Class 2  - February 20, 2022

Thesis II: Christian worship is directed to the Father  

Thesis III: Christian worship is inspired by the Holy Spirit 

Thesis IV: Christian worship is all about the one true God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit 

The liturgy begins with a procession. But this procession does not begin with the first hymn. The liturgy does not begin at the church at all. It begins in your home.  The work of the people of God begins in dozens of homes.  There comes a moment in your Sunday morning when a decision is made, whether you will come to church or not. In the moment that this decision is made, the liturgy for you begins.  So every Sunday there is a great and wonderful procession across the earth, that has millions and millions of people in it, traveling from their homes in the country and the city to churches.  

The culmination of this act of procession is the entrance hymn. It used to not be a hymn that we would enter with, but what was called an Introit. The introit was a verse from a psalm.  There are not many innovations, or changes, that the Lutherans made to the fundamental structure of the liturgy of the western church. But the entrance hymn was one of them. And, I think it was a good change. By the way, apparently the Roman Church thought it was a good change too. In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church changed to having an entrance hymn as well, instead of the introit.   

Why do we use a cross in the entrance procession?  Using the cross in the entrance procession symbolizes that we are here because of the sacrifice of Jesus.  But more specifically, it shows that we are gathered here by Jesus himself. To be a disciple is to follow Jesus. If we are to follow Jesus, the first place that he will lead us is to the Church. Martin Luther in the Small Catechism says that this is the work of the Holy Spirit, to place us in the lap of Mother Church.  That is what is happening in the procession from our homes to the church, and is symbolized by the cross and the little procession with the entrance hymn: the Spirit of God is gathering us here together. The Greek word for “church” is ekklesia. It comes from the Greek word kaleo, which means “to call.” The ekklesia is the gathering of people “called out” of the world.  The procession with the cross symbolizes that we have been called out of the world to follow Jesus. And for us to be the church, means that we have been called here, together. 

We come from all sorts of places in the world. God has determined the boundaries of our dwelling places, where we should be born, who our parents would be, our siblings. From these various places in life, he has called us to come together, here and now. And though our lives have taken various twists and turns, it has always been the Spirit of God at work in us to bring us to this very point in time where we are called out (ekklesia) of the world to be the church.  

Why are there sometimes candles in the procession? The candles represent the illumination of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God is the only one that can illumine the cross for us, make the cross into something desirable. Otherwise it is nothing more than an instrument of torture, a stumbling block and foolishness. But illumined by the light of God, the cross is now a symbol of life.  

The liturgy properly begins with some form of invocation of the name of our God. Either “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” or the apostolic greeting, “The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The first comes from Matthew 28:20. The second comes from 2 Corinthians 13:14. Throughout Paul’s letters, there is some form of greeting like this. They usually have some form of Trinitarian invocation. The church using this as the beginning of its liturgy does several things: first, it shows its continuity with the historic church, going all the way back to the apostles themselves.  What Saint Paul and Saint Peter and Saint John were doing as they went around the known world in the first century, we are inheritors of their work and we are continuing it here and now.

Second, as is shown in the invocation from the Great Commission, we are saying that what follows is done with and in God.  To baptize in the name of God. What does that mean? It means that someone is receiving the name of God. The work is being done on behalf of God, but not in his absence. The work is done with God, in the presence of God. Only God can baptize. That is why the Eastern Orthodox churches use the passive: N. is baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This same form is given as an option in the LBW, page 123. So in the liturgy, by invoking the name of God, we are saying that God is the one who does this work. God is the one acting. This can only be done if God is multi-personal.  This will be a point that is returned to, but the liturgy places us within the three persons of God. We are caught up in the eternal relations of the Father, Son and Spirit.  God is the one acting, but not in a way that excludes our action.  This is a joint work of God with us, of us with God. We usually think of work as being competitive: the more I work the less you need to. If we are trying to open a door that takes two hundred pounds of pressure to open, if I give two hundred pounds then you need not add any pressure. If I push with one hundred pounds then you need to add one hundred for the door to open. The more you push the less I need to, and vise verse. But that is not the way that action works between God and us. The technical term for this is non-competitive agency. Our agency, our working does not exclude God’s work. Between two humans, our work can and does exclude one another. But not so with God. God can do all of the work at the same time that a human is doing all of the work. Because he works on a different metaphysical level from us.

Third, and this is already implied in the previous point, this is the appropriate work of the baptized. It is only because of our baptisms that we are able to do what follows.

The apostolic greeting is, as Philip Pfatteicher put it in the Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship, the “overture of the opera”: 

• This three-fold doxology summarizes the Christian experience out of which the later formal doctrine of the Trinity developed. The grace of Christ leads to the love of the Father, which yields participation in the Spirit and produces communion between God and his people. It is thus a summary of the principal gifts of the three persons of the Holy Trinity which will be unfolded as the liturgy progresses. Like an overture to an opera, this verse of apostolic greeting introduces the themes which will be developed as the work proceeds and by this statement prepares the assembly for what follows. 1

So throughout the liturgy, Father, Son and Spirit are active, each in their own appropriate ways. The Son in giving grace, the Father in giving love, and the Spirit in bringing about fellowship and communion. The word grace is one that we hear all the time, but one that we might have difficulty in defining.  What is grace? When I was young I was given a definition of grace, defining it over against mercy. Mercy is when someone doesn’t do something to you that you deserve. Grace is when someone gives you something that you have not earned. That is not a terrible definition, and it will get us a certain distance.  So, what is the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”? The same word for “grace” in the NT is also translated as “gift.” In Greek, the word is charis. They mean the same thing in the Bible. So that is why it is not wrong to say that grace is receiving something that you have not earned. It could well be said, “the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, …” What is given in the liturgy is the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus himself, the gift of God. The grace that we have not earned, the gift of God, is Jesus himself.  We are promised, right up front, that in the liturgy, we are going to be given God’s love, fellowship and communion with God, and Jesus himself as a gift.  

There is a Trinitarian structure to the liturgy. Everything will have this structure. It is seen well in the form that the prayers almost always take. They are directed to the Father, not the Son or Spirit. That is because we are joining in Jesus’ praise and worship of his Father, and joining in the prayers that he offers to his Father. Remember, Jesus ever lives to intercede for us: “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).  Jesus lives to pray. Similarly, Jesus lives to praise his Father. Throughout the Psalms there is a refrain, where the Psalmist says that he will praise God from the midst of the congregation: “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you” (Psalm 22:22). Examples similar to this could abound. This was written long before Jesus was born. But because Jesus took on human flesh, he perfectly fulfilled what a human life is supposed to be. He was the perfect Jew, the perfect Israelite. He perfectly fulfilled the expectations of the Psalter, as well as of the Old Testament laws. He worshipped and praised his Father.  It is his worship and praise that he offered up in his earthly life that we come to share in, participate in through the liturgy. 

A commonplace amongst those who study rites and rituals across the span of human history is that worship is a “response of the creature to the Eternal.” This is the definition given by the Catholic mystic Evelyn Underhill in Worship.  To translate this into more specifically Christian terms, God has done something, now our job is to worship God in response to what he has done. We often think this way. God created us, therefore we ought to worship him. God sent his Son to die for us, therefore we ought to worship him for his sacrifice.  But this does not rightly get at what is taking place in the worship of the church. Our worship is not merely a response to the work of God. It is the work of God. It is a response and the work of God at the same time. Sometimes the Sunday morning liturgy is separated into parts that God does and parts that we do. We hear the voice of God in the reading of his Word, so we respond by saying, “thanks be to God,” or “praise to you, O Christ.” We hear the voice of God in the sermon, so we respond with a hymn. But that is not what is happening. We cannot separate out the parts that God is doing, and the parts that we are doing. Everything is the work of God and everything is the work of the church.   

This is only possible because God himself has taken on human flesh, such that everything that he did was the work of God and the work of man at the same time.  Every thing that Jesus did that was properly human, he did it in a divine way. Everything that he did that was proper only for God to do, he yet did it in a human way. This work is what the church does now, for it is the work of the church, the body of Christ.  

So the liturgy is all about Jesus and all about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at the same time. We are joined to Jesus, one of the Trinity, so that we can share in the very life of God, which is a life of love and fellowship, of peace and self-giving.  This life would not be possible if we did not have the Holy Spirit indwelling it, perfecting it.  So at every point the liturgy of the church is the work of God, and the work of humankind. This is only possible because of the incarnation of the Son, who was and is fully God and fully man.  

So the liturgy makes us into Christ’s body. And so we are able to, and do, join in the work that he is doing. That is why we begin the work with prayer, the Kyrie.  

“In peace, let us pray to the Lord.” 

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1 Philip H. Pfatteicher, Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in its Ecumenical Context (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1990), 115.  

Class 3 - March 6, 2022

To recap what we have done so far: 

So the liturgy makes us into Christ’s body. And so we are able to, and do, join in the work that he is doing. Hebrews 7:25 says, “he [that is, Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” That is why we begin the common work of the liturgy with prayer, the Kyrie. 

“In peace, let us pray to the Lord.”

Why is it that we begin with peace? It is because peace is necessary to worship God. This is not merely the absence of war. In the time of war, we can yet have and live in peace. Acts 10:36 summarizes the ministry of the Apostle Peter after Christ’s Ascension, saying Peter traveled around Israel “preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all).”   Peace is necessary to pray and worship because it shows that there is no hostility between us and God. This peace is a restoration of the relationship that existed between man and God in paradise.  But it is more than just this. It is bringing humankind toe the fulfillment of what was intended in paradise. This is what Israel means when they speak of shalom. We, as Christians, believe that this is what has been brought about in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:13–14 says, “now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace.”

Isaiah 9:6, prophesying the coming of the Messiah, says:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 

and his name shall be called  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The next three prayers define and locate this peace. 

“For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.” Peace is a gift, it is heavenly. This peace saves. 

“For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.” We are praying for the saving work of God, the saving peace that is our Lord Jesus Christ, to be at work in the whole world. This necessarily includes the well-being of the Church, because the Church is Christ’s body. Without the well-being of the 

Church, how can the world know that Christ (the head of the Church) is Lord, and that he intends good, the true and final well-being of the world and every person in it? On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he taught the disciples what their life together must be like. He gave them the Eucharist as their worship and life, and he gave a new commandment: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 14:34–35). This is the well-being of the church of God: when the love of God governs and guides and permeates the Church.  Only in this way can “the unity of all” be achieved. 

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11–22)

“For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.” The fourth petition asks for this peace to be present and given to those present in the congregation. It is specifically meant to be a prayer for those who are present at the moment of prayer, physically present. Others are prayer for as well, but this is a specific petition for those who are now present. This speaks to the importance of physically gathering together. It cannot be replaced by zoom, or phoning in. The Spirit of God gathers a body for Christ whenever we come together. 

“Help, save, comfort and defend us gracious Lord.” The final petition summarizes the gifts that this peace brings. 

The congregational response is “Kyrie eleison,” which means, “Lord, have mercy.” This response is a sort of universal petition. It is used as if to say, “Lord, whatever I have just asked for, or whatever I or someone else need, grant it for your mercy’s sake.”

Class 4  - March 13, 2022

To recap where we have been thus far: 

The liturgy re-incorporates us into Christ Body (Latin: corpus). What was granted in Baptism is accomplished again as we gather together to do the work of the baptized, the liturgy (from Greek laos, “people,” and ourgos, “work”), which is to worship God and to give thanks to him for what he has done in Christ. In being included in Christ, we are also included in the life of God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We therefore are included in the work that is uniquely Christ’s, which includes interceding for the world. Thus our first work is to pray.

The Kyrie Eleison

The liturgy begins in prayer, because that is what Jesus lives to do: pray. The congregational response is “Kyrie eleison,” which means, “Lord, have mercy.” This phrase was used in the Septuagint (LXX,  see footnote 1) in a number of places (for instance, Psalm 41:4, LXX 40:5).  It was first used in the liturgy in the Christian East, and was somewhat widespread in the east by the middle of the 4th century.  It spread to the west through Saint Ambrose in Milan at the beginning of the 5th century. By the 8th century, it was used basically everywhere. 

It is an acclamation, which in this sense means that its linguistic use is separate from its literal meaning.  In this sense, it is similar to hosanna, which literally means “save now,” but came to be used as a more general term of praise.  Saying kyrie eleison is not specifically asking for mercy, in the sense that mercy is not doing bringing about a negative consequence that one justly deserves. This response is a sort of universal petition. 2 It is used as if to say, “Lord, whatever has just been mentioned, or whatever is now in my heart, I ask you to do, or whatever I or someone else need, grant it for your love’s sake.” The specific form of the Kyrie that we use comes from the Byzantine Great Litany, with a few petitions eliminated. These petitions are essentially added back in for the “Little Litany” of the Vespers service.

In Lutheran practice, the Kyrie is not mandatory for every Eucharistic liturgy. Many Lutheran churches will omit the kyrie during Christmas and Easter. For the season of Lent, it is the Little Litany from the Vespers service that we will be using as the prayers of the people. 

The Hymn of Praise

The Gloria. Luther Reed reports Luther saying, without citation, that the Gloria “did not grow, not was it made on earth, but it came down from heaven.” 3 There is a legend, told in the Liber Pontificalis, that it was first used at a Christmas liturgy by Pope Telesophorus (d. 136). It is sometimes also called the “angelic hymn.” This is an ancient hymn, and was used no later than the middle of the fourth century. Since the tenth century, the standard practice has been to use the Gloria throughout the year, except for Advent and Lent. 

It is easy to see why it is called the angelic hymn, since it begins with the words from Luke 2 spoken or sung by the angels: “Glory to God in the highest …”

What follows is then three stanzas with a concluding doxology. The content of the hymn is almost exclusively descriptive: defining our God, reminding us who he is.  The first stanza is to the Father. The second and third are to the Son. The Holy Spirit does not have a stanza, but is included in the doxology.

Worthy is Christ. This alternative hymn is a compilation of verses from Revelation: 19:7, 9; 5:9; 5:12-13; 15:2–4; 19:5–6; 11:17. This is the song of heaven, that we are now being allowed to share in. In the liturgy of the Church, heaven comes to earth, wea re brought to be with Christ in the heavenlies.  And so we join in the liturgy of heaven. This is the song of the angels, the song of the saints, surrounding the throne of God, ever proclaiming the glories of our King. Therefore this hymn is especially appropriate in Easter, Christ the King, and All Saints Sunday. This is God’s feast, because it is his victory. We are included in the feast. 

Present in both hymns is Christ the Lamb. He is our sacrifice. He is slain, and is yet triumphant. Therefore we are always and ever in a position to sing praise, to celebrate, to feast.  Nonetheless, it is not appropriate to sing the hymns of praise during the penitential seasons. 

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1 The Septuagint, usually referred to by its Roman numeral designation LXX, which means “seventy,” is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. It was translated in the final centuries BC, and is the Old Testament that the New Testament cites. There was a legend about the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, which said that seventy elders were tasked with translating the OT into Greek. They each took seventy days to translate it. When they came together to compare translations at the end of those seventy days, they found that their translations were all exactly the same. This was intended to prove that their translations were inspired by God, and were to be considered as the Word of the Lord just as much as the Hebrew Old Testament was.  This is nothing more than a legend. We as Christians would heartily affirm it as the Word of God, especially given the fact that it is the Old Testament that is quoted in the New Testament.  Only after the rapid spread of Christianity did the Jews begin to criticize the LXX.

2 Philip H. Pfatteicher, Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in its Ecumencial Context (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1990), 115, citing The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, with commentary by Basil Shereghy (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1961), 15. 

3 Luther Reed, Lutheran Liturgy, 273.

Class 5  - March 20, 2022

To recap where we have been thus far: 

The worshipping community is the Body of Christ gathered together by the Holy Spirit, to share in the life of the Church’s risen, ascended Head, Jesus Christ. All that is Christ’s is in the liturgy being shared with his Body, including his relationship with his Father. Therefore, we pray through Jesus and with Jesus and in Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. 

Last week, there was a question asked what is the source of the term “litany.” As with many other English words, “litany” comes into English via Latinized Greek words used in the medieval era.  The Greek original is litaneuō (λιτανευω), which means “to entreat,” or “to implore.” It is not used in the New Testament, but does occur twice in the LXX, most notably Psalm 45:12 (LXX 44:13): “And daughters of Tyre will do obeisance to him [the king] with gifts; your face the rich of the people will entreat (litaneuō).” Essentially, a litany was a prayer.  Over time, the term came to be less associated with prayer in general, and more specifically associated with a particular form of prayer, i.e., the Great Litany (for one instance of the Great Litany, see LBW pp. 168–173).

The Prayer of the Day

The Kyrie and the Hymns of Praise were both optional, depending on the season or day of the church calendar. The Prayer of the Day is really is not optional, according to historic use.  It begins with an invocation that is at the same time a promise: “the Lord be with you.” Matthew 28:20 is invoked and remembered here, as is Matthew 18:20 (“where two or three are gathered together in my name…”). The specific wording may come from Ruth 2:4, which is the only place in Scripture where that exact phrase occurs. Gabriel’s pronouncement to Mary is very similar as well. The response used to be “and with thy spirit.” This simply meant: with your whole person. 

“Let us pray.” Prayer is here shown to be corporate. Prayer is always corporate, and is dependent upon the Lord being with us.  Even if you are praying in a monastic cell deep in Irish countryside, miles from the nearest person, prayer is still corporate.  That is why, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he began, “Our Father … ” Prayer is always praying with Jesus and in Jesus. Because Jesus is always the head of the Body, which is the Church, prayer is always also with the whole church. The presiding minister may be the one saying the prayer, but everyone is praying.  

It is called the Prayer of the Day because it is designed to gather up the central way or ways that our God will be proclaimed that day.  Therefore it is directly related to the readings and the calendar. These prayers are usually quite ancient, or are based on ancient prayers. They often can be traced back to the fifth century. 

A Note on the Structure of Prayer

All prayer is addressed “to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit” (Council of Hippo, 393). Prayer is always necessarily Trinitarian.  That is why the ending of the prayers always has a doxological conclusion. We are being taught what the structure of the Christian life is through these prayers. This does not mean that we cannot, or ought not, direct prayers to the Spirit or to the Son. It simply means that this should be the normative form of prayer, and the normative form of the Christian life.  

The Lessons

The church received the structure of its readings from Israel. Long before Christ was born, the structure of synagogue worship was to have a reading from the Law (Torah), the prophets, and at least one psalm. Following the reading, there would be a short teaching on the reading, often including discussion about the text. This basic structure can be seen in Luke 4, when Jesus is at synagogue. In the midst of the synagogue service, he is appointed or selected to read the lesson from the prophets, in this case Isaiah. Afterwards, everyone’s eyes are upon him, and he begins his teaching or sermon by saying: “today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). 

The Church received this structure, and modified it once the writings of the NT were more widespread. The structure of one OT reading, psalm, Epistle reading and Gospel, did not happen all at once. The church in Antioch in the 4th century, for instance, had a reading from the Law (Torah), three psalms, a reading from the prophets, Epistle lesson, and Gospel lesson.  It was not until after the collapse of the Roman Empire that the current structure became relatively widespread, when Emperor Charlemagne (d.  814) enjoined liturgical uniformity on the western church by the work of Alcuin of York (d. 804). 

The four-fold structure of the readings shows several things. Firstly, it shows that we are in fundamental continuity with Israel. We understand ourselves to have been grafted on to the vine that Israel naturally belongs to. Secondly, we confess the whole of the Word of God to be for us today.  Thirdly, and most importantly, with these several readings, we are shown that they all testify to the same one, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Word of God. In him, and only in him, are all of the words of Holy Scripture gathered up. He is himself the unity of the Scriptures. They all point to him. The Old Testament is, on its own terms, a witness to Jesus Christ.  

Class 6  - March 27, 2022

To recap where we have been thus far: 

The gathered assembly of people is gathered together by the Holy Spirit so that he might form a body for Christ, just as the Spirit did in the womb of the Virgin Mary. So all that happens in the liturgy is forming us into Christ’s body, making us not only like Christ, but one little christs, members of his body shaped and formed and molded by the Spirit to be in every way like unto Christ. In this way we hear the Word of God. 

Question from Last Week:  "And with your spirit,” or “And with thy spirit.”

Four times in Saint Paul’s letters he ends them with a salutation that includes the phrase: “and with your spirit.” The last verse in Galatians, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen” (6:18). Philippians 4:21– 23, “ 21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” 2 Timothy 4:22, “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.” Philemon 25, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” 

To say “the Lord be with your spirit” is scriptural language, and simply is intended to mean: “the Lord be with you.” For most of the history of the church, the scriptural response was the one that was used in the liturgy. It was changed, so far as I can tell, because of concerns about dualism. It should also be acknowledged that, in much of the church’s past, the material nature of human being was inordinately denigrated in favor of the immaterial. That does not mean that Saint Paul is guilty of this. Every era has its blind spots, every era has particular mistakes that it is prone to make. In the past, a perennial mistake was the denigration of the material, which assumed that much of what the Christian life was about was overcoming the material, overcoming the embodied nature of humanity. For instance, it was hard for our forefathers in the faith to imagine that embodied practice of the faith could actually be to our eternal benefit, and more than in a merely penitential sense. Our own era has a tendency to worship the material. Our era denigrates the immaterial, what cannot be seen and evaluated in a laboratory. To be human is to be an embodied soul or a besouled body. Denigrating either the material or the immaterial will be to the detriment of the Church and to individual Christians. Christians must subject all that we are to him, and trust that he is using all that we are—besouled bodies, embodied souls—to make us his beloved children, now and forever. 

The Old Testament Lesson

The church has never existed without the Old Testament. It has, however, existed without the New Testament.  The OT was the first book of the Church. The writings of the NT were all written by Jews who had grew up reading, studying and learning the Law and the Prophets.  The writings of the NT arise in the context of reflection on the OT in light of the new thing that has happened in Christ Jesus. The OT was never discarded, it was never understood to have been superseded.  Rather, the OT was found to also be a witness to Christ. Whenever the Church has devoted itself to the study of the OT in the light of Christ, the result has been a better understanding of both the OT and of Christ himself and his work. In fact, we cannot understand the life and work of Christ without the Old Testament. Christ did not just come to humankind in general: he came to Israel. All of the Old Testament is God preparing Israel for the coming of the Messiah. That is why the land was so important, because that is the place where Christ was to be born. That is why they were given the law, they were being prepared for recognizing the work that Christ was going to do. The story of the Old Testament is the story of the Word becoming flesh. 

We start with this reading because this is where God’s engagement with humankind begins. In the liturgy, the whole of the history of salvation is going to be re-enacted. Therefore it is appropriate to begin with the OT lesson. 

The Old Testament lesson is not preparation for the Gospel lesson. The OT lesson is not preparation for the Gospel. Lutherans have (rightly!) used the interpretive lens of the Law and the Gospel for understanding our salvation, and for understanding what proper preaching is. But the Old Testament is not simply the law while the New Testament is the Gospel. The OT is filled with the Gospel, just as the NT is filled with the law, instructions on living in Christ in this world. Christ is himself the fulfillment of the Law, and he is the Gospel in person. The OT tells us about Jesus, so both law and gospel are present. 

In the OT, the form that the Gospel takes is usually the form of a promise.  It has to always be pointing forward to Christ in some way. But it does not point forward and away from itself. It points forward precisely by pointing to the words of Scripture itself. That is why, in the Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald, John the Baptist has the Bible in one hand and is pointing to Christ in the other.  His eyes are on Christ, and he is only enabled to see him, and to properly point to him, because he has in his hands the Old Testament. 

The Psalter

The psalms are the prayerbook of the bible. They are the prayerbook of Jesus.  Every little Jewish child in the first century would have memorized the whole of the Psalter before he reached adulthood (at age 13, or so). It should be no surprise then that the OT book most quoted in the NT is the Psalter. The psalms are not first the prayers of the people of God, whether Israel or the Church. They are first the prayers of Jesus.  If he prays them, they are certainly his first.  So then, “We should look for Christ quite as much as David, in reading the Psalms.” 1 Really not quite as much, but more.  The psalm become ours only because they are first Jesus’ prayers, and we are in him. He is the one who gives his own prayers to us. 

We chant the psalms. This is a form of sing, or intoning. WE sing in this particular way because this is the way that they were given to Israel. If you look at a Hebrew Bible, there are marks all over the psalms, telling them how to chant them. It does not give notes, but it gives breathing marks, etc. The psalms were intended to be chanted. And, that is how Jesus would have heard them, and sung them. And, whenever we are given insight into responses to God in heaven, the response is song. As the Catholic liturgist Josef Jungmann well-said, “it is in the very nature of things that the grace-laden message which God proclaims to men would awaken an echo in song.” The psalms are our God-given song to echo his grace. 

In both the OT Lesson and in the Psalter we see that the Gospel of our Lord, and the Christian life in union with Christ, cannot be reduced to a set of bullet points, it cannot be reduced to mere ideas. We are being shaped and formed into Christ through ancient stories, through songs and poems, through aphorisms and words of wisdom, through tales of conquest and defeat, through tales of heroism and cowardice.  The full scope of human life and emotion, evil and goodness, wisdom and folly are given to us for our growth in Christ. And the very fact that this is the Word of God shows us that Christ gathers up the full range of human experience in his own life, he sanctifies it, and offers it up to the Father, so that we too might offer up our lives as living sacrifices unto God, holy and acceptable and pleasing in his sight.  

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1J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels I: Matthew–Mark [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1977, orig. 1857], 267

Class 7 - April 3, 2022

The New Testament Lesson

The New Testament Lesson is usually one of the letters attributed to Saint Paul, but could also be from anywhere else in the New Testament too, excepting the Gospels. It is clear that Saint Paul intended for his letters to be read in the worship services of the gathered church. At the end of his Letter to the Colossians, Saint Paul says, “when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:16).  Letters from apostles were passed around, already beginning to be understood as for every church at every time in every place. They were not immediately recognized as Holy Scripture, but they were quickly recognized as the Word of the Lord. 

The Responses

The Old Testament and the New Testament lessons have the same response: 

“The Word of the Lord.” “Thanks be to God.” When the Bible is read in the Church, it is every bit as much the work and Word of God as when God spoke and created Light. It is just as much the Word of the Lord as when Moses heard the voice of God speaking from the burning bush, or when the voice of the Lord was heard thundering from heaven at the Baptism of our Lord.  That is what we ourselves testify to every time that hear the Bible read. We are being taught, every time we response, that this is God’s Word for us today. It is for us today just as it was for whoever were the first hearers.  

There is a tendency amongst Biblical scholars to take something like a legal “originalist” stance when interpreting Scripture.  That is, some Biblical scholars think that it is their job to figure out what the words of the bible meant to its original hearers and speakers. For instance, Saint Paul wrote his Letter to the Ephesians to people who lives in Ephesus.  Ephesus was the location where there was one of the great seven wonders of the ancient world: the Temple of Artemis. So the goal would include, in such scriptural interpretation, is to figure out all of the ways that Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians contradicts the cultus, or worship, of Artemis. Once we are able to figure out all of the ways that the original hearers of the letter would have heard those words, then our work is done.  

Such interpretation in insufficient.  What it fails to recognize is that the words of Scripture were not just written down for their original hearers, but for every hearer that would ever hear the Word of God. It is the Word of the Lord for us, every bit as much as it was the word of the Lord for the original audience. How the original hearers would have heard and received the words of Saint Paul are only one horizon, how we ought to receive his words today is the other horizon of interpretation. This is because, there are at all times two authors of Holy Scripture: the human author, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the primary author of Scripture, and the Holy Spirit had each particular Christian in mind when he inspired the writers of Scripture to write what they did. All of Scripture is God-breathed, written down for our instruction (2 Tim 3:16–17). In 1 Corinthians 10, Saint Paul is discussing the story of the Exodus. He says, in v. 11, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” This is a great mystery. But at minimum, this shows that the whole history of God’s engagement with Israel also had the followers of Christ in mind.  

So when the Bible is read in the church, it is truly the Word of the Lord without qualifier and without remainder.  Therefore we respond with gratitude: “thanks be to God.” This teaches us that, no matter how much it seems that the word is too much for us, or if it does not immediately strike us as what we desire, we give thanks nonetheless. We are being taught, precisely in giving thanks, that it is for us no matter the lack of our desire, no matter how much it might seem offensive. This word, spoken here and now, is the Word of the Lord given and spoken to us. 

The Gospel Lesson

Before the reading of the Gospel there is it either the “Alleluia Verse,” or the “Gradual.” In the Middle Ages, and retained in the earlier Lutheran churches, the gradual was used immediately before the Gospel. The gradual was a combination of a psalm, or part of a psalm, with “alleluia” as a response. In Lutheran use, the alleluia was used for congregational responses, which had been sidelined in the Middle Ages.  

Alleluia literally means “praise the Lord.” It comes from Psalms 104–150, the only place that it is found in the OT. It came to signify a universal shout of praise, similar to how the Kyrie came to represent a universal request: “The Alleluia is the perpetual voice of the church, just as the memorial of his passion and victory is perpetual.” 1 Though Luther says it is perpetual, it has been the practice of the church in the West to omit the singing and speaking of the alleluia during Lent dating back to the 5th century. We say Alleluia before the reading of the Gospel because the presence of the Gospel in our midst is already the presence of the victory of God, which we get to hear, share in, and respond to. 

Why is the Gospel reading last? The Gospel is the climax of the readings, which is why it occupies last place.  All of the readings have been speaking of Christ. This speaks of Christ most directly, without any need for allegorical and metaphorical interpretation. There are no hidden prophecies. All is here fulfilled.

All of the practices around the reading of the Gospel have the special purpose of demonstrating that Christ is present when his Word is read.  This is something that Lutherans are absolutely dogmatic and even dogged about: Christ is present in the reading and proclamation of the Gospel. The reading of the Gospel is itself already a first preaching, a first sermon. Just as the Eucharist and Baptism and the Absolution are sacraments, they are visible words, so the preaching and reading of the Gospel are audible sacraments. Christ is present, he is the one who reads his Word, he is the one who speaks when his word is read: “For the preaching of the Gospel is nothing else than Christ coming to us, or we being brought to him.” 2 Jesus, in Luke 10:16, says to his disciples whom he had just sent out into the Israel telling about the coming of the Kingdom of God, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” In the reading and preaching of the Gospel, Christ is present to be rejected or received.  Everything in the liturgy around the Gospel reading is ordered toward proper recognition and reception of Christ in the Gospel. 

That is why we stand, that is why the responses are different from the responses to the other readings, that is why many churches have special Gospel books. The practice of standing of the reading of the Gospel goes back so far that the origins pre-date any reflection on it. Therefore it seems that this was a practice that has been done since the very beginning of the public reading of the Gospels. Sometimes the Gospel is processed to the center of the congregation. See John 1:14. It is common in many churches to cross one self when the Gospel is announced. It is also common to do a three-fold crossing of oneself here, crossing one’s forehead, mouth and heart. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “we have the mind of Christ.” Romans 10:8 says that the word is near us, it is “in our mouths and in our hearts.” It is a form of prayer, asking that the Lord would dwell in our minds, on our lips, and in our hearts. 

In the announcement of the Gospel, we respond by saying, “Glory to you, O Lord.” We are now addressing the one who is here present.  We will do so again at the end of the Gospel reading: “Praise to you, O Christ.”

There is really only one Gospel, not several “Gospels.” The proper way to refer to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John is “The Holy Gospel according to Saint John”  (Lutherans) or “The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Saint John, Matthew, etc.” (Anglicans). The four tell the one Gospel in somewhat different ways, but they are all speaking of the same Lord, and they all proclaim the same singular Gospel. 

Lessons: Conclusion

In the reading of God’s Holy Word, God is himself present He is the one who speaks his Word, always.  That all four readings are given together in the way that they are shows that they all speak of the same one, and that they are all pointing to Jesus. Christ is the key to all of scripture. He is the fulfillment of all of scripture.  Christ is the only one who can gather up in himself all of the words of the Bible. He is himself the Word made flesh, of whom every word in Scripture speaks. Like Paul, we preach Christ crucified, and we can only know Christ crucified by having the whole of the Bible tell us about him, and show him to us. After the reading of the Gospel, there usually follows the sermon. 

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1 LW 53:24, Formula Missae.

2 Martin Luther, “A Brief Instruction on what to Look for and Expect in the Gospels,” LW 35:121.

Class 8 - April 24, 2022

To recap where we have been thus far: 

Every local church is gathered together by the Holy Spirit, who forms the Church to be the Body of Christ. The church shares in the life of Christ. It receives all that is his. Everything that takes place in the liturgy of the church is intended to form us into Christ so that we can rightly worship his Father, and properly participate in his life. Because we are still weak in faith, it is not sufficient for us that this should only happen once, but must be repeated over and over again as we await the resurrection of our lives.  

The Sermon

The sermon is an inheritance from the synagogue worship of ancient Israel. When, in the gospels, Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah, and then sat down with all eyes upon him, this was likely the normal practice of the day. After the readings from the Law and the Prophets, one of the men in the community was tasked with being the teacher for the day, who would expound upon what was just read. Jesus may have been the appointed preacher. 

From the time of his youth, Jesus was constantly found in the synagogues, speaking about Scripture. But he also preached and taught on the highways and byways of Israel. He preached in people’s homes. There is more in the Gospels about what Jesus said, than there is about what Jesus did. We see from this that preaching is necessary for the people of God.  Scripture demands interpretation. In the Church, there was never a time when preaching was not central to its way of life.  Jesus preached, so the church has continued the practice. In the book of Acts (chapter 2), immediately after Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church, Peter preaches. 

We saw earlier that the reading of Scripture is already a first proclamation (kerygma) of the Word of God. When Scripture is read it is already a sort of sermon to us. Similarly, when one preaches, it is the Word of God for us as well. The preacher becomes a modern day prophet and apostle when she preaches.  

21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 

24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:21– 25)

“We preach Christ crucified.” Notice the absence of the preposition.  We do not merely preach about Christ crucified. We do not preach for Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified. In the sermon, Christ himself is present. He is there and then being mediated to the church. He is, in the sermon, giving himself to his people. The sermon is not so that we can learn more about Jesus. The sermon brings Jesus into our midst, and brings us to him. As John Calvin said, a French reformer who worked primarily in Swiss Geneva, when we preach it is as if the blood of Christ is dripping on the heads of those who hear.  Or as Luther said, in the sermon, it is as if Christ himself is seated next to everyone present, and is whispering in the ear of every Christian. 

Christ is the one who preaches to the congregation. It surely does not often seem like this is true.  Preachers are usually quite unprofound. Preachers are usually not great orators, nor are they usually so learned that anyone should be impressed. This is precisely the foolishness of the Gospel:

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 1 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

Christ therefore is both the preacher and the preached. 

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. (Ephesians 1:13–17)

Saint Paul is speaking to the Ephesians. Remember in the Gospels when Jesus traveled to Ephesus on a preaching tour? Me neither. When did Christ preach to the Ephesians who were far off? He preached to them whenever someone came and preached to them the Gospel.  When the Gospel is preached, Christ is there doing the preaching.  

That is why many preachers begin their sermons with the declaration, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Doing so “places all that follows under the power and guidance of the Holy Trinity. The preacher by this formula declares that the sermon is not a collection of private thoughts or personal notions but is what the triune God wants and helps to be said and heard.”1 Many Lutherans also use the Pauline formula, “Grace to and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:2). This similarly is declaring that grace and peace are here and now being bestowed through the preaching of the Word of God. As grace and peace are not things that can be separated from Christ himself, this necessarily means that Christ is present and given in and through the sermon. 

This understanding of the sermon is not unique to Lutherans.  Roman Catholics would have a similar understanding, as would most Eastern Orthodox.  Though we are not unique in understanding the sermon to be the Word of God, Lutherans have given a special emphasis to preaching.  Luther was, in addition to many other things, a preacher. He thought that the sermon was a unique opportunity to show the “for-me-ness” of the Gospel.  The sermon is not applying the Bible to our lives, it is an opportunity to show how the Bible already speaks to us in the way that we need.  The Bible does not need to be applied to us in the sermon. If anything, we need to be applied to the Bible.  

The sermon then is not a lecture, it is not a performance. The sermon is not the work of the preacher alone. It is one part of the liturgy, the work of the people. The sermon is a dialogue.  In the Lutheran tradition in America, this has primarily taken the shape of one person doing all of the speaking. But that does not need to be the case. In Augustine’s sermons, for instance, one can at times see that there were questions coming from the congregation. In sermons from John Chrysostom, he sometimes responds to comments made by the congregation. But even if the congregation is not doing much, or any, of the speaking, there is still the work of listening and hearing. Listening and hearing is not something that, at its best, happens involuntarily.  It can happen involuntarily, which is not insignificant for the spread of the Gospel. The task of the congregation (including the preacher!) during the sermon is primarily to work at hearing and listening. For faith comes from hearing, hearing by the Word of God. 

See also 1 Timothy 4:1–5, in which Saint Paul encourages Timothy to preach the word in season and out of season. 

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1 Philip H. Pfatteicher, Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship, 144.

Class 9 - May 1, 2022

The Placement of the Sermon 

The placement of the sermon is not insignificant either.  It usually comes after the Gospel reading, but not necessarily so. Luther, for instance, thought that there were various places that the sermon could rightly be placed: 

We do not think that it matters whether the sermon in the vernacular comes after the Creed or before the introit of the mass; although it might be argued that since the Gospel is the voice crying in the wilderness and calling unbelievers to faith, it seems particularly fitting to preach before mass. For properly speaking, the mass consists in using the Gospel and communing at the table. 1

The Lutheran tradition has primarily placed the sermon after the Gospel reading, and before either the Creed or the Hymn of the Day.  

Having the sermon immediately after the Gospel shows us that the especial task of the preacher is to preach the Gospel. Preachers must preach both the Law and the Gospel, if the preacher will truly preach Christ. But the law comes to us in may ways, the Gospel comes to us in only one way—through the proclamation and distribution of the Word of God.   

Having the Creed immediately after the sermon places the sermon within the whole sweep of God’s saving work. The Creed also serves to correct anything that is insufficient in the sermon. If the preacher did not properly take into account the fact that God is Creator—the Creed serves to correct that insufficiency. If the preacher did not properly reckon with the fact that our hope will be unfulfilled until the resurrection of the dead, the creed corrects this.  

The Hymn of the Day 

The Hymn of the Day is something that is unique to the Lutheran tradition. It is really the only Lutheran innovation in the liturgy. From early on in the Lutheran tradition, this hymn was standardized.  Every Lutheran church would be singing the same hymn on the same day, year after year. This list of hymns were, essentially, the seventy or so best and most important hymns in the Christian tradition. They were supposed to be hymns that were fitting to be sung every year for one’s entire life. They are to be lifelong companions, teaching us the faith once for all handed on to the church by lifelong repetition. These hymns come from the whole history of the church. They are often rather difficult to sing.  

The Hymn of the Day can be in one of two places, either immediately before or immediately after the sermon. If before the sermon, it functions as a response to the gospel lesson. If after the sermon, it functions as a response to the gospel preached. It serves to teach us that, in response to the proclamation of the Gospel, in response to receiving Christ through the preaching of his word, it is especially appropriate to joyfully respond in song.  The angels constantly sing their praises to God. God’s throne room is filled with the praises of the angels and archangels. After having heard again in the sermon that Christ is for us, how can we keep from singing? There is a famous line from Luther’s Lectures on Isaiah, in which he says, “so long as we live, there is never enough singing.”* I am glad to know that, of the few things that are truly unique to the Lutheran liturgical tradition, an extra hymn is one of them.  

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1 Luther Works 53:25

Class 10 - May 8, 2022

The Lectionary 

As has so often been the case in our examination of the Lutheran liturgy, the lectionary too has its roots in the worship of ancient Israel.  During the time of King David, the public worship of Israel gained further institutional support and therefore greater communal involvement. It is from the formation of Israel’s public, communal worship that the structure and shape of the Psalter arose.  The central book for the common people’s involvement in Israel’s corporate worship of the LORD was through the Psalms. Individual psalms came to have special use at particular times in Israel’s seasons of feasting and fasting.  

Psalms 120–134, for instance, are often referred to as the Psalms of Ascent (or the Songs of Degrees, or Gradual Psalms).  They each have the superscription “a song of the ascents.” These psalms were sung as the people of Israel ascended the road to Jerusalem, which was a “city on a hill” (Matthew 5).  Three times every year, when the people of Israel flocked to Jerusalem for the three pilgrim festivals of Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths, they would sing these fifteen psalms.  

From this repeated worship usage arises, through the history of Israel and then the history of the Church, the lectionary. There are two lectionaries, the daily lectionary and the Sunday lectionary.  

Sunday Lectionary 

The Sunday lectionary is that which we use in Sunday worship. The Sunday lectionary is ordered around the readings from the Gospel, which are themselves typically ordered to the season or day of the church year. The Sunday lectionary has a three-year rotation to it.  The first year primarily uses the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the second the Gospel according to Saint Mark, the third Luke. There is not a year for John, as readings from the Gospel according to Saint John are used throughout the three years.  The Sunday lectionary (typically) includes a reading from the Old Testament, a Psalm, New Testament lesson, and a Gospel lesson. Only the OT lesson is sometimes changed, during the Easter season, for a reading from the Acts of the Apostles. This tradition of exchanging the OT for a reading from Acts is an ancient practice, and I will admit I am somewhat ambivalent about it.  I think it contributes to lack of knowledge of the OT.  The Sunday lectionary orders all of the non-Gospel readings to inform the Gospel reading. So the Gospel lesson is given pride of place.  

The Daily Lectionary 

The daily lectionary is a two-year cycle. It is ordered not toward the Gospel reading, but toward wider scriptural knowledge. So the readings in the daily lectionary are continuous readings. In this lectionary there are also three appointed readings, with several options for going through the Psalms.  In Cistercian, Augustinian and Benedictine monasteries, they go through the whole of the Psalter every week. Thomas Cranmer made a schedule for going through the Psalms once every month. There is also a schedule for going through the psalms yearly and twice-yearly.  

Both lectionaries are intended to show that Christ is the one who is the heart and center and purpose and goal of every jot and tittle of Scripture. Luther, somewhere, talks about the task of reading scripture as being like rubbing two coins together.  Having several portions of Scripture read at the same time gives us a chance to rub one text against another, and see how they hang together. What comes out in the rubbing is Jesus. They hang together, because they are the Word of the Lord.  

The Creed(s) 

The Lutheran Church, with all of the historic church communions, is a creedal church. That means that our most important doctrines, our most important theology, is confessed publicly every time that we come together as the church.  We are not trying to hide what we believe. We are not ashamed of what we believe. We want what we believe to be public, to be made known, to be understood by all who are present and adhered to by all those who would consider joining. This is not a mysterious society. We are not interested in secret knowledge. What we hold to be true is available to all for evaluation and criticism. We are not afraid of criticism and evaluation because we believe it to be demonstrably and factually true. Sometimes one might hear well-meaning Christians claim that they will have no creed but the Bible. But it will be noted that the Bible itself does not tell the Church to have no creed but the Bible. The Bible says that we should hand on what we have received. In the word of Saint Paul, from 1 Corinthians 15,  

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. 

From the beginning, the church started to formulate short pithy statements to summarize the whole of its teaching. This is not just for memory’s sake, but that is not insignificant. In short form, we confess regularly and aloud what we believe, thereby this story comes to define who we are and what we believe. This is the story of Christ, and it is the story of the church, and it is the story of the world. This is our meta-narrative. 

The Lutheran Church, with the church catholic, confesses the Nicene Creed. This is the only creed that has real claim to be recognized as a universal creed. It comes from the Council of Nicaea (325), and then both expanded and somewhat revised at the Council of Constantinople (381), especially in relation to the third article.  Therefore, it could more accurately be called the Niceo-Constantinopolitan Creed. For both of these Councils, the entire the extant church was represented. That is what it is the only creed that has real claim to universality. The Eastern Orthodox churches consider the Apostles Creed a local creed.  This is not necessarily a criticism, for there were many local creeds prior to and after the Councils of 325 and 381. But after those councils, more and more churches started using the creed that they produced. 

Eventually, all churches were using the Nicene Creed. The Lutheran practice has been to confess the Nicene Creed at all of the season that are not in Ordinary Time, and at all festivals and commemorations.  

One thing that is new in the Nicene Creed is that it is now specifically formulated to fend off heresies.  Most important at first was fending off the false notion that Christ is not God but a mere man.   

As Lutherans, we also confess the Apostles Creed and the Athanasian Creed. The Apostles Creed was the baptismal creed of the Roman Church, which was almost identical to the baptismal creed of the Jerusalem Church. Given that these were two of the five most important centers of early Christianity, it is not surprising that their creed would come to have lasting significance and use in the church. In the Lutheran church, the standard practice is to use the Apostles Creed for Ordinary Time, or the green-parament seasons.   

The Athanasian Creed, sometimes still, known by its Latin opening words Quicunque vult, is named after Saint Athanasius, who was the greatest theologian of the fourth century. He single-handedly (that is with the Holy Spirit) defended the divinity of Christ against the Arians, when it looked as if the whole world was Arian and against him. Athanasius contra mundum. The Athanasian Creed, however, was not written by Athanasius. It is of unknown origin, and probably comes from 5th or 6th century Gaul (modern day France).  It was circulated under his name as a sign of deference and honor to Athanasius, in order to say that it was attempting to be faithful to his teaching. This Creed does not have the same ecumenical standing as the other two creeds, but nonetheless is useful for confession in the church and for guiding right belief. In Lutheran churches, it is typically only used on Holy Trinity Sunday because of its profound and beautiful (and orthodox!) confession of the three persons of God.  It can be taken as a sort of expansion on the Nicene Creed.   

Class 11 - May 15, 2022

The Prayers 

The practice of including prayers for unique congregational needs is the most important place in the liturgy where the Church performs its priestly vocation. The priesthood of all believers is here demonstrated in liturgical fashion. It is “the unselfish concern for the church and for all the world and everyone in it in their several callings and necessities.” 1 In the prayers, the church joins with Jesus Christ, who “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). Christ lives to intercede, and so the church, which is his body, naturally joins him in what he is now doing.  

This was the church’s very first instinct. On the day of the birth of the church, at Pentecost, after Saint Peter’s sermon in which thousands converted to Christ, the Book of Acts describes what this newlyfounded church did: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). Saint Paul also encouraged the same:  

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior. (1 Tim 2:1–3) 

These prayers are intended to be locally specific, and therefore are addressing the needs of the day. But they are yet to remain prayers of the whole congregation. No one should ever have to wonder whether or not they can add their “amen” to the prayers. Therefore, nothing controversial is appropriate. These prayers are supposed to cover five specific categories: the whole Church, the nations, those in need, the parish, and special concerns.   

The prayers conclude, “Into your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray …” This is an echo of Psalm 31:5, which is one of Jesus’ last words from the cross: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” 

The Eucharistic Liturgy The Peace 

Having heard the Word of the Lord, having received the Word of God, we are now at peace with God and with our fellow man. Historically, this exchange was not only a word spoken, it was not only a handshake. Every member of the church would share with one another the kiss of peace: “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Thess 5:26). Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, in the middle of the century, said,  

Think not that this kiss ranks with those given in public by common friends. It is not such: this kiss blends souls one with another, and solicits for them entire forgiveness. Therefore, this kiss is the sign that our souls are mingled together, and have banished all remembrance of wrongs. … The kiss therefore is reconciliation, and for this reason “holy.” 2  

The exchange of the peace is the congregation’s taking up in its own mouth and with its own bodies what the risen bestowed upon his church in his resurrection appearances. When Christ comes, he speaks peace. When the risen Christ speaks peace, he bestows peace. Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). This peace also signifies that we have been made at peace with one another. There are no longer any diving wall so hostility between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male or female (Gal 3:28). Christ has brought about the end of what began at the Tower of Babel: “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (Col 3:11). With Christ in all of us, we are at peace with one another for Christ is what unites us, Christ is what we have in common, Christ is our peace: “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph 2:14).  

There is an alternate location for the peace, after the Lord’s Prayer immediately before reception of the Sacrament. This is, I suppose in obedience to Matthew 5:23–24, which says, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” 

Luther loved the exchange of the peace. The greeting is:

A public absolution of the sins of the communicants, the true voice of the gospel announcing remission of sins, and therefore the one and most worthy preparation for the Lord’s Table, if faith holds to these words as coming from the mouth of Christ himself. 3  

It is the practice in some congregations for people to just say “Good morning,” or “How’s it going?” at this point in the liturgy. Let us say, and bestow, and proclaim the peace of God to one another.  

The Offering 

In the early church, the gifts that were offered would have been wine and bread, but there would also be other food, and clothing, and money and furniture. Whatever one was giving to the church would be brought forward at this time, and placed on the altar. The Apostolic Tradition gives a list of what was acceptable in Rome in the second century: grapes, apples, figs, olives, pears, pomegranates, peaches, cherries, almonds, roses and lilies. This collection was often then dispersed immediately after the service to those in the congregation who had any need. If there was any thing left over, than it was delivered to someone else who was in need. The practice of bringing forward all that one was giving to the church became rather cumbersome as churches grew, so that between the 4th and 10th centuries, the church tried to stifle this impulse.  

In the presentation of the gifts, we are signifying that we are giving “our selves, our time, and our possessions.” We are giving everything that we are and everything that we have to God the Father. In this way, we are fulfilling Saint Paul’s instructions to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1).  

Now here this opens up the question about whether or not the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, is a sacrifice.  That was a central question of the Reformation era. The Lutherans denied that it was a sacrifice, while the Roman Catholics said that Christ is being offered as a sacrifice.  Whatever the merits of the 16th century controversy, in the Eucharist we are being joined again to Christ’s once-for-all and all-sufficient self-sacrifice on the cross, which need not be repeated because there all sin and shame and alienation were put to death.  

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1 Philip H. Pfatteicher, Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context (Minneapolis: 

Fortress, 1990). 

2 Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Catechesis 5.3, in Lectures on the Christian Sacraments: The Protocatechesis and the Five Mystagogical Catecheses, trans. R. W. Church, ed. Frank L. Cross, PPS 2 (Cretwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1977), 72; emphasis added.  

3 Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, vol. 53:28.   

Class 12 - May 22, 2022

The Offertory Hymn and Prayer

The offertory hymn speaks of the scattered nature of our lives, both individually and communally. But at the same time trusts in faith that God can make a harvest from what now seems little more than scattered. The Church is scattered across the world, and across time. We have hopes and dreams and desires, but they often seem to be in conflict. Even our right desires seem to at times be incompatible with one another. Only God can make a harvest from such a disparate situation. By faith, we trust that he can and will. 

This hymn is also somewhat of an echo of what The Didache has to say about the Eucharist:

• 9:1 But as touching the eucharistic thanksgiving give ye thanks thus.
• 9:2 First, as regards the cup:
• 9:3 We give Thee thanks, O our Father, for the holy vine of Thy son David, which Thou madest known unto us through Thy Son Jesus;
• 9:4 Thine is the glory for ever and ever.
• 9:5 Then as regards the broken bread:
• 9:6 We give Thee thanks, O our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou didst make known unto us through Thy Son Jesus;
• 9:7 Thine is the glory for ever and ever.
• 9:8 As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains and being gathered together became one, so may Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom.

In offering ourselves, we are at the same time asking that it be but one offering that the church makes from the beginning to the end. This offering is Christ himself, who gathers up in himself all of our worship, all of our meager offerings, and presents himself with us to the Father. This was already done once for all on the cross.  And so we have turned toward the Eucharist.

The Great Thanksgiving

The heart of the Eucharistic liturgy is the Great Thanksgiving. The Greek word, eucharisteō itself means “giving thanks.” In response to all that God has done in Christ—creating us, giving us his Word, calling us out of darkness, redeeming us on the cross, forgiving us of our sins, uniting us to him in Baptism, taking away our guilt, sanctifying us, glorifying us, etc.—there is nothing left for us to do but to give thanks. The fundamental stance of the Christian is one of gratitude. There is nothing that we have that we have not received. So thanksgiving is the only possible right response.  Apart from sin, the life of Adam and Eve and their descendants was to be one long act of giving thanks. All things would have been done in thanksgiving to God. The Eucharistic liturgy begins to restore us to this central act of created being. The Great Thanksgiving is derived from ancient Jewish table blessings or thanksgivings, such as Jesus would have used whenever he kept Passover, including at the Last Supper. But because the victory of God, which is also the accomplishment of our salvation, is Christ’s death and resurrection, we above all give thanks for Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.  Above all we are giving thanks for Christ.  

Dialogue

It begins with the Dialogue: “The Lord be with you.” “And also with you.” There immediately follows the invitations: “Lift up your hearts.” Where you treasure is, there your heart will be. Christ has ascended to the Father’s right hand, therefore we lift our hearts up to where he is, seated in the heavenlies.  From this moment, we are brought to set our minds on things above. This is not merely noetic, this is not just something that we do with our minds. We ascend with our hearts. Heaven and earth are now joined. Not by the power of our prayer, per se, but by the power of the Spirit of God. Heaven is here breaking in to space and time, the church is ascending to heaven.  “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” When all things have already been done on our behalf, the most natural response is gratitude. That is why we say, “It is right to give him thanks.” Why do we do this? Because it is right to do so.

Proper Preface

There then follows the proper preface. This changes depending on the season of the church year. It emphasizes one aspect of salvation history, the history of God’s saving acts.  It is a direct continuation of the final response to the dialogue: “It is indeed right and salutary that we should at all times and in all places offer thanks and praise to you.” Salutary is not a word we use very often. It combines two notions: salvation, and something closer to the French drinking toast: Salut! It is indeed right and salvific and healthful, that we should at all times and palces gives thanks. Here is true health, for here salvation is taking place.  The Preface ends with some list of beings that we give thanks with. The purpose of this is to show, firstly, that this is the worship of the whole church that we are sharing in. The entire church is present whenever any church gathers together. Secondly, this shows that the worship of the church is itself joined to the worship that is taking place in heaven. The church’s worship has no ceiling, as it were.  It is opened at the top so that even angels and archangels join the choir.  Thirdly, we see that in giving thanks we take our proper place as the priests of creation. The church’s worship also has no walls, for joined to our worship is also “earth and sea and all their creatures.” Humankind is the only member of earthly life that can hear God and speak back to him.  We are the only ones made in the image of God. Our task was to be the ones who could respond to God’s mighty acts on behalf of all creation with praise and thanksgiving. In the Eucharistic liturgy, all of creation is coming to a glorious and cosmic harmony, with everything oriented toward praising and giving thanks to God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. 

Sanctus 

The Sanctus is the song of the angels around the throne room of God.  

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty.” (Revelation 4:8)

It is combined with the song of those who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with the words of Psalm 118:26, which says, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” Jesus had said on that day, “For I tell you, that you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!’” (Matthew 23:39) Heaven and earth are joined in the seeing of Jesus Christ with the eyes of faith. 

Class 13 - May 29, 2022

Eucharistic Prayer

The Eucharistic prayer is a summary of the whole history of salvation. It tells the story of God’s work in saving humankind. This work of God is what we are giving thanks for. It begins with Israel, because that is the beginning of God’s work in saving humankind. God chose a people for himself, from which God would take human flesh. That is the significance of the people of Israel. The whole of God’s engagement with Israel was God’s act of setting apart a people from which he would become Incarnate. As one Old Testament professor put it, the Old Testament (which is where the Eucharistic Prayer begins) then is the story of “the Word becoming flesh.” 1 

The Eucharistic Prayer seamlessly transitions then to recounting the story of the life of Christ. The story of Jesus and the story of Israel are not two stories, but one story. Christ is the true Israel. 

The Eucharistic Prayer includes the narrative of the Last Supper. This story is retold because it tells us what is taking place, and because it authorizes the event. The institution narrative is not told because it is itself the way that the elements are consecrated. The elements are consecrated, they become for us the body and blood of Christ, by being obedient to Christ’s command: do this. The question remains: what is the “this” to which Christ refers? It refers to everything that Christ is therein describing and commanding: give thanks to God for Christ over a load of bread and a cup of wine, eat the bread, drink the cup, and remember Christ thereby. Only by doing all of these actions is the Eucharist done in obedience.  By doing all of these things, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  

Almost all of the ancient forms of the Eucharistic prayer include an anaphora, or a prayer for the presence or action of the Holy Spirit. In the Lutheran Book of Worship, this anaphora was restored to American Lutheran churches. It simply testifies to the fact that Chris is present to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ never does anything apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. So this is not a denial of Christ’s omnipotence or his divinity. It is in fact an affirmation of the way that our triune God acts—in unison. 

The Eucharistic Prayer ends with the Amen. This is the principal “amen” of the entire service. Christ is himself our “amen” to the Father. Second Corinthians says, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (1:20). Amen is a word taken directly from Hebrew into Greek and Aramaic. It has then made its way, transliterated, into every European language including English. It means, “may it be,” “yes,” “let it be,” “I agree.” In short, it means “yes.” So, in Christ God is himself uttering “amen” to us through his promises, through the Gospel. And in Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ, we utter “amen” back to God in prayer. So both from God to man and also from man to God, Christ is the mediator, the one who unites us together in peace and harmony. 

“Through him, with him, in him …”

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. (John 12:32)

When we say “Amen” at the end of the Eucharistic prayer, we are, as it were, uttering Christ back to the Father, at the same time that he is giving Christ to us as our life.  And so it is most appropriate that immediately afterwards we join Christ in praying the prayer that he has taught us. 

The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s prayer is here prayed because we are on the cusp of receiving our “daily bread.” Christ lives to intercede for us. And so, receiving his life as our own, we join him in his work, praying to God for the world, and for ourselves.  

Agnus Dei

The Agnus Dei is here sung primarily so that no one has to watch the pastor/priest eat. That is why it is sung here, though there are more theological reasons why we sing it at all. In singing this, we take the words of the greatest of the prophets into our mouths and proclaim that we have finally found the one who takes away the sin of the world. We have finally found the one who deals with what ails humanity, with what ails each of us.  

The Distribution

There are several different ways to receive the elements. There are no explicit instructions for how we should receive. What is explicit in Scripture is what we are to receive: bread and a cup of wine. 

Post-Communion Elements

Benediction

There are two blessings that can be used: the Aaronic blessing or a simple Trinitarian blessing.  The Aaronic blessing is the more common of the two. It does not have the triune name in the blessing. But because it speaks of the LORD, in the Old Testament sense, it is speaking of the God of Israel, which is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

The Sending

Having heard the word of the Lord, having responded in various ways, having taken up the Word of God in our own mouths, and having eaten the Incarnate Word of God, we are sent out into the world as missionaries, as apostles of the Word of God. In fact, we are sent out to the world as christs, and as Christ’s. And so we go out into the world, to share in the work that Christ is doing in this world, loving his Father and serving his neighbors.

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1 Horace Hummel, The Word Becoming Flesh (St. Louis: Concordia, 1970).