ROUGHLY EDITED COPY LUTHERAN WORSHIP 2 59.LW2 Captioning provided By: Caption First, Inc. P.O. Box 1924 Lombard, IL 60148 ******** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. ******** >> JOSHUA: Please permit me to push on to the next logical question. How do these building blocks shape the divine service? >> DR. JAMES BRAUER: Joshua, the building blocks are going to be there. This is even more complicated, in a way, than the last service we looked at. So if you go in Lutheran Worship to page 158, we�ll walk through this. So, again, we have in Rubric 1, a hymn of invocation. We've already discussed that this can be a prayer-like choice of a hymn. Other hymns can be used as well. But through the centuries, Lutherans have called for kind of a calling on the Holy Spirit to be among us and helping us as the best and starting move. In different ages, people have other preferences. I think now, people want some kind of praise act as the first thing. Then, the service calls for invocation: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit with the making of the cross over the body at the same time. Now, what is this? Obviously, this is a reflection and remembrance of thinking of the baptism that made us God's own. And it's also declaring which God it is that's being worshiped and being invoked in the service. So a Muslim would, obviously, become upset at this point because the Son and the Holy Spirit are not part of their God. Jesus was just a prophet. So it declares an opening, but more importantly, for the person who is baptized, it recalls how they became God's child. Now, as a child of God, they begin a dialogue and so what's next is clearly a teaching moment: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. So it�s rehearsing what God says about himself. We respond, then, as a group: But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just. So we�re bringing out the teaching of God that we're going to now use in the next moment. So this gives us a reminder of the promise. We would put this little move, this dialogue, in the category of hearing, teaching. Now comes a prayer move: Let us then confess. And obviously here, we have a confession that lays out how we are always caught in sin. Even our nature is sinful. So we continually need to rely on the mercy of God, even though the Spirit may produce fruits of faith in us. We never lose the rebellious nature. And so we call on God, in Jesus Christ, to have mercy and forgive us. Now, this is as close to a sacrament as we can get without actually having an element, a visible element. So the pastor is not doing a sacrament, but in the large catechism as I recall, Luther says this is the third sacrament, that the pastor can say directly to the sinner: You are forgiven. Direct words, direct action of God. This is the power of the holy ministry that God provides to say to sinners, I forgive you. And it is done through his voice in the group, the pastor. The service also allows another option which is to remind us of the forgiveness so we have a second way of doing it to say, for his sake, Jesus' sake, God forgives us all our sins. So even here, if it's not a pastor who leads, there is a way to lead it, or the pastor may choose this version. So our opening move is an invocation, a reminder of baptism, in those words, a teaching moment then followed by a prayer action which builds out of the promise that�s in the teaching and a delivery from God of the reminder of forgiveness, or the actual saying, you are forgiven. Now, the service moves forward using at Rubric No. 4 some psalmody. An introit is a selection from the psalms. An appointed psalm is an option or a hymn. They would all kind of function in the same way, generally, a praise/prayer kind of act, sometimes even delivering the word. Then Rubric 5, the Kyrie. This is obviously a prayer act using �Lord have mercy� as the standard request by the people, a general request. Again it�s a petition that�s laid out by the leader: For this holy house, for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord. The people make the prayer. Following that, a praise act at Rubric 6, the hymn of praise. Now, that didn't have that title until we had two options. Before that, it was just Glory to God in the Highest. But it was an invention of the Lutherans, when they were doing the hymnal project and the '70s, to invent one for the Easter season, "This is the feast of victory for our God." So while the early church had invented one that was Christmas oriented, taking the words of the angels, glory to God in the highest, we took the words of the angels in Revelation that say worthy is Christ the lamb and so forth, and made it into a song that we could sing at this point. So the opening has a number of moves moving now toward the word. There's one more prayer act before the word, preceded by a greeting. So at Rubric 7, we have the Lord be with you and also with you. Let us pray. And then there are appointed collects for each Sunday that fits with the readings. So once more, prayer. You�re getting the sense that it's a dialogue? There's kind of a prayer/praise act that's enriched in this part of the service now moving to mostly word. Old Testament is read. This is the word of the Lord. Then a gradual for the season, or the appointed psalm. So here's a response to it. It gives time to reflect, to think how precious this is, and words are provided to say that. Then comes another reading. This is the New Testament scripture from the apostles� writings. Again, this is the word of the Lord. A way to conclude it. Then an alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia. A praise for what you've heard, or if the choir provides a verse, that's tied to kind of what�s being read next. Now, alleluias are set aside for Lent so there's a special wording for Lent calling us to return to the Lord or that repentant preparation, wanting God's mercy. So we have a praise act, a prayer act interacting with the scripture words. Now comes the Holy Gospel. And typically, here we stand for this, and there's a little greeting that precedes that reading because it is the words of Christ, the very center of what we believe and the very words of our own Lord. A response afterwards: Praise to you O Christ. So little tiny bits of praise surrounds this. Then comes the hymn of the day. Now, what is that going to be? The Lutherans invented this. It's kind of like using psalms so they wanted it to be very scriptural. And while it often is a prayer act or a praise act, rather, with the content of the word kind of summarized, especially where the gospel is going, even in application. So this is often more word than it is praise. That's typical of those first Lutheran century psalms that created this category. Then comes the sermon. Well, if that isn't word, we don't know what it is. God's word to us delivered by his own spokesman prepared especially for our ears on this day. Then the Nicene Creed, or at certain services, the Apostles Creed. This can be thought of, again, as the word summarized, the faith. So once more if we didn't cover all of that in the sermon, we remember all of it in the creed. Then comes the prayers at Rubric 18. This is the widest kind of prayer in the week for all sorts and conditions. And this can be done by various designs. Then at 19, an offering. We've already mentioned the offering move is kind of a thanksgiving to God, a sacrifice out of a thankful heart. Then, the congregation can conclude that looking forward, now, to Holy Communion in the words of a couple canticles, kind of tying their sacrifice with what's coming here at the Lord's table and the feast. At Rubric 21, a dialogue occurs: The Lord be with you and also with you. This is a way, again, a greeting toward a new section. Lift up your hearts. Please let them to the Lord. Let us give thanks. So this is a praise act already anticipating the great gift in the Lord's Supper, and then the Pastor has a chance to do kind of a seasonal remembering of Jesus and what he did, say, in Lent that he went to the cross and died for us. This is clearly stated. This is kind of a word act within a prayer for which, then, we praise God in the Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of power and might, hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Praise for the coming of Jesus Christ among us. Twenty-three, a prayer: Blessed are you Lord of heaven. Again, rehearsing what we are thankful for and what the gift is. The Lord's Prayer, obviously a prayer. Again, the prayer the Lord taught us. It is our table prayer before the Lord's Supper. Then the words of Christ. This should be thought of as a gift moment in that Christ is declaring what this is about, given and shed for you for the remission of sins. This is a different move than the Roman Catholics had in the pre-reformation sacrifice of the mass. And the peace of the Lord be with you always is kind of a summary of the whole thing for this peace we have with God through this forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Now, we begin to move forward to receive. And during the singing of this, Rubric 26, the Lamb of God take away the sin of the world. Have mercy on us. So we take what we just heard, what was rehearsed for and explained, and now we turn it into a prayer act as we move forward to receive. Similar hymns can be sung during the whole distribution. At the same time that's going on, the congregation is singing, we have the pastor distributing so everyone who receives, hears, with their own ear at the Lord's table: Take, eat, this is the true body declaring what is going on and what they're receiving. And then at the end to say, in a declarative way again, the body and blood of the Lord strengthen, preserve your steadfast in this faith. Rubric 31 allows us then to have the option of a thank you. Thank the Lord. Sing his praise. Or in the words of Simeon who saw the babe, Jesus, at the temple, Lord, now let your servant go in peace. That's kind of a prayer and praise act. Then the service concludes with Rubric 32, let us pray. We give thanks to you for what we received. So we're looking, here, at the gift just received and saying, thank you, God, for what it does in us, thinking of that means of grace brought to us today in the body and blood of our Lord. And there's two prayer options. There are others that can be used. Then, finally, the benediction. And here, it was Luther who suggested not just a kind of a may the Lord bless you, but to actually take the Old Testament one given to the high priest and to the priesthood to deliver to the people as God's blessings and give you peace, shalom being the final word to which the people respond, yes, I believe it. Let it be so. So this is a dialogue with God. It's an active thing. It's not something people watch, but you're actually listening, you�re praying, you're praising, you�re lifting up the things of God continually through the service. And the purpose of it is to bring the gifts of God and to begin already in the service itself to lift up some fruits of faith.