“Why We Do What We Do”
5/22/22
Introduction
This morning we will be doing something completely different for our worship. We’re going to methodically work our way through the liturgy with the hopes of answering the question of “Why we do what we do.” Yes, this really will be a worship service, however we’ll have starts and stops along the way. This discussion is important because there’s so much confusion about what we are actually doing when we gather together here as the people of God. I honestly don’t know how far we’ll get today. Most likely we’ll have to finish this next week. So let’s begin with hymn #907.
Do you really believe what we just sang, that God Himself is present… right here, right now? I hope so because He is and that will shape everything else that we do. The Lord is everywhere and yet all throughout the Bible He called His people to gather at certain locations where He would meet with them and reveal Himself to them in unique ways. There, He would speak His word to them through His called ministers. And He would also shower them with spiritual blessings as they did so. In response, God’s people would sing praises to Him and they were instructed to bring sacrificial offerings that accompanied this worship. There was a set order to how all this flowed so that it would be pleasing to God and not a chaotic mess. Our liturgy today reflects that ancient practice.
That’s how the Bible describes “worship.” But far too many people today believe that it’s mainly about us giving something to God rather than what we receive from Him. I’ve got some shocking news: The Lord doesn’t need your worship! He is self-sufficient without you giving Him anything. He calls you to gather for worship so that HE can give His gifts to YOU. Does He want your praise and thanks? Yes. It’s like a parent who simply wants his child to say “thank you” after receiving a gift. The kid doesn’t have to do something beforehand for the parent to give the gift. That’s the way it is with God. And this is the pattern we see in the Bible. God gives, we receive, and then we respond with thanks and praise.
Since we just sang a hymn, we may as well address the question that is often asked, “Why can’t we sing contemporary Christian songs?” Well, first we need to define the word “contemporary.” Do you mean songs that have become popular in the past 6 months, 2 years, 10 years, 20 years? Our closing hymn is one that I’m pretty sure you’ve never sung before. So, it’s “new” and therefore contemporary to you. Folks, I actually like some of the “contemporary” Christian music. However, most of those songs fail the high standards we have for being included in our hymnal. Sadly, some of them contain bad theology that we definitely don’t want to promote in our church services. So, most of these songs aren’t appropriate for a worship setting where our focus is on God giving His gifts to us. The hymns in our hymnal have stood the test of time and that’s why we retain them. Some have been written in the past 20 years and others are from centuries past. There are probably tons of other questions you may still have on this aspect of worship but we can continue the discussion in Bible class or elsewhere.
Invocation
We begin our services by calling upon the name of our Triune God. But why? Well, if you look to the right of the Invocation, you’ll see the Bible passage where this comes from. Jesus commanded us to use these words when we Baptize. That’s when God put His holy name on you. By virtue of our Baptism, He has given us the right to “call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.” We are also clearly identifying this God that we worship. It’s the true God who is revealed to us in the Bible and none other. This is who we’re focused on meeting with. In preparation for that we move to the Confession and Absolution.
Confession and Absolution
Notice once again the Bible verses that call us to confess our sins. Some churches have eliminated this all together. Why? Because it makes people feel bad when they examine their sinful hearts. Who wants to think of that when you’d rather dive right into joyfully singing God’s praises? But we have to think about it. You and I truly are “poor, miserable sinners” and because of that we are unworthy to enter into the presence of our holy God. Throughout the Bible when believers realized that they were in the presence of the Lord they were afraid. The word commonly translated as “worship” in both the Old and New Testament literally refers to people bending low with their face to the ground. It’s a posture of humility. That’s a far cry from standing up, waving your hands around in worship. Granted, we don’t physically lay ourselves prostrate before God but that should be the attitude in your heart. Bowing your head in sorrow over your sins is a good posture to reflect what’s happening on the inside of you.
During that 30 seconds or so of silent self-examination, do you have to name every single sin? No. It’s not possible. But you know good and well the ones that you’ve been struggling with this past week. Name them. If you sincerely speak the words of confession then you can be assured that all the rest of your sins are included too. Don’t hold back or hedge on any of your pet sins. Humbly ask God to cleanse and forgive you of them ALL—past and present—for Jesus’ sake. Then comes the best part of my job as your Pastor. I have no power of my own to forgive your sins. And yet Christ calls men to be His ministers, to speak His words of forgiveness. As you can see from the Bible citation, in John 20, Jesus gave this authority to His church. Having been cleansed of all your sins, now you’re ready to enter God’s holy presence and speak to Him because He has made you holy once again.
Introit
Introit is a Latin word that means “entrance.” As the Pastor enters the altar area, we speak one of the 150 Psalms which was Israel’s hymnal. Jesus sang and quoted the Psalms which is the best endorsement we can get for continuing to use them. Originally the Psalms were chanted. Perhaps that’s something we can aim for in the future. Next, we’ll sing both the Kyrie and Gloria In Excelsis.
Kyrie and Gloria In Excelsis
The triple repetition in the Kyrie asking for mercy reminds us again of the Triune God who we’re approaching. Yes, we’ve been forgiven but we continue to need God’s mercy as we proceed. Does the opening line of the Gloria ring a bell? It’s the words of the angels announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds. Through Jesus, mankind certainly does have peace with God now. And in the remainder of the Gloria, we acknowledge the 3 persons of the Trinity focusing especially on the work of Christ as our Savior.
Salutation and Collect
I’ve been asked, “Why does Pastor chant instead of just speaking here?” Our Pastor back in Omaha explained it well. If the people are expected to sing the response, then shouldn’t the Pastor also sing? Anyway, the Salutation of “The Lord be with you,” is more than just a greeting. It’s a reminder of our desire for the Lord’s presence as we prepare to pray to Him. When you respond, “And with thy Spirit” you’re not just talking about my soul. Rather, it refers to the Holy Spirit who is using me as His representative on your behalf. The “Collect” is called that simply because it’s the collective prayer of us all. It’s designed to focus on the common thread that runs through the Scriptures we’re about to hear. And hopefully you remember from your Catechism what the word “Amen” means. “Yes, yes. It shall be so.” In other words, “Yep. Pastor’s words are also my sincere prayer.”
The Scripture Readings
There is a schedule, of sorts, for our Scripture Readings called “The Lectionary.” It usually has an Old Testament passage, an Epistle, and then the Gospel. “Epistle” comes from the Greek word for “letter.” So these are letters written by the apostles to groups of Christians like Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians. The Gospel reading comes from one of the 4 Gospels. Within the 3-year cycle you don’t hear the whole Bible but you get a good sampling of all of it. As Lutherans, we believe that the Word of God is our only source and norm for our doctrine. So, it’s essential that we hear plenty of it. That’s why Scripture is the basis for our whole liturgy. Quite literally we’re just speaking the very words that God has given to us in the Bible.
You’ll notice that we introduce the Gospels with the triple Alleluia. You’re smart enough to figure out why there are 3. The word Alleluia comes from the Hebrew which means “praise God.” That’s certainly appropriate as we prepare to hear the very words of Jesus, the Son of God, in the Gospel. And that’s why we stand as He comes to us in His holy Word. It’s rather interesting that in Divine Service 3, when the Gospel is announced the music response goes down the scale. After the reading, it goes up. Kind of like an audible reminder of how the Son of God came down to earth and then ascended back into heaven after His death and resurrection.
The Creed
We don’t have time to go into the history of the creeds. Suffice it to say that they were developed to help the church publicly declare what we believe about the Triune God that we worship. As I teach the Confirmation kids, it’s like our Christian pledge of allegiance which is the commonly held belief that unites us as one in the body of Christ. It’s something that bears repeating regularly and should never be eliminated from our services.
Hymn Of The Day
This hymn is especially chosen to help us focus on the theme of the day. Someone once said, “Hymns are homily helpers.” In other words, there’s a mini-sermon in the words of the song. It’s another reason why we want hymns that have meat to them and not a bunch of emotional fluff.
The Sermon
Our Lutheran Pastors are trained to preach sermons to you that are a balance of Law and Gospel. The Pastor is like a doctor, poking and prodding you to find out where the sickness is. It may very well hurt when he hits the sore spot of where sin has been infecting your life. But that’s a good thing because after that he also has the great pleasure of telling you about God’s cure for your sin-disease. A doctor would be guilty of malpractice if he avoided telling you the bad news about your illness. Well, a Pastor is just as guilty if he fails to tell you the horrible truth about your sins. Are stories, illustrations, or humor inappropriate for a sermon? Certainly not. Jesus used all of the above and He was the preacher par excellence. The only caveat is that the Word of God must be woven throughout every aspect of the sermon. By the way, if there’s ever something that you don’t understand or don’t agree with in the sermon, you have a responsibility to talk with me about it. Ask me to show the Scripture that’s the basis for what I said. Yes, I want you to trust me but even so, I would welcome these kinds of discussions. It’s much better and more helpful than you just going home confused or upset.
The Offertory
These are fitting words for us to sing after the sermon. Using the words of David from Psalm 51 we ask God to make our spirits new and refreshed now that His Law and Gospel have been working on our hearts and minds.
The Offering
You know, sometimes I think the offering should be collected at the beginning of the service. That way it doesn’t seem like you’re paying for how well you liked the sermon. Seriously, like everything else in the service, this is your response to all the blessings that you have received from God. No one should ever feel guilted into giving. As St. Paul says, “God loves a cheerful giver.” It should be planned and decided long before you enter into church. Giving to the Lord’s work here at Zion is a privilege that belongs mainly to our members. We’d never say no to the contribution of a visitor but our guests should never feel compelled to join in our offerings.
That’s where we’ll end for today. We’ll finish examining the Divine Service next week. I pray that you’ve been blessed with a deeper understanding of “why we do what we do” in our worship. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria