The following are excerpts from an essay that Dr. A. L. Barry, president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, prepared for a Real Life Worship conference on February 6, 1998, in the greater Denver area.
Dr. Barry's entire essay may be obtained from Concordia Publishing House (1-800-325-3040) at a cost of $2.50 plus postage and handling. The order no. is S14942.
Thesis I: The Main Purpose of Lutheran Worship Is to
Receive God's Gifts
Thesis II: Lutheran Worship Is Christ-Centered
Thesis III: Lutheran Worship Is a Reflection of Lutheran Theology
Thesis IV: Lutheran Worship Is Characterized by Reverence and Dignity
Thesis V: Lutheran Worship Transcends Culture
Thesis VI: Lutheran Worship Seeks to Edify Christ's Holy People
Thesis VII: Uniformity in Worship Practices Is a Blessing Conclusion
If you were to ask most people what "worship" is, they might say," Worship is praising the Lord" or "Worship is what human beings do to express their thanks to God" or "Worship is going to church," or something like that. While there is some truth to each of these answers, they do not adequately describe the main purpose of Lutheran worship.
We Lutherans have a unique perspective on worship. We know that God's Word and His holy Sacraments are His precious gifts to us. They are the tools the Holy Spirit uses to give us forgiveness, life and salvation. The main purpose of Lutheran worship is to receive these gifts from God. Our Lutheran Confessions explain this truth as follows: "The service and worship of the Gospel is to receive good things from God" (Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Article IV.310).
I am not sure whether we have adequately emphasized this important truth. God gives His gifts. We receive them. That is the main purpose of Lutheran worship. He does this as His Gospel is proclaimed, as His Word is read, as His forgiveness is announced and sinners are absolved, and as we receive our Lord's body and blood in Holy Communion. In these wonderful ways, God is present with us, His people, drawing us to Himself and giving us what we need so much--His mercy, forgiveness, love, joy, peace, power and comfort! The purpose of worship, therefore, is to be gathered by God around His gifts.
If the main purpose of Lutheran worship is to receive God's gifts, then it follows that Lutheran worship is Christ-centered. Just take a look at the liturgical orders of service in either of our two hymnals. Everything said and done is filled with His Word. Why? Because our focus is on Christ and His work, that's why. The focus of Lutheran worship is on Christ, not man. Therefore, Lutheran worship is always Christocentric--Christ-centered--and never anthropocentric-man-centered.
The Christ-centered nature of Lutheran worship has direct impact on every other aspect of our worship services. We hear His Word read and preached. The hymns sung in our services give Him the glory, honor and praise. We spend a great deal of time singing His praises, and less time singing about our own personal spiritual experiences. With the focus on Christ, we notice that even the art in the church portrays the great saving events of our Lord's life and ministry and the great events of God's saving work among His people.
Lutheran worship takes our eyes and sets them firmly on the cross of Jesus Christ, for there the Lord of the Universe suffered and died for the sins of the world. Lutheran worship points us to the Resurrected Lord, who lives and reigns to all eternity, and promises us everlasting life. Christ-centered Lutheran worship lifts our hearts and minds to the things of God and helps us to understand our place in Christ's kingdom better as His redeemed people. Yes, Lutheran worship must always be Christ-centered.
When we say Lutheran worship is Christ-centered, this is not to say that those who gather for worship are mere blocks of stone. Our worship focuses on Christ, who is present for us and with us in His Word and Sacraments. He is truly among us. We are not contemplating a far-off Christ, or meditating on abstract ideas. Lutheran worship is not like going to a self-help group or a therapy session. It is God who gathers us for worship around the gifts He gives to us through Word and Sacrament. We are worshipping the One who is very near-as close as the preaching of the Word. We are worshipping the One who is actually present under the bread and wine of Holy Communion. He promised, "I will be with you always." In our worship service He fulfills that wonderful promise. He is living and active among us, right here, right now, where He has promised to be-in His Word and Sacraments. Therefore, it is important to say that while our focus is on Christ, His focus is always on us! Thanks be to God that this is true!
The ancient church had a saying: "The law of prayer is the law of belief." In other words, how you pray is a reflection of what you believe. How a congregation conducts its worship service is a reflection of its theological convictions. Therefore, Lutheran worship must always be a clear reflection of Lutheran theology. This is a very important point. When Martin Luther did the work God had given him to do in reforming the church, he did not throw out the historic liturgical worship of the church. His reforms were cautious and careful. Luther took the church's historic liturgical worship and removed the Roman Catholic errors that had crept into it. He brought the Gospel to the forefront and got rid of what conflicted with the Gospel. He did not discard the historic liturgy. Luther's concern was that the Gospel predominate and be the center of Lutheran worship. But unlike other reformers of the sixteenth century, Luther did not believe that the best way to preserve the Gospel in the church was by cutting off the church's connection to its historic liturgical practices. Luther recognized the great value of the church's liturgical worship.
Let us examine the flip side of this thesis. If Lutheran worship is a reflection of Lutheran theology, what do you think might happen if we were, for example, to begin to conduct our worship services in a manner similar to what one might find in a Baptist church, a Pentecostal church, or a non-denominational Evangelical church? Do you think it is reasonable to assume that if Lutherans worship like Baptists, it will probably not be too long before they believe as Baptists do? Or, if Lutherans worship like Charismatics, how long will it be before we embrace the doctrine and practices of the Charismatic movement? If we Lutherans recognize our roots and why we worship the way we do, it will probably also be true that we will wish to remain with that basic pattern of worship. As we contemplate changes in this pattern, we exercise restraint, care and caution, for we recognize that genuine Lutheran worship is a reflection of genuine Lutheran theology.
In our Synod today, there is a genuine point of tension between well-intentioned people who feel differently about worship. Some have referred to "worship wars" in our Synod. As we express our concerns about what are sometimes even dramatic novelties and shifts away from our church's historic worship practices, we want to take great care that we do not trample underfoot those who may disagree with us. Nor do we need to pull out our six-guns and start blasting away, nor simply "write off" those with whom we may find ourselves in disagreement, no matter what side of these issues we are on.
As we struggle with questions of what is in the best interest of edifying Christ's people, we recognize that the greatest challenge is the need for catechesis, that is, teaching. Many of the people in our congregations have never had a good opportunity to learn what Lutheran worship is all about. It is dangerous when a congregation just does the worship service without ever knowing why. If a congregation's only explanation of why they worship the way they do is, "Because that's the way we've always done it," there is a great need for catechesis in that congregation. Ignorance about the liturgy is as a great a danger as throwing out the church's liturgical worship. As we move toward the year2000 and beyond, we have before us an incredible opportunity to teach the faith, and all the good, wholesome, Gospel-centered traditions of our faith. We must be very patient and loving as we work with people to help them appreciate the great liturgical heritage of the Lutheran Church.
In that connection, in order to edify Christ's people as they gather for worship, we need to take great care not to conduct the liturgy in a cold and lifeless manner. Simply "going by the book," without quality presentation, makes for a dull, plodding liturgy. Nothing could be worse for the cause of increasing appreciation for Lutheran worship among us than worship done merely by "rote," with little feeling or joy. Our worship services need to be well done. They need to move along at a good pace. Pastors should be familiar with their parts of the liturgy. Organists need to be well rehearsed and committed to providing excellence in leading the singing and music of the service. Choirs should be dedicated to rehearsal and practice, to do the best they possible can for the Lord and for the edification of Christ's holy people.
All we do in our worship services is as a reflection of our love for God and a response to the tremendous gifts He gives us in the worship service. A well-done liturgical service is truly a joyful and edifying experience. Excellent worship services draw us away from the humdrum hype and hoopla of Madison Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard and bring us into the "holy of Holies" of the Lord's presence where we receive His forgiveness through the Word and Sacraments. This is the goal of a well-done worship service. A poorly done service, on the other hand, detracts from the joy and edifying of Christ's holy people.
Another important way to make sure worship is truly edifying is to be sensitive to the needs of visitors to our worship services. I believe an overreaction to this concern is to say that our services are to be designed for visitors. The person who visits one of our Synod's congregations needs to be impressed with the truth that something awesome is taking place. The visitor may not immediately understand everything going on in the worship service. This will take time and patient instruction.
Let's use an illustration to make the point. Suppose you knew nothing about baseball and were asked to come to a Colorado Rockies baseball game. Do you suppose they would change what was happening down on the field just because you were a visitor who didn't know too much about baseball? No, of course not. They would play the game as it always has been played. But they would perhaps provide a scoreboard that would help you keep up with the game. Maybe someone would take you to the game, explain it to you, and talk about it with you afterwards to help you understand it even more. There would be books for you to read so you could learn more about baseball. I think you realize the point I am making.
We need to take great care to help our visitors appreciate and understand what is happening without changing things just so that every point is perfectly clear to the visitor. Excellent materials are available to help the visitor understand Lutheran worship. Our Synod's Commission on Worship produces an excellent quarterly insert in our Synod's monthly newspaper, Reporter. There is a tremendous book available, which is perhaps the most thorough-going, confessionally Lutheran presentation on worship that has ever appeared in English, titled, Lutheran Worship: History and Practice. There is a pocket-sized book titled Meaningful Worship: A Guide to the Lutheran Service, which would be good to use with new members and visitors. These books are available from Concordia Publishing House.
As I look to the years ahead, I see many wonderful opportunities in the Lord. I am personally very excited about the opportunities that the Lord has for our Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I suppose one could look toward these years with fear and trembling, and indeed, as we look around our world today, there is much to cause us concern, and even things within our own Synod that cause us concern.
But I would like to remind you that it is not really our church, it is the Lord's church. He is and always will be very much in control. You do not know how much reassurance I daily gain from that fact. The gifts He gives are His gifts. It is His Word. They are His Sacraments. We are His people. He promises to do what is best for us. He will continue to speak and we, by His grace, will continue to listen to Him, yes, listen to Him! Listen until that day when you shall see Him face to face. By His mercy, some day you too will join the countless number before His throne who worship Him day and night. There you will join with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven in singing the praises of Him who is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the alpha and omega, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reigns as one God, world without end. May God bless all of you richly; yes, may He bless mightily.
Dr. A.L. Barry
Jude 23-24