Category Worship

3:10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. 3:11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.  3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?  3:17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.  3:18 Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.  3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”  3:20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”  3:21 So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours,  3:22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future–all belong to you,  3:23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Grace and Peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

• Our epistle reading is an example of a literary unit that is broken apart at interesting places.
• We can only ask what does the epistle say; what does it mean; and what does it do?
• Here we have Paul continuing to admonish good Christians that are full of pride, license, jealousy, selfishness and … well you know…
  • Just like us!
• But Paul knows that appealing to the Corinthians to be moral is not the solution to their problems.
• No, the evangelical solution is forgiveness in the Gospel.
• He (and we) begin today by being reminded that the foundation of life is
  • “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8)
  • that foundation is Jesus Christ.(3:11)And upon this foundation, God in His mercy has created little temples to Himself….that is you and I.
• He puts Himself in these little temples as
  • ‘…God’s Spirit dwells in…’ them (3:16)
• God also posts a warning sign outside of these temples
• Anyone that destroys this temple will also be destroyed.
  • By the way, this is a warning to others as well as ourselves.
  • Do not destroy yourself with by following false teachers & false leaders.
• We, of course, are smarter and more clever than these poor wretched Corinthians.
• We have two-thousand years of information to make us wise beyond any first century cretin.
• God laughs at our craftiness and you will too!
• Listen to these absurdities, you hear them all the time;
  • “Everyone is a winner!”
  • “All the men are handsome and all the women are beautiful!”
  • “All the children are above average!”
  • Perhaps funniest of all; “Hope has returned!”
  • Oh yes, ‘there’s a new dawn a’ coming’ and
  • Utopia, the promised land, is just around the corner.
• In my neck of the woods, there are two towns; Tarpley and Utopia.
  • Tarpley advertises itself as “Not Quite Utopia”
  • Tarpley would be St. Paul’s kind of place.
• Don’t listen to that stuff!
  • The snow job of the ‘wise’ is to get you to believe what they say…
  • They are liars and murderers because they are the children of devil.
  • God says, “…that they are futile.” (3:20)
• Forget what the wise leaders say, it doesn’t matter….
• Quit fussing over the little things, because,
  • “…all things are yours…”(3:21)
• Now let’s not strip our gears
• Paul shifted the whole focus of his words
  • Stay with us……
• All things are yours because;
  • He was with God in the beginning.
  • Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
  • In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.(John 1:2-4)
• AND…
  • “…he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Eph. 1:4)
• As baptized children of God…
• Jesus Christ has taken you for His own
• You can’t escape!
• You little temples…you….
• Jesus Christ has taken you for His own; and
  • “Christ belongs to God.” (3:23)
• As such, today you will receive all things…
• the body and blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
• because you are His.  Amen

SDG

Given what passes for Christian churches in these united States, it is not surprising that Christians In Name Only (CINO) get their religious entertainment fix each week are shocked to see the condition of the church in Palestine, Russia, north Africa, and etc.  Most but not all of these areas are where one find the church of Jesus Christ.  As Martin Luther wrote:

“The church is offensive to the wise and counted with criminals.  This is the lot of the church because this was the lot of Christ, the Head of the Church.”

The results of this distance between the church of Jesus Christ and what passes for it here in these united States is of great magnitude.  But this also has a great impact upon the those within each.  In these united States the message is one of “power, wealth, peace, honor, wisdom, and righteousness.”  CINO preachers cover the remnant with “slander, bitter hatred, persecution, and blasphemy.”  This is license for the CINO to treat the remnant with “contempt and ingratitude.”

Robert A. Kelly has pointed out that the fact that the CINO,

“…who carry out the persecution of and inflict suffering on Christ’s people are the agents of the devil does not mean that they are obviously and outwardly wicked people.  Some are, but most are often the most outwardly pious, upright, and religious people.  They are full of holy zeal to protect God and morality from assault.”

And so it is and so it will be.  But what about those who deliver Christ’s words of “affliction, shame, persecution, death, etc.”  Well, for the most part they are out of step with the new and the enlightened.  They are “the most despicable of men” and thus the source of the church’s glory.

SDG

This is a letter that many pastors need to write to their congregations as we slip down the slope……

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ;

As you all are aware there is currently a push by some progressive members of the congregation to replace the liturgy used in our Sunday services. It appears that there are two views of how this replacing of the liturgy should happen. One approach is that the liturgy be entirely replaced with what is called a ‘contemporary praise and worship’ service. The second approach is that we continue to have two services keeping the liturgy in the early service and changing the second service to this ‘contemporary praise and worship’ style. I would like to point out that there is, in fact, another way to approach the question of how our services are ordered.

Recalling that the Church[1] is the bride of Christ. The primary function for the Church is for God’s people to worship Him. The fact that we can gather is a divine miracle. That is why in our Small Catechism we confess that it is the Holy Ghost that ‘… calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith…‘[2]

I view the Church as God’s garden. Through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, God creates his garden, the Church. Through care and nurturing the Church began to bloom and blossom in worship. Over the ages this mutual nurturing of God and organic response of the Church has resulted in the liturgy we use today.

In His mercy and through baptism in Jesus, God plants you and me in the Church. In the Church, Jesus promises that each of us will receive the nurturing of God’s holy Word and the Church responds in liturgy. Even as we worship, our bound wills seek to delude us into believing that we are pious, righteous and devout toward God. We turn our backs on God and begin to think that worship is our doing something for God.

With this pride, come our most precious religious, political, economic, and patriotic dreams. Myths we tell ourselves and one another; and to which we retreat so that we do not have to take care of our fellows and the good earth.[3] Once we are snared by these myths, we begin to see our personal wants, needs and desires as being the measure of all things. This leads us to think that praise and worship are things we do once a week in church for God.

This brings us to the day and the evil therein. There are three groups of stewards in the garden of the Church. In our congregation all three are present, that is not unusual. Each steward has a different idea of how to care for the garden and as such a dispute has arose as to which is the better steward.[4]

One group of stewards would like to have the liturgy be entirely replaced with what is called a ‘contemporary praise and worship’ service. They are the radical progressives. Radical in that they want to strike the root.[5] They would have the congregation tear out and burn out the existing garden, up root the young and the mature blooms and blossoms and start over with a fallow garden.

These radical progressives are not without seed for the fallow garden. They bring with them the seeds of ‘what everyone else is doing,’ ‘what is popular,’ and will ‘make the church grow.’ These seeds are ‘new’ in that they would introduce to our services songs that we hear on the radio, except with CINO[6] words in place of the original verses. They would bring in ‘new’ readings from the latest top sellers at the local CINO book store. They would replace the existing congregation with ‘new’ people from the un-churched and those that ‘do not have a personal relationship with Jesus.’

A second group of progressives would continue to have two services keeping the liturgy in the early service and changing the second service to this ‘contemporary praise and worship’ style. These liberal progressives want to keep the liturgy for themselves, but are willing to give liberty to another group who wish to have a ‘modern’ service. They wish to only fallow part of the garden in order to experiment with the seeds of ‘what everyone else is doing,’ ‘what is popular,’ and will ‘make the church grow.’

The liberal progressives do not have new seed for the garden. Rather they view the matter of worship as pure contingency. Through their view of Christian freedom, they are willing to let the radicals have a ‘go at it’ not realizing that the seeds of radicals will soon over grow the liberals part of the garden. They turn their backs on the other side and wish them good luck, only to be surprised with how the liturgy will change over time.

These ‘new’ seeds grow well in fallow ground and slowly expand to other parts of the garden until the entire garden has changed. The hymns will be replaced with ‘cover songs.’ The organ will grow dusty as guitars, tambourines, drums and other bar-band instruments become the standard. The symbols of the Church will be replaced with symbols of the people: butterflies and modern art wall hangings, blue jeans and flowered shirts, ‘come to Jesus’ expressions and Hallmark card sentimentality. The processionals will be replaced with ‘liturgical dance’ and children’s performances.

The great travesty of this move is that eventually even the sacraments of the Church will be changed to reflect the progressive vision. The divine gifts of baptism and the Lord’s Supper will become symbolic and reenactments of the life of Jesus. Baptism will be a ‘cleaning up’ of the people who have chosen to be better. The Lord’s Supper will become a drive-trough with the bread served as you pass by the pastor and the wine, now grape juice, will be served in plastic ‘Jesus jiggers.’

As you can tell by now, I count myself out of either of these two groups. However, before you discount me a some stick-in-the-mud old fogy, hear me out. As a fallen and sinful man, I recognize the need for the church to all ways be reforming. I stand by organic reformation rather than quick or slow revolution. Our existing fellowship hall has a stage for songs, ‘praise band’ music, a more relaxed setting for ‘wall art’ and ‘dressing down;’ and a perfect place for dancing and performing by young and old.

This is what we should do after services on Sunday morning. Enjoy each other and the gifts that God has given us. The ‘pot-luck’ meal where we share the life abundant with one another. Yes, we should let ourselves relax and bask in the glow of what our God has done for us each day, but especially on the Lord’s day.

As for the liturgy, it is constantly reforming with ever the eyes toward keeping it God-centered and Christ-centered. All changes to the liturgy are slow, deliberate and ordered as to not introduce chaos into the church or congregation. Concerning the sacraments, it would be a violation of my vows to allow changes in our ancient practices. There are certainly new hymns to be considered, new prayers to be written and new ways of preaching and teaching the Law and Gospel.

So it is, that, the historic and mature liturgy that has flourished in the Church for two-thousand years, will continue to be the standard for our church and congregation. In recognition that this may not be what some want to hear and that some will decide to leave our congregation, I realize this to be real possibility. To those for whom this continuation is uncomfortable, I remain open for conversation. To those for whom this continuation is unacceptable, it is more Christian that we part company than to become bitter attempting to abide one another. I will continue to pray for you and wish you well, should you decided to leave.

Yours in Christ,

SDG

[1] The capitalization of the word Church indicates the mystical body of the Communion of the Saints, both the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant. The lower case word ‘church’ indicates the bricks and mortar building in which we gather. Additionally, I use the word ‘congregation’ to mean the people who gather in a ‘church.’

[2] Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church: German-Latin-English. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921). SC.

[3] after Gerhard O. Forde. Where God Meets Man: Luther’s Down-To-Earth Approach to the Gospel. (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1972). p. 107.

[4] after Luke 22:24.

[5] The etymology of the word radical from Latin radix (genitive radicis) meaning “root.”

[6] Acronym for Christian In Name Only – CINO.

I should like to note that I believe that the true lost sheep are part of the elect[1] or remnant.[2] These are not potential converts or seekers or any of the other modern terms for the unbeliever. Rather, the elect are those who respond when the light of the Gospel is turned on. They know the master’s voice and they follow. The remnant are always present. They are listening for the Word.

Pastors would do well to remember that the elect/remnant are the people of God and His Church. As Pastor Curtis explained, ‘we serve the one people of God, his elect from every nation. And what the elect want, what the Church wants, is the Word of God, and worship that flows ceaselessly from the Word of God and is immersed in the imagery of the Word of God and is connected to the people of God of all times and places.'[3] This is and remains most certainly true.

SDG

[1] Triglot Concordia. FC SD XI.

[2] Isaiah 10:21, 11:16; 2 Kings 19:31; Romans 9:27, 11:5 and elsewhere.

[3] H.R. Curtis. Freed From the Shopkeeper’s Prison Series. Presented General Pastors’ Conference of the North Region of the IN District, LCMS, May 9, 2011.

Critical to the return to a theocentric order of worship is the centrality of the sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper.  Since we are to return to our Baptism daily, this sacrament should also define how we enter into worship.  Individual confession and corporate confession followed by absolution remind each of us of our Baptism into the Lord.  These forms of confession and absolution should continue to held prior to our worship in order to clear our minds and hearts for attending to God’s Word.

Additionally, weekly receiving of the Lord’s Supper strengthens our faith after five or six days of being battered by the forces of evil.  In receiving the Holy Supper, we are gifted with the body and blood of our Savior and He then literally becomes us and we Him.  He has given us an earthly means to taste His Grace.  Nothing demonstrates our direct connection and need of Him more certainly than the gifts of His Supper.

SDG

Worship is where the Holy Ghost leads us to ask for the our sin to be forgiven.  The reformers wrote that: This worship is the highest worship of Christ. Nothing greater could be ascribe to Christ. To seek from Him the remission of sins was truly to acknowledge the Messiah. Now, thus to think of Christ, thus to worship Him, thus to embrace Him, is truly to believe.*   Luther made very few changes in the medieval Latin Mass which is confessed; we do not abolish the Mass, but religiously maintain and defend it. For among us masses are celebrated every Lord’s Day and on the other festivals, in which the Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it, after they have been examined and absolved. And the usual public ceremonies are observed, the series of lessons, of prayers, vestments, and other like things.   He retained the use of the Latin language with which; … we mingle with it German hymns, in order that the people also may have something to learn, and by which faith and fear may be called forth. This custom has always existed in the churches. For although some more frequently, and others more rarely, introduced German hymns, nevertheless the people almost everywhere sang something in their own tongue. [Therefore, this is not such a new departure.]**

Unfortunately, most Sunday gatherings are more representative of overhaul of the Mass that was made by the radical progressives, Calvin, Zwingli and the enthusiasts.  These radicals ‘threw out all traditional services and substituted spiritualism for Word and Gospel.’***   This has lead to a cacophonous mixture that strains the definition of worship to its breaking point.  Completely lost is the basis for reforming the church.

Returning to the source of the reformation would be a start.  Again, not to necessarily reinstate Luther’s Mass directly, but to look to it as a guide for our current worship.  A return of order and discipline in worship would encourage the use of the what is good, beautiful and true.  This should include the use of elements of worship that have been developed in all times and in various places.  Here is a place for modern hymns and other forms that are theocentric and not simply rebellious.

SDG

* Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church: German-Latin-English.  (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921).  AP IV II 33.

** Triglot Concordia. AP XXIV 1

*** Triglot Concordia. AP XXIV 3-5

Marva J. Dawn in her book, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time, makes the point that there are several words in the New Testament that could signify worship.   Included are latreuo as paying homage to God and proskuneo as an attitude or gesture of allegiance to God.  She points out that these terms speak of esteem and proper behavior.  She goes on to say that other words indicate the bringing of offerings.  Offering no support for such a clam, Dawn’s analysis shifts immediately to the Old Testament usage of words indicating sacrifice.  However, it should be noted that Dawn originally is referencing the New Testament concerning the word worship, and again there is a difference of what can be understood as worship and the demeanor and activities of worshipers.*

Both Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and Englishman’s Greek Concordance indicate that the term latreuo originally meant to ‘serve for hire.**   Both concordances demonstrate that latreuo as used in the New Testament means to render religious service or homage, so far so good.  As for proskuneo, both concordances indicate that the word describes a worshiper, a person who worships.  To put a fine point on both Dawn’s definitions and those of the concordances, they are all anthropocentric, that is they describe the actions and/or behaviors of the people involved in a religious service.  For those, like myself, who have been lead to the absolute sovereignty of God, we must look for a definition that attributes the actions to God alone.

The etymology of the word, worship, comes from the Anglo-Saxon weorðscipe and as a noun means …the condition of being worthy, dignity, glory, distinction, honor, renown…  Here, from the Germanic language, one finds the more correct definition of one who is worship.  As a noun, worship is used to describe a person, place or thing.  It recalls an old salutation of ‘Your Worship’ which was used when addressing one’s class superiors, particularly aristocrats and clerics.  It is not until A.D. 1300 that the verb sense of reverence paid to a supernatural or divine being is first recorded.***   Therefore, from this one can determine that God is the only one who possesses the condition of being worthy, dignity, glory, distinction, honor, renown, etc.  Accordingly, God is Worship.

This also harkens back to the words of the psalmist, who wrote: אֲ֭דֹנָי שְׂפָתַ֣י תִּפְתָּ֑ח וּ֝פִ֗י יַגִּ֥יד תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ׃  Which we translate as; Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.   Here the psalmist confirms that God is the actor and we are the ones being acted upon.  Thus, worship in its true form is the creature suffering the workings of the sovereign God, which results in prayers, praises, hymns and thanksgiving returning from us to God.  This fulfills the scripture where God says; so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

SDG

* Marva J. Dawn.  Reaching Out without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time.  (Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K., 1995).  p. 81. Dawn refers to the Old Testament as the ‘First Testament,’ in an effort to be sensitive to the modern mind.  Sadly, this is an intentional distortion which can only be destructive to the building up of the Church.

** NAS Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries.  (The Lockman Foundation, 1998).  accessed April 24, 2014. http://biblehub.com/

*** Douglas Harper. The Online Etymology Dictionary.  accessed April 24, 2014. http://etymonline.com/