Dear Saints of Zion,

I'd like to begin a new series of cover articles for the Zion Messenger on the topic of worship and the Divine Service. Kurt Neuhaus led an excellent Bible Study on this topic about a year ago, but not everyone was able to be a part of it. I pray that these articles will assist you in your growth and appreciation for who we are as Lutheran Christians in the 21st century.

There is a reason we worship the way we do as Lutherans. Being Lutheran and being liturgical go hand in hand. No, we don’t worship the way we do because that’s the way we’ve always done it! We use set orders that run the way our theology runs, that is, from God to us and back to Him. I’d like to share with you the first three paragraphs from the introduction to our previous hymnal, Lutheran Worship (Copyright 1982, Concordia Publishing House):

Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise. Music is drawn into this thankfulness and praise, enlarging and elevating the adoration of our gracious giver God.

Saying back to Him what He has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure. Most true and sure is His name, which He put upon us with the water of our Baptism. We are His. This we acknowledge at the beginning of the Divine Service. Where His name is, there He is. Before Him we acknowledge that we are sinners, and we plead for forgiveness. His forgiveness is given us, and we, freed and forgiven, acclaim Him as our great and gracious God as we apply to ourselves the words He has used to make Himself known to us.

The rhythm of worship is from Him to us, and then back to Him. He gives His gifts, and together we receive and extol them. We build one another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our Lord gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink. Finally His blessing moves us out into our calling, where His gifts have their fruition. How best to do this we may learn from His Word and from the way His Word has prompted His worship through the centuries. We are heirs of an astonishingly rich tradition. Each generation receives from those who went before and, in making that tradition of the Divine Service its own, adds what best may serve in its own day—the living heritage and something new.

The trend today is simply to scrap what has gone before and run with something completely new. Is there a place for the new? Sure! Can one to get too wrapped up in the old? Sure! Either way, we should beware of our tendencies toward arrogance, whether it’s completely dumping the old or clinging too tightly to it. The description from Lutheran Worship is dead on. We take the old and each generation builds on it. Over the centuries, the liturgy has taken shape rather deliberately. What detracted from Christ, Luther reformed. We also have a treasure trove of hymnody that spans over 1500 years and transcends numerous cultures and ethnicities. We don’t simply worship in the 1950’s or as old Germans. We worship as God’s people along with the saints of heaven and earth.

The Gospel grants us the freedom to worship the Triune God however we wish. Like all freedoms, however, our sin often colors our perspective. The temptation is for it all to become about “us.” That’s why it’s so foundational simply to begin with the Lord, to let Him have His say, that He might open our lips to pour forth His praise, and strengthen our hands to be His hands in the world.

As you begin the summer and the temptation to stay away from the Lord’s house is greater, consider the rhythm of worship. Think about how it runs in the way of the Lord, how it’s centered in Christ and fills your greatest need, not your itch to be entertained, but your need for new life, His life, and your ability to be who He has called you to be in the world.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Fritsche