First, the Introit was played on the organ, accompanied by the choir in Latin… Indeed, the minister meanwhile proceeded from the sacristy dressed sacrificially [that means, wearing the traditional vestments including the chasuble] and, kneeling before the altar, made his confession together with the assisting sacristan. After the confession, he ascended to the altar to the book that was located on the right side, according to papist custom… The collect for that day followed in Latin, then he sang the Epistle in Latin… When it was done, the Gospel for that Sunday was sung by the minister in Latin on the left side of the altar, as is the custom of the adherents of the pope… Then he sang the words of the supper, and these in German with his back turned toward the people, first those of the bread, which, when the words had been offered, he then elevated to the sounding of bells; likewise with the chalice, which he also elevated to the sounding of bells. (See Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism, pp. 195)
The recorder of this evidence of catholicity fifteen years after the Augustana insisted we Lutherans have preserved nearly all the usual ceremonies was not amused. I would suspect that many Lutherans today would echo his disdain for seeing and hearing what this man heard a good 16 years into the Reformation. The path of Lutheranism was not toward retention but renovation, tearing down the old ceremonies and finding ways to cast suspicion on the orthodoxy of those who kept them. It has not changed today. Oh, yes, there are more chasubles than before, more chanting, and perhaps even more kneeling but... But, that is not where many hearts are and the old adiaphora bug still has its teeth in us making us almost instinctive in the suggestion that while some of these things may not be forbidden, best practice is to exclude most all of them.
We Lutherans are struggling to retain our own identity -- one which is not merely tolerant of but encourages the fuller ceremonial rather than a sparse and bare Divine Service. We still find it easy to dismiss these with the perjorative Romish instead of finding peace with who we are. As long as this war continues within the soul of Lutheranism, we will struggle to know who we really are. We are not merely accepting of the usual ceremonies but by our own confession we insist that this is really who we are. There is a practice that conforms to the doctrinal stance in our confessions and it is rich and generous toward the ceremonies of old, renewed by those who insist that the words mean what they say and God is really present just as He has promised. It is not only our enemies who misrepresent us; we often misrepresent ourselves -- confusing preference with confession and still more worried about being thought Roman than Protestant. Rome is not really our problem but the Evangelicals and mainlines who do not even believe what the Word says or expect that Word to do what it says are a dire threat to our identity and witness. It is sort of like those who are still fighting with the Masonic Lodge in an era when the Masonic Lodge is in a greater decline than any of us.
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