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.

Jesus' Name Of Power

This week I write about Jesus' ascension and return to power and glory at the Father's right hand. But  I want you to understand that I do not write as an academic. You see, I am 78 years old and this weekend the doctors will operate on my heart for the second time in just over four years. Granted, they tell me I'm in relatively good physical condition and that the replacement of my aortic valve stands a 90% + chance of being successful and without complications. Nevertheless, something unforeseen could happen. So I turn to my faith and invite you to meditate with me upon the promises of God's Word that I hold dear.

The Apostles' Creed says, "He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty." As Jesus prepared to leave, He spoke these words to His disciples, "I AM with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Those are exceedingly comforting words.

Any and every I AM statement Jesus made links Him to the Name of God revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exd 3:13-14 ESV

Some translate: I will be what I will be or I am what I am.

This is the name shared by every person of the Trinity. It is the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Whenever and wherever that Name is invoked, there is power, the power  Jesus demonstrated again and again in His earthly ministry. He is the great I AM who listens to us, identifies with us and answers our every prayer.

The Gospel of John calls Jesus demonstrations of His power signs. The God whose name is I AM, who delivered His people, fed them in the wilderness and brought them into the promised land, is among us, writes the Apostle.

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 ESV

Thus I rejoice that Jesus has come among us to free us from anxiety. He is quite capable of caring for me as I face this operation. He is ready to care also for you in every crisis you face today. Ponder with me seven signs John records, signs that point to Jesus' power.

• John 2:1-11 - He turned water into 190 gallons of the best wine. Consider His control over all sources of food, all plants and animals and everything we need to feed, nourish and heal our bodies and bring joy to our hearts. 
• John 4:46-54 - As He healed a nobleman's son, He is ever ready to hear our pleas for help and healing. 
• John 5:1-9 - Even a helpless paralytic was healed at the Bethesda pool. However helpless we feel, Jesus is ready to rescue and restore us. 
• John 6:1-14 - If He could feed over 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, He can surely provide for us this day. 
• John 6:15-21 - As Jesus calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee, so He comes to us in the midst of our extremities to remind us of His presence and power to make everything calm. 
• John 9:1-12 - Jesus healed even a man blind from birth
• John 11:1-44 - And above all, behold how He raised Lazarus from the dead. Here is a wondrous sign to us that we who are in Christ will never die, even though we set aside this body. 

For behold, Jesus rose from the grave Himself! All that I have written above hangs on this. If Christ is not risen, then your and my faith in Christ is empty, pointless and foolish. Everything flows to and follows from this greatest of all signs. When attacked by His earthly contemporaries Jesus said, 

"An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. - Mat 12:39 ESV 

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ... An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." So he left them and departed. - Mat 16:1, 4 ESV

Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, essentially dead and without hope of life (Jonah 1:17). But then the fish vomited him out on dry land. Likewise Jesus was dead and for three days He was in the belly of the earth. But on the third day He rose from the dead. No one can and ever will be able to prove otherwise. As Paul says, 

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. - 1Cr 15:14-20 ESV

This is the same Jesus who meets us all as we gather in His name to worship Him. He is with us to heal our wounds and bind up our broken hearts with His word of forgiveness and His promise to bring us safely to our Father's home. This is my faith as I face yet another operation. This is my comfort amidst all dangers and doubts. I pray that it is yours as well. 

JESUS - Angel Of The LORD

We're taking a quick walk through some of the Biblical teachings about angels and the rebel angels known as demons. Today we go a little further into the narrative.

After the serpent in the garden the next angel we come upon may not be an angel at all. He is called the angel of the LORD. He shows himself to Hagar, the Egyptian servant woman Sarai gave to Abram when it seemed Sarai herself was unable to conceive. But then when Hagar became pregnant, Sarai couldn't deal with it and insisted that Abram get rid of her.

But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. 

The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" 

She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai." 

The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit to her." The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude." And the angel of the LORD said to her, "Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen." 

So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me." Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. - Gen 16:3-16 ESV

Did you catch it? "So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, 'You are a God of seeing' . . . I have seen him who looks after me." Did she mean that the angel was the LORD? It sure sounds like it.

The next time we encounter this mysterious angel of the LORD is at the very moment that Abraham is about to slaughter his son Isaac in obedience to the LORD.

But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."  

He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." 

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."  

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." - Gen 22:1-18 ESV

There it is again, "By myself I have sworn . . .I will surely bless you . . ." What's an angel doing swearing by himself and blessing? Only the LORD may so speak and do.

And then we have Jacob. After successful marriages to Rachel and Leah and becoming a wealthy man, he headed back to where he had grown up, knowing he would have to deal with his estranged brother Esau. The night before the two brothers met Jacob had a wrestling match with some strange man all through the night. In the morning the man who wouldn't reveal his name left Jacob with his hip out of joint and a blessing that only the LORD could give—a new name, Israel (the one who wrestled with God). Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying,

"For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." - Gen 32:30 ESV

And so it goes, again and again and again in the Old Testament. The angel of the LORD occurs 56 times and the angel of God occurs 10 times. He appears to Abraham, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, Manoah and his wife, Moses, Joshua and many others.

Jewish Rabbis have long been puzzled by this. Since they deny the deity of Christ Jesus they are forced to conclude that the angel of the LORD is probably Michael, the chief or arch-angel. But Christians from early on have taken the angel of the LORD to be none other than the second Person of the Holy Trinity, through whom all things were created and who came once and for all to unite Himself with all mankind as Jesus, Son of Mary and Son of God (John 1:1-14). 

In other words, the angel of the LORD was the LORD Himself, the One whose name was and is so revered that Israel of old would not speak it. Instead of putting vowels to the four-lettered name by which He revealed Himself to Moses, YHWH, they would speak only the name that now appears in English translations, the LORD. The Apostle Paul clears up the mystery quite succinctly. 

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Rom 10:9 ESV 

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is LORD" except in the Holy Spirit. - 1Cor 12:3 ESV 

 Christians from New Testament times to the present believe the Word. Across the ages, from Adam to Abraham, Moses and on to the present, God was at work in Christ. Through His mysterious and wondrous plan He reconciled the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:14-21). The Angel of the LORD was none other than the God of the Covenant, the One we now identify as YAHWEH, the name above all others, YAHWEH SAVIOR (Jesus). And now, at the name JESUS every knee in heaven, on earth and under the earth must bow in obedience and love and "every tongue confess that Jesus MESSIAH (Christ) is LORD, to the glory of God the Father." - Phil. 2:5-11 ESV

We'll look some more at angels next time. If you're interested in an in depth look at the whole question of angels, check into the following resources:

• The Lutheran Difference: Angels and Demons by Armand Boehme - their beginning, who and what they are, their ranks and number and what they do.
• All About Angels by Jill Hartman - an informative look at the biblical teachings about these servants and messengers of God, with an emphasis on how His grace and providence are demonstrated through these beings.
• This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti - two novels about angels and demons at work in a small town, based in part upon Ephesians 6:10-20.
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - letters between a senior demon and his junior 

apprentice, dealing with moral questions about evil, temptation, repentance and grace.