More and more people are asking me to tell them more about who Lutherans are and what Lutherans believe. Here's a continuing five-part glimpse of what Lutherans believe.
Yesterday we introduced the logic of the liturgy. Today we give you an additional glimpse of the power that can come from this ordered pattern of worship ...
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace,
good will toward men.
Luke 2:14
Many people tell me, "I can't memorize scripture."
"No!" I say, "You're wrong. Let me prove it."
Then I start quoting parts of our worship service. Immediately they begin filling in blanks. We know scripture because the logic of the liturgy is praise of God using his own words (scripture). This gradually sews God's truths (scripture) deep into our hearts.
Did you realize that the liturgy is absolutely saturated with scripture?! Here are a few examples ...
At confession we often say 1 John 1:8-9 -- "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we're doing a more traditional service, we cry in the The Kyrie, "Lord, have mercy." This echoes a growing chorus of cries in the Gospel of Matthew as people came to Jesus, praying for hope, help, and healing (see 15:22, 17:15, 20:30).
Depending on the hymn of praise we sing, we often echo the angels proclaiming the good news of Christ -- which was for them at Christmas and for us is all the time: "Glory to God in the Highest and peace to his people on earth." (Luke 2:14).
Around the Gospel readings, we often sing Peter's words in John 6:60-69. At a time when many followers were turning away from Jesus and his challenging teachings, our Lord turned to the twelve and asked if they would turn away too. Peter answer, "Lord, to whom shall we go (indeed, where else can we go)? You (and you alone) have the words of eternal life."
Often when the offering is being carried forward, we sing Psalm 51:10-12, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."
With the "Words of Institution" -- "on the night in which he was betrayed" -- we echo all four Gospels and quote 1 Corinthians 11:23-27.
Finally Our benediction is Numbers 6:24-26 -- "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you ..."
This is just a fraction of the scriptures we use in our regular liturgies.
Furthermore ... most of the songs we sing are saturated with scripture too.
Therefore, don't tell me you can't memorize scripture! Rather, just start singing a song you know from church, and then go searching for where these words are in scripture!
In Christ's Love,
a guy who been singing
today Matthew 6:33
(Seek ye first, the kingdom of God)
and the second verse 7:7
(knock and the door shall be
opened unto you. Allelu, Alleluia!)
No comments:
Post a Comment