From the Pastor: Praying for One Another

Dear friends,

I’ve been puzzling lately about prayer—specifically about the ways we pray for one another.

My puzzling was provoked in part by a recent internet discussion among pastors. It all began when a pastor alleged that HIPAA (the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act") made it illegal to reveal information such as "so and so is in the hospital" without specific permission of the patient. His concern was unfounded, of course, since HIPAA only restricts health care providers. But it engendered quite a discussion about balancing prayer for the sick against the need for privacy.

Here at Peace, we have a variety of "avenues" by which we pray for particular needs. We have, of course, prayers of intercession as part of our liturgy each Sunday. We have been printing a list of people for whom to pray in the bulletin as well, and there is a list on the white board on the kiosk. We also have an active prayer chain in the congregation.

Often there are "discrepancies" in these lists. Maybe I as pastor have heard about a need (sometimes Sunday morning right before church), so someone is included in the intercessions but not in the bulletin. Sometimes people don’t mind being included in the intercessions (where we typically don’t use last names), but don’t want their full name in print. Sometimes people don’t mind being on the prayer chain, where individuals are praying privately for them, but they don’t want to be prayed for in public. There are lots of other circumstances that might lead to a name being listed one place, but not another.

I’ve frankly never worried too much about this, but I know sometimes people are unhappy about it—usually either because they wanted to be included but weren’t, or they didn’t want to be included but were.

I do try my best to honor any requests that are made to me, though of course I’m not a mind reader, and sometimes there are glitches.

The most helpful thing you can do is to let us know your own wishes. If you are ill and would like to be included in the Sunday prayers, call the office. If you would like me to pray for you in some specific need but don’t want it to be publicly known, let me know that. If you’ve been sick and been listed on the prayer list, but now you’re better and would like to be removed, call the office and let us know.

Of course we should always keep in mind that the purpose of our prayers is not gossip or public announcement of anything: it is prayer! As Christians, we are called—invited, really—to pray for one another. We do this when one is sick, of course, but you don’t have to be sick to want and desire the prayers of our community.

And if you have ideas about how we can more effectively pray for one another in our congregation, I’m always happy to hear them.

Peace to you,

Pastor Richard O. Johnson

Classic Prayers

An evening prayer:

Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

--Unknown 6th century writer

Liturgy Notes: Lutheran Worship

What is worship? If you were to ask a dozen different Christians, you might get a dozen answers--especially if those you asked came from a variety of church traditions. Yet understanding a given congregation’s attitude toward worship is essential to understanding the congregation. After all, worship is what we do together more than anything else, at least in terms of time and frequency. It identifies and defines the life of a Christian congregation.

What do Lutherans think about this? The Augsburg Confession, foundation document of the Christian movement known as Lutheranism, describes the church as “the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the Sacraments administered rightly.” That definition suggests two principles around which our worship centers: Gospel and Sacraments.

Because we value the Gospel’s being “taught purely,” Lutheran worship is centered around the Word of God. Ample provision is made in worship for the Lord to speak through the Scriptures, with the typical service including four different readings from the Bible (Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle, and Gospel). Most services include preaching, which is an interpretation and application of the Gospel to our contemporary lives. In addition, much of our liturgy is drawn from the words of Scripture. Many of our hymns are further expressions of what the Bible teaches.

Because we value the Sacraments being “administered rightly,” Lutheran worship is also centered around these Sacraments. Lutherans believe that Holy Baptism and Holy Communion are not mere symbols but actually means of grace--that through these Sacraments, our Lord bestows upon us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Augsburg Confession claims that “the Mass [Holy Communion] is retained among us and is celebrated with the greatest reverence... Such worship pleases God, and such use of the Sacrament nourishes devotion to God.” For Lutherans, the Sacraments are a vital part of what it means to live and grow as a Christian; and so we make frequent use of this gift that God has given.

Lutheran worship does not demand that all services be the same, or that certain prescribed words, songs, dress, or actions be followed. Yet Lutherans place value in tradition, and believe that we can learn from following patterns and customs of the past. At the time of the Reformation, there were many voices that called for complete abandonment of the forms of worship that had developed in 1500 years of church history. In Geneva, the town council, under the influence of the Reformer Zwingli, actually abolished the mass and set up a radically different kind of worship. But Luther and his allies were more conservative. They believed that worship should be reformed by removing or altering false teachings, but that traditional forms should be maintained when they enhanced the Gospel. Thus Lutheran churches continued to value much that was traditional--vestments, candles, artistic representations, the sign of the cross, a chanted liturgy, and much else. “The purpose of observing ceremonies is that people may learn the Scriptures.” [Apology XIV]

Lutheran worship is “liturgical,” in the proper meaning of that word--it is the “work of the people.” One of Luther’s most important principles was that the people should understand and participate in worship. To this end he incorporated German hymns and prayers, and eventually developed an entire liturgy in German. For Lutherans, worship is not a spectator sport! The congregation is involved in many ways, not just by observation.

So Lutheran worship has both similarities to and differences from worship in other Christian traditions. Perhaps the most important thing to say about it is that in our worship, we believe that we meet the living Christ, as he speaks to us through his Word and gives himself freely to us through his Sacraments. So for Lutherans, worship is not optional. It is the ordinary time and place where our Lord touches us and welcomes us.