The Gottesdienst Crowd

TGC 142 — On Ember Days

What are Ember Days? That’s the topic for this episode. Mark Braden takes us through the history and how one might observe them today at church and perhaps even at home. 

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[Gottesblog] Draconis Cauda — Larry Beane

Draconis Cauda

“In addition to all this, this dragon’s tail, [I mean] the Mass, has begotten a numerous vermin-brood of manifold idolatries.”

— SA 2:11

“In our churches Mass is celebrated every Sunday and on other festivals when the sacrament is offered to those who wish for it after they have been examined and absolved. We keep traditional liturgical forms, such as the order of the lessons, prayers, vestments, etc.”

— AP 24:1

The Tail of the Dragon is a popular stretch of road for tourists near the Tennessee-North Carolina border. It boasts 318 curves in 11 miles. It is especially iconic among motorcyclists. I ride with a good group of guys who get together a couple times a year. For the past two years, the Tail of the Dragon didn’t work out for me because of weather issues - though one brave soul from our band of brothers rode it in the rain this year.

Luther used the term (Drachenschwanz, draconis cauda) in reference to “the Mass” in the Smalcald Articles in our Book of Concord. As anyone who has ever used language in his life knows, context matters in determining the meaning of a word. There is a huge difference between a road in Tennessee and a set of papal liturgical prayers rejected by 16th century reformers. Somehow, confessional Lutheran motorcyclists manage to keep these terms straight.

A similar contextual matter is the word “catholic.” It can be used in modern English as shorthand to refer to the papal church, but it is also used in the ecumenical creeds to mean the very opposite of a specific denomination. We LCMS Lutherans compromise by translating “catholic” from the Apostles and Nicene Creeds as “Christian” (following the pre-Luther German translation), while retaining the word “catholic” in the Athanasian Creed (see LSB 319-320). The hue and cry against using “catholic” in our creeds as “confusing” is drowned out by millions of Methodists and Presbyterians and Anglicans who aren’t confused at all. Maybe Lutherans are not as smart as they are. Maybe we are just more easily confused.

Although we somehow aren’t confused by our retention of the sign of the cross. But that’s another story for another day.

At any rate, theology is an -ology, a realm of the Logos, of words and logic. And theology, like other intellectual endeavors, uses words in multiple contexts. There are often “broad” and “narrow” uses of specific terminology. Admittedly, this takes a certain degree of sophistication and literacy, one that may well be at odds with our current generational use of language as captured by the movie Idiocracy:

But the English language had deteriorated into a hybrid of hillbilly, valley girl, inner city slang, and various grunts.

And this brings me to my point.

A pastor, who was arguing for “contemporary worship,” scolded me for using the word “Mass” (as in the quote from Article 24 above that describes authentic Lutheran worship to mean the traditional Mass with “traditional liturgical forms” and the traditional “lessons, prayers, vestments, etc.” ). You know, the kind of things that his ilk thinks that should be ”abolished” instead of “retained” and “celebrated with the highest reverence.”

He said:

Luther called the Mass the tail of Satan [sic], so maybe stop using that word, kk?

Kk? When middle-aged people try to sound youthful and hip, it reminds me of the powerful and pathetic scene from Sunset Boulevard when Gloria Swanson’s character, desperately clinging to her lost youth, utters the iconic line: “All right, Mr. DeMille. I’m ready for my close-up.” For some reason, a lot of Peter Pan pastors try to delude themselves into thinking they are still the 20-something vicar taking a group of high schoolers mini-golfing and trying to fit in with the kiddos. Maybe that’s part of our Idiocracy degradation of language.

But at any rate, the word Mass is not only the title of Article 24 in both the Augsburg Confession and the Apology - describing the Lutheran Divine Service (the latter being the longest and most detailed treatment of worship in the Book of Concord), it is by far the single most common word used to describe our services of the Lord’s Supper in our confessions. Moreover, Dr. Luther, whose remark about the tail of the dragon is part of our Book of Concord, published his first two evangelical revisions of the liturgy using the word Mass (in Latin in 1523 and in German in 1526).

In just the Augsburg Confession, the liturgy (not the “tail of the dragon” that is, the canon of the Mass) is called “Mass” about 31 times (depending on whether one is counting it in the Latin or the German as rendered into English). The Apology has 73 such uses. Math majors will note that this exceeds 100 such uses. Article 2 of the Smalcald Articles frequently refers to the Mass, but right off the bat explicitly qualifies the context as “The Mass of the papacy” - to distinguish this context from the evangelical Mass.

Apology 27 speaks of the “abuses of the Mass” - which we reject, not the Mass itself. Abusus not tollit usum, as the kids say.

If you’ve ever been around a random group of pastors, you’ll note that it really is a Tale of Two Synods. We speak two different languages. And this is no surprise. For what we imbibe spiritually and intellectually eventually makes it way out of our mouths linguistically. If we are immersed in the Bible, the Confessions, and the hymnody of the Church, we will naturally speak that way - in the same way that guys who ride motorcycles have certain turns of phrase that we pick up along the way. But if our Bibles and Books of Concord are collecting cobwebs, if the Psalms do not shape our daily piety of prayer and worship, if we are listening to neo-Evangelical pop music stations, reading neo-Evangelical books about Christianity, and adopting neo-Evangelical worship styles and gestures (in which raised hands replaces the sign of the cross), it should shock nobody that we will start talking, acting, worshiping, and believing like neo-Evangelicals.

This is the reason that a congregation that retains the Mass is much more likely to have the sacrament at every Sunday service, and those with the praise band are more likely to celebrate it infrequently. This is why liturgical parishes and pastors are much more likely to offer and incorporate private confession and absolution into their Christian life and piety than a congregation that is more interested in cupholders and casual attire. This is also why you are more likely to find solid cruciform preaching in liturgical parishes instead of fluff in non-liturgical parishes.

As a convert to Lutheranism, I’m utterly appalled by how many cradle-Lutherans, laity and clergy alike, are so quick to barter away their birthright for a bowl of slop. Our Lord offers us meat, while many of our pastors grow pudgy and weak stuffing themselves on Twinkies.

The first step toward becoming authentically Lutheran again is to once more immerse ourselves in the Bible and Confessions, to let the Word of God shape our prayers and worship, and to confess, that is, to repeat the language of the inspired Scriptures and its correct exposition bequeathed to us by the blood of the martyrs.

In the 16th century, the dragon’s tail appeared among us in the form of the canon of the Mass, which led our people away from the grace of Christ to focus on themselves. Today, the dragon’s tail comes among us yet again in the form of a blend of self-centered entertainment and emotion, replacing the Mass, which leads our people away from the grace of Christ to yet again focus on themselves.

Let us get back to where this language not only describes us, but shapes our piety:

Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved, save that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed here and there with German hymns, which have been added to teach the people. For ceremonies are needed to this end alone that the unlearned be taught [what they need to know of Christ]. And not only has Paul commanded to use in the church a language understood by the people but it has also been so ordained by man’s law.

The people are accustomed to partake of the Sacrament together, if any be fit for it, and this also increases the reverence and devotion of public worship. For none are admitted except they be first examined. The people are also advised concerning the dignity and use of the Sacrament, how great consolation it brings anxious consciences, that they may learn to believe God, and to expect and ask of Him all that is good.

[In this connection they are also instructed regarding other and false teachings on the Sacrament.] This worship pleases God; such use of the Sacrament nourishes true devotion toward God. It does not, therefore, appear that the Mass is more devoutly celebrated among our adversaries than among us.

~ AC 24:1-9

Amen.

TGC 141 — Trinity 21 Sermon Prep

This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for Trinity 21, John 4:46–54.

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[Gottesblog] The Flexibility of the Liturgy — Larry Beane

The Flexibility of the Liturgy

The detractors of The Gottesdienst Crowd often create a caricature of our advocacy for liturgy, and then beat the stuffing out of that strawman. They accuse us of simply promoting “what we like.” We have been called “liturgical pietists” and “chancel prancers.” We’re accused of legalism and inflexibility.

The sad part is that our detractors are missing the great benefits and blessings of the liturgy.

We know that the liturgy teaches, as ceremonies are catechetical, according to our confessions. The liturgy is inclusive, as people all around the world can gather together to give praise and glory to God, and to receive His sacred gifts - even if there is a language barrier. The liturgy is truly “unity in diversity” in a good and edifying sense. The liturgy does not exclude young children, the handicapped, people of vastly different cultures, or people suffering with cognitive disabilities. The liturgy doesn’t focus on one form of pop music to the exclusion of everyone else outside of one target demographic. The liturgy is portable, requires no special equipment, and can be done in adverse conditions.

This year, my congregation, Salem Lutheran Church in Gretna, Louisiana missed the Sunday Divine Service for August 29: the Feast of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. We cancelled service because we found ourselves in the path of what was being predicted to be a possible Category 5 hurricane which was given the name “Ida.” The Feast of the Martyrdom of John was also the 16th anniversary of when we were hit by Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 - two weeks after I received my call to serve at Salem.

So those of us who did not evacuate made our preparations, gassed up our generators, prayed, watched, and waited. Our deacon and his wife opened their home to several members of the parish, as they have a whole-house generator. The next day, after the storm hit and passed not far to our west, my wife and I headed over to the deacon’s house for fellowship and the mutual consolation of the brethren.

I grabbed some hymnals and my Treasury of Daily Prayer. We gathered in the living room, and I led a Matins service. Several of us knew the service, others did not. We simply followed the liturgy in the hymnal, the lectionary in the Treasury, and I read the assigned meditation for the day. The Lord spoke to us in Psalm 29:1-4, 10-11 (which we chanted) . He reminded us of His power over thunder, water, and floods, and that He is enthroned in the heavens:

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless[a] his people with peace!

These were words of comfort from the Scriptures themselves. There were no puppet show, no gimmicks, no “children’s messages”, no jokes, no emotional pop music, and no hipster posing. We did not need a drum kit, guitars, nor even electricity (though we did have that thanks to the generator). We sang “Let All Together Praise Our God” (LSB 389), which takes our attention from ourselves and places it on the Most Holy Trinity, reminding us of our Lord Jesus Christ who “undertakes a great exchange, puts on our human frame, and in return gives us His realm, His glory and His name.” Some of us were were looking at the possibility of complete devastation of their homes and perhaps even massive losses of life in our area. The liturgy is appropriate in good times, bad times, times of joy, times of sorrow, times of intense anxiety, and times of relief.

The New Testament reading was 2 Corinthians 8:1-24, in which the apostle exhorts the Christians in Corinth to generosity, and reminds them of the selfless generosity of the churches in Macedonia…

in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.

After the storm, we were grateful to know that our sanctuary stood firm with no damage, but our school and church office buildings have severe roof damage, leaving us in a position of dire need. The Holy Spirit’s exhortation to generosity was once again something we needed to hear, as we are going to have to sacrifice for the sake of our church’s property.

The meditation for the day came from the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article 15, reminding us that “No tradition was set up by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of meriting the forgiveness of sins, or righteousness. Rather, they were instituted for the sake of good order in the Church.”

My parishioners that gathered to hear the Word of the Lord and to sing the Office of Matins ranged from a boy of nine to folks in their sixties. We come from different walks of life, but are united by the bonds of our confession and our status as baptized children of God in this place, facing these circumstances. We listen to different kinds of music, have different tastes in reading, and have a diversity of hobbies and interests. But we were able to unite around the ancient prayer offices, the constant and unchanging Word, a hymn that pointed us to Jesus, the cross, and the Gospel, and we heard anew the words of our confessions, which indeed are catechetical and confessional, but are also a proclamation and exposition of God’s Word.

Two days later, we would take the words of Apology 15 to heart as we gathered in our hot and humid sanctuary to celebrate the Feast of St. John’s Martyrdom as transferred to the midweek service. We usually hold our midweek Mass at 7:30 pm, but given the lack of power and the 6:00 pm curfew imposed to discourage both looters and driving in the pitch blackness, we moved the service to 4:00 pm. We fired up the generator and used two bright lights to illuminate the inside of the church. We ran a fan to circulate the air a bit. We gathered with hymnals in hand and sang the Common Service (Divine Service Three) a capella. We made a couple conservative changes based on our circumstances: lacking bulletins, we omitted the Introit and the Gradual, and we had no distribution hymns. Other than that, the liturgy was the same as it always is.

I preached a sermon based on the text.

Our sermon hymn was “By All Your Saints in Warfare” with the appropriate stanza to honor John’s martyrdom. We also sang “Now Thank We All Our God” as the opening hymn, and closed with the Common Doxology. Some of my parishioners wore shorts and tee shirts. I wore black pants and a black short-sleeve clergy shirt. I did not wear my usual cassock, alb, and chasuble. I wore a red stole. Traditions indeed provide for order in the church, and order is comforting when hurricanes come and bring destruction and change. Traditions anchor us to that which is unchanging. And yet, we have the Christian freedom to alter or modify traditions based on circumstances. To the contrary of the aforementioned straw man argument aimed at The Gottesdienst Crowd, we confess this flexibility and our Christian liberty, while not willy-nilly tossing our traditions that have served the Church for centuries. Indeed, especially in dire times and circumstances, tradition is a great comfort.

Christians can gather in the Divine Service in just about any circumstance, as our Lord instituted a simple, low tech rite: words, bread, wine. And embedded in the requirement of “words” is the liturgy, an unchanging and familiar dialogue between celebrant and people, familiar prayers between the people and God, and the comfort of the Word of God that does not change.

The consistency of the liturgy provides us with an anchor when the seas are tossing and turning, when the tempest rages, when death lurks, when the flesh rebels, and when the devil prowls. The old adage Repetitio est mater studiorum (Repetition is the mother of learning) is true. The more we know from memory, the better. Memorizing biblical passages, liturgical rites, and well-worn well-known hymns is a bulwark against tyrants who would conspire to rob our children and grandchildren of their faith.

A few weeks ago, the Gottesdienst editors held our annual retreat. Several editors and bloggers had to get back home, and so at the very end, we were left with five of us. We wanted to pray one more time together before our departure. We did not have enough hymnals to go around. That didn’t matter. We simply sang the service from memory, even singing in harmony.

Liturgy is not just for the Sunday service. It is also for small groups, for families, and for individuals. The Treasury of Daily Prayer is a flexible resource that can be used for family devotions, for the daily office, for the Psalter, for daily Scripture reading, and for meditations to use as one wishes. If one prefers Gregorian Chant, the Brotherhood Prayer Book is an excellent resource. Liturgy can be as simple or as elaborate as circumstances allow. And the Treasury is even accessible on your phone or iPad in the form of the Pray Now app.

The liturgy is God’s word given voice by both repetition and variety, by both tradition and flexibility. It is portable, requires no special technology or elaborate set-up. It can be memorized, sung by thousands, or it can be prayed silently, spoken, or chanted by an individual.

The liturgy reminds us, and allows us to partake in the reality that:

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty…. May the Lord give strength to His people! May the Lord bless His people with peace!

Amen.

TGC 140 — The Humanity of Jesus

We know and believe that Jesus is both God and man: two natures, one person. But we often pass over thinking about his humanity. What does it mean for Jesus to be man, to grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men? What does that look like. In this episode, Chris Seifferlein (Pastor of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Lititz, PA) took the time to flesh this out for students, parents, and teachers in an opening address at Veritas Academy. You can read his address HERE. 

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TGC 139 — Trinity 20 Sermon Prep

This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for Trinity 20, Matthew 22:1–14.

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TGC 138 — Reinhold Pieper’s Homiletics

How were Lutheran pastors before the 1950s taught homiletics? What were their go-to text books? How did they envision the task of preaching? What were the stated purposes and goals of preaching? What were the assumed prerequisites of preaching? Adam Koontz (professor of Exegetical Theology at CTSFW) and I take up these questions as we look at an obscure Lutheran from the early Twentieth Century, Reinhold Pieper. 

Dr. Koontz has written on this topic HERE. 

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TGC 137 — Trinity 19 Sermon Prep

This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for Trinity 19, Matthew 9:1-8.

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TGC 136 — A Tale of Two Synods

On the Gottesblog, Larry Beane has written extensively about the relation of doctrine and practice. He has also tackled issues of differences between doctrine and cultural issues within the synod. In this episode, it is all discussed under one heading: A Tale of Two Synods. How can there be such a variety of positions in liturgical practice and cultural stances when we have the same doctrine, and at least, on paper agree what that doctrine means? 

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TGC 135 — Trinity 18 Sermon Prep

This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for Trinity 18, Matthew 22:34-46.

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