Lutheran Theology - thoughts in

Repeatedly it is said. There are no specifications for worship in the Bible, therefore anything we do in worship is purely up to our own decision (adiaphora). But:

I Cor 14:26-35 General directions for church service (in a fine and orderly way)
Exhortation
Women not lead
I Cor 11:1-16 Women participate "under authority"
I Cor 11:20-34 Lord's Supper pattern
Words of Institution
Discerning the Lord's body and blooc
In a context of sharing and moderation
I Tim 2:1-8 Public prayer
for rulers
I Cor 16: 1-2 Collection for the poor (sharing)
Ephesians 5:19-20 Music: Psalms, hymns, songs
Prayer: Thanksgiving

So even though specifics are not directed, still there is a pattern given

Blogger wasn't accepting my posts the last week!

Num 6:24-26 "The Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee, the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give the peace."

v 27: "When they [Aaron and the priests] pronounce my name [see above] over the Israelites, I will bless them."

This is a statement from God through His servant. In the New Testament, that servant is the pastor [the messenger of God]. It is his responsibility and priviledge to speak for God. Thus the Lutheran Hymnal directs this statement as the close of a worship service.

So why the new custom of having the choir sing these words instead of the pastor pronounce? This takes a blessing and turns it into a pius hope - What a way to thumb your nose at God!

Or

Why does Concordia Seminary allow its seminarians to pronounce the Aaronic blessing - they aren't pastors yet! Worse yet, they try to maintain the pastor's responsibility by altering the words, replacing "thee" with "us". Thus they reconize that the congregation is not being blessed. But then the seminarian is withholding a blessing from the congregation, that certainly cannot be right.

You'll notice I worded the blessing using "thee". "You" would be correct, but in any language, archaic forms sound and feel holier to people. This is one place, where the people don't have to remember the words themselves, to properly use archaic language as languages like to have it used. The pastor can use "you" but "thee" adds to the listener's acceptance of the blessing as blessing.

"Eucharist" - from the Greek word for "Thanksgiving". Applied to the Lord's Supper to emphasis that His Supper is supposedly put on as a thankoffering from the Church!

So why do "confessional" pastors use the word "Eucharist" for the Lord's Supper? Is it not important to pay attention to our language and what it means?

There are plenty of perfectly good names for the Lord's Supper - Lord's Supper, Communion, etc

I keep hearing "celebrate communion" but this has no support from the Lutheran Confessions nor from theology!

The BOC (Book of Concord) always speaks about "distributing" communion, apparently because they focus on the fact that communion comes from Jesus and is His power in action.

"Celebrate" implies that the congregation (or pastor ...) is the power behind communion and that communion is their action (the church CELEBRATES ... which gives the church the agent or activie power in the sentence). In historical usage "celebrate" began to be used by the same people who taught that communion is the activity of the church.

So why do Lutherans who bill themselves as "confessional" speak about "celebrating communion"?

Jesus tells us to administer communion “as oft as” (I Corinthians 11:25). But what does that mean? Some have demanded communion every Sunday service (or even every service period). But what is Jesus saying here?

The word ‘oft’ can't mean "always", or "seldom", or "never". If someone wants to give me a Greek analysis it would be welcome.

But this eliminates the extremes only. So we need to look at the OT (Old Testament) patterns for further insight into what Jesus is saying. (Hebrews 8:5 reminds us that what Moses set up was not arbitrary but a pattern reflecting heaven!)
We note that the Lord’s Supper is instituted on (and fulfills) the Passover – a once a year pattern.
The body and blood of Christ are eaten as participation in His sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11-14, I Corinthians 10:15-18) and the OT pattern for sacrifices was once a month on the New Moon as well as High festivals.

From these comes a conclusion that communion once a month is the Bible pattern. Because this is a pattern, one can deviate a bit from it – I would suggest that twice a month is acceptable but often, once a quarter is acceptable but seldom.

It is said that "Breaking of Bread" (Acts 2:42) implies that the beginning church administered communion every ‘Sunday’ (Saturday?). The statement is made that all the other references are to worship: fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer.
However: Other Bible references to “breaking of bread” refer to meals - Mark 6:41 feeding 5K not communion; Luke 24:30 definitely a meal; Acts 6:1-2 daily meals – so linguistics usage would demand that this usage be same.

All 3 parts of Acts 2:42 point to joint activity, and Acts 2:44 makes a direct reference to sharing as a result of faith in Christ. A focus of attention here and in the following chapters is on how the Christians share (not on communion)

So far the Scriptures.

The Lutheran Confessions are quoted as reporting that the reformation churches have not changed from their medieval practices of administering communion every Sunday (actually, probably effectively every day). But this is a reporting of fact not a statement of faith.

So far as I can tell the push from every Sunday communion (something foreign to the LCMS in the 1800s and early 1900s comes from the Liturgical Renewal Movement in Europe where the bankruptcy of theology cause a desire for activity to replace it. Inherent in their theology is the idea that communion is an activity of the church which pleases God – directly contrary to the truth: that communion is God coming to us.

"The Christian Church in Crisis"
In the Voice of Missouri (the monthly district newspaper} is a reprint of an article from the Lutheran Witness Texas district edition written by Rve. Mark T. Joeckel, Exec dir. Lutheran Inter-city Network Coalition.

The article makes a good point, that Christianity in the USA (and in particular the LCMS) is not growing but decreasing. However, the thrust of the article is that the LCMS is worring about trifles and needs to refocus on growing the church. This conclusion is forced by 2 sentences in particular, one towards the beginning and the other towards the end. Changing those 2 sentences would change the whole thrust of the article:

1) Article: "The [LCMS] is beating itself up with charges and suspensions in relation to a prayer service."

Replace with: "The LCMS has abandoned her Lord and Savior and His teachings for gross idolatry and faddish dependence upon varying human activity to attempt build God's Church."

2: Article: "Our calling is to love our neighbors as ourselves and be witnesses to the world so others crave what we have through our faith in Jesus Christ."

Replace with: "Our calling is to 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your life, and with all your mind.' (Mt 22:37) I John 4:10-11, reminds us that as we love God, His love flows through us towards others, so that we fulfill what Jesus calls: "the next," "Love your neighbor like yourself."

I suspect that these changes would change the whole tone of the article -- and change the conclusion!

(first published in Luther Quest - http://www.lutherquest.org/discus/index.html

I am a Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod pastor with concerns for a lack of attention being paid to theology in proposals and activities in the church. I expect to comment about events as I see them, with attention to the theological meanings involved.