Dear
friends,
I recently had occasion to browse through some
articles written by Lois’s grandfather, who was a Lutheran pastor in the first
half of the twentieth century. These were brief reflections he wrote every week
for a couple of years, published in the Lutheran Herald, one of the forerunners
of The Lutheran magazine.
One of these particularly struck my fancy, and I’ve
been thinking about it a bit. It was part of a three-part installment on
worship, and this particular piece was on preparing for worship. He started by
noting that we expect the pastor and other worship leaders to be prepared for
worship on Sunday—sermon written, liturgy planned, music rehearsed. But it is
important for the worshipers to be prepared as well.
So I’ve been thinking about how we all prepare for
worship. Of course our liturgy is designed in such a way as to build in some
"preparation." There is usually a prelude, the purpose of which is to
encourage us to move our minds and hearts toward prayer. There is usually a
time of confession, which pushes us to "cleanse our hearts" before
joining in the praise and thanksgiving that is the liturgy. The "entrance
rite" which is discussed in "Liturgy Notes" this month is a kind
of preparation for the theme of the day.
But if you want to worship well, preparation should
begin sooner than the moment you walk through the door of the church. Here are
some things that seem important to me:
(1) Take some time early on Sunday morning—or, much
better, Saturday or sooner—to read the Scripture lessons for the coming Sunday.
Next week’s lessons are always printed on the bulletin cover. Read them over
several times through the week, and let the words sink into your consciousness.
That will make you better able to hear them on Sunday morning. It’s kind of
like reading a review or seeing a preview of a movie before you actually go to
the theater; if you have at least some sense of what the movie is about, you
are better able to get quickly engaged with the story.
(2) Pray for God’s blessing on the church service
ahead of time. I always try to do this on Saturday evening. I pray for those
who will lead in one way or another, and for those who will worship, praying
that God will use the words and the music of the liturgy to touch the hearts of
those who are present in the way he sees is needed.
(3) Begin getting ready for worship first thing Sunday
morning. I usually refrain from even looking at the Sunday newspaper until
after church. As I’m driving to church, I begin to think about what is about to
happen, and to ask God to open my heart to it. If you have children, the drive
to church is a good time to help them prepare, as well. (That’s where having
read the Scripture lessons can come in handy!)
(4) Enter the sanctuary sooner than the very last
minute. Give yourself time to settle in, quiet your heart, and spend a few
moments in prayer before the liturgy begins. Look over the liturgy so you are
prepared for what will be happening that day. Read the words of the hymns ahead
of time, so they don’t come as a surprise. Be respectful of those who are
trying to pray be minimizing conversation after you enter the church.
Those are just some things that occur to me; you will
perhaps have different suggestions. But the important thing is to realize that
preparation is not just something done by the leaders, but by everyone. Liturgy
means the "work of the people"—and as with any worthwhile endeavor,
effective preparation is the key to doing it well.
See you in church Sunday!
Peace to you,
Pastor Richard O. Johnson
Classic Prayers
Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height, for my understanding is in no way equal to that, but I do desire to understand a little of your truth which my heart already believes and loves. I do not seek to understand so that I can believe, but I believe so that I may understand; and what is more, I believe that unless I do believe, I shall not understand. Amen
--St.
Anselm (1033-1109)
Archbishop
of Canterbury
From the Associate Pastor
Some of us on July 30 will be hiking up Mt. Tallac and
while we are hiking up the mountain we will meditate on the Stations of the
Cross. Here is a little background on
the Stations.
"From the earliest of days, followers of Jesus
told the story of his passion, death and resurrection. When pilgrims came to see Jerusalem, they
were anxious to see the sites where Jesus was.
These sites become important holy connections with Jesus. Eventually, following in the footsteps of
the Lord, along the way of the cross, became a part of the pilgrimage
visit. The stations, as we know them
today, came about when it was no longer easy or even possible to visit the holy
sites. In the 1500's, villages all over
Europe started creating "replicas" of the way of the cross, with
small shrines commemorating the places along the route in Jerusalem. Eventually, these shrines became the set of
14 stations we now know and were placed in almost every Catholic Church in the
world."
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/stations-why.html
Often done during Lent and Holy Week, the Stations of
the Cross are a wonderful way to contemplate the mystery of Jesus'
passion. The 14 stations include 1)
Jesus is condemned to die 2) Jesus carries his cross 3) Jesus fall the first
time 4) Jesus meets his mother 5) Simon helps Jesus carry his cross 6) Veronica
wipes Jesus face 7) Jesus falls the second time 8) Jesus meets the women of
Jerusalem 9) Jesus falls the third time 10) Jesus is stripped 11) Jesus is
nailed to the cross 12) Jesus dies on the cross 13) Jesus is taken down from
the cross 14) Jesus is laid in the tomb.
Join us for the hike and experience the mountains and
the Stations of the Cross.
Grace
and peace,
Pastor Dean
Liturgy Notes: The
Entrance Rite
The
opening portion of our Sunday worship service is called by liturgical scholars
the “Entrance Rite.” It gets this name
from a logical source: during medieval
times, this was the portion of the service during which the clergy and other
worship leaders entered the church. At
that time the Entrance Rite was rather elaborate and involved, because
cathedrals were large and it took time to get everyone in place. Today the Entrance Rite has a rather
different function; indeed, in many services the worship leaders may enter
unobtrusively before the service begins.
But the Entrance Rite is still important, because it is the portion of
the service that “sets the tone” for the day’s liturgy. Perhaps we might think of the analogy of an
athlete doing “stretches” prior to performing.
In the same way, the Entrance Rite “stretches our heart” and prepares us
to worship God in spirit and in truth.
Technically
the Entrance Rite does not include the “Brief Order for Confession and
Forgiveness.” That order is understood
to be preparatory to the service; the liturgy itself doesn’t begin until after
we have confessed our sins and received absolution.
The
Entrance Rite begins with the Entrance Hymn.
It is usually a hymn of praise, especially one that is at least loosely
tied to the season or day. In medieval
times, this function was performed by a psalm such as Psalm 95 (“Come, let us
sing to the Lord...”). A different
psalm was prescribed for each Sunday of the year. At the time of the Reformation, Luther urged that this custom be
retained. As the use of the German
language in worship became more widespread, however, the ancient Latin psalms
fell into disuse, and German hymns became the norm for most Lutheran congregations;
this custom was then exported to other nations where Lutheran worship took
hold. It was no doubt a change for the
better, since a congregational hymn unifies the worshiping community more
effectively than a psalm sung by the choir.
Then
comes the “apostolic greeting,” as the pastor welcomes the people in the words
of Paul. Symbolically, the “presiding
minister” represents Christ, and this greeting (“The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all.”) underscores the faith that Christ is among us as we gather in his name.
Next is
the Kyrie, so called because of the response “Lord have mercy” (from the Greek Kyrie eleison). This ancient prayer dates back to the fourth
century at least, and helps us remember that we come before Christ as people
who are tossed and troubled by our day to day lives, and who need therefore to
pray for his peace. The Kyrie is not a
“fixed element” of the liturgy; it can be deleted without sacrificing the
integrity of the service, and is often left out on a non-festival day when a
simpler service is desired. At Peace,
we often omit the Kyrie during the summer months.
From
the reflective and penitent notes of the Kyrie, we move to the joy of the Hymn
of Praise. The traditional hymn here is
the Gloria, again so-called because of the opening line “Glory to God in the
highest” (in Latin, Gloria in excelsis
Deo). This hymn is based on the
song the angels sang at the birth of Jesus.
The alternative is more recent; “Worthy is Christ” is a modern
composition based on several passages from Revelation. Either of these hymns sets a mood of praise
for the liturgy. We omit the Hymn of
Praise during Advent and Lent, when a quieter and more reflective liturgy is
desired.
The
Entrance Rite concludes with the Prayer of the Day, a prayer that expresses the
theme of that particular day’s liturgy.
It is often related to the Scripture lessons for the day. Many of the Prayers of the Day are very
ancient, while others are more modern compositions. With the Prayer of the Day, the entrance rite is concluded, and
the liturgy moves into its first major half, the Liturgy of the Word of
God. Having “stretched our hearts” by
the hymns and prayers, we are now ready to listen actively and attentively to
God’s word to us.
“Read through the Bible”
in a Year
July
1-July Proverbs 4 - 7
2-July Proverbs 8 - 11
3-July Proverbs 12 - 14
4-July Proverbs 15 - 17
5-July Proverbs 18 - 20
6-July Proverbs 21 - 23
7-July Proverbs 24 - 26
8-July Proverbs 27 - 29
9-July Proverbs 30 - 31
10-July Ecclesiastes 1 - 4
11-July Ecclesiastes 5 - 8
12-July Ecclesiastes 9 - 12
13-July Song of Songs 1 - 4
14-July Song of Songs 5 - 8
15-July Isaiah 1 - 3
16-July Isaiah 4 - 8
17-July Isaiah 9 - 11
18-July Isaiah 12 - 14
19-July Isaiah 15 - 19
20-July Isaiah 20 - 24
21-July Isaiah 25 - 28
22-July Isaiah 29 - 31
23-July Isaiah 32 - 34
24-July Isaiah 35 - 37
25-July Isaiah 38 - 40
26-July Isaiah 41 - 43
27-July Isaiah 44 - 46
28-July Isaiah 47 - 49
29-July Isaiah 50 - 52
30-July Isaiah 53 - 56
31-July Isaiah 57 - 59