Collects and other Extra$

As I pondered and relished the great content of the Collect for this past Sunday, and as I reflected upon the richness of the Collects that belong to the saints as they have been handed down through the generations, I thought that I would check in LSB to see how the “new” hymnal offers these to those who look to the hymnal for their devotional resource.  To my great dismay I discovered that the new LC—MS hymnal does not make these rich treasures of the Church available to the people.  Rather, the people must purchase them at an additional cost, AND, they must obtain permission to use them.

According to the LC-MS’s highly regarded and praised Pastor Weedon in his post entitled Collects Revisited :

     Live and learn. A good friend told me today that CPH holds the copyright on the collects in LSB, and therefore that I cannot legally publish them on my blog. Sorry about that, folks. I know, it seems utterly silly - how can a publishing house copyright the ancient collects of the Western Church?

He additionally says:

     I am still waiting to see if the collects from TLH are under copyright; again, since most of them are directly out of the Book of Common Prayer, I don't know how they could be.

Well, CPH did copyright TLH and for many years told the people that they were not free to use the material, even though the Preface on page two clearly gives open permission to one and all to use all of the material freely.

What was the LC-MS and CPH thinking?

In the name of the $ and of the $ and of the $!!!

TLH also has all of the Collects listed in the section entitled: “Introits, Collects, and Graduals for the Church Year.”

Why was this done?

Again, this is clearly stated in the Preface on page two, which I shall reproduce again here:

I. N. I.

     The Lutheran Hymnal is intended for use in church, school, and home. The committee entrusted with the task of compiling and editing has earnestly endeavored to produce a hymnal containing the best of the hymnodical treasures of the Church, both as to texts and tunes, in accord with the highest standards of Christian worship. It is our sincere prayer that these treasures may be cherished by God's people wherever the English tongue is used in public or private worship. We have freely used whatever we found of value and, by way of acknowledgment, have carefully indicated all sources. In turn, we freely offer for the use of others all original contributions or translations made by the committee as such or by its individual members.
     "Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever! Amen."

     THE INTERSYNODICAL COMMITTEE ON HYMNOLOGY AND
     LITURGICS FOR THE EV. LUTH. SYNODICAL CONFERENCE
     OF NORTH AMERICA

In LW the material was copyrighted without any permissions given in the preface, but at least these treasures were included in the hymnal for the use of the people in the regular congregating for the divine service and also in their personal devotions.

But LSB completely omits these, in addition to copyrighting them.  Having thus stolen them from the people they offer to sell them separately for four dollars per copy, here, explaining how generous, thoughtful, and accomodating they are here.  They add this warning and disclaimer:

It has been designed to be of such a size that it could easily fit in the back of a Pew Edition of Lutheran Service Book, but it should be mentioned that doing so may potentially stress and/or break the binding of the Pew Edition itself.

This breaks my heart.  But then, this is exactly what one would expect from the LC-MS and CPH.  It makes me ashamed to have to admit that for most of my life that I was a partaker of the activities of that church body.  Such things as this are why people become disillusioned with the Church and with the precious Gospel that is sold for silver and gold, actually, worse, for fiat money.  I cannot even begin to give an accounting for the number of people that I have met who express such disillusionment and resultant distrust and unbelief on account of such ways of the LC-MS and the mainstream incorporated churches.

Yet the Church’s treasures are still available.  TLH has held them before the world for generations.  CPH has jacked up the price for new copies of TLH, but they can still be purchased.  Moreover, portions are now available for downloading on the Internet.  And once people obtain these for themselves, they are free to use them at will.

Thanks be to God that these treasures are available to us, if only we desire to use them.

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Quinquagesima

The Old Testament Reading appointed for Quinquagesima, the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, is Isaiah 35:3-7.

     Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Especially enlightening is a literal translation of verse 4:

     Say to the hasty of heart, “Be strong! Fear Not! Behold your God! Vengeance will come, recompense of God! He will come and save you!”

Here is what Dr. Luther wrote in his commentary on this passage of Holy Scripture:

     3. Strengthen the weak hands. This is wonderful comfort that is to be understood not in a physical but in an internal sense, because it shines under the appearance of the cross. For this church of Christ is extremely poor and wretched in appearance, since its poor, distressed, naked, imprisoned, and dishonored are the refuse of all and loathsome to all men for the sake of Christ’s name. And the members of the church are exposed to all, to Satan and to the craftiness and power of the world and the flesh. They are like “the offscouring of the world” (1 Cor. 4:13). It is as if people were saying: “They are to be regarded as a misfortune and a monster. If we could only be rid of these scoundrels.” With all their might they exert themselves to expel and exterminate this utterly loathsome Christian people. So we see today that all the most criminal people are less disturbed than the members of this church. Therefore the inward joy of the spirit fights with the grief of the body exposed to the cross. Therefore the prophet comforts them with exceedingly great consolations. Strengthen. This is a command. As long as Satan is awake he will not stop attacking us. It is for us to stand in the battle line against his stratagems.
     Weak hands, hands that are so weary. Give medicine to those hands so that you become strong again. For Satan has two ways of fighting. He would gladly cast the faithful down suddenly from their joy and faith and into fear and despair. Secondly, he cunningly strives by long lasting torments and by the unremitting pressure of the torments to tire them out. It is as Cyprian confesses: “Satan did not want the captive brothers to be killed in this life, but he preserved them in a long life and distressed them with unremitting aggravation to the point of exhaustion.” These are extremely powerful attacks. Against Satan’s continuous attack we must set our continuous divine help. The devil is a spirit at leisure and thinks of nothing but to take us by storm. We ought not have slack and idle hands over against his deceptions. Have we not experienced in these ten years how he tried by various forces to frighten us away from faith in the Gospel? First through the terrors of the papists, then through the world’s disgrace, then through murdering tyrants, through the fanatics, the schismatics, and fatherly flatteries. The church must diligently oppose his stratagems.
     4. Say to those who are of a fearful heart. ln Hebrew: “To those who are hasty and speedy in heart,” who are not steady and firm but want to run away and give Satan the victory.
     Be strong. We ought to strengthen ourselves with these words and say, “Though all devils were rolled into one, my God is still greater.” The afflicted must be comforted with such spiritual consolations of the Word, not with any fleshly comfort which does nothing for troubled consciences but with spiritual comfort and with the living Word of God they must be ruled and strengthened. Why? Because
     Behold, our God, etc. By those words he indicates that our God is absent but will come very quickly to avenge and save us. These are words of promise for the future, for God first permits people to condemn and persecute His church, as though He were absent, and then He will come very quickly, visit vengeance upon the adversaries and tumult upon the world, and save His church. This is truly hard for the flesh.
     With the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Do not avenge yourselves. He is the God of vengeance, He will fittingly requite them and save you. Thus we see that vengeance always comes before they carry out their plan. So Jerusalem, opposing the Word, was stormed by the Romans; then Rome perished, and so will our papists. Thus the Spirit comforts us, as if to say, “Remain godly and constant and be lifted up. The Lord will come in time of trial, and He will avenge and save you.” So he comforts the church that is exceedingly hateful to the world and Satan and besides does not shine with outward splendor. On the contrary, it is pressed down by a very heavy cross; it is also beset and harassed by a variety of internal evils, such as weakness of faith and falling into sin. Beyond all these, Satan, the tempter, fights against it.
     5. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. In that time when the church will flourish in the midst of drought and will be cultivated in the desert, the blind will see plainly, etc. This is taken literally with reference to the miracles of Christ and the church, as we read in the last chapter of Mark (Mark 16:17, 18), signs that were necessary to confirm the new Word, signs that were added to the glory of the church, signs that are not done physically in the last time of the church, now that Christ is no longer weak. They were necessary then as a witness to the Jews, who ought to have recognized the church of God. Allegorically, in the time of the Gospel there were opened (1) the eyes of the blind, or ignorant, as we see happening today; (2) the ears of the deaf, who now accept the Gospel; (3) the lame walking in their own superstitions, as Isaiah calls all idolators lame, people who walk around in some sect of their own. They limp on one leg. They do not walk in an upright faith. Then, however, when they accept the Word by faith, they walk upright and leap for spiritual joy in Christ.
     (4) And the tongue of the dumb sing for joy, namely, it will glory in a strong confession, and the mercy of the Lord shown to us is proclaimed and boasted; and they will say: “See how God has rescued us from the darkness!”
     For waters shall break forth, that is, they are parted and distributed. As a spring flows forth in moistening streams, so this church, which was desert, should gush out in streams of the teachings of the Gospel, always one stream leaping from another into one city and then another, although in the eyes of the world it might seem forever desert.
     7. The burning sand shall become a pool, that is, where formerly there was total dryness, there will now be not only streams but also pools and springs. Thus the church will grow in such a way that elsewhere and in other places our streams will become springs. The Word of God will come in abundance.
     In the haunt, that is, where formerly the serpent was and the dragon reclined.
     The grass shall become reeds and rushes. Dragons and serpents like above all to be in dry places, as we see from experience today. As this was formerly a desert, most dreadful in dryness, but now because of the exceeding abundance of moisture has become a place where reeds and rushes grow, so there was nothing but heat, dryness, and ungodliness as long as the Word was absent, but now with the preaching of the Word it is moist and joyful. The serpents and dragons are those who teach ungodly things and with their most pestilential teachings take possession of men’s souls and consciences, like Erasmus, Zwingli, and Oecolampadius, whom also Christ calls a brood of vipers (Matt. 23:33). Our lazy bishops and clerics are not worthy of this name, yes, they are scarcely dung and vomit. In the haunts there will be the highest fruitfulness of the Gospel and of fertile hearts, which, having come to faith, are made fruitful by the Word, teach others with their gifts and help others participate. This is the fruitfulness and abundance of the Spirit.


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Quoted from:
     Luther, M. (1999, c1969). Vol. 16: Luther's works, vol. 16 : Lectures on Isaiah: Chapters 1-39 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (16:300). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Rain, Rain

Today it is raining so that I cannot safely do my work. The forecast for tomorrow is snow!

Farmers of crops, especially here in Kansas where the annual rainfall is precious, are known to say, “We never complain about moisture. We always need moisture.” There are, of course, variations to this saying.

Indeed the rain is cause for giving thanks, yet my sinful shortsightedness is not always thinking thus. Moreover, my flesh thinks back to this past summer when we desperately needed rain and the Lord withheld it. I have found myself praying, “O great, Lord! Why did you not send this when we really needed it?!”

Thankfully, the Lord has trained me for many years through His Scriptures and through the prayer that He gave to us and through the General Prayer of the Church. Through these He has taught me to hear His answer to my complaints. Through these He directs my heart to trust His wisdom and graciousness even when my perception cannot see this.

If I am willing to hear this, there are many things that accompany the rain for which to give thanks as well. My old body receives another day or two of rest from harsh labor. I have time to study and to call the repairman for our refrigerator that quit working. I could actually go on throughout the rest of the day listing all that is good that the Lord is working through today’s weather.

With this view St. Paul says that speaking to one another psalms and hymns and spiritual chants we will find ourselves giving thanks always, over all things, in the name of the Lord of us Jesus Christ to the God and Father. (Ephesians 5:19-20)

I continue to marvel at the Church’s liturgy as it has been handed down to us. How blessed we are to have the psalms and hymns and spiritual chants organized for us to utilize in this way.

So, let it rain. Let it snow. Let the sun bake the earth. We have the divinely ordained refuge of the holy Liturgy of the divine service, through which the Lord serves us what we need most and satisfies our souls and bodies together.

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Thanksgiving and the last singing of the Gloria in Excelsis

Yesterday, during the divine service, I had the nagging awareness that this would be the last time that we would be singing the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God on high) until Christmas Eve. This is the song of the announcement of the birth of the Savior that the angels shared with the shepherds in the region of Bethlehem. The words of the angels begin with the pastor chanting: “Glory be to God on high.” The congregation completes the announcement, chanting: “And on earth peace, good will toward men. . . .” It is the glorious announcement that with the birth of the Prince of Peace, peace now resides upon the earth in accord with God’s good will toward men, the great love of God that moved Him to provide Jesus as the Savior of sinful mankind.

The season of Advent is penitential and preparatory for the advent/coming of the promised Savior. Thus, the Gloria in Excelsis is omitted during this season to help us remember what is missing apart from being Baptized into the Holy Communion of the Christ. He is the one who comes to restore what sin has stolen away from mankind.

The Church Year is designed to carry us through the promises of the Holy Scriptures, beginning with the Advent of Jesus and ending with His return at the Last Day. Thus Advent is a preparatory time, reminding us that Jesus was promised as the cure for sin and its consequences and came to the world in the fullness of time, born of the virgin in Bethlehem. He continues to come to His Church on Earth with the healing of forgiveness and the renewal of reconciliation into His Holy Communion through the Holy Supper. And He will come again at the Last Day to bring to completion all that He began in the garden with the promise to the first two needy sinners, as He comes to separate those who refused His grace from those whom the Holy Spirit through faith has gathered into the Holy Communion of the body of Christ.

Therefore, though I always feel a bit of a sting with the departure of the Gloria in Excelsis from the liturgy, I benefit from what it teaches me concerning my great need and God’s greater fulfillment of that need, not only for me, but for all of mankind. It moves me to never ending thanksgiving and it reminds me that this proclamation for all the world needs to be proclaimed today so that those for whom God has provided His peace may be brought into it through the working of the Holy Spirit in connection with the Word.

Advent is a wonderful time as we prepare for the joyous announcement of “Peace on earth, good will toward men.”

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By the way, yesterday’s sermon has been posted.

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Pastors & Laity

In a blog post entitled How Should We Celebrate Reformation Sunday? the following paragraph stirred up some thoughts for me:

Though Luther was, at times, threatened, he did not die a martyr’s death. Neither did Fr. Johannes Bugenhagen, who was given charge of Luther’s wife and children following his death. And neither did the famous lay theologian of the Lutheran Reformation, Philip Melanchthon.

As I read this paragraph, I was moved to consider the three men mentioned and especially the fact that two were pastors and one was not. There was a considerable difference between the “lay theologian” and the two pastors regarding the Gospel and the absolute necessity of it being administered purely without adulteration or compromise. This moved me to ponder the pastoral office and those who are called and ordained to administer the means of grace as contrasted to those who gather to receive the benefits of the sacrifices of their pastors.

In Ephesians 4 St. Paul speaks of the purpose of the pastoral office and how Christ gives to His Church pastors/teachers that this purpose may be effected.

     And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

When a man is called and ordained into the teaching office, does God bring forth in that man something different than what is found in the rest of the body of Christ?

This question is not comprehensive, actually. It seems that more definition is required in order to understand the real issue. Do those who extend a call to a man to serve as their pastor really understand this calling? Do they grasp that this ordination is not a mere ritual by which they hire someone to fulfill certain tasks? Does the one being called and ordained truly appreciate the office to which he is being called?

In the comments section of the article quoted above the following is presented:

Luke Sampson says:
Pr Genig: You mentioned three uses for red: Pentecost, Martyrdom, and Ordination. Once you knocked down Martyrdom you immediately state the "only other" signification would be Pentecost. What happened to the third option, Ordination? In this case it would be a celebration of the Holy Spirit's equipping of a specific man, Luther, for a specific task, the restoration of the Gospel message.

patricksarsfield says:
Luke Sampson writes:

"What happened to the third option, Ordination? In this case it would be a celebration of the Holy Spirit's equipping of a specific man, Luther, for a specific task, the restoration of the Gospel message. "

So much for Sola Scriptura. Where in the Bible does it record that Luther was ordained by the Holy Spirit to restore the Gospel message? Nowhere, of course. Protestants made up the unbiblical rule of Sola Scriptura to justify their rejection of the long-standing Tradition of the only Church Jesus ever founded, but they feel no compunction to judge the foul-mouthed, vow-breaking founder of their own religion by hjis own test of Sola Scriptura.

While Luke Sampson is busy trying to defend the use of a liturgical color, he does ask a worthy question, but from a less than full understanding of what ordination really is. Patrick Sarsfield responds with a total lack of understanding and demonstrates that hatred is his primary motivation.

Ordination is about a specific man, as Luke Sampson states. However, it is not really about the man on whom it is conferred, but about the man who has ordained it, the one who has descended from heaven and ascended again to the same place. Ordination is about Christ. The office is His office. He has ordained it. He is the one who brings to effect that holy motivation by which His servants of the Word go forth in His name and perform the ministry that He has ordained for the sake of His Church on earth.

Sadly, most pastors have no real understanding of this important matter. Most of the lay members of the Church likewise are clueless. Melanchthon, a “lay theologian,” was very willing to compromise in order to accomplish peace among the factions of those professing to be Church. Luther and Bugenhagen were much less willing.

The reason that this difference existed seems to be the difference in understanding the pastoral office and the purpose of that office. Melanchthon was not ordained to this office. He never had the burden placed upon his shoulders that the liturgical stole represents. Perhaps this explains in part the lack of understanding that he manifested. Perhaps this is why he later departed from the clear statements of the Augsburg Confession, those wonderfully accurate statements drafted by his own hand.

Most pastors seem to lack this sense of burden as well. While many will speak of having a “burden for the lost,” few express true knowledge of the burden for the Church, for the true unity of the communion of saints, the holy catholic Church. Many who confess the importance of pure doctrine and practice do not believe in the absolute necessity of this purity in the life of the Church. Most imagine that the Church can exist in communion with impurity. Most outright deny the clear doctrine taught by St. Paul as it is quoted above. They deny that the unity which St. Paul declares can exist in this world. They say it can only exist in heaven or after the Day of Judgment. Thus they deny the purpose of the pastoral office to which they are called and ordained. They deny the power of the Word to accomplish what it promises. They deny what St. Paul declares to be the very outcome of the preaching and teaching entrusted to the called and ordained servants of the Word and so they allow to continue the propagation of “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”

The problem is that they do not believe the office of the keys to be a real office with real authority in heaven. They imagine that it is only an earthly office to which they have been hired. They perceive the pastoral office to be a function of worldly tactics and orchestrations. Thus they imagine that the “perfecting of the saints” or the “complete furnishing of the saints” is to be accomplished through teaching “how to” sermons and through various programs. The emphasis becomes what the Church does rather than what the Church receives. The preaching becomes instructions for doing and for giving and for sacrificing and for becoming more Christlike and for committing oneself to Christ and for making Christ the center of one’s life. And thus the true center of the life of the congregation becomes the attempts at being better and more devoted followers of Jesus.

Through this the true work of the ministry is lost. The true “work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” is reduced to attempts at obedience and faithfulness rather than the powerful work of the Word in connection with the means of grace. The work of the ministry is reduced to the miserable attempts of sinners to accomplish what only God can do. Compromise becomes the only option, for who but God can accomplish perfect unity?

The pastoral office is founded upon the belief in accomplishing the impossible. It is grounded upon the perfecting of the saints. It is established upon the absolute perfection that the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace. It is the preaching that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.” (Hebrews 11:1-2) It is the preaching that through water God saved Noah in the days of old and that today He likewise saves us through the water in which His Word works to purify us so that we stand before God with the answer of a good conscience by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21) It is the preaching of the unity of the communion of the body and blood of Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

This is real unity. It is not just the preaching of what will be at some future time. It is created here and now, where it is actually preached and practiced as Christ has ordained it for His Church on earth.

And this unity is not just a glorious vision or hope. It is not merely something for which to strive. It is what must exist in order for salvation to be administered. For these means are the very means of salvation. They stand uncorrupted or else they do not exist as that which is from God for our salvation. Christ’s means of grace do not exist in forms other than those which He has ordained. To change them is to make them something that is not of God and has no power to do what God promises to work through His ordained means.

When a pastor understands this as the ordination with which he is ordained, it does indeed effect a change in his being and in his perception of what is required of him. He does indeed carry a burden, a burden that is far beyond what he can carry by his own strength. And so he relies upon the one from whom this ordination has its authority and power and proclaims Him and His ministry through the pure and unadulterated means that He has ordained for this purpose. And so the pastor kneels to receive that which he administers, acknowledging first his own great need, and then also administering the same to those entrusted to his pastoral care.

Since this is by the working of the Holy Spirit and by the redemption price of the blood of Christ, certainly red is a fitting color for this divine ordination of gifts for Christ’s Church on earth, the ordination placed upon every man who stands in Christ’s stead to offer freely the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation to all whom the Holy Spirit gathers for this purpose in every age and place.

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CPH & LC–MS versus TLH

For many years I have desired to produce a little booklet that would include the order of service from TLH, The Lutheran Hymnal, with a side by side explanation of the portions of the liturgy for the benefit of people who desire to understand the worship life of the Church. For years CPH, Concordia Publishing House, and the LC–MS, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, told me that I would need to receive permission from the copyright department of CPH. Throughout my lifetime this information was given to the congregations regarding use of the liturgy and hymns.

Yet some time ago, perhaps a year or so ago, I called the CPH permissions department regarding use of the printed liturgy for this purpose and I was told that this information could not be supplied to me. I was told that I would have to research the various portions of the liturgy for myself to determine whether or not each portion was in the Public Domain.

This sounded very peculiar to me. I wondered why this change in policy had occurred.

I began to examine the hymnal more thoroughly than I had in the past. Lo and behold I found a big piece of the puzzle on the very first page of actual information, that is, on page 2, the Preface page.

I had never really paid attention to what this page says. I had seen it countless times and cursorily read it as well. But on this occasion I actually heard what is contained in this declaration. I was astounded.

Here is a photo of the page:

The startling portion I will quote:

We have freely used whatever we found of value and, by way of acknowledgment, have carefully indicated all sources. In turn, we freely offer for the use of others all original contributions or translations made by the committee as such or by its individual members.

This is truly astounding! For how many years did the LC–MS and CPH tell people the exact opposite?

According to the Preface to the hymnal, every portion of the hymnal has always been free to be used. This is in fact the stated purpose of the hymnal! Permission for free use of the materials is given in the Preface to the hymnal.

Back when I first desired to produce this little booklet regarding the meaning of the worship life of the Church as is so wonderfully expressed in the liturgy, back when I did this sort of work full-time and did not have to earn my living through such work as arborist services, I was misinformed by CPH and the LC–MS. (Is misinformed a strong enough term?) Even now the truth has not been clearly stated by the LC–MS and CPH personnel and leaders.

Now, however, I am happy to realize that I am free to pursue this endeavor. Now I am happily aware that this little booklet can be produced if I so desire and can find the energy over and above my other daily tasks.

In fact, I do so desire.

However, I would like to hear whether or not anyone else shares such desire with me. Are there people who would like to have such an explanation available to them? If such a booklet were made available in PDF format, and perhaps also printed format to be purchased, would anyone actually want to receive it and use it? If I go to the effort of producing portions here on the blog or at the Bride of Christ ELC web site, does anyone desire such explanations? My primary desire is for the Order of the Holy Communion, beginning on pg. 15.

Does anyone share this desire?

Refrigerator Art-Scribblings

How many refrigerators are covered with the scribbling of little children displayed as precious works of art? Grandparents, uncles and aunts, and parents alike receive the illegible writings and the muddled scribbling of beloved children and post them on every inch of refrigerator case.

Why? Is it because of the quality of the work? Or is it because of the value that love pours over everything done by the beloved?

Yet as much attention as love gives to the scribbling and smudges, the family does not make these mutated attempts at art stand as representative of the family. If the child should demand that these “masterpieces” be made the foundation of the family’s life, the answer would be a very firm, “No.”

It is the same within the family of God. He receives our prayers and our praises and our works and glows with fatherly love, praising our sickly efforts. But He has truly beautiful things planned for the life of the family. He has wondrous prayers that have been carefully crafted, even preserved in Holy Scriptures by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. Rich and magnificent hymns have been composed and passed on through the generations. The divine liturgy goes back to the temple and even the tabernacle in the wilderness.

Yet how often do impetuous people imagine that their spontaneous responses are equal to or even superior to these majestic works that embrace the ancient sages of the Church who spent lifetimes in the service of the Lord and composed hymns and music that still leave the heart in awe of God’s glory and mercy and grace? They want to get up on a stage and trash the chancel, bringing electric guitars and drums and dancers and bar stools to replace the altar and paraments and even the very paten and chalice.

No. This is not what a faithful father/pastor will permit. Yes, around a campfire at a youth lakeside sing-along some of these things may at times be appropriate. But not as the foundation for the life of the family. Yes, at the basketball or football or soccer game a spontaneous prayer is a wonderful thing, but in the divine service God has called us together for a specific purpose. What flows from the heart at a youth water ski party on the lake is planted in the heart in the divine service where the entire family is gathered for the Holy Supper of unity and life through the body and blood of our God and Savior. The things that carry us through in times of spontaneity are the things of substance that we receive together through the careful preparations of devoted pastors who pull together in the sermon what they have received through intense study of the Scriptures and of the lofty writings of the Church fathers.

Yes, the muddled artwork of children has a place on the refrigerator door, but it is not included as page one of the blue print for the house. Much less are our muddled prayers and praises used for the blueprint of the everlasting house that the Lord establishes for His family.


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Laetare

Laetare is the Fourth Sunday in Lent. Below is the Collect of the Day for Laetare:

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

As I observe the historic liturgy of the Church, with the depth of riches that we have received through it, I often find myself wondering whether anyone really pays attention to what the Lord gives to us and declares to us through it.

This marvelous prayer holds before us the reason for Laetare, that is, for a Sunday within the season of Lent in which we are called together with the theme: Rejoice!

Lent is a season of the Church Year in which we direct special attention to our need for the repentance or turning that the Lord works for us and within us. It is a season of deep awareness of the proper contrition that we should experience on account of our sinfulness and also for our actual sins both of commission and omission. It is a season in which the Law of God is held before us in ways that cannot easily be ignored, showing us the horrible depths of our lost condition. It is a season in which our need for salvation, for forgiveness, for reconciliation, for justification and sanctification, is made paramount. It is a season for looking to the great mercy of God in Christ displayed and brought to fulfillment in the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Collect for Laetare very powerfully directs our hearts, minds, and souls to this ever needful awareness. It also produces in us Laetare, the rejoicing that is not deceptive, but founded in and upon the very foundation of the one true faith by which we have true cause for rejoicing. The comfort of God’s grace is truly our one reliable source of relief, relief that produces endless rejoicing in the Lord.

It certainly seems to be worthy of continual reflection throughout this week, praying it again and again so as to built up in the answer that God has promised and most assuredly bestows in Christ.

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Alleluia in Lent

“Not saying Alleluia during Lent is stupid!” This very bold statement is from a post entitled even more audaciously, Not Saying Alleluia During Lent is Stupid (Sure to Cause Apoplexy Among High Church Purists) at Paul T. McCain’s Cyberbrethren.

A response to this is posted at Gaba’s Notebook entitled Stupid Rubrics.

From a certain perspective I have to agree with McCain. It is actually the opposite of his intention, but I nevertheless must say from the proper perspective that “not saying Alleluia during Lent is stupid.” I don’t actually agree with McCain at all, but rather with Saint Paul’s statement concerning the Moron of God, in the 1 Corinthians 1:25 context.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

The Moron of God or the Foolishness of God is wiser than men. Yet to sinful man, to the sinful flesh and the Old Adam, the wisdom of God appears as foolishness, and those who follow the way of God appear as morons.

From this perspective I relate to McCain. As the season of Advent approached, as the season of Trinity drew closer and closer to the close of the cycle of the Church year, I began to dread the advent of Advent. I dreaded Advent’s advent because I knew that soon I would no longer be singing the Gloria in Excelsis. It seemed to me that the season of Advent would be stealing away from me the joyous privilege of singing the song of the heralding angels. The Gloria in Excelsis is the preaching of what the Christ Mass really is. Thus, I dreaded the loss of the privilege of singing it and hearing it.

However, after the season began and the full measure of the awareness of the “why” settled over me again, I began to give thanks for this robbery. This was especially true when the season of Christmas had arrived and the exquisite joy of hearing the Gloria in Excelsis was restored after its absence had been felt in my heart and soul during the four weeks of Advent.

After pondering McCain’s outburst concerning the Alleluia not being sung during Lent, especially in observing the clear and deliberate quote from Luther both divorced from its context as well as in deliberate contradiction of its context, I realized more fully the source of my resistance to this ancient liturgical practice.

The source is the sinful flesh and the Old Adam. According to my sinful flesh, according to my sinful nature that is mine by inheritance from Adam, I do not want to face the truth. The truth is that I am unworthy of speaking or singing Alleluia. Alleluia is not truly the possession of the Church on earth. It is ours here on earth only as those who await the redemption of our body:

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only —they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:19-23)

The singing of the Alleluia is the possession of the Church on earth in keeping with the rest of the passage quoted above, where St. Paul further explains:

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:24-27)

And also,

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

I don’t want to let go of my imagined “right” to sing Alleluia!

I very much prefer the theology of glory, at least according to my fleshly nature. I want to imagine that my singing of Alleluia will loft its way heavenward and fill heaven with joy. I want to imagine that Alleluia is my right as a Christian!

But according to the new man, the one that rises up from the water where the Old Adam is washed away, according to the good conscience of the resurrection afforded me in Baptism (1 Peter 3:21), I thank God for the wisdom of the season of Lent. To the Old Adam, who tries to tread the water of the flood so as to shout his praises heavenward, this wisdom seems moronic. But the new man walks according to spirit and finds that the means of grace are the true means of praise. The new man is happy to be on his knees receiving the glory of God administered in bread and wine for his forgiveness and restoration to the fullness of God’s Holy Communion.

The new man realizes that there is a reason that the Alleluia is not found in the Scriptures of the New Testament until the revelation of the songs of the saints in heaven in Revelation 19. In the Scriptures of the New Testament the Alleluia is only hinted at through admonitions concerning regular use of the Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and in Old Testament quotations such as Romans 15:11 where St. Paul quotes Psalm 117 but not using Hallel. But the word Alleluia is not actually recorded until it is heard in Revelation 19.

In the accounts of the New Testament a very different language of praise is recorded. Instead of Alleluia we hear “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” We also hear, “Kyrie Eleison!” (Hosanna = save now & eleison = have mercy.) Sometimes we only hear the sobs of a woman anointing the feet of her Lord and God with perfume and washing His feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. We hear the pitiful cry of the publican in the temple, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” and of the repentant thief on the cross, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

This is not the audacious language of the sinful nature. Not at all! This is the humble and contrite language of repentance. This is the language of John the Baptist and of Jesus: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Interestingly, neither John nor Jesus stood in the temple shouting “Alleluia!” They did not stand in the temple and call the people to join in praising God. Rather, they went out into the wilderness, where the people would have to abandon all of their lofty praises and be humbled by the harshness of the curse in the world to sit on grass and rocks and soil and to be quiet and listen. For this is the nature of true worship: not to speak and sing the praises of God, but to listen and to hear and to receive the Gospel through the means of grace.

Alleluia is not truly ours to sing at all. Rather, it is the response that God works in us through the seemingly common elements of water and bread and wine. Thus the meal of Thanksgiving is held before us as the showing of the Lord’s death till He comes. It is to this awareness that the season of Lent draws us. It is for this reason that we are urged for a season to set aside our audacious presumptions of Alleluias as our right so that we may again learn to acknowledge them as God’s gifts that have been purchased for us at the cost of the suffering and death of Jesus. Then the Old Adam has no claim on us and is no longer able to puff us up with empty and imaginary rights of our own to praise God. Then we humbly bow before our God and Savior to receive the worthiness of His glory, born of the Virgin, to suffer and die our miserable death for us so that by His glorious merits we are declared righteous to come into the holiness of God and receive the praises that fill us until we overflow with them in our lives and in our worship.

Rote Worship Loses Meaning?

This is a response to a wonderful post by Dan at Necessary Roughness,
Rote Worship Loses Meaning? My response is posted here as it seems to me to be too long to include in the comments section on his blog.


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Dan, you make some wonderful statements regarding the liturgy and your esteem of the liturgy is wonderful to behold.

I have some additional thoughts that I believe are worthy of pondering.

After listing aspects of the historic liturgy you then say: “These are the church’s tools, and we make them ours.”

Are these the Church’s tools? Is not this part of the false perception of those who decree that the liturgy is rote? While rote does not necessarily mean “lifeless,” this is what is implied. Tools are lifeless instruments. Are any of the portions of the liturgy lifeless? Are they not the very Scriptures put into practice? The Scriptures by themselves are without life, and merely point to the one who is the Life. But when the Scriptures are uttered, those utterances are the very Word of God, Jesus, actively present among those who rightly utter them.

These words are not tools. They are the very Life by which we receive life.

This is true even in the form of creeds and prayers that are drawn from and summarize and recite the doctrine revealed to us in the Scriptures. The pure and holy doctrine is not a tool. It is the very voice of God among us.

In your last paragraph you say: “That’s not bad stuff to recite every week. If it loses meaning to me, then the fault is mine, not the liturgy’s.”

No, it is not really a matter of fault. It is really a matter of where life is found. The liturgy is alive. The question is, “Is the worshiper alive?” Also, “Is the worshiper receiving the Life that comes to be present through the liturgy?”

That really is the issue for those who consider the liturgy to be rote or not lively. Those with such a view toward the liturgy have chosen to make worship based upon their own actions, their own thoughts, and their own words. They have turned their hearts away from God’s gracious activities and His gracious words of life and power and His thoughts of condescension toward us poor sinners, and have imagined themselves worthy of offering praise to God so that their hearts are filled with their own glorious acts and thoughts and words that they imagine to be elevated to heaven by their doing them. They reverse the Christ Mass, the gift of God, which is from heaven above come to earth below. They reverse the Epiphany of our Lord to us, to make it the epiphany of the worshipers to God.

They do not feel uplifted by the liturgy because they do not believe that they need to be lifted up. Only one who understands worship as proskuneo (forward toward-dog), prostrate kissing of foot or hand, only one who understands worship from this perspective can truly appreciate the holy absolution as that which lifts up the soul. This is why “This is the feast of victory for our God” was substituted for “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” The revelation of what is for those who are already in heaven was chosen in place of the blessed evangelism of the holy heralds from heaven concerning the great work and love of God come to earth to save those who have no hope in themselves and throughout their earthly lives look longingly to that which is above.

This is why the so-called contemporary worship promoters are not promoting anything that is truly contemporary with earthly worshipers. For true contemporaneity acknowledges the “now/not yet” reality of earthly life and worship. True contemporaneity does not look in the mirror without observing the poor, miserable sinner who has no righteousness of his own, who craves the continual declaration of the heavenly absolution. True contemporaneity declares that worship and praise have value only because these actions are faithful reiterations of the declarations of the one who is worshiped and praised, the author and finisher of the faith.

Liturgical Continuity

Liturgical Continuity

— Immovable Faith —

For the Last Sunday in Epiphany, Quinquagesima, TLH hymn # 47, “Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise,” served as our final hymn for the day. In the first stanza a very wonderful knowledge and appreciation for the historic liturgy is displayed by the author. Consider the words of first stanza:

Savior, again to Thy dear name we raise
With one accord our parting hymn of praise.
Once more we bless Thee ere our worship cease,
Then, lowly bending, wait Thy word of peace.

First is the clear recognition of the one of whom we sing when worship is rightly focused. His office and ministry is before the congregation as the reason for gathering. His name is the reason for all confidence and joy.

The next point shows in the second line. The gathering is of one accord, praying, singing, communing as one body. As St. Paul admonishes in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 those singing have examined themselves to know that they are part of a communion that truly is the Lord’s body, and having partaken together of the Holy Communion, they acknowledge again the unity that the Lord has created and maintained. This understanding is stressed also in the fourth chapter of Ephesians:

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Then, once more before the divine service ceases, the congregation blesses the Lord. This is a reflection upon the way that the service begins, with the Invocation, whereby those gathered call upon the name of the Lord given to them in their baptism and bless the name by which all blessing has been poured out upon them. This name is what unites them in common faith as the body of Christ. This is the name of their Salvation. Naturally, in drawing near to the close of the divine service they will once again bless, that is, to speak well of, this holy name of blessing.

Finally the service closes with this holy name being spoken over the congregation in the benediction. To receive this benediction from the Lord the congregation humbly bows their heads as the pastor puts the threefold name of peace upon those who bear this name and trust in the Lord and depart to go about their daily activities in the peace that surpasses all understanding.

This very beautiful hymn demonstrates the unity and continuity that the historic liturgy preserves for those who do not abandon it. From beginning to end the mighty arm of the Lord acting on behalf of His children is emphasized.

How anyone could hope to improve upon this focus I do not know. What could possibly be more blessed than this focus handed down even from the time of Moses and continued by the apostles of our Lord?