An Article on Worship in the Lutheran Tradition
When we speak of divine worship, and why we Lutherans worship the way we do, we must take into account the long history of our worship rite. The roots of our worship are found in the synagogues of ancient Israel. The worship of the synagogue was not found in the land of Judah, but during the time of the Exile in the land of the Babylonians. Our worship has its earliest roots in the gatherings of the people of God cut off from the temple and their homeland—strengthening their faith through common prayer, and reflection on God’s Word—preserved in the writings carried with them into captivity.
As the Jews lived under the power and authority of Babylon they gathered on the Sabbath to read and retell the ancient stories of faith, to hear those stories interpreted for their own time by rabbis (leaders and teachers), and to pray as a community of faith. The reading of scripture, preaching, and prayer became the center of divine worship—of the liturgy—the work shared by the leaders and the people—in praise of their God.
When the Jews returned to the land of the promise and they rebuilt the temple, the synagogue remained the chief focus for the regular worship of the community of faith. The community gathered together for synagogue worship—reading, preaching and prayer. At some point the singing of psalms was added as an enhancement to the basic worship rite.
Christian worship grew out of this central act of worship found in the synagogue. A new element was introduced to the faithful by Jesus on the night of his arrest. Earlier that night as he celebrated the meal with his disciples he changed the meaning of the Passover festival for his followers forever. As he shared the bread and wine during the meal he provided a regular element of Christian worship to be celebrated at each Lord’s Day gathering of his people. That this is the case is evidenced in the letters of Paul and the Book of Acts.
Initially, those who worshiped Christ after the resurrection continued to worship in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and gathered again on Sunday for the sharing of the meal. However, after Christians were thrust from the synagogues (sometime after 70 AD), the entire Christian worship took place on Sunday (the day of the resurrection; the Lord’s Day); initially in the home of an elder, but as numbers grew in larger public spaces as they were available. Eventually, buildings were designated for use as churches allowing for the fuller shape of the liturgy.
The essence of worship then is given to us by the rite of the synagogue and the Last Supper of Jesus. The individual elements of each section of the liturgy is steeped in meaning, and drawn from scripture. However, nowhere in scripture does it command us how to worship. We are told in the Old Testament things we should not do, and things we should not worship, but we are not given an outline for proper worship.
Instead, worship is more of a dance with God and the host of heaven. It is an emptying of self to pay homage to the creator, savior, and sustainer of us and all creation. To worship God literally means to lay prostrate before God—to bear one’s very soul to the one who has created it, and to give him thanks and praise.
The center of worship is not the worshiper. It is not the one leading worship. It is not even the community gathered for worship. The center of Christian worship is Christ. And the central act for Christ is his death and resurrection. That being the case, Christian worship begins with Easter.
Easter (the Easter Vigil to be exact) is the chief (or highest) feast day of the church year. The entire year is built around Easter. Lent (the season of preparation) is the five weeks prior to Easter. The Season of Easter is seven weeks/Sundays including Easter Sunday. Easter is a season of 50 days culminating in the Feast of Pentecost (and the celebration of the coming of the Spirit). Christmas is always December 25, and Advent is the four weeks prior to Christmas. Epiphany (the festival of the visit of the wise men) is the 6thof January, and the Season of Sundays after Epiphany is the Ordinary time between Epiphany and Lent. The long season of Common/Ordinary Time between Pentecost and Advent we call the Sundays after Pentecost, and they focus on our growth as disciples of Christ—missionaries in the world. In addition, we commemorate the saints whose lives are examples of faithfulness for us and our journey following Christ on the anniversary of their death.
As each Sunday is part of a season of the Church Year, each Sunday has a theme within that season. That theme is supported by the reading of scripture, and the selection of the music played and sung. The entire worship is a unity praising God for that particular day—emphasizing our relationship with Christ, and the life of Faith as his people.
The reading of scripture and the sermon interpreting those readings centers our worship experience. The scriptures are not chosen by whim or preference, but have been chosen by the church according to the season and day with in the season. These selections are called the lectionary. We follow the Revised Common Lectionary—shared by all mainline denominations of the Church. The Revised Common Lectionary is based on a three-year cycle of texts structured on Matthew, Mark/John, and Luke. The Old Testament lessons match the Gospel readings in theme for the day. The reading from the New Testament lessons form our second lesson, and they are typically continuous readings of the letters. The psalms are chosen to match the theme of the particular day, and are the same Psalms used annually. Sermons are usually based on these scriptures, and are interpretations of the appointed texts, the theme for the day, and the local context in place and time.
The music played and sung (by groups or congregation) is chosen first to match and enhance the theme of the day, and the appointed scriptures. Music is also chosen for its character as worship music. There are three general principles followed in the selection of worship music. First, liturgical music is not art for art’s sake, but is art for worship’s sake. It is selected not for the glorifying of people, but an offering to the glory of God. Second, worship music is always used to help in preparing the gathered community to receive the grace of God by hearing the message of the day. The music selected is used to help set the tone for the day, and the season. Not all music is appropriate for all days and seasons. Music is never chosen just to have music. Third, worship music is to be sacred music as opposed to worldly music. Some music simply has no place in worship even if it is popular. We are to give our best to God. Within those principles there is such a wealth of music that if we chose to we would not have to repeat music for many years.
The elements of the service have been with us for a long time. That does not make them out of fashion. They are deeply rooted into who we are. They grow out of scripture.
The confession is not part of worship, but instead is part of the preparation for worship. In this area many Lutheran church many years ago held a service of confession Saturday evening before communion Sundays. Those who attended received a token that was presented at the altar when they received communion. The Thanksgiving for Baptism was a new rite added with the ELW as a substitute that may be used when confession is not used.
Worship begins with the Entrance Rite. The Entrance Rite may include an opening song, the greeting, the kyrie, and the hymn of praise. It closes with the Prayer of the Day—a prayer based on the theme of the day in the season of the church year. The Opening Song gets everyone in place for worship and helps set the theme for the day. The greeting is an initial interaction between the presider and the congregation.
The kyrie is our first prayer. “Kyrie Eleison” means” Lord have mercy.” It is the prayer of petition called out to Jesus in the Gospels. The lepers for instance call out to Jesus as he passes them, Lord, have mercy.” Jesus responds by healing them of their disease. WE call out to Jesus and he hears us and responds.
The hymn of praise is either the “Gloria,“ the song of the angels in the shepherds’ field as Jesus is born, or “This is the Feast,” taken from the song of victory of the Lamb of God in Revelation. One is used more around Christmastide, and the other is used more around the celebration of the resurrection.
The Prayer of the Day is the first full prayer of our worship, and it is based on the theme of that particular Lord’s Day.
The Service of the Word proper is the part of our worship we received from the synagogue. It includes readings of scripture, singing of psalms, the sermon, and the Hymn of the day. The readings provide the center for our worship at any service. They are the Word of God made manifest in our midst. The sermon brings the readings to life in the context of our day, and reflect what is happening in the life of individuals, our culture, our congregation, and our time. This is what Paul calls the Prophetic Word. Sometimes this word is comforting, sometimes educational, sometimes directional, sometimes pointed. If the preacher stands in the line of faithful proclamation it will be God’s Word spoken as Law and Gospel calling us (including the preacher) to question for our failings, and lifting us up in the arm of a loving God who forgives us and shows us the way of his mercy and the hope for the future.
The Service of the Meal begins with prayers, peace, and the Eucharist.
In the ancient church the unbaptized were dismissed from worship after the sermon. The prayers for the church and the people were the worship of the baptized and so only the baptized were present to do that work. These prayers were long and elaborate as time was given in each petition for individual prayer, and then corporate prayer.
Prayer was closed with the sign of peace of Christ. Paul in his letters says to greet those he knows with a holy kiss. The kiss of peace was the greeting of the ancient church. Our handshakes and embraces are not a hello, but are that holy greeting to which Paul refers. When Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection his first words were, “Peace be with you.” It is this peace we share. We greet each other with the words of Christ. May the Peace of Christ be with you. No matter your burden, no matter the challenge, may you know the peace that only Christ and his presence in your life can give you. Christ’s peace be with you. It has nothing to do with those we like; it has to do with those God loves.
The Eucharist (Holy Communion) begins with the first of four actions—the offering. We collect money. That was handled outside worship in the early church, but at some point it was found to be more efficient to collect money during the service. But the offering really refers to the presentation of the bread and wine for communion.
The second action is the Thanksgiving. Formal prayers of Thanksgiving highlighting the day and season, the gift of God in Christ, the presence of Christ in the sacrament, and culminating in the Verba (the Words of institution—“on the night in which he was betrayed…”) are found in various forms from about the second century. It is also noted that many bishops created these prayers as they went. Somewhere in the midst of the prayer the Lord’s Prayer was also prayed. The Lord’s Prayer is unique among church prayers, and passages of scripture in that it is completely undisputedly as having been taught by Jesus. Some may question other things in scripture, but the Lord’s Prayer was given to us by Jesus. He says when you pray say this…, and so we do.
The third action of the Eucharuist is the breaking of the bread. This action is quite simply done so we can share the loaf.
Finally, the bread and wine—the body and blood of Christ—are shared with the community.
Our worship ends abruptly with a blessing, a final prayer, and a benediction. We sing a hymn as a way to allow the worship leaders to depart. And we are set on our way to serve the one we praise and glorify whose word we have heard, and whose praises we have sung.
It is a rite with ancient roots, but it is new each time we celebrate it. As we celebrate we are joined with the countless hosts who have worshiped from the first days, and those who will worship long after our days are past.