Cautionary Words to Contemporary Worship Advocates

This past Sunday I was on vacation from my duties as Intentional Interim Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Tomball, TX. So I visited another "liturgical" church that I served as pastor some years back, before my retirement from full-time ministry. It has long been the custom of that congregation to print out the entire Divine Service for participants. One thing that struck me as I returned to that worship service and that practice. The Divine Service printed and handed out did not have the Biblical references noted for the various responses as does the Lutheran Service Book (LSB). Let me give you an example from Divine Service - Setting Three

The rubric (red lettered instructions) at the beginning reads: The sign of the cross + may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism. 

Then follows the words by the Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Congregation responds: Amen.

In the LSB, off to the side side in small italics are two Biblical references: Matthew 28:19b [18:20]. 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, - Mat 28:19 ESV

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. - Mat 18:20 ESV 

The Biblical references are a reminder of two very important things for worshippers:

1. We who gather to worship are here because our God has called us out of the darkness of this world, gathered us to Himself and cleansed us with the blood of Jesus when we were baptized in the NAME shared by the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That sacred, ancient name was so revered by our ancient brothers and sisters of the tribes of Israel that they dared never to speak it aloud lest they break the commandment to keep it holy. We trans-literate it into our English language with four consonants: YHWH. Our translations of the O.T. follow the Hebrew practice and whenever the NAME appears in the Hebrew we have a translation of the Hebrew adonai. We translate adonai with the capitalized word LORD to remind ourselves that the Hebrew text in that place contains the sacred NAME.
2. So we are taught from the very beginning of the Divine Service that we approach the most holy God who has called, gathered and enlightened us by His grace. He cleansed us. He took us with Himself in His Baptism into death on the cross and then out of death into life eternal. This was all His doing. And yet we have sinned against Him. We have disobeyed His commands. We do not deserve to come into His presence. We have mocked His most holy grace. We are here in His presence. He is among us, but are we forgiven? We need assurance. We desperately need to know that we are welcome in His presence. 

This is why the Pastor, speaking in the NAME of the Triune God encourages us to come, using the very words of God as recorded in sacred Scripture: 

Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness. 

The Biblical reference: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. - Heb 10:22 ESV

Two more responses follow between the pastor and the congregation from Pss. 124 and 32. Then the congregants humbly confess their sins, acknowledging that they deserve punishment, both temporal and eternal, and begging for mercy for the sake of Christ's holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death.

AND THEN ! speaking as Christ's called representative, the pastor announces God's grace and forgives those gathered in the NAME of the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then—and only then—are the gathered believers emboldened to enter the Presence of God to be taught, admonished, encouraged and fed with His holy Word and the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.

The entire Divine Service—also known by its Latin name: the Mass— is thus built around the teaching and guidance of God's Word. Literally millions of believers have gathered together in this manner for two millennia—and still do, around the world. And before the coming of the Christ—Messiah—this worship has its roots in the gatherings of Israel and their temple.

Certainly within that framework there is room for a wide variety of musical styles and the artistic expressions of many sorts and kinds. But let those who would cast away the framework for what they call "contemporary" worship be very careful to consider the theology (the teaching about God) that they espouse, for the entire Divine Service is, by its very nature and construction, theology.

Baptism, The Life Of Repentance And Renewal

In my last post I noted that the writer of the Hebrews says that we have been sanctified through Christ's offering of his body—once for all—and also that we are being sanctified by that single offering, that single sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10-14 - ESV). In other words, God for Christ's sake has already declared us to be holy and pure, freed from all guilt for the sake of Christ. And yet we are sinners, carrying in our bodies the stain and impurity of our sinful human nature. Consequently we participate in that process of being made holy. How? How does this go on? How does the Holy Spirit bear witness to us that we are forgiven, that

our hearts are sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water? —Hebrews 10:22 - ESV

The answer lies within that very statement, for it points to our Baptism. The Apostle Peter writes about the water of Baptism. He shows us that Noah and his family were brought safely through the terrifying destruction of the ancient flood through water (Gen. 6:1-18). Then he continues, saying that Baptism corresponds to this act of deliverance. Baptism is the ark, if you will, that saves us. Or to be more accurate, the rescue of Noah and his family was a type or pattern of God's grace and mercy. He chose that family and so delivered them from the judgment that came upon all other men. Baptism is the anti-type of that deliverance, its counterpart. Here are Peter's words,

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. - 1Pe 3:21-22 ESV

What then does God the Father keep saying to us in Baptism? Christ died for you. When he died, you died with him. I have accepted that sacrifice. As a sign and assurance of this I have raised up my Son, never to die again. He has gone into heaven. He is now at my right hand, with angels, authorities and powers subject to him. He rules over all things.

This is why the Apostles urge us to return again and again to Baptism, the Baptism of Christ into which we entered when water was sprinkled or poured upon us. Listen.

How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. - Rom 6:2-5 ESV

 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. - Eph 4:4-6 ESV

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Gal 3:26-28 ESV

This is sweet comfort indeed. This is why day after day we return to Baptism, the Baptism of Jesus Christ and to the fact that we died with him and rose again on the third day. In Baptism our God has poured His grace out upon us without end. We are forgiven, forgiven, forgiven, day after day after day. We are the children of God, reborn with a new and an ever renewed hope. The Spirit of Christ has been poured out upon us. Our hearts are sprinkled clean. In Baptism we hear this good word over and over again. The Spirit reminds us that we are the church, the Bride of Christ and that

. . . Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. - Eph 5:25-27 ESV

So when your conscience attacks you, when Satan throws your guilt at you, when you begin to wither under the weight and power of your sin, return to Baptism, hear again the Spirit speaking to you, telling you what happened when Christ died and rose again. Hear, rejoice and begin anew to follow Jesus and live the life of Christ.

This, after all, is why Christians make the sign of the cross upon themselves, why they carry crosses over their hearts, around their necks and as rings on their fingers. This is the sign that was put upon our heads and hearts when we had the water of Baptism poured out upon us. We are the baptized children of God in Christ Jesus ! Alleluia!

There Is But One Baptism

As noted earlier, the more we ponder John's Gospel the deeper gets the water. In previous postings on Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, the Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin (John 3:1-17), we learned about the work of the Spirit in the water of baptism, a word Christians borrowed from the Greek. Jesus’ incarnation is a type of baptism. Just as the Word (logos in Greek) ‘became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14), so in Christian Baptism the Spirit becomes water and dwells among the community of believers. Martin Luther explains this in his Catechism:

Water doesn't make these things happen, of course. It is God's Word, which is with and in the water. Because, without God's Word, the water is plain water and not baptism. But with God's Word it is a Baptism, a grace-filled water of life, a bath of new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul said to Titus in the third chapter :

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people." - Titus 3:4-8 ESV

Here's what Jesus Himself says about His baptism when James and John asked for permission to wield power in Jesus' kingdom by sitting or exercising His authority from his right and left hands:

Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." - Mar 10:38-40 ESV

Indeed all Christians acknowledge that they share in Jesus' baptism, for there is but one baptism, namely the baptism of Jesus. Paul reviews this in his letter to the Ephesians as he urges his readers to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace:

There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. - Eph 4:4-6 ESV

This bath of new birth in the Holy Spirit that Jesus and His apostles write about, this outpouring of the Holy Spirit that creates a new life within, is a creative act of God's Spirit, an act that unites us to Jesus and His baptism. Over and over the Apostles write about and teach this mystery.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. -1Cor 12:12-13 ESV 

. . . in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Gal 3:26-28 ESV

And what is Jesus' baptism that brings rebirth? It is His incarnation, His union with all mankind as truly a man, born of Mary. And why this union? As the ancient prophets foretold, to carry our burdens and bear our guilt, to be wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Isa. 53:4-12). On the cross of Calvary He completed that work. So John records Him saying from the cross,

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. - Jhn 19:30 ESV

In the water of Baptism the Holy Spirit speaks God's Word of completion. The work of salvation, the task of gaining forgiveness for all men's sins is finished, come to an end, concluded, fulfilled and wrapped up. Jesus has joined Himself to us and to all mankind. He has made the punishment we deserve for our sins His own. Now the Holy Spirit announces to us in our baptism that we have both died with Christ and risen with Him to new life. Paul summarizes this:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. - Rom 6:3-5 ESV

All baptized in the Name of the LORD (Psalm 148:13, Phil. 2:9), the Name shared by every person of the Trinity, the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit—all share in the life of Christ, the life that cannot end. They will, therefore, certainly share in Jesus' resurrection.

Having said this, I acknowledge that we are now swimming in rather deep water. The water will get even deeper as we discuss the gifts of the Holy Spirit and untangle the confusion about so-called water baptism versus Spirit baptism, etc. But that must wait for another time.