-17 and from childhood you have know the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.


By A.D. 100 men had all the Scripture they needed for salvation and living the Christian life.


WE HAVE THE RECORDED WORD OF GOD. THE BIBLE.


WE DO NOT NEED SO-CALLED MODERN DAY APOSTLES!
-

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