Worship Wars. Ramble.

Contemporary vs. Traditional? I find both sides, in general, to be fairly ridiculous in their argumentation. Although, I do think style is an important thing, especially when we acknowledge the presence of God in worship, but the whole Liturgy verses non-liturgy, as a debate, doesn’t even seem to merit my time. But as I was eating my subway, I had a few thoughts. (I’m almost one who even refrains from drinking coffee and reading the Bible at the same time at home. But sometimes it happens ☺)

Doctrine and Practice go together. As one prays, so one believes. I would also add that as someone worships so one believes and vice versa. But the Latin for this idea is “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi”. And it’s not a new idea. But I was reading Todd Wilken earlier today, and he said, “Pentecostals worship the way they do, because they believe the way they do. Baptists worship the way they do, because they believe the way they do. Lutherans worship the way they do, because they believe the way they do.” It makes sense. If you see people worshiping like a Pentecostal in a Baptist church, that person most likely believes as a Pentecostal would believe. Ideas have consequences, and our distinctions in faith also have consequences in worship.

I think anybody would agree with that.

So I began to think about why Lutherans worship the way they do, and try to ignore what we call the historic “liturgy”, because it isn’t about the “form” per se, but its about the substance of the form. Certain forms will gear itself up better to the substance than others. But it isn’t really about having a pat pattern except: God acts and we respond.

In Lutheran theology, we believe in Justification By Grace Through Faith Alone. Jesus saves us, through faith, and not by any works of ourselves. “God doesn’t need our works, our neighbour does” is a common mantra in Lutheran circles. And it is totally the same way in Lutheran worship. God doesn’t need our worship, but we need worship. That is why we call it “the Divine Service.” In worship, it isn’t about our service to God but about God’s service to us. Sure there are both components, but in Lutheran worship this is the center and hub, God’s service to us is in worship through his word. In worship God continues to pour out his gifts to us and they overflow out of the service and into our vocations, and our worship continues into our daily lives.

That, by the way, is why saying, ‘“so and so’ lead worship this morning” is one of my pet peeves. Unless that answer is Jesus or God, then I would be happy. Worship isn’t just our songs. It is also about being humble under scripture, shutting up and listening to God’s word to us. And even then, it doesn’t end with the scripture readings or the sermon either.

So worship is about letting God be God. And this is how we do it, faith. Faith is worship. Faith is also something that passively “receives.” By faith we lay hold of, and receive all of God’s promises. So all throughout worship God is giving gifts of forgiveness, peace, mercy and grace, and he leads and shapes and informs our faith and worship, and builds up our faith and worship as we receive him.

So worship isn’t about what God needs. It’s about what we need from God. A lot of people tend to think the opposite way about worship. But look at it like this: “Jesus came not to be served, but to serve.” That is when God is most sovereign, when he is serving us delivering us from sin. Worship is God serving us through the cross, preaching it, as we speak psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to one another, serving one another the Word of Christ, which dwells in us richly, and which externalizes richly as we recount his saving deeds to ourselves and to our other members in the body of Christ.

So what does this mean? Well, here are a few thoughts.

Does our worship convey this? As a Lutheran who believes this, I sure hope so. We have major things that really stand out in the service that testifies to this. Absolution, Communion and when we have baptisms. But all that other stuff, I’m not sure if people catch on that this is what worship does. It isn’t just a bunch of words about worship, but worship is a word that delivers what it says. God does what he does. Salvation and worship are linked really closely if worship is viewed as God’s leading. Psalm 51 is a tremendous psalm. Some Lutheran churches open up with an interesting line from it: “Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise”. I love that line. That is what worship and praise is about, God opens our lips.

Now, I do not read this in any Calvinistic, fatalistic way, as if God opens up our lips deterministically. But how does God open up our lips? He acts! This is what Lutheran worship is about. God speaks to us through his word and we respond to his grace. Not only does God open our lips by his salvific acts, but he also gives us scripture to put into our mouths that give us an idea of what praise should look like.

I think too many times we make worship about what we do for God, but just end up making it about ourselves in a fickle sort of way. Don’t get me wrong, I still think that worship is for us, but it gets fickle when you start praising yourself, and making it about us.

My previous pastor took the song “I Will Not Be Shaken” and changed the lyric “I will declare my choice to the nations” to “I will declare my Lord.” It’s a bit picky, but I think it’s a big difference. We aren’t the substance of our worship. Sure, it’s not a bad thing to tell someone about your decision for Jesus. But worship needs to have a God centered ethos and be less man centered. You shouldn’t be proclaiming yourself all throughout worship, which a lot of songs tend to do. It’s a lot about me praising God without praising him for what he has done.

So to a few particulars… I went to a few different churches in the summer to help some friends “church shop.” My pastor was on vacation and I thought it might be interesting to see how other people worship. So as I went to a church with a friend who was strongly contemplating Christianity, I thought it was interesting how she even picked up on this, saying something to the effect of, “Why do they put their hands up in the air as if they think God will notice them better?”

I didn’t really have an answer for that particular “rubric” as we would call it in my church. Haha. But I did explain that we worship God with our bodies, and not just in our minds. I’m not sure why people put up their hands, but I will try to give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being.

However, I’m not going to trash it because they are doing something with their body. I do things with my body in worship all the time too. Kneeling, lying prostrate, tracing my body with the sign of the cross, folding my hands in prayer, closing my eyes, standing up in song, and folding my arms during the sermon. That last one, just kidding, but, no really.

But I don’t do these things because I think it will please God. I do it because I need it for myself, I am able to receive God’s word and orient myself around it. As God has saved my spirit, so he has saved my body in the power of the resurrection, and I use my body for worship appropriately. It isn’t about me, but about God for me.

I think the difference lies in how people treat emotions. People often think that emotions are the Holy Spirit, and seek emotions rather than the Spirit who comes to us through the Word. And so dancing, and hand waving might be that high for them, possibly. But God doesn’t need our excitement, the way we think we do, but he demands our faith. Now emotions in worship aren’t bad, they come and go, but we don’t need to manufacture them.

Living in Forgiveness

Lutherans are all about the salvation of the world, the forgiveness of sins, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the very name of Jesus, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Whenever we hear the “forgiveness of sins” it is a big deal. This is what Jesus is all about. Naturally, this is what Lutheran worship is all about. How do we know we are forgiven, that Christ’s death and resurrection applies to us? We find out when we gather together in his name.

Salvation and the forgiveness of sins mean a lot of things. In general, we receive the salvation of our personhood and the salvation of the community. We are being saved from our own sin and corruption, but also from the sins of others that were inflicted upon us, and the corruption of a fallen cosmos. Ultimately this salvation comes through the restoration of all things in our new humanity that we have and shall have because of Christ’s incarnation, death and resurrection, being joined to him in faith, and justified by his grace.

This salvation comes to us through a verdict, “innocent.” This is the verdict that we receive on the Last Day in final judgment. Yet, it is also a verdict received in the here and now. It has already been done. There is simultaneously a “now and not yet” component to our salvation. Here and now, our bodies are still held captive to the law of sin and entropy. But having the forgiveness of our sins, we look forward to the day of resurrection. The judgment on the day to come is two fold: we are declared innocent of our own sins, but we also receive vindication and restitution for our sufferings and the dark, evil injustice that has been thrust upon us. Judgment isn’t always negative, but it is also a positive thing when things are restored to order.

In the life of the Church this forgiveness extends from Jesus, flowing from him to us and to one another. Asking God for forgiveness is hardly something that we move beyond in our daily lives as Christians. Forgiveness takes on this dynamic focus in worship, specifically in the Lords prayer, which is a "daily" prayer. In it we petition God, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. And we also ask him to “deliver us from evil”. Furthermore, when Lutherans sing, “Lord have mercy” in this way, they identify with all the characters in the Gospels who beg the Lord for mercy, whether it is forgiveness or healing, it is both. Not only do we see ourselves in the Gospels as contemporaries, but we also hear the Lords forgiveness to us in these narratives. We are poor beggars, and likewise ask, “Lord have mercy” to save us from our own sins and the sins of others. We ask this because we know he will come to save us.

In Lutheran worship we do not merely hear “about” forgiveness, or talk “about” forgiveness. Neither do we talk “about” God. Rather, we hear and receive God’s forgiveness directly – it breaks forth from the cross reaching us in the “here and now” through the Word which is Spirit and Truth. We boldly proclaim it because God has authorized us to preach this way.

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” and when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:21-23). And “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:18-19.

The Psalms

Paul says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16).

How come the psalms get so little singing time in worship these days? There is so much good stuff in the psalms! I love the raw honesty. They have so much heart, and dare I say it, emotion. You find yourself wrestling with God, dealing with despair and skepticism, fallen-ness and sin; but you also share in joy, reverence, peace, awe, beauty, mercy and deliverance. It's down to earth but also accompanied with the grace of heaven.

Sure there are psalms sung in church every once in a while by way of vague references, but it's always the flowery psalms that get cherry picked. There is so much more than that. The psalms reveal Christ. They reveal Christ even in the darkest moments, especially in the darkest moments. Whenever I read the psalms I can't even tell if it's about David or the Messiah. I like that. It just shows how close Jesus is with us, sharing in our humanity, trials and temptations.

Why is it that we skimp out on the psalms? Is it our attempts to be relevant and seeker sensitive? Maybe that's part of it. But I think Christianity at large has become pretty comfortable. I think we have become blind to what surrounds us. When was the last time you sang about anguish, terror of death, fear and trembling, and being overwhelmed with horror? Or when was the last time you simply asked God for mercy? And when you look at that, you see how comforting the gospel actually is. How relevant it is. It's comforting but it's not comfortable. It's this word of Christ that dwells in us richly.

That said, I really like this introit. It's a substantial chunk of scripture distilled from Psalm 55. I'm also a sucker for responsive chant and harmony.



I call to God and he hears my voice
He redeems my soul in safety
Cast your burden on the Lord
And he will sustain you.
Give ear to my prayer O God
And hide not yourself from my plea for mercy
My heart is in anguish within me
The terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me
And horror overwhelms me.
But I call to God
And the Lord will save me.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning
Is now, and will be forever
Amen.

I call to God and he hears my voice
He redeems my soul in safety
Cast your burden on the Lord
And he will sustain you.