A Walk Through the Trinity Liturgy, 2Peter J. Leithart, January 29, 2005 INTRODUCTION CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION In the Trinity bulletin, the confession looks like this: GOD CLEANSES US Call to Confession Minister Come, let us worship and bow down. Silent Confession Why do we need to confess our sins? Arent we already forgiven? John Frame offers this argument in his book, Worship in Spirit and Truth: When worship is seen as a reenactment of redemption, the service tends to obscure the reality of the once-for-all accomplishment of redemption: The great fact governing the worship experience from beginning to end is that Christs work is complete, that he is raised from the dead. Doubtless there is a place in worship for asking Gods forgiveness of our continuing sins for the sake of Christ. But worshipers should not be led to suppose (as in the Roman Catholic view of the Mass as a repeated sacrifice) that the work of redemption needs to be done over and over again. All churches need to take pains to counter that misunderstanding, but especially churches that lead worshipers week after week through the reading of the law, the confession of sin, and the assurance of pardonE(pp. 68-69). I agree with Frame that the atonement is once-for-all, but the application of the effects of that atonement is repeated. Calvin said that justification and forgiveness need to be repeatedly given: Therefore, God does not, as many stupidly believe, once for all reckon to us as righteousness that forgiveness of sins concerning which we have spoken in order that, having obtained pardon for our past life, we may afterwards seek righteousness in the law; this would be only to lead us into false hope, to laugh at us, and mock us. For since no perfection can come to us so long as we are clothed in this flesh, and the law moreover announces death and judgment to all who do not maintain perfect righteousness in works, it will always have grounds for accusing and condemning us unless, on the contrary, Gods mercy counters it, and by continual forgiveness of sins repeatedly acquits usE(Institutes 2.4.10). While it is true that we are in Christ, and therefore forgiven, it is also true that we continue to sin, and God forgives sins as we go.E Several features of the specific confession used at Trinity can be highlighted. First, the confession begins with an exhortation, which is normally based on something in the sermon text. We have made an effort to sprinkle the entire service with the sermon text Ein exhortations, prayers, and related Scripture readings. The exhortation also normally focuses on a particular sin or evil that gives a particular focus to our prayer of confession. For example, last week I noted the parallel between Jeroboams pragmatic creation of a new liturgy and President Bushs equally pragmatic participation in an interfaith service. That led into an exhortation that we confess our collective sins as Americans, since the polytheism that Bush symbolized is pervasive in our culture. Second, following the exhortation, I call the people to kneel for confession with the words from Psalm 95:6. The Psalm as a whole is a Psalm of praise, but the latter part of the Psalm emphasizes Israels hardness of heart at Massah and Meribah, and the fact that they were left to die in the desert. Because of Israels sins, Yahweh says, I loathed that generationEand prevented them from entering into rest in the land (vv. 7-11). The fragment of the Psalm thus recalls Israels entire history of hardness of heart and covenant unfaithfulness, and includes the implicit warning Today, if you would hear his voice, harden not your heartsE(vv. 7-8). Kneeling for confession is quite traditional in the church, of course, but only in Psalm 95 is it mentioned in Scripture in the context of worship. The more common posture is bowingEor prostrationE(Exodus 34:8; Psalm 22:29; 45:11; 72:9, 11; 138:2; Isaiah 45:23). That would be preferable to kneeling, but there are logistical difficulties in churches that use pews or chairs. Still, kneeling is part of worship at least in Psalm 95, and thats sufficient biblical warrant. And it makes sense as an act of contrition. We make ourselves low to manifest in a bodily way our humility in sin before a holy God. Further, there is an implicit petition in our kneeling; we make ourselves low before God and call on Him to pick us up, to raise us from the dust to serve Him. That is what happens in the absolution. Third, the prayer of confession is a collective prayer (weE, spoken together by the congregation, that confesses both the fact that each of us has sinned against God, and the fact that weEcollectively have sinned against Him by not living as His people together. The prayer is simple and short, yet it is also comprehensive. We pray for all sorts of sins, and even ask God to forgive us for those sins that we cannot name and of which we are only dimly aware (cf. Leviticus 5:2, 4; Psalm 19:12). Finally, we follow the spoken prayer with a few moments of silent confession, in which each of us is to confess individual sins individually, particular sins particularly. By this method, we cover both our corporate and our individual sins, and emphasize that worship is both a covenant-renewal for the church and for each member. KYRIE Kyrie The Kyrie is used in many historic liturgies, and is a prayer for mercy, frequently arranged in a Trinitarian pattern of Lord-Christ-Lord.EAs explained on the LCMS web site, the Kyrie is a reminder of the mercy of God: Though there have been occasions when these words have been used as a plea for forgiveness, the primary use of Kyrie eleison has been from the biblical perspective [about Gods mercy to us]. Confident of God's mercy, we call on him and hold him to his promise to show mercy.EThus, Through its continued use, the Kyrie reminds us that our God is merciful, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, etc. Though the world would love to tempt us to take this mercy for granted and to rely on ourselves, this ancient voice of the liturgy gives us a truly biblical perspective as we come into God's presence.EHere at the beginning of the worship service, in the midst of confessing our sins and receiving Gods assurance of cleansing, we recognize our need for Gods mercy. And we are reminded of the biblical assurances that His mercy is everlasting. The particular form used here is an Eastern form of the Kyrie, which has become popular in Lutheran liturgies. Again, the LCMS web site: Here we plead for God's mercy, not just for ourselves, but on behalf of others as well. We pray, indeed, for our salvation. But we also pray that God would grant peace to our troubled world. We pray for the Church and for all who come to God's house to receive his good gifts and to thank and praise him. Throughout, the refrain is the same: Lord, have mercy.EThus, our prayer of confession is not only a confession of our own sins and a plea for mercy for ourselves and our church; it is a recognition of the disorder, the peacelessness, that characterizes the world under sin, and a plea that the Lord would show mercy and bring peace, the shalom of the kingdom. One of the key liturgical principles that is evident here is that the church worships not only for herself but on behalf of the world. At the feast of booths, Israel offered 70 bulls during the course of the week, representing the 70 nations of the ancient world. Israel kept her temple as the house of prayer for all nations.EThrough our evangelism, we summon the nations to join with us at the house of God, but our prayers for mercy extend even those who do not believe or, at least, have not yet responded in faith. ABSOLUTION In the Trinity liturgy, the minister speaks a word of pardon from Scripture, and follows with these words: Our heavenly Father, in His infinite mercy, has sent His only Son into the world for Your salvation, and for His sake forgives you all your sins. Therefore, by the authority of Jesus Christ and in His name, I declare to you that your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.E ASCENSION (the people may lift their hands) Te Deum Let me point to several specific features of this. First, much of the substance of this ascension is, in historic liturgies, located at the beginning of the Eucharist. The sursum corda, for instance, played an important role in Calvins own theology of the Eucharist. Persuaded by arguments from James Jordan and Jeff Meyers, we have placed the sursum corda, and other features of the ascension after the absolution. We dont ascend to the mountaintop for the Supper only; we ascend to hear the word of God as well. Putting the ascension at the beginning of the Eucharist divides the service into a liturgy of the word (on earth) and a liturgy of the table (in heaven). In part, this divided service is a leftover of the patristic practice of dismissing the catechumens before the Eucharist, a practice that has not place, I believe, in a biblically-formed liturgy. Putting the ascension here emphasizes the unity of the service, the fact that the service as a whole takes place in heavenly places. Second, the ascension theme is hammered home in this portion of the liturgy. Every piece of service music expresses the faith that we are actually joining with the heavenly choirs of angels as we enter the Lords presence. We sing the Gloria in Excelsis, the song of the angels from Luke 2; the Sursum Corda invites us to ascend by faith into heaven; the Sanctus is the song of the angels in Isaiah 6; in the Te Deum, we join in praise along with the angels, martyrs, apostles and prophets, as well as the whole church throughout the world. Third, the ascension is heavy with music. As we saw in earlier studies in this series, music is a means of ascension in Chronicles, accompanying the ascension offerings (e.g., 2 Chronicles 29). As the animal ascended in smoke into Yahwehs presence, so we ascend through song, a song inspired by the Spirit, into heaven. Fourth, as we ascend, we stop at several ledgesEto offer prayer. There is a general thanksgiving following the Gloria and leading into the Sanctus, reminding us that we enter the Lords courts with thanksgiving and praise. Following the Sanctus, there is a seasonally appropriate collect, as we continue to ascend to the Lord in praise and prayer. The conclusion of the Ascension is the Collect for Peace, which prepares us to hear the Word of God that will follow, with our hearts set to obey Your commandments.E We are now ready to hear God speak to us. Next week, well look at the Scripture readings, and perhaps get as far as the Eucharist. |
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