Hymns and The Hymn of the Day

God’s people have been encouraged to sing their prayers, praise, and thanksgiving to God. Why do we sing? Psalm 98 gives us the reason.

Psalm 98:1
Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.

The Word of God not only creates faith but teaches us, His children, His gracious will toward us. God has freely given us His own righteousness. In our hymns we respond to this Good News with singing, reciting back to Him the great acts of our salvation in thanksgiving and praise.

University Lutheran Chapel, University of Minnesota

Taking cues from Scripture’s own songbook, the Psalms, the Church’s hymns give us a variety of ways to thank, praise, and proclaim the God who has done all good things for us. In the Divine Service, our singing is related to the readings from Scripture. Hymns enable everyone to join together in proclaiming the scriptural truths read at the lecturn, preached from the pulpit, and spoken before the altar.

Within the Divine Service, congregational hymnody relates to the Scripture appointed for each Sunday. The Hymn of the Day is the principle hymn of the Divine Sercice and relates to, and reflects on the theme of the day, most often set by the Holy Gospel.

The Sermon

Our Lord sent His apostles into the world to preach that forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are found through Him. In the preaching of the Sermon, that apostolic Word is proclaimed among us today.

sermon: The pastor’s proclamation, usually based on the Scripture readings for the day.

Scriptural and Christ-centered

The Sermon is dependent on all that has gone before it in the Divine Service—the liturgy, the hymns, and the readings. Therefore the message of the Sermon is the fullest expression of the theme of the day. The Sermon is the pinnacle of the Service of the Word. It is the Word studied, explained, and expounded through the pastor, the one called by the congregation to preach.

In the Sermon the pastor speaks God’s words of judgment and grace to the current situation. In this way, the Sermon also prepares the hearer for the celebration of the Service of the Sacrament. Like the Absolution, the Sermon delivers the forgiveness of sins earned by Christ on the cross. The Divine Service, then, becomes for us grace upon grace (John 1:16).

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is . . . the power of God.

Lutherans believe and confess that preaching from the Word of God is a means of grace. That is, that the power of God to forgive sins is available and received through the Word of God proclaimed by the preacher. The sermon is placed in the service of the cross, and as in the Absolution and the Sacraments, the hearer is engaged in a person encounter with the living God who is strong to save.

means of grace: The means by which God gives us the forgiveness life, and salvation won by the death and resurrection of Christ: God’s Word, Absolution, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

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Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Wherever God’s Word is, there our Lord has promised to be (Matthew 18:20).

Our service follows a simple pattern for the hearing of God’s Word then responding with thanksgiving and praise. Typically the readings for the Divine Service are one from the Old Testament, one from an apostolic letter (Epistle), and one from a Gospel. In a real sense, the readings from the Old Testament and an Epistle lead to and find their fulfillment in the Gospel. In this way, the first two readings function like John the Baptist preparing us to hear in repentance and faith the gracious voice of Christ. Origen, an early Christian, called the Holy Gospel the “crown of all Holy Scripture.”

The Word of God comes to us through His Scriptures with power to deliver what He promises. They do this by not only telling us about Jesus but also by giving us Jesus, who was crucified for our sins and raised to life for our justification. Through the reading and the preaching of His Scripture, God is at work creating faith, bestowing His peace in the forgiveness of sins, strengthening His people in their struggle against sin, and nurturing the hope of everlasting life.

As Jesus came to us in the lowliness of our flesh in His incarnation, so now He comes to us in human words. Through these words, God himself is at work to “make [us] wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). The Word of God is the Word of life.

Old Testament Reading and Epistle

Luke 24:27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

The first reading is typically from the Old Testament. Through the recorded history of Israel and the words of the prophets, we are taught God’s work of salvation in the Old Testament. There we hear the prophecies of the Messiah who would come to men that all people might once again be brought back to God. The Old Testament Reading prepares us to hear the Holy Gospel, which is the fulfillment of the prophecies and promises made in the Old Testament.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Hearing the Word of God, the people respond with words of praise. The Gradual is a portion of a psalm or other Scripture passage that provides a response after the Old Testament Reading. It is a proper selected to help the hearer reflect on the reading in context with the theme of the day or the season of the Church Year. It also serves as a bridge between the first reading and the Epistle that follows.

2 Timothy 3:16–17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

The Epistle,  a reading from a New Testament letter, gives us God’s counsel on how His gracious Word is applied to the hearer and the Church. Often in this reading we hear how God’s Word accomplishes what it says—creating faith, bestowing forgiveness, strengthening God’s people in their struggles against sin, and enlivening in them the hope of eternal life.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Holy Gospel

The Holy Evangelists

Like the Gradual, the Alleluia and Verseprovide a transition between the readings. The word alleluia is Hebrew for “praise the Lord.” The Verse prepares us to meet the Christ of God in His Word, hearing of His life, ministry, death, and resurrection for the salvation of all.

Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Alleluia, alleluia.

John 6:68
Simon Peter answered [Jesus], “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” 

The Holy Gospel according to St. ___________, the ________chapter.

Glory to You, O Lord.

The Holy Gospel always contains the very words or deeds of Jesus. This makes the reading of the Holy Gospel the summit of the Service of the Word, and we recognize this by surrounding our Savior’s words with songs of glory and praise and by standing to receive His gracious words.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, O Christ.

The Holy Gospel is seen as the summit of the Service of the Word, and that fact is acknowledged with the acclamation of glory and praise. Often, the congregation will stand during the reading of the Gospel in honor of the gracious Word of Christ that is being proclaimed before it. In His speaking in and through the Scripture, God is serving His people. From His words we receive life and we receive salvation.

John 20:30-31
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

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The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Salutation is a special greeting between the congregation and its pastor. Originally the pastor would have spoken “Peace be with you,” purposefully repeating our Lord’s post-resurrection greeting to His fearful disciples gathered together in the upper room on that first Easter evening. The present wording of the Salutation is inexorably tied to His incarnation (Luke 1:28) and with His promise to be with His church (Matthew 28:20). In the Divine Service the announcement of the Lord’s peace heralds His coming to us in the readings that follow and makes us aware that important things are about to happen.

Salutation. Special greeting between pastor and people: “The Lord be with you,” followed by the response “And also with you” or “And with your spirit.”

Prayer and The Collect of the Day

Prayer is how the Christian acknowledges the gifts of the Gospel. “Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise (Lutheran Worship, pg. 6). In the Scriptures God speaks to human beings, but in prayer, human beings speak to God. Prayer is the life of faith in active communion or conversation with object of our faith–God. Prayer is the evidence of the relationship we have with the Father because of the redemption won for us by the Son. It shows our childlike trust and confidence in the One who does for us all that we need and more.

Let us pray.

The Collect of the Day “collects” in a concise and beautiful manner the Gospel message for the day to implore God, by His grace and through His mercy, to manifest His love in and through our thoughts, words, and deeds. We pray these things to remember Him who always provides for us, and to receive these gifts with godly thanksgiving. Most of these prayers have been in continuous use in the Church for more than 1,500 years. In praying the Collect, we join with the great body of believers, the communion of saints, and with the generations yet to come.

 Amen. Declaration that what has been said is true and affirming its trust in the Lord’s Gospel promise; “yes, yes, this is most certainly true.”

A special advantage of using the collects, both ancient and modern, is that they keep the fundamental needs of salvation and the great objective facts of divine grace in clear focus, and they align us with the revealed will of God which will soon be proclaimed in the reading of Scripture. The congregation makes the Collect its own with its “amen,”

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The Morning of the Resurrection, 1882, Edward Coley Burne-Jones

Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

(from the Easter sermon of John Chrysostom,
pastor of Constntinople ca. AD 400)

O almighty and eternal God through the death of Your Son You have destroyed death, and by His rising to life again you have restored innocence and everlasting life. Being delivered from the power of the devil, grant that I might live under You in Your kingdom and that I may be forever comforted by true faith in the resurrection of Your dear Son. Do not let the thought of death fill my heart with terror, but give me the blessed assurance that, just as You have with Christ, I will not remain in the grave but will rise again at the End of Days. And when, by Your grace I have finished my course let Your resurrection be for me a sure pledge that an inheritance that does not fade is reserved for me in heaven. While I live, guide me with Your holy counsel; and when I die give me the crown of life, that with all the holy angels and the elect I may praise and glorify You, world without end. Amen.

Eternal is the gift He brings,
Therefore our heart with rapture sings:
“Christ has triumphed! He is living!”
Now still He comes to give us life
And by His presence stills all strife.
Christ has triumphed! He is living!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

-Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds, stz. 2, Paul Z. Strodach

Each year we purchase CPH’s downloadable Church calendar resource (i.e. 2010-2011 Church Year Calendar-Series A”). Our altar guild uses this for the colors of the altar paraments. Holy Thursday is listed for the color White. The CPH book “Lutheran Worship History And Practice” lists scarlet or purple. I know that LSB also has white as an option but shouldn’t the color default to purple on the calendar?
thanks.

The Last Supper

When we set the calendars in our various resources I was in contact with the Commission on Worship of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and worked closely with them. As that commission no longer exists. I can certainly tell you why we have made the choices we have at CPH, but as for the intricacies of rationale behind what appears in the Church Year calendar of Lutheran Service Book, I could only suggest that you may want to make contact with the former members of the Lectionary Committee, Lutheran Service Book Project. They are: James Brauer, Arthur Just (chairman), Daniel Reuning, D. Richard Stuckwisch, and Gregory Wismar.

When working with the Church Year and the LSB lectionary there are often options offered. When bringing these options into CPH products, it often means that I, as the editor, have choices to make. After some trial and error, and extended discussions with Commission directors and members, it has been agreed that when an option is presented, CPH will consistently offer the first option. The Commission’s point of view was that the first option offered was the majority or preferred text or practice. So for Holy Week, starting with the LSB calendar in 2006, the options are S/V, scarlet/violet. Scarlet being stated first shows the Commission’s decision that it is the preferred color for observations during that week, with violet the alternate option. It should be noted that in LSB for the first time I am aware of, the Thursday in Holy Week is differentiated between Holy Thursday and  Maundy Thursday in an LCMS calendar. During the day of Thursday in Holy Week the preferred color is scarlet. All prayer offices and worship services held during the day would be observed using scarlet paraments.

Now, Pastor, some of what follows is from my own understanding and study, so should not be totally attributed to the Commission; where I err or am unclear, the fault is mine. There has been, since at least the ’90s, a increased interest in, and practice of, the ancient Triduum among Missouri Synod Lutherans. The three services of the Triduum—Divine Service on Holy Thursday, the chief service on Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil—comprise a single unit. The Thursday in Holy Week becomes a day of transition, with the Triduum observed, there is a ‘break’ that happens at sunset between Lent preparation and commemorating Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. Sunset (the traditional—liturgical—beginning of the new day) on Holy Thursday, is the vigil for Good Friday and begins the Triduum (cf. the General Notes on page 506 of the LSB Altar Book).

When the Divine Service is celebrated on the Thursday in Holy Week (technically, when it is celebrated in the evening as the vigil of Good Friday), it is observed as a feast of Christ. I suspect this came about when the ILCW introduced the three-year lectionary and the traditional John 13 Gospel (TLH and the common lectionary) was replaced by the institution narratives in the respective A, B, and C Gospels. As a feast of Christ , it is consistent to use white paraments. With the LW calendar, white was the optional color to violet. Because the Triduum has been raised as the preferred practice in LSB lectionary and resources, our CPH resources designate white as the color for the day because for most congregations, the Divine Service of the Thursday in Holy Week is the chief service of the day.

Incidentally, you may have also picked up in this response why the lectionary committee  moved from designating the Thursday in Holy Week as Maundy Thursday to Holy Thursday; for with the shift from John 13 to the institutional narratives as the appointed Gospel, the mandatum of Maundy Thursday is without context.

Well, as you rush off to celebrate your Holy (Maundy) Thursday, what are your thoughts and insights? Maybe there is a Commission member or former director lurking about that can authenticate or correct what I have offered. I’m all ears. Like you, I love this stuff.

Topic: Classic Christian Worship.

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“Singing the Faith

www.singingthefaith.org

The Law differentiates. It distinguishes. It says that I have failed God and I have failed you, my brothers and sisters. You might have something against me, as well. The Law forces me to measure myself against the standard of the Ten Commandments. And the Law has the nasty ability of making me better or worse than you.

The Gospel makes us all the same. When I am serving my neighbor then I am different and unique. But when I am being served by the Gospel, then I am just like every other sinner. I am equally as sinful as you. And I am equally as forgiven as you. We are the same. We are identical. Of course my sins might be more profound, more heinous, and more creative than yours. But in Christ both you and I are declared righteous, clothed and covered in the righteousness of the heavenly Bridegroom and cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. Sin, which makes us different and which divides, is forgiven. Good works, which distinguish and divide us, are irrelevant when it comes to salvation. So we are the same. The Divine Service reflects this.

If we are all the same, the services we attend should be pretty much the same. And if all the Christians in the world are the same, if the church is really “catholic,” then the worship services throughout the world should be pretty close to the same. If the saints from age to age are the same, and they are, then the worship services from age to age reflect our oneness and sameness in Christ.

But, if worship is primarily me serving God, then my worship will be different than yours because we are different in our good works. Worship will then be far from uniform. If we get the direction of the communication right in worship then we will also understand that uniformity in worship is good.

Paul addressed the problem of divisions in the church in his letter to the Ephesians. The Christians of Jewish descent felt that they were closer to God than the Gentile Christians. They thought they were more advanced in the law and where therefore better Christians. What a divisive attitude. Christian people have always had the same temptations toward disunity. Today we hear the same. Some Christians are considered more advanced, more dynamic, more mature, more committed, more engaged, more vital, more something. How did God create unity according to the apostle Paul?

For He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in his body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:14-18)

The Law makes us competitive and divisive. It makes us watch to see who is doing the best job. The Law is like a toy in the playroom full of little kids. They all want it and fight over it. They make each other frustrated and angry because each kid wants to monopolize the toy. The law also makes us angry and frustrated. What do parents do when kids fight over a certain toy? They take the toy away from all the kids. So, when groups of people were fighting over the law, God made peace by “abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.”

The Divine Service is God’s Word of peace. The way to avoid disunity and to reflect our unity in the Gospel is for the whole church to be uniform in her liturgy.

Martin Luther

Luther is instructive, “As far as possible we should observe the same rites and ceremonies, just as all Christians have the same baptism and the same Sacrament and no one has received a special one of his own from God” (LW 53:21). The reformer understood that we are all the same when it comes to the forgiveness of sins. So we need to receive God’s gracious blessings through the same liturgy – the same service of God.

The Divine Service both reflects and promotes our oneness. When Luther published his “German Mass” in 1526 he was responding to a situation that had developed in the Lutheran churches. The old Roman order of service was an “abominable concoction drawn from everyone’s sewer and cesspool” because it contained the sacrifice of the mass, the eucharistic prayer, prayers to the saints and all sorts of other bad things. The Lutherans understood the need for a gospel-centered service. Furthermore there was no Divine Service in the language of the people since the Roman Church had insisted on doing the Liturgy in Latin. If the liturgy was to teach Germans it had to be in the German language. Many had tried their hand at writing new liturgies. Luther, in his preface to his Lutheran Order of Service acknowledged as much.

I would kindly and for God’s sake request all those who see this order of service or desire to follow it: Do not make it a rigid law to bind or entangle any one’s conscience. But use it in Christian liberty…For this is being published not as though we meant to lord it over anyone else or to legislate for them, but because of the widespread demand for German masses and service and the general dissatisfaction and offense that has caused by the variety of new masses. For everyone makes his own order of service. Some have the best intentions, but others have no more than an itch to produce something novel…Where the people are perplexed and offended by these differences in liturgical usage, however, we are certainly bound to forgo our freedom and seek, if possible, to improve rather than to offend them by what we do or leave undone.

Luther would have been alarmed at what we see in many of the churches today with each pastor doing his own thing and producing his own service. In fact, he was alarmed when he saw exactly that type of diversity in his own day. He knew that the minute you make a law out of the proper dispensing of Word and Sacrament then you have defeated the purpose of Christ. That is why elsewhere Luther asked for people voluntarily to “let each one surrender his own opinions and get together in a friendly way and come to a common decision about these external matters, so that there will be one uniform practice throughout your district instead of disorder – one thing being done here and another there” (LW 53:47)

I have heard many pastors say that they write different worship services because Luther did. “If Luther did it, then why can’t we?” Luther wrote his German Mass precisely because everyone else was doing it poorly. When he saw what others produced he complained because they “didn’t sound polished or well done.” The consistency between “text and notes, accent, melody, and manner of rendering” was lacking and “all of it becomes an imitation in the manner of the apes.”

Deutsche Messe

Luther hesitated in producing a Divine Service initially because he knew that to compose a decent Liturgy requires more than a couple of afternoons in front of the word-processor. When he finally did endeavor to write an order of service in the language of the people he did so as painstaking and deliberate reform of the historic liturgy of the church, not as something new and different. Even though he was an accomplished musician (he wrote the tunes to many of his own hymns including “A Mighty Fortress”), Luther used up a couple of political favors and procured the services of the two leading musicians of the region as consultants in his composing of the chants for the ancient texts of the service. Luther changed only those aspects of the service that were contrary to the Gospel. And he never intended a different liturgy to be used each Sunday. The result of his labors was a service so beautiful and lasting that it is sung to this very day. The immediate effect of his German Mass was that it provided a single order of service for the German people. In effect, the high quality of his revision of the historic liturgy called the German Mass pretty much ended the liturgical experimentation of his day.

Martin Luther knew and lived what seems often to be forgotten: practice teaches, the liturgy teaches. And what our liturgy teaches is the catholic faith. More often than not when the liturgy is forsaken, when someone sets out to change the liturgy it is for doctrinal reasons. The historic liturgy proclaims the Gospel and unites us. Those who would change the liturgy have created disention. And we must ask, “Why’?

What is worship?

I think Dr. Norman Nagel captured the essence of the Lutheran Gottesdienst (roughly translated as “worship”) best when he wrote in the Introduction to Lutheran Worship: “Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise.” “Saying back to him what he has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure. Most true and sure is his name, which he put upon us with the water of our Baptism. We are his.” “The rhythm of our worship is from him to us, and then from us back to him. He gives his gifts, and together we receive and extol him. We build each other up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our Lord gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink. Finally his blessing moves us out into our calling, where his gifts have their fruition”

What is worship as defined by our Lutheran confessions?

St. John Lutheran Church, Jefferson WI

From the Book of Concord. Citations are given in the following form Symbol:Paragraph

Athanasian Creed:3, 28 –that our worship is catholic
And the Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.
For the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.

Apology XXIV:27 -that we worship in spirit and in truth
Christ says, John 4, 23. 24: True worshipers shalt worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. This passage clearly condemns opinions concerning sacrifices which, they imagine, avail ex opere operato ["on account of the work having been performed"], and teaches that men ought to worship in spirit, i.e., with the dispositions of the heart and by faith.

Apology IV:49 -the Divine Service is objective and subjective
And the difference between this faith and the righteousness of the Law can be easily discerned. Faith is the Gottesdienst [divine service], which receives the benefits offered by God; the righteousness of the Law is the Gottesdienst [divine service] which offers to God our merits. By faith God wishes to be worshiped in this way, that we receive from Him those things which He promises and offers.

Apology IV:307-310 (186-189) -the Divine Service delivers to us God’s good gifts
But because the righteousness of Christ is given us by faith, faith is for this reason righteousness in us imputatively, i.e., it is that by which we are made acceptable to God on account of the imputation and ordinance of God, as Paul says, Rom. 4:3, 5: Faith is reckoned for righteousness. Although on account of certain captious persons we must say technically: Faith is truly righteousness, because it is obedience to the Gospel. For it is evident that obedience to the command of a superior is truly a species of distributive justice. And this obedience to the Gospel is reckoned for righteousness, so that, only on account of this, because by this we apprehend Christ as Propitiator, good works, or obedience to the Law, are pleasing. For we do not satisfy the Law, but for Christ’s sake this is forgiven us, as Paul says, Rom. 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. This faith gives God the honor, gives God that which is His own, in this, that, by receiving the promises, it obeys Him. Just as Paul also says, Rom. 4:20: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Thus the worship and divine service of the Gospel is to receive from God gifts; on the contrary, the worship of the Law is to offer and present our gifts to God. We can, however, offer nothing to God unless we have first been reconciled and born again. This passage, too, brings the greatest consolation, as the chief worship of the Gospel is to wish to receive remission of sins, grace, and righteousness.

Apology IV:154-158 (33-37) -through the Divine Service we recieve remission of sins and reconciliation
The woman [Luke 7:36-50, a sinful woman forgiven] came with the opinion concerning Christ that with Him the remission of sins should be sought. This worship is the highest worship of Christ. Nothing greater could she ascribe to Christ. To seek from Him the remission of sins was truly to acknowledge the Messiah. Now, thus to think of Christ, thus to worship Him, thus to embrace Him, is truly to believe. Christ, moreover, employed the word “love” not towards the woman, but against the Pharisee, because He contrasted the entire worship of the Pharisee with the entire worship of the woman. He reproved the Pharisee because he did not acknowledge that He was the Messiah, although he rendered Him the outward offices due to a guest and a great and holy man. He points to the woman and praises her worship, ointment, tears, etc., all of which were signs of faith and a confession, namely, that with Christ she sought the remission of sins. It is indeed a great example, which, not without reason, moved Christ to reprove the Pharisee, who was a wise and honorable man, but not a believer. He charges him with impiety, and admonishes him by the example of the woman, showing thereby that it is disgraceful to him, that, while an unlearned woman believes God, he, a doctor of the Law, does not believe, does not acknowledge the Messiah, and does not seek from Him remission of sins and salvation. Thus, therefore, He praises the entire worship, as it often occurs in the Scriptures that by one word we embrace many things; as below we shall speak at greater length in regard to similar passages, such as Luke 11:41: Give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. He requires not only alms, but also the righteousness of faith. Thus He here says: Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, i.e., because she has truly worshiped Me with faith and the exercises and signs of faith. He comprehends the entire worship. Meanwhile He teaches this, that the remission of sins is properly received by faith, although love, confession, and other good fruits ought to follow. Wherefore He does not mean this, that these fruits are the price, or are the propitiation, because of which the remission of sins, which reconciles us to God, is given. We are disputing concerning a great subject, concerning the honor of Christ, and whence good minds may seek for sure and firm consolation, whether confidence is to be placed in Christ or in our works. Now, if it is to be placed in our works, the honor of Mediator and Propitiator will be withdrawn from Christ. And yet we shall find, in God’s judgment, that this confidence is vain, and that consciences rush thence into despair. But if the remission of sins and reconciliation do not occur freely for Christ’s sake, but for the sake of our love, no one will have remission of sins, unless when he has fulfilled the entire Law, because the Law does not justify as long as it can accuse us. Therefore it is manifest that, since justification is reconciliation for Christ’s sake, we are justified by faith, because it is very certain that by faith alone the remission of sins is received.

Apology XXIV:27
In short, the worship of the New Testament is spiritual, i.e., it is the righteousness of faith in the heart and the fruits of faith.

Apology VII, 35-36 -our works are not necessary for righteousness before God
Paul clearly teaches this to the Colossians, 2:16-17: Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Likewise, 2:20–23 sqq.: If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances (touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using), after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have, indeed, a show of wisdom in will-worship (Geistlichkeit) and humility. For the meaning is: Since righteousness of the heart is a spiritual matter, quickening hearts, and it is evident that human traditions do not quicken hearts, and are not effects of the Holy Ghost, as are love to one’s neighbor, chastity, etc., and are not instruments through which God moves hearts to believe, as are the divinely given Word and Sacraments, but are usages with regard to matters that pertain in no respect to the heart, which perish with the using, we must not believe that they are necessary for righteousness before God. [They are nothing eternal; hence, they do not procure eternal life, but are an external bodily discipline, which does not change the heart.]

Summary of the citations:

· Rites and ceremonies are not used as works to satisfy the law of God. That is what God prohibits. On the contrary, the (Gottesdienst) is the righteousness God delivered to us.

· When humanly-invented customs like gathering on the Lord’s Day for divine service (to hear God’s Word, to receive the Lord’s Supper, to praise God and to pray) are useful innovations for assisting people toward faith and a life of service to God, they should be continued and be interpreted in a Gospel way.

· A service like the Service of Holy Communion does not confer God’s grace ex opere operato or merit remission of sins as some kind of sacrifice to God. It is rather a “liturgy,” that is, a public ministry offering the forgiveness of sins, won by Christ, which is conveyed through the means of grace and received by faith.

From the Confessions we learn:

The Lutheran Confessions address central questions about worship (Gottesdienst), teaching what worship is, what it is not and how human traditions can be used in the worship of God.

The Lutheran Confessions teach that worship is a spiritual act, not an outward act. This spiritual worship is a trusting in God and a desiring of the forgiveness, grace and righteousness of God. The righteousness of faith truly honors and obeys God for through the Gospel (Word and Sacrament) the Holy Spirit overcomes distrust and creates faith. The Spirit does not come directly (subjectively), through an inner experience or by one’s own efforts, but through this ministry of the Gospel in teaching the Word of God and rightly administering the sacraments (objectively). Reliance on one’s own works as a way of making peace with God has no place in this kind of faith; Christ has earned salvation for us and God freely and graciously gives it to us. Without faith there can be no worship nor can there be any fruits of faith.

Human traditions are no divine worship yet when they contribute to order and tranquility and are used in love, without offense or confusion, they may be profitably used. They are not necessary to salvation; they are not essential to the unity of the church. However, it may be that in times of persecution, for the sake of confessing Christ, it is necessary not to give them up. When used properly, rites and ceremonies contribute to the public ministry of conveying forgiveness of sins that is received by faith. This faith also bears fruit, thanking and serving God.

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