Yes, we thank God for the professionals who labor to know in depth what most of us must know only in part. Yes, we thank God for those whose academic careers provide rich fruits to be applied in the parish and in the lives of our parishioners. But. Yes, there is always a but. But, when such becomes solely the domain of the professional, there is great danger to both the academic hall and the local nave. Then Cardinal Ratzinger once put it like this: “popular piety is the soil without which the liturgy cannot thrive,” and so rightly noted that distance or disdain for that piety can cause manifold abuse in the church. In a more poetic way, Martin Franzmann said about theology that it must also be doxology -- it must sing -- noting exactly the same connection between popular piety and the profession.
On the one hand, the folks in the pew have left the business of worship to the professional and seem to enjoy being more spectators than participants in the liturgy. They do not know but even more importantly often do not seem curious or interested in why things are done as they are, the rhythm of worship, the cycle of the church year, and the pattern of prayer. They show up and expect to go home with something they can use in their daily lives -- the practical test of liturgy and sermon. Worship is not about getting a choice little tidbit that you can apply at work or home. It is our encounter with the Lord of heaven who visits us with grace beyond our imagination and delivers to us the fruits of Christ's redeeming work and the power of the Spirit that we might become holy as He is holy. It is this entrance into the mystery that is the liturgy. Relevance and practicality are individual concerns that seem to predominate but in so doing the majestic opening of heaven on earth is less in interest or desire. That is a problem. Could it be that we as liturgists and catechists have exacerbated this problem?
On the other hand, pastors treat Sunday morning and its liturgy as a warm up for their sermon and spend more time preparing what they are going to preach than how to lead God's people in worship and prayer. The pastors have relegated the liturgy to the professionals and simply open the book and do what is there without paying much attention to it. Or, worse, they lack their own understanding of the liturgical shape of worship and look at it all as a menu from which they pick and choose what they like, what they think the people will like, what will sell, and what will not. In the end, the radical effect of this choice is to become aliturgical -- to make worship a program and succumb to the failing of entertaining God's people instead of delivering to them His gifts and drawing then into God's holiness. All the knowledge in the world is useless unless it leads you into God's fullness as St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
1 comment:
Truly, what you have pointed out is an old problem. When Christians act as if they are mere spectators at a worship service, leaving the details and work to the “professionals” I.e. pastors, it is a common trend. Yet, in my own experience, it seems many LCMS congregations don’t see themselves that way at all. Perhaps, I am naive, but most worshippers do indeed see themselves as participants, not observers. After all, they are coming to church because they love the Lord, and feel their need to be fed the word of God, and fill the void of life and its manifest struggles. They could be on a golf course, or shopping in the mall, or whatever interests them, but no, they are in church instead. They have been drawn there. God draws His followers away from the world, to Himself, and to His people, and to His word. When the congregation recites the Liturgy and sing the hymns with the pastor, from my view in the pew, it seems really quite enthusiastic and genuine. And I have found that the folks in the pews do respect the pastor and appreciate his work, and most of all, his leadership. In all the world, as well as the church, people look to leaders in every organization and ministry, and those who assume the mantle hold the responsibility of guiding, leading and teaching. Many in the pews of churches in the LCMS and others realize they do not have the training in Bible teachings and doctrinal distinctives that the pastor has to offer. So, yes, they rely on the pastor, as we rely on leaders in other aspects of life. Paul spoke of the offices of the church, and their importance to the body of believers. Pastorship is a sacred vocation and it is God’s calling certain men to lead His church. When I was a young Marine in the military as a youth in the early 1960’s, there were always the professionals, the knowledgeable and experienced Gunnery Sergeants around to keep us steady, and muster the troops on the orders of the officers. Leadership is a lonely thing, but somebody has to do it. A Pastor must strive to do the very best he can. That is what the Lord wants and expects. Soli Deo Gloria
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