The Divine Service 01 Confession and Absolution

As I promised, I'm going to talk a little bit about the construction of historic Lutheran worship services.  In this world where man seems to be the center of all, the measure of all things, it is comforting to know that Christians can gather as they have for centuries to worship in a distinctively Christ-centered way.  Rather than seeing the worship service as our opportunity to serve God, we can see the worship service as the time when God brings his gifts to his people, providing for their needs.

What is our greatest need?  Our greatest need is forgiveness of sin.  That's what matters in eternity.  And in the divine service, the first thing that happens is striking.  The pastor and congregation proclaim Scripture together, often from 1 John 1.8-9.  We are confronted with the fact that we have sin in our lives and that our Lord forgives confessed sin.  We confess our sin and the pastor proclaims God's forgiveness.  This brings the first element of the divine service, confession and absolution, to a close.

Observe the "shape" of this element of our worship.  God speaks to us through His Scripture.  This comes from above.  Then we speak back to God, confessing our sins.  God speaks to us through his called servant, the pastor, forgiving what we are confessing.  Our response is to say "Amen."  This shape, then, has formed: \ / \ / - rather like the letter "W" for "worship."  This is unlike much of what happens in Western Christianity, where people gather and start by proclaiming God's attributes, then hear from Scripture, express their delight in God, and look for him to change their lives.  That shape is like this: / \ / \ - rather like the letter "M" for "me."

Historic Christian worship begins with God speaking forgiveness to his people.  It's forgiveness that we need so we can hear from God and receive the gifts he provides.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com and http://alex-kirk.blogspot.com

Ship Shape

Ship-shape

We often hear it, the idea of putting our house in order.  When we use that terminology we are usually referring to a very final bit of organization.  We think of the terminally ill patient who needs to update a will and take one last chance to make peace with God and man.

We've been working on putting our house in order as well, but not for that reason.  With a long expected house guest arriving, home school group activities, choir concerts, a Christmas party to give, all in addition to the regular frenzied pace of daily life, we've done a good deal of scurrying around lately.

There's one important bit of scurrying I didn't mention, though.  And that is the extra Advent services we are attending on Wednesday evenings.  Why would anyone in his right mind add a couple of hours a week in church services during an already overwhelming time of year?  It's exactly for the purpose of putting our house in order.  Taking some time out of a scattered and often bewildering life to gather with believers and celebrate a tried and true liturgy where each element fits into the grand scheme of things just so, where peace and order can be found, where we can receive God's promises just as we knew we could, this is truly putting our houe in order.

In the next few weeks I hope to do some research into the parts of the divine service.  The believers who have gone ahead of us left many very orderly pactices which are rich and rewarding.  May their Lord and ours bless us as we learn from the practices of those who have long since joined the Church at rest.

It's a sad state of affairs . . .

ME FIRST MATE, SHE SENT ME A LINK T'OTHER DAY.  LOOKS LIKE WE'RE HEADED FOR A ROCKY LEE SHORE IN AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY.  THE VIDEO'S FUNNY.  SHOOK ME IN ME BOOTS WHEN I WERE WATCHING IT.  BUT THE WEBSITE'S A DREAD THING TO LOOK AT.  PEOPLE TAKING TELEVISION COMEDIANS AN' MAKIN' THEM THE PITCHERS O' WHAT GOD BE DOIN'.  WE BE SINKIN' FAST IF WE WATCHES THE CULTURE INSTEAD O' THE WORD OF GOD.

ARR!  http://mondaymorninginsight.com/index.php/site/comments/everythings_amazing_but_nobodys_happy/

In case you didn't gather it, the note above was scrawled and pinned to my desk with Cap'n Salty's dagger.  Cap'n always talks in capitals.  He says he isn't yelling, just shouting for joy.  I'm not sure about that, but he always talks in capitals.

Among the other comments on the Monday Morning Insight post I saw that some enthusiastic person was going to use these ideas of wonderment in his Christmas series in church.

What are we doing when we turn to Conan O'Brian and his guests (this one is quite funny) for theological insight?  Where's the Bible?  What's the message of Advent and Christmas?  The message is that our Lord is coming for judgment and redemption.  It isn't that physics is really neat.

Despite the hectic pace of the next few weeks I hope to be posting regularly on my Alex Kirk blog as we walk through lectionary readings for Advent.  

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com and http://alex-kirk.blogspot.com

Meet the Captain

Welcome to Cap'n Salty's voyage aboard the Marmoset.  Since you're aboard you probably want to know who we are and where we're bound.  My real name is Dave Spotts.  Cap'n Salty is a small wooden figurine but don't tell him that.  H'd be insulted.  Cap'n Salty is a kind of rough, sometimes grumpy old salt who will kindly remind students that if they are out of line they might just become shark bait.  Of course, his desire is to keep everyone aboard, being productive, and moving together toward their destination in good order.  

I've been engaged as a teacher of Greek, Latin, and a smattering of other related subjects at Christian schools since 1995.  You can find links to the school I'm currently working with in the right hand column of the blog.

A few years ago a dear friend introduced me to the idea of historic confessional Christianity as exemplified by the Law/Gospel distinction which is so very important to Lutheran theology.  As we started studying confessional Lutheranism the whole idea of the solid foundation of liturgical worship in which each element of the worship service points toward Christ and what he does for his people seemed like a breath of fresh air.  We're becoming convinced that this is what is really right.  We think it's what our society needs more of.  In an age when do-it-yourself religion is creating a Christian culture which is virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding secular society, it's time to give people something which is different.  

Starting at the beginning of the Christmas season in 2008 (and that begins on December 25, contrary to what retailers would have you think), our family is going to be attending a church affiliated with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the largest of the biblically conservative Lutheran denominations in the United States.

I have been contemplating a move to Fort Wayne, Indiana, home of Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne (www.ctsfw.edu) and possible future pursuit of a seminary education and placement as a pastor if they will take an old geezer like me.

We'll use this blog for personal and family reflections.  My other blog, where I use the name of "Alex Kirk" (which means "nurturer of the Church") consists of devotional comments I write based on readings from the lectionary - a fancy name for a Bible reading schedule.  I invite everyone to watch both blogs and see where we are in our journey.  Maybe some of our travels can be an encouragment to some of our readers.  Maybe some of our readers have been on similar journeys and want to encourage us in some way.  Whatever the outcome, may it be to bring praise to the Lord of all, Jesus Christ.