Worship in a Lutheran Church

Today I went to my family's small Lutheran church for a ten o clock service. Walking in, I was instantly struck at how small the church was. There was a short aisle with wooden pews on each side, leading up to the end of the church. There were two things I especially noticed: how few people were there (and how old those few congregants were) and the elaborate symbolism permeating the church.

Central to the front was an intricately carved altar, draped with an elaborately embroidered cloth. On top of the altar, two candles were burning, a large and ornate Bible was opened, and another embroidered cloth was covering the elements of the Eucharist. On each side of the altar were banners, one commemorating the Holy Communion, and the other in honor of Advent. In front of this last banner was the Advent wreath: four purple candles surrounding a thick, white Christ candle. There was also a railing in front of the altar with kneelers.

The wall behind the altar was also carved, and in the center was a giant wooden cross, behind which a beautiful stain glass window glowed. All of this traditional symbolism created the effect of a reverence for God, but it seemed to me to portray God in an inapproachable, impersonal manner.

However, just after we had sat down, bells outside began tolling the hour, and the pastor walked down the aisle. He bowed once before approaching the altar, bowed once more directly in front of the aisle, and then turned towards the congregation, crossed us to bless us, and welcomed everyone to the order of the service of Holy Communion.

The vicar was wearing a white robe, a white stole, and a rope belt. Hanging around his neck was a huge, heavy gold cross which would have made a rapper proud. Underneath his robes he was dressed all in black with a white clerical collar showing just below his chin.

The service began, and we chanted, kneeled, bowed, and crossed ourselves throughout. This was the order of the service:

The Prelude

The Invocation

The Confession of Sins (all kneel)

Absolution (remain kneeling)

The Introit (standing)

Gloria Patri

The Kyrie

The Gloria in Excelsis

The Salutation

The Collect for the Day

The Epistle

The Gospel Reading (standing)

The Nicene Creed

A Hymn "As With Gladness Men of Old"

The Sermon

The Offertory

The General Prayers (standing)

Holy Communion:

The Preface (standing)

The Sanctus

The Lord's Prayer

Words of Institution

Consecration

The Pax Domini

The Agnus Dei

The Distribution (kneeling)

The Nunc Dimitis

The Thanksgiving

The salutation and benedicamus

The Benediction

The Closing Hymn

The Postlude

Right on the dot, at 11 o clock, church was let out. Everyone made a rush for the door, and we were home free for another week.

There seems to be something wrong with that attitude. There actually seemed to me to be several things wrong with the service as well. While reverence and respect for God is good, as well as right, I wonder where you draw the line between worshiping a tradition and worshiping God.

A couple of things that struck me: the absolution was the first. When the time for Confession of Sins came up, we all knelt and read from the bulletin the confession: "I, a poor and miserable sinner, confess to thee all my sins and iniquities. I have sinned against you in thought word in deed, by what I have done and by what I have left undone.... etc.." But then the pastor stands up, from his position kneeling in front of the altar. He raises his hands and says: "I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained minister of the church of God, and by His authority, do hereby forgive you of all your sins, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Now, as every good Lutheran knows, the pastor is a representation of God to us, the people, and he is also a representation of the people to God. When he bows and faces the altar, he represents us to God; when he turns towards the congregation and raises his hands, he represents God to us. But what happened to Jesus as the only necessary representation. We need no one except Christ to approach God. That was the symbolism of the splitting of the curtain in the temple of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. It was because of this sacrifice that we no longer need a mediator to come before a just God. Placing the pastor in the role of mediator seems to lessen what Jesus did.

Another thing that I question is the practice of restricting Holy Communion to only confirmed members of a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. After the consecration, ushers stand at the end of the pews and collect "commmunion registration cards" on which the congregants write their names, addresses, and a statement that they are in fact confirmed members of a Missouri Synod Lutheran church. As people made their way to the front to kneel to receive the Eucharist, it almost seemed like a ticket booth at a theatre.

In the bulletin, there was this justification for such a practice: "Scripture teaches that in the Lord's Supper, the bread and the wine we receive in our mouths is simultaneously the true body and blood of Jesus, crucified and raised for our sins. This He gives to all who partake as a certain guarantee of our forgiveness... Lutherans also believe that the Lord's Supper is a celebration of the oneness of doctrine and practice that we share. Therefore, we respectfully ask that only members of Lutheran churches in doctrinal fellowship with us commune with us, for our belief is that unity at the altar presupposes unity in doctrine... Reception of the Lord's Supper at this time by Christians not fully united with us would imply a oneness of confession that does not yet exist and for which we must all pray."

While it is important for the body of Christ to be united, especially while commemorating that which unites us, restricting the Eucharist by such a narrow fact (one specific denomination out of thousands of Protestant denominations) seems to further divide the Church. There are some doctrines which are more essential than others; the non-essential ones are those in which we may disagree, and they do in fact divide us. However, when the core beliefs are the same (those which are considered non-heretical), then we should be gladly sharing in the body and blood of Christ in an act of solidarity, one which would mirror the concept of the family of God to the world around us.

Because this note is already horribly long, I will just say that the service concluded with the acolyte snuffing out the candles, the bells ringing the hour. The traditional liturgy, the reverent kneeling and crossing, and the methodical ordered service created a feeling in me that I think the Pharisees felt in the time of Jesus. Rather than the traditions pointing us to God, as I believe they were intended to, I believe many of the form chants and liturgies, the written prayers, the ceremony and solemnity, instead point us inward to a self-satisfied picture of what worship to God should look like. Maybe it meant more to the other congregants; maybe they were really worshiping God, and that would be amazing if that were so--to maintain reverence and awe while enjoying a personal savior. But I think the people of the congregation was what most discouraged me. Of the forty or fifty people attending the service, around 80 percent of them were in their 70s or 80s. It looks like the church is slowly dying out. A message which condemns (or at the very least alienates) different doctrines is not a message which is going to attract worshipers of the one true God. We cannot worship traditions. We need to instead return to that which is of first importance: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we may one day shuffle out of the man-made splendor of a church and our eyes may be unveiled only to discover that it was never anything more than rocks and wood, cloths and carvings, fabrics which can become a curtain which hides us from the face of God.