A curious dispute. . .

Sometimes I find what is being argued and how it is being argued among some in Rome as rather tedious and arcane.  So it is that apparently there is a war against kneeling and has been for some time.  It is being said that progressives prefer standing and traditionalists prefer kneeling.  It is a matter of theology for some of those arguing -- although it is at least practical theology.  Lutherans do not pay much attention to the kneeling debates in Rome.  That is in part because the vast majority of Lutherans do not kneel ever (except for a few moments at the rail when receiving the Sacrament) and relatively few Lutheran naves have kneelers in the pews.  We do not kneel because we do not like it and because it is inconvenient and because some say they cannot and therefore would be conspicuous if everyone else knelt.  At least those are some of our arguments.

Everyone would agree that kneeling is not convenient or comfortable.  For those reasons alone we do not want to kneel.  Kneeling is inconvenient for all and uncomfortable for the aged and those with bad knees (just about everyone these days).  Lord, knows God would not want us to do something inconvenient or uncomfortable so therefore God has deemed kneeling unnecessary or irrelevant as well.  That is the way some Lutherans think.  Sure, we might make an exception at the rail but even then kneeling is not required of those who cannot or do not wish to kneel.  That would not be Lutheran.  And we could say the same about bowing and genuflecting.  Not convenient, not comfortable, and, to the latter especially, too much like Rome for a Lutheran's good.

Nevermind that the word kneel is found all over Scripture.  It must be symbolic and not prescriptive.  And so is bowing.  But there are a lot of words in Scripture that we do not pay all that much attention to -- especially if they refer to something we do not like to do or something we find uncomfortable.  Even when we sing words like kneel and bow (as in the Venite, Psalm 95) we read them symbolically.  Lord, knows you would not want to ask people to kneel when the hymn or Psalm talks about kneeling (or bowing!).  In fact, we could say the same about singing.  God did not really mean O come let us sing unto the Lord.  That is a turn of a phrase.  Speaking is better than singing and it is faster so that the service might actually end a couple of moments sooner -- always a good thing!

Okay, my tongue in cheek point is this.  Words should not be not taken to be symbolic unless they are meant to be taken that way.  It is highly doubtful that in our more enlightened society today we have come to a more enlightened understanding of Scripture to decide all of these are symbolic.  It just may be that we are meant to be inconvenienced and uncomfortable.  That may be the point, after all.  Let’s be honest here.  If God asked us to do something we wanted to do or was easy, we would jump at the chance.  The reality is that we are far removed from the ancient traditions and postures of the Church when it comes to such things as kneeling and bowing and genuflecting.  We now live at a time when even the venerable pews of old are being exchanged for more comfortable seating.  In fact, kneelers have gone by the wayside precisely because comfort is more important than just about anything else.  Unlike Moses, we have no holy ground to worry about.  Churches are more like living rooms than temples and we even have screens to avoid holding a book or a piece of paper.  Give us easy over complicated and convenience over trouble and comfort over effort any day of the week.  Maybe that is the real problem we ought to be dealing with!