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Note: Today's sermon is a running commentary on the different parts of the liturgy. The sermon proper is found in the midst of all the commentary.
The Divine Service
The 9th Sunday after Trinity Sunday, 2007
Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
An Introduction to a Narrative Service, and an outline of the Divine Service.
This mornings service is going to be different. It's called a 'Narrative Service' or a 'Teaching Service'. We will follow the normal liturgy from page 15 in the front of the Lutheran Hymnal, but before each of the portions of the service we will have an historical and Biblical introduction. The goal is to consider each portion of the liturgy, where it comes from in the Scriptures, when it was introduced into the church's worship, and what part it plays in the overarching theme of the Divine Service.
It's wise for us to begin, then, with a discussion of the theme of the Lord's Service. Why does the Lord gather us, His church, here to His Word and His Meal week after week? It's important to know the answer to this question. Keri will tell you that when I go to the store, even when I have a list, I almost always get something wrong; diet instead of caffeine free Coke, children's instead of infant Motrin. The point is, you have to know what you're looking for. What are you looking for when you come to church? Entertainment? To hear something new and interesting? To socialize? The Lord has us in church so that He can forgive all of our sins, that He can comfort us with the gifts that Jesus won for us on the cross. We will see, as we consider the different portions of the liturgy, how they all fit into this overarching theme: the forgiveness of all our sin for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This pattern begins to emerge in the Divine Service: the Lord speaks to us, and we respond with thanksgiving and praise. The portions of the liturgy where the Lord is speaking to us we call sacramental; the portions of the liturgy where we speak to God are called sacrificial. An easy way to determine which direction things are headed is to look at the direction the pastor faces. When I stand like this, facing you, I stand here to speak the Lord's Word of Law and Gospel, His Word that gives us life. These portions are sacramental, the Lord giving His gifts. When I turn around and face the altar, I'm joining all of you in offering prayers and praise and thanks to God, these portions are sacrificial. Remember that all of our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving are always in response to the wonderful gifts which the Lord gives to us.
An explanation of the Invocation.
There are three parts of the Divine Service: the Service of Preparation (which begins with the Invocation and continues until the Absolution), the Service of the Word (which begins with the Introit and continues until the sermon), and finally the Service of the Sacrament (which begins with the Preface and continues until the Benediction).
The Service of Preparation begins with the Invocation. This name comes from the Latin invocatio, to call upon. In this first prayer together we call upon the name of the Lord, and for this we have the Lord's promise:
Acts 2:21, Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
This name that we call upon is the name of the Holy and Blessed Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. There is no question about Whom is being worshiped and prayed unto. Our God is the only true God. This is also the blessed name which was placed upon us in our baptism. Therefore we enter into the Divine Service as the Lord's baptized, His children. Let us then call upon the name of the Lord...
An explanation of Confession and Absolution.
The Absolution is the center of the Service of Preparation.
1 John 1:8-10 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We are to stand before God, but God is holy, and cannot endure sin. We are sinners, and this is the trouble. But the Lord has a solution of the problem: the Lord Jesus and His cross. There He paid the price for our sin and washed our sins away with His blood. So, in preparation for the Lord's Service we speak the truth. We speak the truth about who we are: 'poor, miserable sinners', and the Lord speaks the truth about what He has done: 'I forgive you all your sins.'
The Confession and Absolution is the most modern portion of the service, developing in the Middle Ages and given their proper evangelical emphasis in the Lutheran Churches. But even though it is the most modern, it is often the most offensive to modern man. “Who does that pastor think he is to forgive my sins?” Dear saints, rejoice that it is not me who is doing the forgiving, it is the Lord forgiving sins through His called servant. For this we have the comfort of Jesus' Word:
John 20:21-23 Jesus said to them again, "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 anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld."
An explanation of the Introit
Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!
Introit is Latin for 'entrance' or 'beginning', and the Introit is the actual beginning of the service. They came into use when the early period of persecution of the church ended and it was possible to worship in public and build buildings (4th century). The Introits are portions of the Psalms (or, rarely, other Scriptures) appointed for each Sunday and Church feast and festival.
In the ancient church the bishops and deacons would enter into the church and take their place at the altar during the Introit. This is why I'm in the custom of conducting the Service of Preparation from here, and then ascending to the chancel and altar during the Introit. This signals an 'entrance' as well as the beginning of the service.
Each Introit has three parts, the antiphon (which is the first verse, and is repeated at the end, and sets the theme for the Sunday), the Psalm (which is the Introit proper, and historically sung by a choir), and the Gloria Patri (or 'Little Doxology', this is added to the end of every Psalm and Hymn taken from the Scriptures in the service. The Gloria Patri is a praise to the Holy Trinity, the source of every good and perfect gift.) Let us pray together the Introit...
An explanation of the Kyrie
Instead of having a Latin origin, Kyrie is a Greek word, the first word of the phrase: Kyrie eleison, meaning 'Lord, mercy me' or, 'Lord, have mercy'. The three-fold Kyrie, Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Lord, have mercy, is a pray to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Kyrie was probably a regular part of the Church's liturgy in the 6th century.
From beginning to end, the Scriptures are full of prayers to the Lord for mercy. It is fitting for us, in these gray and latter days, to join in this cry for help in our time of need. Let us pray...
An explanation of the Gloria in Excelsis
Following the Kyrie is the Gloria in Excelsis, and from a plea for mercy we join together in a grand hymn of praise. Gloria in Excelsis is Latin for Glory in the Highest, and it is found in the liturgies of the 4th century.
The hymn itself is marvelous, and I commend it to your study. It begins with the hymn which the angels sang of the eve of our Lord Jesus' birth.
Luke 2:13-14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
The hymn continues with five great praises: “we praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we give thanks to Thee”, and then sounds forth the preaching of John the Baptist as he stood on the River Jordan and announced the coming of Jesus: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
The hymn is so full of joy that it is one of the marks of the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent that the Gloria is omitted. You might ask why the first line is sung by the pastor alone, and the congregation joins in for the remainder of the hymn. Honorius, a theologian of the 12th century, says this is done “because the angel also began this alone, and the whole army of the heavenly host sang it all together.” Let us join together in the angel's song and praise the Lord on high...
An explanation of the Collect and the Propers
The Collect of the Day is next, and proceeds the reading of the Scripture. It is a short and concise prayer which summarizes and 'collects' the thoughts of the Biblical texts about to be read and prepares our ears and hearts for the hearing of the Lord's Word.
The Collect follows a set pattern of five parts, which is too much detail for this service, but we'll have to talk about it another time. Many of the Collects we have in our hymnal come from the 5th and 6th centuries, some are more modern (remember that when talking about the liturgy, 500 years is young) and were written in the Middle Ages or at the time of the Reformation. Our collect today for the 9th Sunday after Trinity Sunday is very ancient, and is found in the Sacramentary of Pope Gelasius I whose dates were 492-496 AD.
Each Sunday and feast day of the Church Year has its own appointed collect, along with an Introit, Scripture readings, Gradual and Verse. These portions of the liturgy that change each week are called the 'Propers'; the portions of the liturgy that don't change (like the Gloria in Excelsis, Creed, Agnus Dei, etc.) are called the 'Ordinaries'.
Of course, no matter how old or new the prayer is, the point is that we are praying, asking the Lord for something that we need. We are here keeping the Lord's 2nd Commandment, that we would use His name, not in vain, and so we call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks. Our whole life is meant to be a constant prayer to the Lord, for if we, as Christians, know anything, we know that we need His help and His gifts at all times. And so with humility and thanksgiving, let us pray...
An explanation of the Scripture Readings
So far in the service of the Word you would have normally been standing, and I would have been facing, with you, the altar, and we were speaking to God in our prayers and thanksgiving. Now we have arrived at the Lord's Word, and it is time to sit and silently listen to the Lord speaking to us.
The reading and hearing of the Lord's Word is the crescendo of the Service of the Word, for here our God is speaking directly to us. There is great joy for the Lord's people in hearing, “Thus says the Lord.” From the most ancient of times, and now we are talking about the time of Moses, and even earlier, Abraham and Noah and Adam, the Lord has gathered His church around His Word, and is with great honor that we are called to hear the same.
We hear three lessons. The first is from the Old Testament, the prophets. In the ancient church there were regular readings from the prophets, but very early in the history of the church these lessons were lost (the monks, it seems, got lazy). This year we are using Old Testament lessons from the Evangelical Lectionary, assembled by a seminary professor of mine.
The second lesson is from an Epistle or the book of Acts. The third lesson is from one of the four Gospels. Both of these lessons are, again, part of the propers appointed from ancient times. Tradition says that Jerome (who died in 420 AD) picked these lessons, but if not, they were set by the time of Charlemagne in the year 800 AD, with minor revisions and adjustments being made in the 1,200 years that have followed.
The lessons, and especially the Gospel lesson, give the theme of the Day and Season of the Church Year.
St Paul says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone, in which the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in Whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22 Here, in the hearing of His word, the Lord is building His church, building us up on the foundation of the prophets and apostles with Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone. Let us then, here the word of the Lord...
An explanation of the Creed
We hear the Lord's word in faith, that is, we believe what He says. So after the reading of the Scriptures we say, 'I believe', or, in Greek, creado. The creed is a confession of faith, an agreeing with what the Lord has said.
Matthew 10:32 Jesus says, “So everyone who confesses me before men, I also will confess before my Father who is in heaven.”
His Word calls forth this confession. And, by the way, we don't make this stuff up. It's not up to each one of us to decide what the Lord's Word means to us. We confess together, together with the whole church throughout the world and throughout all time. (In fact, the ancient Nicene Creed began, 'We believe'.) The Nicene Creed first began to take shape in the council of Nicea in 325 AD, and came at last to what we have today in the year 750 AD.
It is a beautiful summary of the whole Scriptures, from the Creation to the Resurrection, and continues, as all the part of the liturgy do, to point us to Jesus, Who came down from heaven, suffered, died and rose again, all for us and for our salvation. Let us then confess our faith together with the whole church of God on earth...
An explanation of the Hymn of the Day
St Paul says to the church in Colosse:
Colossians 3:16 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.
We've heard the Lord's Word, and now it is time to lift our voices together is song. There are a lot of reasons to sing hymns in the church, but all of the hymns we sing are in service to the Lord's Word. This is especially true of the Hymn of the Day, which sits in a seat of great honor between creed and the sermon.
Recently pastors and theologians have begun to rediscover the fact that in the early Lutheran churches, there were set hymns for each Sunday of the Church Year, hymns which were bound to the theme, etc. While I chose the other hymns in the service, I normally let the hymn of the day stand. In this way we are singing the same hymns that our great-grand parents sang.
Throughout the Scriptures the Lord's people sing. When the Lord accomplishes great things, they sing. When they are swallowed by a fish or thrown in jail: they sing. When they are hauled off into foreign lands, or when they are brought back: they sing. When the go us to Jerusalem to worship and offer sacrifices, or when they sit and home and pray: they sing. When they are sad or happy or in trouble of rescued from their sins: they sing. And we are the people of God, so let us sing together the hymn of the day...
Sermon: Preaching and Worship
INJ
2 Timothy 4:1-4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Dear Saints,
It is my great privilege to be called by God through you, His church, to stand here and preach the Lord's word to you.
The sermon stands in the middle of the Lord's Service to explain the Scriptures and apply them, both Law and Gospel. Because, in this sinful world, we need to constantly hear these two things, that we are sinners in need of the Lord's forgiveness, and, second, the good news that the Lord has had mercy upon us, and looked upon us not according to our sins, but according to the great love and suffering and sacrifice of His Son Jesus.
The sermon is for instruction, your's as well as mine, because the Lord Himself is teaching us to be His children. This is a different type of teaching than what goes on at home. At home we are trying to teach our children to grow up and, eventually become adults. A constant refrain at our house is, “You can do it.” “Dad, could you get me a snack?” “You can do it.” “Dad, could you help me read this word?” “You can do it.” So our children grow up. But when we come into the Lord's church, it's not time to “grow up”, but “grow down”. Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:17) So we adults must become like children. That's why, in the church, the message is not, “You can do it,” but rather, “You can't do it.” You can't be good enough, holy enough, perfect enough. You and your works do not and cannot impress God. You can't do it. You can't get to heaven, earn salvation, get eternal life.
But Jesus does it for you, suffers in your place, dies your death, and give you, as a gift, His perfection and holiness and righteousness, all in the forgiveness of your sins.
May the Lord Himself continue to teach us His great love, even as He continues to serve us His gifts. Amen.
And now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
An explanation of the Offertory and Offering
The Offertory, the Offering and the Prayer of the Church all stand between the Service of the Word and the Service of the Lord Supper. We've heard the Lord's Word, received His riches, and now, as an act of worship, present our offerings at His altar. These gifts go to support the preaching of the Gospel and the upkeep of the Lord's Church. St Paul reminds us:
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
So we offer our gifts to God with joyful hearts. We know that our Father did not even spare His own Son from us, and so will also give us all things. The Lord Jesus was made poor so that we might be rich, filled with all the treasures of heaven. So we gladly, willfully and joyfully give our gifts to the Lord and His church.
An explanation of the Prayers of the Church
We also have the instructions from St Paul to Timothy:
1 Timothy 2:1-4 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
The Church continues to pray for the Lord's mercy, that He would not only look upon us, but upon all people with His loving kindness. So we, because we are the Lord's people, pray for all people according to their need. Let us pray...
An explanation of the Preface, the Proper Preface, the Sanctus, the Lord's Prayer, the Words of Institution, the Pax Domine, the Agnus Dei and the Distribution
We now enter into the Service of the Sacrament or the Lord's Supper. To keep the propriety of the Sacrament, I would like to consider briefly all that remains for us to hear and pray before we receive together the Lord's body and blood.
First comes the Preface. These sentences are the oldest portion of the liturgy, dating from 220 AD, and reflect the marvelous dialog that we have together as pastor and people, praising the Lord.
The Proper Preface is a seasonal prayer asking of thanksgiving, prayed as an introduction to the great hymn, the Sanctus.
The Sanctus (Latin for 'holy') is another ancient hymn. It was first heard by Isaiah as he ministered in the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. He saw heaven opened, and the throne of God, and the four living creatures that accompany the Lord's throne singing “holy, holy, holy.” (Isaiah 6:1-4) in praise to the Holy Trinity. The first recorded use in the liturgy is in the year 200 AD. It is joined to Psalm 118:25, “Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord.” This is the verse sung as Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We sing it together as the same Lord Jesus enters into our midst to feed us His body and His blood.
The Sanctus is followed by the Lord's Prayer, the prayer He taught His disciples and His church. It is the church's 'table prayer', and we, with eagerness, look to the altar where the Lord will answer our petition, “Forgive us our trespasses.”
Following the Lord's Prayer are the Words of Institution, the word's our Lord Jesus spoke on the night before His crucifixion. In these words He left for His church His last will and testament, saying, “This is the New Testament in My blood, shed for you for the remission of all of your sins.” So we, the Lord's children, here take our inheritance which He has left for us, and in His dying gift, we have life.
These words give what they proclaim. The words which Jesus speaks, “This is My body; This is My blood” are true. That means that the bread is really and truly His body, and the wine is really and truly His blood. It is hard to imagine, impossible to comprehend, that the Lord would give us such precious gifts.
This is why I am in the habit of genuflecting, of kneeling, after these words are spoken, as an acknowledgment that the Lord has placed His body and blood before us for us to eat and drink.
Then, following the Words of Institution is the Pax, Latin of 'peace'. 'The peace of the Lord be with you always.' After Jesus had risen from the grave He appeared to His disciples saying, “peace.” That is the same peace the He brings to us with His body broken and His blood shed. Peace between God and man. The peace that the Lord gives is in, with and under this bread and wine.
Now, having seen the peace of the Lord, we sing the Agnus Dei, again, it's Latin for 'Lamb of God', a hymn built around the proclamation of John the Baptist. We are again praying for mercy, and we know where the mercy is to be found, where our sins are taken away. God's slain Lamb is bringing the fruits of His sacrifice to us.
An explanation of the Nunc Dimittis, the Thanksgiving and the Post-Communion Collect
Nunc Dimittis for 'now dismiss'. You remember the story of faithful Simeon, waiting in the temple in Jerusalem. The Lord had promised him that he would see the Messiah before he died. Mary and Joseph brought the child Jesus to the temple, and all of Simeon's hopes were met, and He sang out, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace... for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” Simeon was ready to die because he had held in his hand Jesus. We, too, join in his prayer. We have in our hands and mouths and hearts the Lord Jesus, our life and salvation. No greater gifts. Lord, now we are ready to depart in peace, ready to die, for the Lord has withheld nothing from us, but even given us His own Son.
So we give Him thanks and praise, laud and adoration, and ask that the gift of His Son and our forgiveness would bear its fruit in our lives, the fruit of faith and love.
An explanation of the Benedicamus and the Benediction
We end the Divine Service with one more word of blessing. Benediction comes from two words, bene meaning 'good' and diction meaning 'speaking', so the benediction is a blessing, a good-speaking from the Lord to us. The words were give by God to Moses for Aaron the high priest to speak over the children of Israel. Again, like so many things in the liturgy, the benediction has three parts, corresponding to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and again in this blessing we are given the Lord's treasures of forgiveness and life and peace. It is my great pleasure to give to you the Lord's benediction...
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO
Acknowledgements:
Much of the material in this survey of the liturgy is found in The Lutheran Liturgy, Luther Reed (Fortress Press, Philadelphia. 1947)