Singing Praise.... The proud past and bright future of Lutheran Music...

Singing Praise -- The proud past and bright future of Lutheran music.  By Mollie Ziegler Hemingway (first printed in Thrivent magazine but worth repeating here...)

"Next to the word of God," Martin Luther wrote, "music deserves the highest praise." It's no surprise, then, that Lutherans always have been known as "the singing church."

Of course, many church bodies love to sing. So what sets Lutherans apart?

The Lutheran church's musical strength is in choral music. It began with the Lutheran Reformation, which emphasized the congregation as the place where faith is lived, and hymns are the means by which key doctrines are carried to the members. In fact, some of the Lutheran church's great theologians, such as Paul Gerhardt, were hymn writers. And some of history's greatest music talents, including Johann Sebastian Bach, were Lutheran church musicians who produced music for worship.

The choral tradition continues today. While Sunday services and styles differ, a typical Lutheran service begins with a hymn of invocation – a song of praise, prayer or reflection on the season of the church year. The hymn of the day builds upon the chosen Bible readings and sets the stage for the sermon. Most congregations sing additional hymns during Communion, and a final one at the end of the service that reminds them of what they learned. And that doesn't count the prayers and other parts of the liturgy that can be sung – or the four-part harmonizing that's been known to break out at church potlucks.

"Good Lutheran tunes are challenging and athletic," says Lutheran pastor and poet Stephen Starke, who's written more than 160 hymn texts. "They have a lot of life to them." This Thrivent member's work – which has appeared in hymnals, been used in choral settings and been featured on a national hymn festival CD – is just one example of how Lutheran hymn writing is thriving.

Of course, the challenge of the music is part of what makes it so fun to sing, particularly in four-part harmony. "The development of a distinct choral tradition from within our Lutheran colleges in the early 20th century created a style that complements the importance of congregational singing within the Lutheran church," says Beth Burns, executive director of the Lutheran Music Program (see "Tomorrow's Musicians").

A strong rhythm provides Lutheran hymns with vigor and determination that supports the church's theology, says the Rev. Dr. Daniel Reuning, a Thrivent member and the artistic director of the Bach Collegium, an ecumenical choral-instrumental ensemble in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Theological intensity is important for Lutherans to understand since our hymns deal with the reality of sin, suffering, the devil, the world and our flesh pretty seriously," he says. Consider Martin Luther's classic "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." In four short verses, it references the power and majesty of God, our focus on Christ, mankind's inability to provide for salvation, the reality of evil, and references to each member of the Trinity.

What's more, that hymn has been translated into dozens of other languages, including Nuer. That's the language Sudanese Lutheran immigrants in the Twin Cities use to sing the hymn, accompanied by large drums familiar to their home culture. And a new French hymnal put out earlier this year by Lutheran Church-Canada is being used by French-speaking congregations in Quebec, the Caribbean and countries in West Africa. In fact, one of the included hymns was originally written in Swahili: "Mfurahini, Haleluya," written by Bernard Kyamanywa while he was studying at a Lutheran seminary in Tanzania. In English, the Easter hymn is called "Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia." It is noteworthy for the straightforward manner in which it tells of Jesus' resurrection and a refrain that is pure Gospel: "Let us sing praise to Him with endless joy/Death's fearful sting He has come to destroy/Our sin forgiving, alleluia!/Jesus is living, alleluia!"

"Greet the Rising Sun," a morning prayer hymn by Zhao Zichen, uses the Chinese folk tune "Le P'ing" to simply express lofty thoughts: "Father, hear my prayer/Keep me safe today/Sanctify my thoughts/All I do and say/As I teach the young/And esteem the old/May your bounteous grace/By my life be told."

And Doreen Potter's Jamaican calypso melody is used to great effect in "All You Works of God, Bless the Lord," which tells the apocryphal "Song of the Three Young Men." Students at St. John's Lutheran School in Orange, California, love to perform the song with an organ, two trumpets, an African drum and a shaker.

These hymns – and the music and instruments that go with them – show that Lutheran music in all its variations continues to have the strong confession of faith, universal feel and timeless sense that have been hallmarks of Lutheran music since Reformation times.

Pope Benedict XVI and a Bach Cantata

Pope Joseph Ratzinger has called art and music "the greatest apologetic for our faith." On a par with the "luminous trail" of the saints and more than the arguments of reason.  This time, however, the pope added a personal recollection:  "I remember a concert performance of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach –- in Munich in Bavaria – conducted by Leonard Bernstein. At the conclusion of the final selection, one of the Cantate, I felt –- not through reasoning, but in the depths of my heart – that what I had just heard had spoken truth to me, truth about the supreme composer, and it moved me to give thanks to God. Seated next to me was the Lutheran bishop of Munich. I spontaneously said to him: Whoever has listened to this understands that faith is true – and the beauty that irresistibly expresses the presence of God's truth."

What was the Cantata of Bach that so profoundly touched the heart of the future pope? It was the one that Bach composed for the Mass of the twenty-seventh Sunday after the feast of the Holy Trinity, the last Sunday before Advent in the Lutheran liturgical year.  Among the roughly two hundred Cantatas that Bach left for us, it is the one that bears the catalog number BWV 140.

The Cantatas were real and proper liturgical music. They filled the space between the readings of the Mass and the homily. With Luther, they were a simple hymn. But in the 1600's, the developed into the form that was later used by Bach: with organ and orchestra, choir and soloists, chorales, recitatives, duets.

The text of the cantata was based on the readings for the Mass of the day, especially of the Gospel. Making these the object of intimate spiritual meditation, even with poetic features. Sometimes the homily was given not at the end, but at the middle of the Cantata.  The faithful listened to it in silence. And sometimes the text of the entire composition was distributed to those present, so they could follow it better.

On the twenty-seventh Sunday after the feast of the Holy Trinity – the Sunday of the Cantata conducted by Bernstein that so deeply moved Joseph Ratzinger – the readings were eschatological in tone, related to the end of time.

The first reading was taken from the second letter to the Corinthians (5:1-10) or from the first letter to the Thessalonians (5:1-11), while the Gospel was that of Matthew 25:1-13, with the parable of the wise and foolish virgins:

"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.' While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!' But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.' Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

In 1599, the author of the text of the Cantata, Philipp Nicolai, took this parable as the inspiration for his meditation, with lyrical references to the Song of Songs and to its nuptial symbolism.

As in the recitative that follows the opening chorale:

"He comes, he comes,
The bridegroom comes!
You Zion's daughters, now come out,
He's leaving right now from the Heavens
For your own mother house.
The bridegroom comes, who like a roe deer
and like a young stag ev'n
Up on the hills now springs,
To you the feast of wedding brings.
Wake up, arouse your hearts
The bridegroom to encounter!
There, see it, his vis't now comes to pass."

Or in the following duet between soprano and bass:

S: When come you, my Health?
B: I come, your All.
S: I wait, with lit, burning oil.
B: Throw open the hall.
S: I open the hall.
Both: To the heavenly meal.
S: Come, Jesu!
B: Come, dear lovely soul!

In Leipzig, Bach composed a Cantata that is rightly among his most famous. Like all of them, it takes its name from the first words of the introductory chorale: "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme."

The choice of this typically eschatological Cantata, which ends with the vision of the heavenly Jerusalem, was not made by accident for the concert that Bernstein conducted in Munich, with Joseph Ratzinger in the audience.  It was 1981. Ratzinger had been the archbishop of Munich for four years. And on February 15 of that year, one of the greatest interpreters of Bach's music, both as an organist and as a harpsichordist, Karl Richter, had died suddenly in the capital of Bavaria.  That concert was held in Richter's memory, with the Bach-Orchestra and Bach-Choir of Munich. All with music from Bach. In order:

- the chorale "Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden" of the St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244);
- the Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G major (BWV 1048);
- the Cantata "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (BWV 140).
And after the intermission:  - the Magnificat in D major (BWV 243).

So the Cantata that so deeply moved the future pope concluded, properly speaking, not the entire concert, but its first part.  The Lutheran bishop sitting beside him, to whom Ratzinger confided his thoughts, was Johannes Hanselmann, died in 2002...

HT to Sandro Magister

Who are these little ones and what are we supposed to do with them?

Sermon preached for Pentecost 12, Proper 18A, on Sunday, September 4, 2011.

    If you were paying attention to the Gospel for today, you probably thought the sermon would focus on forgiveness and the process Jesus spoke of to reclaim the fallen and erring.  But today we will focus on the first part of the lesson and the attention Jesus gave to the “little ones” who believe in Him.  Lest you think this is merely about children, the issues raised have deep significance for the faith.  The argument over infant baptism is less about baptism than it is about faith.  Can infants believe or not?  Even dyed in the wool Lutherans are tempted to say "No, they cannot have faith – not in the sense that adults have faith."  But what does Jesus say of these little ones who believe in Him?  If by faith you mean what American evangelicalism has defined it – knowledge, understanding, and consent -- then you are right.  Infants and small children cannot believe.  But if by faith you mean what the Scriptures call faith, that is trust, then perhaps we have something to learn from these little ones and not just something to teach them.  Faith is trust and the little ones Jesus spoke of show us what trust in the Lord with all your heart and mind and body actually looks like.
    Matthew uses disciple to mean the Twelve.  The term disciple in Matthew does not mean believers in general but is a specific term for the twelve apostles.  So who are these little ones whom the twelve disciples are to be like?  Who are these children whom we need to become like in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven?  Who are these whom Jesus calls "greatest in the kingdom of God?"
    They are the mikros or micro size believers, the smallest of children – infants and toddlers.  They too belong to Jesus – but not as cute little folks to humor or to entertain us.  They are not ornaments.  They belong.   Somebody once said that Jesus welcomed the children and taught the adults.  Today we teach the children and so they might entertain the adults.  Jesus insists that they have something more than their cuteness to offer.  Jesus calls these children His own BY FAITH.  Faith which is not an intellectual act but the childlike trust of the heart – something that does not demand proof or verification.  As a child trusts in the parent, so do we as children in faith trust in the Word of our heavenly Father implicitly - by the Spirit's work.
    What God seeks from us is the trust of a child.  Such a trust transforms the little into the mighty.  There is a lesson here for the Twelve Disciples and there is a lesson in this for us.  Jesus used a child to teach those who were closest to Him, who has seen Him do miracles and proclaim the Kingdom, to learn from these children what it means to believe.  Now this faith is God's work and the fruit of His Spirit at work in us – whether we be young or old, wise or foolish, rich or poor.
    Jesus said whoever receives this child of faith, receives Him.  This was both a promise and an assurance to the disciples that He would work in them and through them to accomplish His purpose.  It was at the very same time, however, a warning against taking lightly these little ones who believe in Jesus.  For if we make light of them and their faith or we cause them to sin or stumble in faith, we are accountable to the Lord.  To stand at cross purposes with the Lord and His gracious will for His children is far worse than drowning and giving up this mortal life.
    So what is our responsibility to the little ones who believe in Jesus?  We are to guard them against temptation.  We are to watch over them lest they wander from the Gospel and from the Kingdom of God.  We are to protect against them falling into manifest sin that would deprive them of God's grace and gift.  Even if it requires some sacrifice on our part.  The eye or hand or foot that would causes us to sin is expendable but the little ones who believe in Jesus are never expendable.  They are His most precious possessions.  And we are to teach them so that as they mature, their knowledge may be commensurate with their trust.
    Truly we need to hear Jesus' words today.  We are severely tempted to turn children's ministry and youth ministry into mere entertainment, glorified baby sitting, in which the greatest of all criteria for success is whether or not our kids are having fun in Church.  The sad truth is that we can have fun all the way along the road to our destruction.  What our children need from us are those who will care for them, teach them, and protect them.  In the process we learn from them.  We adults with all our fears, suspicions, hardened hearts, and cynical attitudes learn from them the childlike trust that believes without seeing and trusts without fear.
    Guard the little ones, says Jesus.  This is our most sacred responsibility. They are far too important to simply entertain or to be used for our entertainment.  We need to provide them that which will strengthen their lives in and their connection to Jesus through His Word and Sacraments.
    Think about it.  We act as if children were in the way of worship and we sound like the disciples pushing away the children from Jesus.  We diminish our children by distracting them or entertaining them or using them for our entertainment.  And we also diminish ourselves because we forget that just as they have something to learn from us, we have something to learn from them.  Jesus insists that they are too important to babysit.  He calls us to teach them the faith and the kingdom of God even as we learn from them what it means to trust without fear.
    The greatest disciple, according to our Lord, is a trusting child.  It is no different today.  We come to God not with our accomplishments to taut or our great wisdom and intellect and understanding to promote us.  We come as children, trusting in our heavenly Father, believing His Word to be true, and caring for each other with the same serious and deliberate purpose with which we treat the greatest in the Kingdom of God.  Have you ever wondered why God continually speaks of us as His children?  Why it seems we never grow up from being children of our heavenly Father through Christ, our Lord?
    The real problem for the Church today is not that our message is no longer relevant.  As long as people sin or die or lose hope our message is relevant.  The real problem for the Church today is that we act as if we have something God wants or needs. We have forgotten that the path of faith is the road of trust.  We cannot tread over the weak or the small.  We cannot turn faith into an intellectual exercise.  What tempts our children is what tempts us – the fear of God’s will and the presumption that our intelligence is what matters.  The way we care for our children is the way our heavenly Father cares for us.  There is a connection here.  It is not because I say so, but because Jesus does.  These little ones are not window dressing or ornaments.  They are part of the body of Christ the Church – by faith – and while we can teach them the story of the Gospel, they can teach us how to trust in the Christ of that Gospel.  Amen.

From the Canon of St. Basil

I was going through my files and came across this.  I have no idea where I got it from and it does not seem to be an unedited piece but I have no idea who passed it on to me.  It seems to have been somewhat adapted yet I post this as a form worthy of Lutheran consideration as the prayer of the anaphora or canon of the mass.  It is certainly ancient in origin and its phrases reflect a beauty of language as well as laudable content.  In the ongoing discussion of an Eucharistic Prayer, we often struggle for examples of one with ancient roots and yet evangelical content.  What do you think of this one?

P   The Lord be with you.
C   And with your spirit.
P   Lift up your hearts.
C   We lift them up unto the Lord.
P   Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God.
C   It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

P   It is truly good, right, and salutary, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, Lord of heaven and earth, Master of all creation, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is our Savior and true God, the image of Your goodness, the living Word, eternal Wisdom, and the true Light by whom the Holy Spirit is revealed.  This is the Spirit of Truth and Sonship, the fountain of life and sanctification, by whom all creation offers You eternal praise.  Therefore with angels and archangels, thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying:

C   Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of Sabaoth:
Heaven and earth are full of your glory;
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
  
P   Holy indeed, and blessed are You, O Lord our God, for You formed us to share Your life forever.  But when we disobeyed Your commandment and fell from eternal life, You banished us from Your paradise.  Yet, in mercy, You did not cast us off forever, but sent Your holy prophets to proclaim Your promise to us.  Now in these last days You have manifested Yourself through Your only-begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  He was made flesh and became man by the Holy Spirit of the blessed virgin Mary.  He revealed to us the way of life and His means of salvation.  He gave us new birth by His Word and Spirit in the water of Holy Baptism and so gained for Himself a special people, redeemed by His own blood.  He loved His own who were in the world and offered Himself as a ransom to set us free from sin and death.  Going forth to His voluntary and life-giving death, He handed Himself over and gave us this great mystery of godliness, for which we give thanks, now and forever.
C   Amen.

P   Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: Take, eat; this is my + body, which is given for you.  This do in remembrance of me.

In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: Drink of it, all of you; this is my + blood of the new testament, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

The Confession may be concluded here as the pastor introduces the Lord’s Prayer with these words:  “Lord, remember us in Your kingdom and teach us to pray.”

P   As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, the holy body and precious blood of Christ,
C   we remember His sacrifice and proclaim the His death until He comes.

P   Therefore, heavenly Father, remembering our Lord's holy sufferings, His life-giving cross and three-day burial, His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven, His enthronement at Your right hand and His glorious coming for judgment:
C   We praise You, we bless You, and we give You thanks.        

P   And we unworthy sinners pray to You in Your mercy and grace that Your Holy Spirit would sanctify us, body and soul, in the one true faith.  Make us worthy to receive the body and blood of Your Son, given and poured out for the forgiveness of our sins for the life of the world.

   Unite all who receive this one bread and cup with Your saints of all times and places—patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, evangelists, and all the righteous spirits perfected in faith [including ________].  Receive us all into Your kingdom, bestow on us Your peace, and grant us with one heart and voice to glorify Your holy name with Jesus Christ and the life-giving Holy Spirit in Your one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, now and forever.
C   Amen.

C   Our Father...

Attestations of the Gospels Outside the New Testament

Often the New Testament is approached as if its credibility were a stretch of faith.  In actuality, the credibility of the New Testament is quite well attested outside the New Testament itself. 

Among other witnesses, one author has put together this list....  Can you add to it?  See how many we can point to as attestations to the Gospels outside the New Testament itself. 

I might point you to, among others, F. F. Bruce's
Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament...

1. The Didache (written between AD 70 and 100 quotes the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. It also refers to the "gospels" (plural) revealing that there already more than one.
2. Saint Clement (the fourth pope circa AD 96) in his epistle to the Corinthians contains ten quotations from both Matthew and Mark.
3. The Epistle of St Barnabas (circa 90-130) quotes Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
4. St Ignatius of Antioch (d. AD 108) quotes Matthew, Luke, and John.
5. Papias (circa AD 120) spoke of all four Gospels and said that Matthew first wrote the words and acts of Christ in the Hebrew language which was later translated into Greek.
6. St Justin Martyr knew all four Gospels and refers frequently to Luke.
7. Tertullian (ca. AD 200) spoke of the Gospels "of Matthew and John the Apostles and Mark and Luke the disciples of Apostles."

A worthy place to begin. . . 

The Long Shadow of a Small Presence

Growing up I enjoyed how the sunlight at your back would give you a very large shadow.  It masked my own small size as a child and made it appear that I was much larger.  For a long time now we have heard of the great influence of mega churches and the church watchers like Lyle Schaller (and others) have told us that we must grow or die.  The age of the small congregation is over.  They cannot afford a Pastor.  They cannot do effective ministry.  They cannot find a future without growing.  In the Missouri Synod this has been the mantra since the mid-90s or so and now we regularly hear about the bane of having so many small congregations.  They are called permanent vacancies and nearly every District President I know sees them as big problems for the Church.

I stumbled across this from Mollie Ziegler Hemingway and it seems to cast a slightly different light upon this age old truth about bigger being better and small congregations dying. 
 

Q: What’s the size of U.S. churches?
A: The median church in the U.S. has 75 regular participants in worship on Sunday mornings, according to the National Congregations Study http://www.soc.duke.edu/natcong/ . Notice that researchers measured the median church size — the point at which half the churches are smaller and half the churches are larger — rather than the average (186 attenders reported by the USCLS survey http://www.uscongregations.org/charact-cong.htm ), which is larger due to the influence of very large churches. But while the United States has a large number of very small churches, most people attend larger churches. The National Congregations Study estimated that the smaller churches draw only 11 percent of those who attend worship. Meanwhile, 50 percent of churchgoers attended the largest 10% of congregations (350 regular participants and up).  Want to know more? Check the websites for the National Congregations Study at http://www.soc.duke.edu/natcong/ The US Congregational Life Survey (USCLS) website has statistics about congregations by religious traditions at http://www.uscongregations.org/

Mega churches do not get that designation until they get more than 2,000 per week in worship.  According to the graph, well below than 10% of the Protestant Christians in America attend such churches yet their influence as trend setters and their shadow looms large over American Christianity.  Even adding in all those congregations where over 1,000 are in attendance each week and these congregations still represent somewhat less than one quarter of American Christians (Roman Catholic and Orthodox excluded).

Funny but what I get to thinking about this, it seems that the vast majority of Lutheran congregations fall into the the first or second tier of church attendance (according to the graph above).  We are not unusual in that regard but rather ordinary.  In fact, the Missouri Synod average is a little higher than the national average tallied in Hemingway's story and the median size is also a bit larger.

My point in all of this is that we were told that the small or smaller congregation was dead or on life support... that people would not settle for anything less than a full service congregation... that people would drive past small congregations every Sunday of the month to get to a large or very large congregation... that small congregations are a problem for which we need to find a solution...  And all the while it turns out that just maybe they were wrong.  One last item for your information.  The mega churches are not growing as a category and significant numbers of the larger churches (over 1,000 per week in attendance) are showing signs of plateauing and decline.  Fad?  Trend?  or Way of the Future?  Hard to see and hard to say but don't count the small congregation out.... just yet, anyway!

The Lutheran Hymn...

When LW was introduced in 1982, some of the words of the introduction addressed this subject of hymnody:

    In its hymnody each age of the Church reflects what it returns to God for the great blessings it has received from him. Some of the Church's song is always derived from a previous era.
    The early Church developed its music from the psalmody of the synagogue, to which it added the strophic hymns of Greek and Roman converts. When the liturgy became the sole property of the clergy, there arose a need for hymns in the language of the people. Thus there came into being the great body of Latin hymns introduced and promoted by Bishop Ambrose of Milan and his followers. In time these again became the property of the clergy and hierarchy. The Lutheran Reformation once more restored the Church's song to the people in their native tongue. From then on the Lutheran Church became known as the "singing Church." The song of this Church has weathered and withstood such influences as pietism, rationalism, modernism, and universalism in one form or another.
  
    The hymns in Lutheran Worship draw on the vast treasury of Christian hymnody old and new, with words that speak God's law and Gospel and express our faith's response and with music that nourishes both memory and heart.

In other words, Lutheran hymns were crafted and sung long before Luther and will be crafted and sung by those not within the domain of a Lutheran church body.  What makes a hymn Lutheran is not who wrote it or composed its music but what it says and how it says it.  As Walter Buszin once put it:

    The Lutheran Church has never gone as far as to say that in her services of worship only such music is to be used which was written by Lutheran composers...  And again:

    A good American hymnal must be ecumenical in character.  The Lutheran Church has never been sufficiently prejudiced or self satisfied to insist that only hymns and music written by Lutheran authors and composes be used exclusively...  

What then defines a hymn as “Lutheran?”  One author suggested that something over 1.5 million hymns have been published (far more written but never published).  If in our hymnal we can only gather a collection of something like .0003% of this total, then we must know what it is to look for whenever we would gather a collection of hymns for a Lutheran hymnal.

1.    Lutheran hymns are means of the means of grace.  If we say that the Word is a means of grace given to us by God through which His life-giving Spirit lives and works, then Lutheran hymns will not forget this and will reflect this throughout the individual hymn.
    Lutheran hymns are not primarily to create a mood for worship or to express our feelings or frame our response to the Lord and His life-giving acts.  Lutheran hymns are vehicles for the Word in which both text and tune work together in such way that together they are greater than each individual part.  The successful wedding of text and tune is key to the effectiveness of the hymn as a means of the means of grace.

        St. John Chrysostom (c. 345-407):  God mixed melody with prophecy so that, enticed by the rhythm and melody, all might raise sacred hymns to Him with great eagerness. For nothing so arouses the soul, gives it wing, sets it free from the earth, releases it from the prison of the body, teaches it to love wisdom and to condemn all things of this life, as concordant melody and sacred song composed in rhythm.  PG 55:156

        Basil the Great (c. 330-379):  The Spirit mixed sweetness of melody with doctrine so that inadvertently we would absorb the benefit of the words through gentleness and ease of hearing. O the wise invention of the teacher who contrives that in our singing we learn what is profitable, and that thereby doctrine is somehow more deeply impressed upon our souls.

        St. Cyril, the bishop of Jerusalem (+386):  We call to mind the Seraphim also, whom Isaiah saw in the Holy Spirit, present in a circle about the throne of God, covering their faces with two wings, their feet with two, and flying with two, and saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth", (Is. 6:3). Therefore we recite this doxology transmitted to us by the Seraphim, in order to become participants in the hymnody of the superterrestrial hosts.  PG33:360
    We stand with the ancient fathers of the Church in connecting doctrine with hymnody and in expecting that a Lutheran hymn will sing the faith to us that we may sing the faith back to the Father before the hearing of the world.

2.    The Lutheran hymn proclaims the Word and in its proclamation frames our response of faith to that Word.  Lutheran hymns do not merely teach but shape how it is that we receive this Word and guide our response to this Living Word.

        Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 379) What belonged to the theater was brought into the church, and what belonged to the church into the theater. The better Christian feelings were held up in comedies to the sneer of the multitude. Everything was so changed into light jesting, that earnestness was stripped of its worth by wit, and that which is holy became a subject for banter and scoffing in the refined conversation of worldly people. Yet worse was it that the unbridled delight of these men in dissipating enjoyments threatened to turn the church into a theater, and the preacher into a play actor. If he would please the multitude, he must adapt himself to their taste, and entertain them amusingly in the church. They demanded also in the preaching something that should please the ear; and they clapped with the same pleasure the comedian in the holy place and him on the stage. And alas there were found at that period too many preachers who preferred the applause of men to their souls' health. Vol. VII: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, p. 196.

    The nature of this response is not to entertain or amuse us or even to inspire and uplift us but to arouse faith within us and to strengthen this faith that we may grasp hold of the gifts of grace our Lord has given to us in Christ and carry them as our most treasured possession throughout the journey of our lives here on earth.

    The power of music lies in the Word and not in its ability to arouse emotion.  We often forget that the power of music as a medium easily overshadows its content.  Consider the popularity of rap music while at the same time the seeming ignorance of the hearers to the brutality of its lyrics toward women especially.  When the sound or rhythm drives the music, its ability to convey another message is subservient to how it sounds.

3.    The Lutheran hymn speaks not to sentiment but to the clear and objective Word of the Cross.  That is not to say it does not touch emotion or even arouse emotion.  What it does mean is that the Lutheran hymn is primarily a means for the means of grace that is the Word and this Word is not some vague sense of goodness or love or truth but the clear and objective truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen.  (1 Cor 1:18, 27-29)

        Chad Bird puts it this way:  A Lutheran hymn is not centered on the experience of man “falling in love” with God but the activity of a loving God on behalf of fallen man. And that divine activity is always hidden in, with, and under the Means of Grace — the Gospel and Sacraments — not feelings and garden- walks with imaginary Jesuses.

    Jesus is not my BFF or my Facebook friend, but the Lord of heaven and earth come in flesh and blood to seek out me as sinner and save me by His divine power and grace as man among men whose righteousness and love went even to the cross and death for me and whose resurrection is my one and only hope of life.  When the church’s song and the love song one might sing to another cannot be distinguished, something is severely wrong.

4.    The Lutheran hymn is textual but not simply text.  The early Calvinists and other radical reformers insisted that the words of man could not be sung but the text of Scripture or its paraphrase could be sung.  Lutheran hymns are textual and reference the specific verse of Scripture as well as its message but are not simply metrical settings of the Word (though they may be, as in the case of the canticles, metrical settings of the Psalms, and some hymns).

In fact, I would suggest that the textual character of much of what passes for the church's song in modern day terms is, in fact, its weakness and not its strength.  Snippets of Scripture pulled out of context and repeated to a musical line that is evocative more of a ballad or romantic song is an unfaithful use of that Scripture and deprives us, in most cases, of the Gospel.  Instead we get emotional and sentimental songs appealing to the greatness of God's majesty without a clue that His greatest revelation of glory is the cross.

5.    The Lutheran hymn is not throw away music or text but represents the finest in poetry and music.  The introduction of the Mass in English was accompanied by the invention of the missalette in the Roman Catholic Church and its inclusion of a small body of hymns to accompany the time frame covered by the missalette.  Since Rome had not used hymnody much, there was a flowering of hymnody but much of it was of poor quality, hastily assembled, and eminently forgettable.  Lutheran hymnody exists for the long haul and is not designed simply to fit the moment.  It is the enduring legacy of the Reformation which was as much sung as it was preached, written, and confessed.  It connects with the great body of hymns and music from the Church’s past and it represents our best for the future.

6.     The Lutheran hymn is not captive to any culture except the culture of the church catholic.  Lutheran hymns are not German nor are they bound or tied to any place and time.  They speak timelessly the timeless truth of the Gospel and they speak from within the culture of the Church to the many cultures whom God has addressed with the salvation of His Son.

    Lutheran music and Lutheran texts are not captive to the changing tastes of people or the changing reference of culture.  Liturgical music is always a servant of the text, carrying the Word of God into people’s heart through the beauty and dignity of melody.  As such, Lutheran hymns have been recognized by all church bodies for their message and for their excellent wedding of text to tune that endures and not captive to a particular time or place.

    We would do well to remember the oft quoted and powerful truth: The church that marries the spirit of this age will be a widow in the next generation.  Nowhere is this widowhood more apparent than when stepping into a church which has adopted an entertainment formula for music and whose song is the song of the moment, largely solo voice to hear, and not the single song sung by many voices, with those who have gone before as well as those present.  In addition, Scripture itself reminds us that we confess the Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The Lutheran hymn recognizes and addresses the changeless Gospel to the changing world.

Vocation Day

You can head over to Cranach, the blog of Gene Veith, and search his blog for his desire to make Labor Day a Church Holy Day and to cast its theme in terms of vocation.  For those of you who do not know, Veith has become one of the more powerful voices to recapture the Lutheran teaching on vocation and restore its place within our piety -- quite convincingly, I might add.

I must say that I was quite moved by reading Gustaf Wingren's book on Luther's teaching on vocation.  It was powerful stuff and, even though I was fortunate enough to have one of the older copies, it is available still in reprint.  If you have the money head to Amazon and pick one up pronto.  You might also check out some good stuff by John Pless and a few others who have picked up the ball on this. 

As some of you might know from this blog, I am somewhat a purist when it regards the church year and creating days and, yet, if there is any focus worthy of a day, this one just might be it.  Since it is often a "low" day in terms of attention and attendance, this just might be a good place to address a Christian insight in conjunction with the secular calendar of American holidays.

I vote yes.... what do you think?

Truth and Truths

Even today, many commonly-held tenets of natural science are merely theories, not certainties. This is not the case with the catholic faith, which is a certainty...  I gleaned that little sentence from a post about religion and faith from the traditionalist SSPX but it is a gem and it puts in stark contrast the perspectives of faith and the secular world. 

The secular world views the faith as the speculation and science as the truth.  It absolutely reverses the approach stated in the first sentence of this post.  I am not anti-science.  I do not have my head in the sand.  I believe that our children should be taught all the current and past theories of the universe and its origins and I do not believe that science teachers should teach religion in public schools (though I do believe that the texts should reflect the fact for the vast majority of human history it was sufficient to say that God created all things as they are).  However, what science classes too often pass to us as certain fact is, indeed, the current speculation and educated guesses of a people looking at what is and trying to find out where it came from.  I wish there was some intellectual honesty here.  Though we speak of the ancient age of the universe, we do not have solid fact to back this up.  Though we speak of evolution (here speaking from one species into another), this has not been observed and is an educated guess.  Christians do not have to disparage what science speculates.  We as people do the best we can with what is before us and, apart from Scripture and Christ, the best we have are the speculations of science as they have evolved to the present state.  But neither do Christians need to accept the false dichotomy of factual truth espoused by science and the religious speculations of the faith.

I am speaking to Christians here and not to the scientific community.  Your faith is not speculation and science is not established fact.  The catholic faith is the truest of truth.  Period.  And while I appreciate the finer points of apologetics with the secular, unbelieving world, yet, within the Church, we do not need to be apologetic.  We need to speak forthrightly of the nature of the truth that reached its fullness and culmination in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The catholic faith is certainty.  Period.  I do not mind the world outside the Church challenging this point.  I understand and expect this.  But it is entirely troublesome that within the Church we treat dogma as if it were the speculation of the scientist or archeologist instead of the revealed truth for what it is.  It is a sad fact today that the reason many folks within the Church are having trouble maintaining their faith is that too many teachers within the Church treat Scripture as mythology, the Bible as if it were a book of what ifs (mostly morality), and science as the square to which the catholic faith must be trued.

Just a complaint about the way those within the Church treat doctrine and Scripture and the speculations and informed guesses of science.  As St. Augustine warns us, "not to make rash assertions, or to assert what is not known as known,” so we must be careful not to assert science as factual truth and the religious truth as somehow less than factual.  What God has revealed of Himself to us in Scripture is the most truthful truth we know.  Christians should not forget this!

And the Word of the Lord Grew!

All the while, the Word of the Lord increased and multiplied. Sometimes in triumph, sometimes in shame. Sometimes rapidly, sometimes slowly. Sometimes in one place while another died. Sometimes through great men, sometimes despite them.  From Tapani Simojoki

When I first read the title to Martin Franzmann's great introduction to the New Testament, I was surprise by it.  When I realized that it was a quote from Acts 12:24, it became even more intriguing to me.  The Word of the Lord grew -- and grows still.  The irony of the title was that this was a survey of the development of the New Testatment -- the Word that grew into the 27 books we call the New Testament Canon.  But at the very same time, it was a description of the work of God, growing His Church through the means of grace.

BTW... Franzmann's book remains one of the most readable and reliable introductions to the NewTestament and I urge you to read it if you have not already.

What Franzmann keyed on in his title is something we often miss today.  I hear a lot of doom and gloom out there in the pews and not a little in the pulpits as well.  Some might suggest that I contribute to a lot of that bad news through this blog.  While I do highlight somethings that are not as they should be, I must admit that I am not a pessimist.  The Word of the Lord grew, has grown, is now growing, and will continue to grow.  This has not and has never been up to mankind or our will and desire.  It is the will and purpose of God that His Church grows, that faith comes by hearing the Word of the Lord, and that this Word accomplishes its purpose.

Sometimes this is aided by great and mighty individuals, people of faith whose faith is active in love.  Sometimes this happens despite the people of God -- as easily distracted or divided as they might be.  In either case we need to be careful here.  Our God is not impotent but omnipotent.  He works through us but we are merely the means to the means of grace.  In this I take great comfort.  In spite of and even through my weakness and mistakes as Pastor and shepherd of the flock the Church has placed under my care, God is at work.

When we triumph the Lord reminds us that it is not we who are responsible but His grace and Spirit.  When we have nothing to offer the Lord but the tattered rags of our righteousness and a litany of failures and excuses, the Lord reminds us that He is still at work through His grace and Spirit and the work is His even as the glory is His.

We forget this at our peril.  We are easily distracted or overcome (by success as well as failure).  In triumph or defeat, eyes are fixed upon Jesus, hearts are focused upon Jesus.  Every now and then I need to stop and remember this.  So do you.  God has worked through some fairly distasteful characters and disappointments and still His good and gracious will has prevailed.  So... hang in there.  If the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod disappeared tomorrow, the Church would still be present -- the Word and the Sacraments would still be the agents and instruments of His grace to grow His Church.  I do not anticipate that this venerable church body will disappear and I rather think that we more positive to support the work of the kingdom than negative.  So I remain vigilant and yet hopeful, positive that what God began, He will bring to completion on the day of the Lord....

Not Yet Out....

Those of you familiar with this blog know that I have a big problem with Lutheran congregations that do not identify themselves as Lutheran.  We have a number of prominent congregations in our Synod which have decided that the name "Lutheran" is either a hindrance or not an accurate identifier of their ministry.  I have blogged about this before and will not repeat myself.

Suffice it to say that Lutheran congregations are not alone in their shyness.  Many Baptist and other congregations have chosen names that either ignore or mask their confessional identity.  You might think that these would be useful shorthand descriptions of who they are, what they believe, etc.  Apparently not.

I stumbled across a piece which indicates that Lutherans are not the only ones to be embarrassed about or who choose to make their identity hard to find.  It turns out that a study found that more than 60% of the [Roman] Catholic colleges did not use the qualifier “Catholic” on their home pages.  Using the term Catholic on the home page is certainly a clear and expeditious way of communicating this; most would expect that if a college is Catholic, then the Catholic identity would be front and center, so to speak. 

In this study seven markers were used to identify a college.  These included the word "Catholic" on the home page, a description of their affiliation with a sponsoring "Catholic" identity, academic or mission statement, social services, human resources information for employment, "Catholic" worship, and "Catholic" heritage.  It turns out that only a few of them passed and the great majority did not fully identify themselves as Roman Catholic institutions.  Now you might think that in the competition for students, a Roman Catholic institution might strongly show its identity since there are so many Roman Catholics.  Hmmmm..... could it be that this is a more universal problem? 

Could this explain the dropping size of the American family?

HT to WDTPRS...

The Mass between the Masses...

I must say that I was surprised to read that there was a 1965 Missal that immediately followed Vatican II and made changes to the 1962 Missal of Pope John XXIII.  I guess I recall reading about it somewhere but did not really have a clue about it.  I had certainly not remembered reading through it.  Mr. Corey Zelinski has made this available with the following preliminary comments:

This was the official English version of the Order of Mass from the 1965 Roman Missal, published directly after the Second Vatican Council ended in 1965.  This was the English Mass used from 1965 until 1969-70, when Paul VI promulgated the New Order of Mass (Novus Ordo Missae), and imposed it on the Latin Rite (the Novus Ordo is the current normative Mass of the Latin Rite).  This interim Mass is much closer to the intended fruit of Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Concilum than the New Mass of 1970.  It is essentially the Tridentine Latin Mass in English with minor modifications. 

Many rubrical similarities exist between the 1965 Missal and the New Mass of 1970.  Obviously, an option for use of the vernacular exists in the 1965.  Furthermore, as in the Novus Ordo, it is at the discretion of the celebrant to either face the East ("ad orientem") or the people ("versus ad populum").  An option for concelebration was also introduced in the 1965 (this was formerly restricted to Ordination Masses).  The required Mass vestments were also simplified (e.g., optionality of the maniple).  In 1967, the cope was supressed in the Asperges (rite of aspersion at High Mass).  The chasuble was worn in its stead.  The Canon was still required to be read in Latin until 1967, when it was permitted in the vernacular.  In the 1965 Missal, the priest, when administering Communion, says "the Body of Christ" (or "Corpus Christi") instead of "Corpus + Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam ad vitam aeternam" (that is, "May the Body + of our Lord Jesus Christ bring thy soul unto life everlasting").

Options for congregational singing also exist in the 1965, exactly as they do in the Novus Ordo -- with places for processional, offertory, communion, and recessional hymns.  The 1965 also allows for the Prayer of the Faithful after the Creed.  The prayers at the foot of the altar, in addition to being made entirely optional, were shortened (as they would previously be prayed at Requiem Masses).  The Last Gospel was suppressed.  The calendar follows the Tridentine Ordo, consistent with that of the previous Missal (Missale Romanum 1962).  Ironically enough, the New St. Joseph's Missal ends the Liturgical Calendar in 1970.

As is clearly evident, the 1965 Missal more than accomplished all of the goals of Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Second Vatican Council.  The promulgation of a New Order of Mass was unnecessary.

The full English text is available here.  


I must say it does leave me with some what ifs..... What if the Novus Ordo had never been introduced?  What influence would this have had upon the whole liturgical movement?  What would the revised Lutheran rites of the late 1960s and 1970s look like today?  What impact might this have had upon the decline of attendance common today among Roman Catholics?  Where might we Lutherans be today without the influence of the Novus Ordo?  Oh, well, one can never go back in time.... but it does seem that we have been somewhat enslaved to liturgiologists whose interest in the liturgy was, well, less than pastoral.  It is for this reason that I am grateful for the more deliberate pace of the Missouri Synod.  Certainly among Lutherans today, the Lutheran Service Book is a distinctly more conservative book (conservative in the sense of conserving what was received) than, say, the ELCA book, Evangelical Lutheran Worship.  While some lament that too much was changed and others lament that Missouri derailed the goal of all Lutherans (well, most, anyway) in the same book, the two books reflect the divergent courses in the two church bodies.  Anyway back to the issue... There was a great deal going on under the surface of Roman Catholicism that cannot simply be blamed on Vatican II and some of that had great influence upon churches not in communion with the Bishop of Rome...

Reported from California...

On July 14, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 48, which dictates that California schools adopt instructional materials in social science classes that emphasize “the role and contributions of … lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans” in history.


When considering the myriad ways such a law tramples on parental rights and academic legitimacy, it is hard to know where to begin. However, since the law will be celebrated by some as a triumph of inclusivity, perhaps it should be noted it solves no conceivable problem currently plaguing California.

Regarding inclusivity, California law already bans discrimination in instructional materials based on “race, sex, color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry.” Not content with banning discrimination, earlier California legislators already mandated emphases on the contributions of both men and women as well as “Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans” and other ethnic and cultural groups in California textbooks and curriculum.  In other words, it is hard to imagine that historically significant lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans are not already being included.

Once we were told that discrimination is when the things that divide us (race, creed, color, gender, etc.) no longer matter.  Now it seems that when it comes to GLBT, sex is the only thing that matters....

What was I thinking, anyway?

Sermon preached for Pentecost 11, Proper 17A, on Sunday, August 28, 2011.

    Have you ever been caught gazing out into space, daydreaming another world away, only to have someone bring you back to reality, "Earth to Larry!" Now they have a diagnosis for this but it is far too common not to be normal.  Or maybe you have looked back on some decision you made and then asked yourself, "What was I thinking?"  I am sure that somewhere there is a diagnosis for this but it is part of ordinary life, too.  We live within the twin poles of distraction and regret all our lives.  We shrug these off as if they were not important but when distraction or regret take our focus off of Christ, we have a real problem.  In the midst of this is often the pride that presumes to know better than others and, maybe, better than God what we need or what must be done.  This is also a real problem.  Today a distracted and presumptive Peter got a wake up call from Jesus and perhaps it left him with a few real regrets..
    Jesus was talking about the future that awaited Him in Jerusalem. Again!  Jesus did not hide the reality of the cross but kept telling His disciples what was waiting for Him.   It was not something they wanted to hear about.  Betrayal, suffering death, and resurrection – Peter got tired of hearing about it and stopped Jesus.  "Don’t talk this way. I am not going to let this happen to You, Jesus."  Peter's pride got in the way of his faith, his real life fears took over from his trust in the Lord, and he found himself with a big regret over opening his mouth at all.
    Jesus stopped Peter in his tracks.  "Get behind me, Satan.  You are a hindrance to Me.  Your mind is not set on the things of God but of man."  Now remember, it was only a few verses ago that Jesus called Peter and his confession the rock on which He would build His Church.  Now, all of sudden, Jesus is calling Peter satanic.  Peter might have expected Jesus to commend him for his bravery or determination that nothing bad was going to happen to Jesus if Peter had any say in it.  But Peter did not understand that the cross was the future Jesus has come for – that the pattern of Jesus whole life was cross shaped.  Ahhh, how quickly the mighty have fallen.  But it is not just the mighty.  Anything that comes before Jesus is an idol.  What ever occupies our minds and hearts in place of Jesus, is satanic. This was not some minor issue for Peter and it is not some little problem for us.  This is a matter of life and death.
    What happens when OUR minds are not on Christ, when our hearts shy away from trusting in Christ and deferring to His will?  Because He loved Peter and because Jesus loves us, He calls us out in exactly the same way.  Whatever distracts us from Him is an idol and Satan at work. Period. There is no muddy middle. It does not matter if our cause is self-less. Peter was not trying to protect himself.  He was trying to protect Jesus but from whom?  From the saving will and purpose of God, laid down through the prophets?  From the sacrificial death on the cross that would result in forgiveness and salvation for the whole world? No matter how good our motives, what gets between us and Jesus is always an idol.
    We are often distracted by the cares and troubles of this life.  We are often distracted by our accomplishments and joys.  We are often overcome by regrets over words and actions that cannot be undone.  We are often marked with the scars of these words and actions.  We are tempted by the pride that presumes to think we know better than God.  All of these are idols.  And because God loves us, He will call us out and confront these demons and not let us live under their spell and darkness.  Just like He did for Peter.
    Set your minds on the things of God, says Jesus.  Well, what does this mean?  This is not left up to us to figure out.  Jesus spells is out for us.  Deny yourself.  Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, as St. Paul put it in the Epistle a week or so ago.  Do not be deceived by an exaggerated sense of your wisdom, ability, or intelligence.  Deny yourself and take up your cross.  Jesus is not talking about suffering through the trouble you cause yourself – without whining.  The cross He is talking about is not about making your bed and having to sleep in it.  The cross He is talking about is THE cross.
    Your cross is not living with the flawed husband or wife you married or not getting all the toys money can buy or even living with the pain of illness or loss.  Your cross is His cross – it became yours in your baptism.  You deny yourself in order to know, as Paul said, Jesus Christ and Him crucified!  Your cross is not some bad choice you made and now you have to live with it. Your cross is THE cross.  The cross of Christ has become the pattern and shape of your life as a Christian.  You live not by earthly power and might but by forgiveness and love.  You live not by the righteousness of your own making but the righteousness given you in Your baptism.  You live not as one person alone but within the community and family of Christ's Church.
    The world calls this surely the loser's path but in Christ we see that this is the one and only path to victory.  Having been forgiven, we forgive.  Having been declared worthy and righteous, we welcome others as He has welcomed us.  Having been touched with mercy and compassion, we act in mercy and with compassion to those around us.  Having been sought out from the darkness of our sin, idolatry, and self-righteousness, we seek out others with the Word of the Lord, with the truth of the Law and the Gospel.
    So what is distracting you?  What fills you with regret?  What pride makes you think you know better than God?  What self-righteousness tempts you to judge others?  These are the idols that God calls out of us.  He turns us to Jesus where we see the cross, where forgiveness, mercy, grace, and love overflows – even as lost sinners.  God sets us back on the path of life in Christ, the way of the cross, to live cross shaped lives of forgiveness, love, mercy, and service.  God restores us from our fallen condition to become whole and righteous in Christ.  This is what it means to set your minds on the things of God.  If you want to be reminded of this, pray the words of the hymn we just sang throughout the coming week: Come, Follow Me, the Savior Spoke (LSB 688).
    Brothers and sisters, like Peter we are tempted to hold on to our lives, to the reality around us as miserable as it often is, but today we are bidden to come to God in Christ, to be daily reborn through repentance and forgiveness and then the lives that you seek will belong to You – not merely for the brief moment of this mortal life but for all eternity in Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen

Whose action?

In the Liturgy of St. Basil and in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the part of the deacon is often omitted since deacons are not ordinary in Orthodox congregations and yet there is in the words of the deacon something significant, more than nuance but profound teaching that is missed when the part is overlooked or omitted.  Just before the Liturgy of the Catechumens we hear the Deacon turn to the Priest and say:

Deacon: It is time for the Lord to act. Let us begin the service to the Lord. Bless, Master.
Priest: + Blessed is our God, always, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Deacon: Amen. Pray for me, Master.
Priest: May the Lord direct your steps.
Deacon: Remember me, holy Master.
Priest: + May the Lord God remember you in His kingdom always, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Deacon: Amen.
Deacon: Bless, Master.

(one translation) OR

If the deacon is serving the following dialogue takes place:
Deacon:  It is time for the Lord to act.
Priest:  Blessed is our God always, now and ever, and to the end of the ages.
Deacon: Pray for me, master.
Priest:  May the Lord direct your steps to every good work.
Deacon: Remember me, holy master.
Priest: May the Lord remember you in His kingdom, always, now, and unto the ages of ages.

In some places this is unfortunately translated "It is time for us to begin the service to the Lord."  But of course, we are not acting for the Lord.  Rather, the Lord is always the celebrant, the giver, the source, and the one who gathers the Church and then fulfills His promise of presence to deliver to us the gifts of His grace, even His very self in bread and wine.

This is a quote from Psalm 119:26 and also from Ezekiel 24:14.  It is the compelling reminder to us that Christ is here according to His promise, that Christ is the one who celebrates the liturgy and delivers to His people His gifts.  This is image of the heavenly that we see here in earthly setting.  Christ the one true priest.  As Chrysostom reminds us, Christ performs it all and the priest merely provides his hand and lends his voice to Christ.  The heavenly is glimpsed in the earthly; the same Christ who is priest in both, and the offering of both, God acting in Christ as once He did on the cross, in the Upper Room, now in this anamnesis, and to come in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb which has no end.

So we see that in Orthodoxy, as well as in Lutheranism, this aspect of worship is maintained -- that the direction is first from God to us before it can be from us to God.  It is precisely this direction that begins the worship of God's people that the emphasis on liturgy as the work of the people tends to distort or even overlook.  I recall once hearing Bishop Kallistos Ware suggesting the liturgy as work of the people (joining leiton and ergon) was of dubious etymology and even worse theology.  The usual description of the origin of the term: ancient Greek ἡ λειτ-ουργία [leiturgía] = 1) τὸ λεῖτον [léiton] — ‘society’+ 2) τὸ ἔργον [érgon] — ‘deed’, ‘activity’ (from ἐργάζομαι [ergádzomai] — ‘do’; ‘create’, ‘achieve’); the verb λειτουργέω — ‘do public and social duties’. Perhaps more literally ἡ λειτουργία means ‘public activity’ or the arena in which God is bidden by His people to act, to do for them according to His promise, and to keep His pledge to be with us always through the Eucharist.

 God comes to us and does not merely deliver to us the heavenly gifts as if to dole out bits and pieces of His kingdom but incorporates us into that gift that we might bear in as much as is humanly possible the fullness of His very self until that day when we shall receive its fullness without limitation in the heavenly banquet feast. Thus is not merely words that we say (or Christ bids us to) but the entire action of consecration and distribution, the heavenly made present here on earth.  This do in remembrance of Me (for my memorial).  The "sign" of the Sacrament does not merely signify something but makes it present and accessible to us so that through this sign (ikon) we participate in the heavenly reality conveyed.  Christ does not merely set up a chow line but joins heaven on earth, delivers to us His very flesh and blood in the mystery of the bread and wine, and assures us thereby that we are truly members of the Body of Christ.

If only there would be a more profound realization of this truth among us Lutherans!

An anniversary remembrance...

Sermon preached on St. Bartholomew, Apostle, August 24, 2011.

    Bartholomew.  One of the Twelve Apostles.  Sixth in order in the three Gospels, seventh in Acts.  Today we remember him – even though we don’t know much about him.  The name Bartholomew means son of Tolmai and would be more of a surname, like Johnson or Anderson.  By it we know that this guy was Hebrew.  Outside the Gospel and Acts mentions, the name never appears elsewhere in Scripture.
    Most identity him with Nathaniel (John 1:45051; 21:2).  I accept that Nathaniel was the first name of this son of Tolmai and it is always associated with Philip.  It was Philip who told him of Jesus and to whom Nathaniel son of Tolmai wondered what good might come from Nazareth.
    Nathaniel was from Galilee, the region from which Jesus found and called most, if not all, the twelve disciples. St. Bartholomew lies unmentioned in Christian history before Eusebius, who tells us that Pantaenus was told this was the Apostle who had preached in India before him and bestowed upon the Church there a copy of Matthew’s Gospel.  “India” is not a precise name of place but was, at the time,  a generic name used even for part of Arabia.  Other accounts point us to Bartholomew preaching in Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Armenia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, and on the shores of the Black Sea.
    Tradition suggests he died in Aramenia, martyred to be sure, but how we do not know.  Some suggest he was martyred by the brother of the King of Armenia for having converted his ruling brother to the Christian faith.  In his great work, “The Judgement” Michelangelo depicts Bartholomew as having been flayed in death. His feast day has always been August 24, even from the early church.
    Now that you know something of him, let me tell you something of me.  It was on August 24 that I was installed as Pastor of my first parish well over 30 years ago.  I stood a young man in a parish situated between Albany and NYC, with a seminary education but an untried pastoral temperment, inexperienced in the art of seelsorger (the care of the soul in German).  The Bishop went out into the woods surrounding the parish and brought back this rough piece of pine and handed it to me in the installation, saying, “Take heed therefore unto yourself, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you Bishop, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”  It was this staff I hold before you now and which I carry around every now and then for my own reminder as well as for yours.  It was there I was first called Pastor by most, Father by some.
    Truth to be told, I feel much like that untried young man, still struggling to know and discern God’s voice and His will, to know how best to steward God’s mysteries without guile but with a genuine heart, absent of deceit or personal gain.  But it is no different that the tension in which we all live, hearts still marked by sins of thought, word, and deed, yet reborn in baptism and clothed in Christ’s perfect righteousness.
    None of us is a completed work but a work in progress, still attaining and not having attained the full measure of the stature of Christ.  Yet God does not disdain our weakness nor count us unworthy of His work.  God does not call the qualified but qualifies the called, whether Bartholomew wondering what good can come of Nazareth or a young Pastor standing before His first congregation, or you, the baptized, from many backgrounds, whom He makes one body in Christ and calls you in this baptism to be His witnesses, pointing not to ourselves but to Christ, inviting all to “come and see” what God has done through His Son, forgiving, saving, giving us life.
    As we heard from Proverbs today, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.”  God seeks us not for who we are but in spite of that.  God loved us enough not to leave us where He finds us, but to redeem us, restore us, and equip us with His Spirit, faith, the gifts needed to do what He has called us to do, and the grace to become the people He has declared us to be in our baptism.
    We have this treasure in earthenware jars, as St. Paul reminded us.  But the surpassing power and grace of God work in us frail and flawed though we be.  For we carry in our body the death of Jesus so that His life may also be manifest in us.  I did not have a clue where my life might lead when I was handed this staff and installed as Pastor in that first parish.  What I knew then, I know even better now.  It is not me but Christ in me.  If that is true for me, it is also true for you.  Whoever we are, from wherever we have been, God calls us to be His own, to be connected to the death and resurrection of Christ in baptism, and to live under Him and for His glory the new life that is His gift.  That is what Bart found out when Philip invited him to “Come and see.”  It was I found on Bart’s day when I was first installed as a Pastor in a parish.  And it is what you encountered in the call of God in those living waters of your baptism.  And it is our glory here today.  Amen.

Spiritual But Not Religious

A friend pointed me to this response from an unlikely source (a UCC minister).  Sounds good to me.  The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel, senior minister of the First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, posted this reflection called "Spiritual but Not Religious? Stop Boring Me,"which I have cross posted here...

On airplanes, I dread the conversation with the person who finds out I am a minister and wants to use the flight time to explain to me that he is "spiritual but not religious." Such a person will always share this as if it is some kind of daring insight, unique to him, bold in its rebellion against the religious status quo.

Next thing you know, he's telling me that he finds God in the sunsets. These people always find God in the sunsets. And in walks on the beach. Sometimes I think these people never leave the beach or the mountains, what with all the communing with God they do on hilltops, hiking trails and . . . did I mention the beach at sunset yet?

Like people who go to church don't see God in the sunset! Like we are these monastic little hermits who never leave the church building. How lucky we are to have these geniuses inform us that God is in nature. As if we don’t hear that in the psalms, the creation stories and throughout our deep tradition.

Being privately spiritual but not religious just doesn't interest me. There is nothing challenging about having deep thoughts all by oneself. What is interesting is doing this work in community, where other people might call you on stuff, or heaven forbid, disagree with you. Where life with God gets rich and provocative is when you dig deeply into a tradition that you did not invent all for yourself.

Thank you for sharing, spiritual but not religious sunset person. You are now comfortably in the norm for self-centered American culture, right smack in the bland majority of people who find ancient religions dull but find themselves uniquely fascinating. Can I switch seats now and sit next to someone who has been shaped by a mighty cloud of witnesses instead? Can I spend my time talking to someone brave enough to encounter God in a real human community? Because when this flight gets choppy, that's who I want by my side, holding my hand, saying a prayer and simply putting up with me, just like we try to do in church.

Listening to the Sound of His Master's Voice...

Those of a certain age recall the RCA dog, head tilted, listening to the sound of his master's voice (is it live or is it Memorex?).  Of all the trademarks ever taken, I have a very sentimental attachment to the RCA dog.  Nipper (1884–1895) was a dog that served as the model for Barraud's painting titled His Late Master's Voice. Let me borrow the history from Wiki:

In 1898, three years after Nipper’s death, Francis painted a picture of Nipper listening intently to a wind-up Edison-Bell cylinder phonograph. On February 11, 1899, Francis filed an application for copyright of his painting “Dog Looking At and Listening to a Phonograph.” Thinking the Edison-Bell Company located in New Jersey, USA, might find it useful, he presented it to James E. Hough, who promptly said, “Dogs don’t listen to phonographs.” On May 31, 1899, Francis went to the Maiden Lane offices of The Gramophone Company with the intention of borrowing a brass horn to replace the original black horn on the painting. Manager, William Barry Owen suggested that if the artist replaced the entire machine with a Berliner disc gramophone, the Company would buy the painting. A modified form of the painting became the successful trademark of Victor and HMV records, HMV music stores, and RCA. The trademark itself was registered by Berliner on July 10, 1900.

Ahhhh, I digress.  The point of this being that how it sounds matters and this is true when applied to Scripture.  I read of the appearance of the Common English Bible and found this on its website:  The Common English Bible is not simply a revision or update of an existing translation. It is a bold new translation designed to meet the needs of Christians as they work to build a strong and meaningful relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  A key goal of the translation team is to make the Bible accessible to a broad range of people; it’s written at a comfortable level for over half of all English readers. [aka that about the third grade reading level]  You can compare its translation with others familiar to you by clicking here.

Now I do not know what you think of such "readable" translations but I am not so keen on them.  Readable to whom?  Readable by whom?  Readable for whom?  It appears to me that the plethora of translations has not lead to easy reading but loads of confusion.  I spend half my time trying to explain to folks why the version they are using says it one way and another version says it differently, etc...  We often find it impossible to get to the point of the passage until we have resolved such differences.  In addition, there is a vast difference between how something reads in your mind off the page and how it sounds to the ear.  Such "readable" translations often sound bland, wooden, and stilted when read out loud.  Furthermore, some passages have a liturgical identity that is only muddled and confused by these so called "readable" versions.  For example, we have adopted certain texts and given them liturgical identity in spoken word and song -- in such way that they are fully identified with their use.

When I think of Psalm 95, I sing it in the version used in the Venite of Matins.  When I think of the Magnificat, it is the sung text used in Vespers and Evening Prayer that I "hear" in mind.  We have grown accustomed to these texts and it is difficult to rip them out of their liturgical context and replaced them with "readable" versions.  "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves...."  Or "I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord..."  Or "Return to the Lord Your God, for He is gracious and merciful..."  Or "Create in me a clean heart, O God..."  There are more examples that space to list them all.

Scripture is not just some book.  Scripture is the sound of our Master's voice.  It is not just how we hear it but how we have heard and how it sounds.  Its form is recognizable and familiar (as well as its content).  Why do folk get so upset with tinkering with the language of the Our Father or using a different version of Psalm 23 at the funeral?  Because we have adopted these texts and this Scripture is liturgical language as well as the words of the Bible.  So we must be rather careful about translations and I, for one, do not think that all our attention to "readable" translations is all it is cut out to be.

CEV: If we claim, “ We don’t have any sin, ” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from everything we’ve done wrong...  OR The LORD is my shepherd.I lack nothing.He lets me rest in grassy meadows;he leads me to restful waters; he keeps me alive. . . Not yet there in my book...

This just in from another source: 
But beyond altering the translation to fit the sensitivities du jour, the CEB in general maims well-known expressions and sayings and renders Biblical language pedestrian to such a degree that Scripture becomes indistinguishable from ordinary speech. Pathos is drained utterly out of the text. This willingness to cater to society’s informality is a more subtle concession than the adoption of studied academic non-offensiveness, and it cannot as hastily be dismissed as a transparent ideological machination.

The fundamental problem is that the translators of the CEB seem to believe Christianity should submit to all stylistic demands of the culture it finds itself in, even if those demands leave it shorn of much of its complexity, elegance, and history, if not its core truths. In charity, this is a debate over means. Does effective conveyance of the Gospel—even to our highly democratic society—really require the kind of bland prose found in the CEB? Can such a stripped-down language hope to stand apart from a world of text messages and formulaic business-talk? The answer, I think, is no.

So far:  No 2  Yes 0
 

Mass Etiquette from a Roman Catholic Lay Perspective...

I quote the bulk of a post from another blog on church etiquette which one Roman Catholic woman has posted.  While I might quibble here and there (our church actually has religious activity bags to use during the service] her words are worth considering:

Mass Etiquette:  How to behave during a Catholic Mass


Remember you have entered into the house of God for the purpose of prayer, adoration, reflection, or  to celebrate a sacrament. Now is not the time to talk to your friends, but to talk to God. Please do not bring in any cups of coffee!

In order to help you enter into a sacred space we ask you to remember,

1. Turn off cell phones. Do not text messages or check your Facebook account from the pews or the back of the church. Leave your social media devices in the car. It’s time to focus on God. It’s distracting for others who are trying to pray. If you are waiting for an important phone call, consider going to mass at another time. Cameras, likewise should be left in the car, unless you are coming for a tour of the church and you have checked with the tour guide.

2. Do not chew gum during mass or put it in your side cheek, to chew on it later. Spit it out before entering into a church.

3. Dress with dignity for Mass. It seems that many women, many girls in this day and age have a need to always have a ‘sexy’ look. Mass is not a cocktail party. Mass is not a hockey arena. Come dressed with decorum, an aura of dignity. Consider teaching your children the different types of dress are important for different occasions. For everything there is a time. Please remember to dress modestly and ensure sure your daughters do , too. Bare shoulders and visible bra straps are not a good idea. They are highly distracting.

4. Do not bring children’s activity bags, granola bars, cheerio’s, juice boxes, water bottles, toys including a child’s DS, play station, game boy, iPod touch or similar types of amusements to church. Mass is only one hour long. Children would grow in virtue if their parents expected them to detach from these things for at least an hour a week.

5. Parents have a duty give their children ongoing, on the job training, all the time. That includes the obligation to train their children in the appropriate times to kneel, sit, stand and face the altar If children are engaged in playing with toys, eating, and drinking, they are surely not being taught about the fact that Jesus is really up there on the altar, significance of prayer, self control, and the importance of participating in the mass. Parents themselves get distracted with managing the dispensing of food and toys. On top of that it is a distraction to others in the pews who are hungry themselves, or who are trying to fully participate in mass.

6. Do not drink bottled water in a house of worship. If an adult, for some reason needs to drink water to take some medication, please leave the church premises or at least the mass and drink the water, if you must outside the celebration of the Eucharist.

7.  If you are late for mass, please do not walk down the aisles looking for a seat until it’s appropriate. You are disrupting others. The Toronto Symphony does not allow late comers to waltz in at ‘whatever’ time. Church ushers should be trained to enforce this. Please do not leave mass before it ends...it’s a bad example for your kids


8. Do not be an observer of the mass, but a participator. Don’t ask yourself, ‘What is this mass doing for me?” Instead, ask yourself, ‘What can I do to participate in the mass more fully?” Make an effort to listen, follow the readings, the homily, read scripture passages before mass, learn the prayers of the mass, follow along in the misslette and sing! You will become an outstanding role model for your kids.

9. Do not have conversations during the mass. You would never have a conversation, during a performance of the symphony. If you did, you would be asked to correct your behaviour or leave. Quite simply it’s rude.

10. It might be useful to ask ourselves, Who am I? Why am I here? The answers: To know God, to love him and serve Him especially at Mass!

HT to Dorothy Pilarski

Oh, My Goodness.... Put Your Foot Down, Indeed!

You can read the Internet Monk's post here.  I really don't want to repeat it since it would require also repeating the words to this pathetic example of a contemporary worship song that is all over the charts and the praise band circuit...

But you should probably go here and read it for yourself.

Suffice it to say that his conclusion is worth repeating:

Build congregations, not audiences.

Make disciples, not entertainment or emotional thrill seekers.

As with all areas of ministry, lead people toward maturity.

Treat worship music as another form of speaking and hearing God’s own Word.

Honor the music of the church by demanding quality and depth and artistic integrity.

Put your foot down.