Lutheran Liturgy

  • The Sign of the Cross

    During the Invocation mentioned in last week’s blog, the pastor will make the sign of the cross over herself.  There are a couple of common misconceptions about this action:

    • This is something only the pastor does;
    • This is a holdover from Roman Catholic worship, and Protestants don’t do that.

    The fact is, Christians have been making the sign of the cross since the church’s earliest days.  In the first few centuries, worshipers used their thumb on their forehead to make the sign of the cross.  This was a way for God’s people to mark themselves as believers in Christ, a way to identify followers of Jesus in the early church.  Luther and other reformers saw it as a beneficial practice for corporate worship and individual prayer, that it wasn’t meant just for Roman Catholics. 

    Eventually, Christians made the cross over their whole body as we do today, using their whole hand instead of just the thumb, two, or three fingers. 

    The sign of the cross is not a superstition, nor empty ritual, but it reminds us, as it did the early Christians, of our own identity in Christ.  We often perform this gesture when the words “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” are spoken, because of the connection between the Triune God and the cross.  The pastor uses these same words when baptizing someone, or when we receive communion.  When we make the sign of the cross, we are remembering our own baptism.  We are baptized in the name of the Triune God, and belong to Him, and we stand in community with other baptized believers in worship.

    Some congregations have a tradition of stopping at the baptismal font, dipping their hand in the water and making the sign of the cross when entering the sanctuary. 

    Making the sign of the cross is not by any means mandatory for the members of the congregation.  But we should also not feel any trepidation about making this very meaningful gesture, to identify ourselves as children of God.  I feel it is both a blessing and a gift to be able to do so, especially in the company of our fellow believers in worship! 

    May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love!  Amen.

  • Invocation, Confession & Forgiveness 

    We begin the Service of Holy Communion by hearing the pastor give the Invocation “Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, the Word made Flesh, our life and our salvation”, to which the congregation responds “Amen”.   Unlike some pagan religions, who may recite a specific incantation or prayer to invoke their deity to appear, we do not need to entice God to be present with us in our worship.  In fact, there is nothing that we humans can do to bring God to us – He comes freely, in our midst, because He loves us. 

    The Invocation reminds us that it is the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – who brings us together and unites us, His children, in one body.  We are now in the presence of His holiness.

    Now that we are in His presence, let’s take a look at what Scripture has to say when Isaiah has a vision about being in the presence of God:

    Isaiah 6:1-5

    1  In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

    “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
        the whole earth is full of his glory.”

    4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

    5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

    Imagine seeing what Isaiah saw in his vision – the Lord seated on his throne, the splendor of his robe, and heavenly creatures praising him, shaking the doorposts, the smoke . . . and then Isaiah recognizes his sinfulness in the company of heaven.  He cannot help but cry out his confession, not only for himself, but for his people as well. 

    In our Invocation, heaven and earth are joined together, we are in God’s throne room and we too are unholy in the presence of God, individually and corporately. 

    We confess that our sins encompass all aspects of our daily lives; not just outward actions, or the words we speak.  We sin by doing things we shouldn’t have, or neglect things we should do (like loving our neighbor at every opportunity), or by the thoughts we have that do not glorify God in many and various ways.  And without the saving grace of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, our sins would condemn us to eternal death.  And we repent of our sins.  Think of repentance as turning 180 degrees away from our sin.  It is not merely regret, or remorse, or feeling bad because of our sin.  The Holy Spirit changes our hearts so that we no longer want to sin, our hearts are renewed and turned towards God. 

    In the words of Paul in Romans 8:1-2: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death, as believers we are forgiven for all our sin, in the past, present and future!  Christ’s sacrifice was a once-and-for-all-forever sacrifice.  God’s response to our sins is not to punish us, but to “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” in the words of the absolution, or forgiveness. 

    When the pastor forgives our sins, she does so not because of her indelible character within herself.  The power to forgive sins is given to the entire church.  The pastor does not speak on his own authority, but through Christ and through the authority of the church. 

    What a precious gift to be forgiven, to have our hearts turned towards the Lord!  May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love!  Amen.

  • Epiphany, Holy Communion

    The season of Epiphany begins on January 6th and concludes before the Transfiguration of Our Lord Sunday, which is the Sunday immediately preceding Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. 

    Because Ash Wednesday is based on the date for Easter, the season of Epiphany can be shorter or longer accordingly.  This year, 2023,  we end the Epiphany season on February 12, the sixth Sunday of Epiphany.  The maximum number of Sundays in the Epiphany season is eight. 

    During the season of Epiphany, the paraments are changed to green.  The Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) book and the supplement “All Creation Sings” (ACS), published in 2020, offers a generous number of settings for Holy Communion (10 in the ELW, 3 in the ACS), so Lutheran churches may choose to change the setting used in the Advent/Christmas season.  It is important to note that choosing which setting to use when is not prescribed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) – it is at the discretion of whoever is responsible for making worship decisions (usually the pastor and one of the music staff or a worship committee, as the music within each setting changes as well).  Coordinating this change with the music staff is important, as they may need to prepare the choir, the accompanist, or any other musicians involved in providing the worship service music.  Now that I’ve introduced the topic of the worship service itself, let’s explore a little about Holy Communion in our worship.

    Holy Communion cadence

    How often does your church celebrate Holy Communion?  Some churches offer Holy Communion multiple times a week, some weekly on Sunday, some once a month, some others quarterly . . . In Scripture, there are no strict guidelines as to how often a community of Christians should share the bread and body of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ shared many, many meals with his disciples, and shared the Passover meal with his disciples the night before He was crucified.  Early Christian churches met in people’s homes, and Scripture mentions them sharing meals and praying together often, more than once a week—sometimes every day!  But the cadence of when we share a meal today during worship is up to the discretion of the pastor and the congregation. 

    Interestingly, there have been cycles in the history of the Lutheran Church where Holy Communion wasn’t celebrated weekly.  Forty years ago, when I first joined an ELCA church, it was customary for my congregation to celebrate Holy Communion every second Sunday, alternating with the Service of the Word.  The Service of the Word contains most of the same liturgical elements as the Service of Holy Communion, but without the communion part.  However, there was a movement/renewal in the ELCA towards celebrating Holy Communion weekly, and more and more ELCA churches have joined that movement.  The church I attend today does choose to celebrate Holy Communion weekly, unless we do not have an ordained pastor to officiate during the blessing and distribution of the communion elements. 

    Here’s what Martin Luther said about the sacrament of Holy Communion: “…Now that we have the right interpretation and teaching concerning the sacrament, there is also great need to admonish and encourage us so that we do not let this great a treasure, which is daily administered and distributed among Christians, pass by to no purpose. What I mean is that those who want to be Christians should prepare themselves to receive this blessed sacrament frequently” (Martin Luther, Large Catechism).

    I feel very blessed that we are able to commune in community with one another every Sunday at our church, especially since the pandemic!  It was one of the things I missed most about being unable to worship in person. 

    Next week, we will start to explore the parts that make up the Service of Holy Communion.  May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love!  Amen.

  • The Church Year

    This past Sunday, 1/22/2023, was the third Sunday of Epiphany in many liturgical Protestant churches.  If you had come to worship at our church that day, were handed a bulletin with this information prominently written on the front cover, and were not familiar with what we call the “Church Year”, this phrase would have been undoubtedly confusing. 

    According to Britannica.com, the Church Year is defined as “church year, also called liturgical year, annual cycle of seasons and days observed in the Christian churches in commemoration of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and of his virtues as exhibited in the lives of the saints.”

    Like the four seasons, our Lutheran church year has its own seasons.  The church year begins with the season of Advent, which spans the four Sundays before Christmas, December 25th.  Last year, Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, but that doesn’t count as the 4th Sunday of Advent AND Christmas Day – no double-dipping – so the rules still applied.  The 1st Sunday of Advent was on 11/27/2022, 2nd Sunday on 12/4/2022, 3rd Sunday on 12/11/2022, and 4th Sunday on 12/18/2022.

    Advent is a time of spiritual preparation – we make ourselves ready for the birth of Jesus Christ.  We may prepare ourselves by activities like prayer or fasting.  In our worship liturgy, our prayers and hymns reflect the season of Advent.  Even though we may have been hearing Christmas carols in our secular lives (in our area, it starts immediately after October 31st), we refrain from proclaiming Christ’s birth in our Advent hymns.  We patiently(?) wait until Christmas Eve before we break out with hymns like “Joy to the World!”—or so it is recommended by our ELCA documentation on the subject of liturgical practices.  But ever since I joined the Lutheran Church back in 1983, I can assure you that those of us involved in planning worship services are faced with a sometimes not-very-small cadre of congregation members begging to sing Christmas hymns starting in Advent! 

    We mark the season of Advent visually in our sanctuary by placing blue runners and scarfs (called “paraments”) on the altar, the lectern (which is where lay persons read Scripture and offer general intercessions (prayers)), and the pulpit (from where Scripture is read and the sermon is preached).  We also light a series of candles, one for each Sunday of Advent, cumulatively, so all candles are lit on the fourth Sunday of Advent.  Our pastor will wear a blue stole around her neck during the Advent season during worship services.  Sometimes we hang seasonal banners along the walls of the sanctuary, lovingly hand-crafted by members of our congregation. 

    Next in our Church Year calendar after Advent:

    • Christmas Eve (December 24th) and Christmas Day (December 25th), during which we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ,
    • the “Name of Jesus” (January 1st) celebrated 8 days after Christmas, because Jewish law required baby boys to be circumcised and named 8 days after their birth,
    • the “Epiphany of Our Lord” (January 6th)—Epiphany means “manifestation”—where we celebrate God’s glory revealed in the person of Jesus Christ,
    • and the “Baptism of Our Lord” (the first Sunday after January 6th), which commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the river Jordan.  

    All but the “Baptism of Our Lord” are fixed days on our secular calendar – that is, they are not calculated based on the vernal equinox and phases of the moon (like Easter), or calculated based on other fixed dates.  The paraments in the sanctuary are switched to white, we sing Christmas hymns with great gusto, and our Advent prayers and fasting turn to joyous celebrations and feasts! 

    It is important to note that none of these visual elements or what kind of hymns to sing and when, are commanded in Scripture.  Neither are they forbidden by Scripture.  Since there are no explicit instructions in Scripture, no “New Testament Worship Manual” for these customs and traditions, they vary according to local customs and practices in churches around the world.  According to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Principles for Worship, Principle S-16), “When used clearly and with understanding, vestments (with other visual arts and symbols) “embody and support the proclamation of the word of God”.  This is one of the major themes about our liturgical practices – whatever we do to “support the proclamation of the word of God”, we want to make sure we understand why we do what we do—otherwise these practices are not meaningful, and that is unfortunate position to be in as a congregation.

    This is one of the major motivators for my blog.  I do find these visual aids and actions (colors of paraments, lighting candles, singing season-appropriate hymns) enhance my worship by anticipating and connecting to the Scripture that will be read during the service.  And I hope my humble explanations will provide context for other worshippers and enhance their worship experience as well!

    Next week, we will continue with the season of Epiphany.  May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love!  Amen.

    ,

  • Introduction to Lutheran Liturgy

    The first time I was introduced to the Lutheran liturgy, was when I was hired as the organist at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Granada Hills, in September 1983.  My husband Jim and I had just gotten married in August in Edmonton, Alberta, our home city, and the next day we hitched a trailer full of mostly music and books about music to move to the San Fernando Valley.  Jim studied voice at CalArts, and I had been accepted into the doctoral program in organ performance at USC.

    Being poor students, we immediately sought out church positions to supplement our non-existent income stream when we arrived.  I was/am terrible at directions and faced with an over-whelming jumble of freeways, and I completely messed up my first audition at a church on Reseda Boulevard by being a full 90 minutes late for choir practice, arriving just in time to say goodbye to the choir as they left.  Needless to say, they weren’t interested in somebody who couldn’t even find the church.  I regrouped and said to Jim, “I need to find a church that I can WALK to.”  And the Lord promptly guided me to St. Stephen’s, where I met a wonderful pastor who tutored me in the Lutheran liturgy and encouraged the growth of my love for the liturgy.  That man was Pastor Natwick. 

    Forty years later, I’m still in love with liturgy.  I find the seasons of the church give me a scaffolding for my faith and my Christian journey.  I love how the 3-year Church Calendar lesson plan ensures that I am grounded in all parts of the Bible, and feeds my curiosity to explore the rest of Scripture that is not part of the 3-year lesson plan.  Most of all, I love that we are privileged to sing our faith and Scripture every Sunday.

    If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, you may want to consider following my blog as I explore the various facets of our Lutheran liturgy.  And if you do know what I’m talking about, I hope you will also join me in my exploration so that we might grow in faith together and in further appreciation for our liturgy tradition. 

    If you haven’t heard, I will be facilitating a Zoom class on Wednesday evenings on Lutheran liturgy, starting next Wednesday, 1/25/2023 at 6:30 pm!

    Tap or click here to join the meeting!
    Meeting ID: 863 9864 6370 / Passcode: 651572