Dear Faith Lutheran Church and School,
This week I was able to join our Wednesday night men’s Bible Study on the Augsburg Confession and an important topic came up. I’ll summarize the topic with this question: What is worship?
As with many things, the answer to this defining question will then determine what and how we practice. Many Christians today think that worship is what we do. The idea is that we worship God by offering our prayers, our praise, our thanksgiving, and our offerings. We do it.
But the Historic Lutheran Church answers this question differently. Worship is not mainly defined by what we do. It is mainly defined by what God does. In fact, if you open the Lutheran Service Book (our hymnal), you will see that the services are not called “Worship Services,” but rather they are called “Divine Service.”
What does that mean? What is a “Divine Service?” We call it this not because of the liturgy itself, or the vestments the pastor wears, or the style of songs we sing. Rather, we call it the Divine Service as a confession of our faith that the main one who acts in the service is God.
Worship begins with God. He comes to us and He serves us His Word and Sacraments. He does the work which brings us forgiveness, life and salvation. The Master comes to serve His people. We see this profoundly in John’s Gospel. Prior to the institution of the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday, what does Jesus do?
John tells us:
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end… Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:1, 3-5)
Our Lord came not to be served but to serve us. He came to love us, to the end. Immediately after he washes His disciples feet, He institutes the Holy Supper of His Body and Blood. And soon afterward He is betrayed into the hands of the Jews and the Romans to be crucified for us.
And in the same way, He who loved us and served us to the end, comes also into our midst, according to His promise. He comes with the Words of Forgiveness and Life. He comes in the Water of Baptism. He comes in the Bread and Wine. He comes and He serves us. And what He serves us is Himself. His body and blood for the life of the world!
Worship begins with God. It is defined by the acts of God. And, as Luther writes in the Small Catechism, “For all this it is our duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.” We do respond in worship. We respond with faith, with our prayers, and with praise. We respond with lives of joyful love and service to God our neighbors. We do all this only because we have met Him in the Divine Service and received His gifts by the power of His Holy Spirit.
Dear friends, I invite and encourage you to come to the Divine Service. Come each week. Come and receive the gifts of God. Come and hear His Word of Forgiveness, Life and Salvation. Come and let Him who loves you to the end serve you His own body and blood and grant you His life, forever. Amen.
The Peace of Christ be with you all,
Pastor Shaun