Dare To Be Lutheran: Dare To Be Simple

By Rev. Tim Pauls

Let’s say, God forbid, that I’m in a train wreck. Afterward, two things become apparent: I need surgery to repair an injury, and I need counseling for the trauma. Who will I see more—my surgeon or my psychologist? It depends on a lot of factors, but I’m betting I’m going to see the psychologist a lot more. Is it because the mental trauma is worse than the physical? Maybe. But I’m thinking it’s going to be something else instead.

Here it is: the difference is that the surgeon gets to use tools that are outside of me. He’s got scalpels and clamps and fiber-optic cameras. I’m not part of the cure; the cure is apart from me. Therefore, the surgery doesn’t depend much on me. The doc’s going to do his work, and I’m going to get the benefit. If someone else has the same injury, the surgeon can perform the same op with the same tools. Simple. Not easy, not shallow, but simple.

The psychologist, on the other hand, has to deal with my mind, and my mind is inside of me. He’ll try one tactic for a few sessions, and if it doesn’t work, he’ll try another. Maybe a bunch more. He can’t take a brain-o-matic zapper off the table and cure me. This makes it a lot more complicated.Why? Because it’s all inside me, inside my head. The surgeon doesn’t need my help to help me. The psychologist needs to figure out the personal approach for me, and then he needs my cooperation to make me better.

Here’s the point: Lutheran worship is like the surgery. It’s all about God’s Word and His Sacraments. Why? Because those are His instruments of grace— the tools He uses in order to save us. By these means of grac e , Jesus is present with His people to forgive their sins—to save them. Those instruments are outside of us. Like the surgeon, it’s Jesus who does all the work. Think of a baby who’s baptized. What has he done to be saved? Nothing. Jesus does it all.

That, by the way, is why the liturgy goes with Word and Sacrament worship. If you look at the Scripture we sing in the liturgy, you’ll find that those texts continuously declare that Jesus is present to forgive sins. If Word and Sacrament are the focus of worship, the liturgy makes sense. It’s simple. Definitely not shallow, but simple.

Lutheran worship is Lutheran worship because of the Sacraments, those instruments of grace. It’s the pastor’s task to use those instruments to give the forgiveness of sins, and like the tools of surgery, the means of grace are the same for all because they’re outside of us. It’s simple, and so Lutheran worship is for everybody!

But what happens if you get rid of the Sacraments? Then you don’t have those tools with which to operate anymore. Then worship is not about using tools outside of us but about working with what’s inside of us. Like a psychologist who keeps searching for a personal approach to my brain, the pastor has to experiment continually, trying to find a personal approach to make each individual’s heart cooperate. Unlike the psychologist, he’s working with a whole congregation of different people, so he has to try to make all their individual hearts respond. In this case, worship is always changing to try to reach the people. But it gets complicated quickly. Some music and messages will work with some better than others. Dance. Clap. Sway. Rock out. Dim the lights. Be quiet and ponder. Do skits instead of sermons. Instead of a service where the same tools help everybody, only some are going to like it. Worship isn’t for everybody anymore. It might be for older people or youth or young professionals, but not for all. It’s a convoluted mess. It’s a train wreck.

And what happens to the liturgy? It usually disappears for a couple of reasons.

For one, the liturgy points to Jesus’ presence in His Sacraments. If you get rid of the Sacraments, the liturgy doesn’t have much to point to.

For another, it’s removed from worship because it doesn’t seem to reach peoples’hearts. Maybe it did “back then,” goes the excuse, but not now, so other methods are needed.

So does it matter? It matters. Read through your catechism, and you’ll find all the proof you need that Jesus gives forgiveness through His means of grace. Put that together with Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (NKJV). For forgiveness, is it better to rely on God’s certain means of grace outside or your own tricky heart inside sinful you? Again, the answer is simple.

Sure, a lot of churches that reject the Sacraments still hold onto the Word, and thanks be to God the He’s always present in His Word to save. But isn’t worship better where God works through the plan, rather than in spite of it?

It’s a sad, funny thing that many people look at Divine Service with Word and Sacrament and leave, saying, “It’s not for me.” Truth be told, that service is for everybody more than any other. It doesn’t cater to one group or the other but gives forgiveness for all. It’s deeper and greater than you can ever comprehend, but Jesus’ presence isn’t complicated. Keep it simple. Dare to be Lutheran.

Rev. Tim Pauls is associate pastor and acting school administrator at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School in Boise, Idaho. He is also a member of the Higher Things editorial board. His e-mail address is tpauls@go odshepherdboise.org.