pardon-praise-january-february-1996

<;:ht!stians)ove to hate the sec~larwO'rld.· yetil:ist~ad ofavoidingHs d~ukne~$)lt· ~lrQost.s, "

~h~uldn;t we stand in the middle of it'·~·pd'·shi~e. tlie,light of Jes~~? ... IU "' WJLere if,; the Jf6rld Is the Church?;'~Mich~,~111orton p'r~s~flts ~ persuasive g(fse ~for~v~ntur:,>':::: ,.-,'

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----1._ .-.--.. ­ WHERE IN THE

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CHURCH?

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Editor-in-Chief Michael Horton

, Managing Editor

modern REFORMATION

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Sara McReynolds

Editorial Consultant

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

Michael Rutherford

Contributing Scholars

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Dr. John Armstrong Dr. S. M. Baugh Dr. James M. Boice Dr. D. A. Carson Dr. Knox Chamblin Dr. Bryan Chapell Dr. Daniel Doriani Dr. J. Ligon Duncan Dr. Timothy George Dr. W. Robert Godfrey Dr. John Hannah Dr. D. G. Hart ,· Dr. Carl F. H.+fenry The Rev. Michael Horton Dr. Robert Kolb ' Dr. Allen Mawhinney Dr. Joel Nederhood Dr. Roger Nicole The Rev. Kim Riddlebarger Dr. Rod Rosenbladt Dr. Robert Preus Dr. R. C. Sproul

Pardon

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IS STYLE NEUTRAL? Michael Horton

CURE Board of Directors Douglas Abendroth Michael E. Aldrich John G. Beauman Cheryl Biehl The Rev. Earl Blackburn Dr. W. Robert Godfrey The Rev. Michael Horton James Linnell

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MORNING PRAYER Leonard Payton

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PRAISE? PSALM 150 W. Robert Godfrey

17 WHY EVANGELICALS THINK THEY HATE LITURGY? D. G. Hart

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THE LAW & THE GOSPEL IN THE LITURGY William M. Cwirla

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A DEFENSE OF REFORMED LITURGY Michael Horton

30 AVOIDING THE TRAIL FROM REFORMATION

CLAP CLAP TO CLAPTRAP Rick Ritchie

© 1996 All rights reserved.

CURE is a non-profit educational foundation committed to communicating the insights of the 16th century Reformation to the 20th century church. For more information, call oTwrite us at: CHRISTIANS UNITED

for

",

Dr. Willem A. VanGemeren Dr, Gene E. Veith 'Dr. David Wells

for

& Praise

Wotzshlp Calmll[ Co1tslcletzecl

' Dr. Robert Strimple

CHRISTIANS UNITED

Volume 5 Number 1

REFORMATION

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In this Issue

..

Liturgy: 'it setif!.rm of service for public worship."

2 Letters To The ':£ditor 4 A Tribute to Dr: Robert Preus 21 A Form for Divine Worship Cover: /l Not only are we the freest of kings, we are also priests forever, which is far more excellent than being kings, for as priests we are worthy to appear before God to pray for others and to teach one another divine things./I

In This Issue

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·E· , .$

by Michael H.orton Liturgy: «A set for111 ofservice for public ;yo~ship," my handy;;s:ference dictionary tells me. Like many ':readers of this-issue, «liturgy" was for me one bfthose mysterious words that for sptri':e reason had mischievous : "' associations with.medieval ri1:ij,alism.

Actually; h 6Rvever, the word is derived

•\.\'C' ... " . .' . from the Greek(leitourgia, which simply

:,.~.~ans ' 'actpf public~ervice." In s~Gular literature, it would

.: refer to the pa.t~~rnfor acelebrati~ri~~,rking victo'ryon the

battlefield of some similar triumph in'civic and natfC>l1.allife.

Paul employs the word leitourgia, for instance, when he com­

mepds the' service of Epaphroditus"on behalf of the't hurch of Christ (PhiI2:30). .,;;,;'.· yt'; " Everyone has a liturgy. EVen free-wheeling groups th~t' pride themselves on freedom ~1?:4spontaneity'~ventually de­ velop a predictable pattern. In ac;uh~re in whicfi' «creatures ot." habit" equals «boring" and «irrele~<lnt," giving much reflec.: . ti9P and attention to the regular hahi,ts ofdivine worship may s~~mrather:uncontemporary. That is, 'a tleast in part, because '~weare a woftdly generation. Believing that it does not really , matter how one worships, so long as. he or she is sincere about " it, we are following a culture of relativism.

Of course, we want to make a connectioA.with our own time and place, but so too have.:tli~ Christians~ho have gotie before us who also lived in pluralIstic and even hostile envi-; , ranments. The early church liturgies were not products . 'deve,t ,im, agi~atio.ns, but were attemp~~,lo pattern w()fship on

GQa's infallihfe ~ord. The Scripturestl1~mselves, fro}nN adab

a~d Abihu 't o Ananias 'and Saphira.J <r the Corinthians who

abused the Lord's Table, make it quite plain that God must be

worshipped according to his dict~.tes, not accorjoing to ours:

There is a lot of talk today about unity, but many evangelicals who would silence criticism ofthe church growth , .., Il}~~~m.ent~nd contemporary worship forms in the name of , .; lli;lity a re themselves breaking the bond qf unity that has been preserv~d}fi varyil}g,' degrees from ,the earliest days~ 9f the c~urch" 're. ~r.eJ~o;uli'd1>y ,Scripture, not~by tradition: 'Never­ .:(,:"i~9:~l" e~~>c;W~ 'S~p-lrqt;(h~rp' but wonder, a~ 'weexperien~;inany ~";}'cDiiteri1porary services, whether God indhis saving wQrk in "Christ really form the focus of attendon, in contrast with the pldet liturgies of the church. z; ,.

Irfthisi~sue, we'll, b~ taking a dos~rloQk at this subject- ' notbeca\lse we ~av~.the "last word" 6~ the subject,b,u t be­ cause the way in whic~!~'Ye~pproach the Gqd ofHoliri~s and Mercy makes all fhediff~rence in the wort-d..So let' ~ 'work through this tough subj~ft together, and ifyou disagree,l~tus know. It is time to give,~some attention to tlleway in whi~4 we sinful believers can approach a holy God, receive Woi d and sacrament rather thanjudgment at hi$" ,ha~ds. ~ ;

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JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 1996

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

Great reading-you are replacing our subscription

to Christianity Today!

L. M.

Westminster, MO My son introduced me to modern REFORMATION and I pray tha~ God will encourage and enable you to preserver In your valuable ministry .

N.H.

Bellevue, WA Never ever give upthe Reformation call. You'll never know how much of a difference your ministry is making in this area! ). T.

Ontario Canada The magazine is excellent! It comes at a time when, the church seems to be in deep trouble. The idea of a "lowest common denominator" theology and litur­ gical formulation, have been a blight in need of removal for quite some time. I am glad to finally see someone who is willing to take the "bull by the horns." Keep up the good work!

E. N.

Via Internet

Thank you so much for modern REFORMATION. It is a pleasure reading something of substance especially in Zimbabwe where resources are limited and care­ ful theological analysis is done by very few. Reading some of the letters you receive, it is obvious that you take a lot of flak for what you do, but press on in as gracious a way possible without moving away from probing for the truth.

O. R.

Zimbabwe THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST Prior to going to my friend's church's Christmas program, I bought your magazine at the local Chris­ tian bookstore. While the orchestra and brass instru­ ments accot{1panied a large choir singing about the 9aby Jesus to the tempo of 1950's pop music, I 'sudden Iy was overcome with tears. The front cover picture of Rembrandt's lowering of Christ's body with the words "0 Come Let Us Adore Him" would not leave my mind. At the intermission, my family and I left. Thank you for messing up our trivialization of Christ's birth that evening.

C.S. Fresno, CA

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modern REFORMAT10N

POSTMODERNISM Thanks so much for devoting an issue of modern REFORMATION to postmodernism! I am a pastor who is extremely interested in the subject and am even considering returning to seminary part-time for a Th. M. in systematic theology focus­ ing on a Christian response to the postmodern environment. If we are to take every thought captive to Christ, we must first have thoughts. I wish I could get more of my people interested in understanding the cultu'ral and intellectual climate so as to better communicate their faith. However, many are intimidated by multisyllabic words like "postmodernism" and relegate discussion of such matters to the scholars and theologians.

K. P.

Via Internet

I have read the last two issues of your magazine (postmodernism & Gnosticism) and am very im­ pressed. Finally, there is a magazine that claims to be Reformed and is not afraid to quote Karl Barth without worrying about having all their subscrip­ tions canceled. However, I have noticed that Mr. Horton seems to have a real "love-hate" relation­ ship with Barth's theology.

Frankly, you don't have to qualify your re­ marks about him every time you want to quote him. I would be interested in your thoughts on this great theologian, so many reformed folk seem to think that he is a heretic, and that is a shame.

Regardless of whether you like him or hate him, if you are goi ng to do theology you must answer him.

I wonder if he is as far offon election, scripture, and his universal tendencies as we might think. His Christ-centered ness is unparalleled in the twenti­ eth century. Keep up the good work and your incisive look at modern evangelical Christianity.

P. O.

Via Internet

GNOSTICISM Three weeks ago, I received the Horse'sMouth on Gnosticism. I did three things in short order: 1.1 subscribed to modern REFORMATION, making the Gnosticism issue my first; 2. Found Harold Bloom's The American Religion, and have almost finished reading it; 3. Shared the newsletter with a friend who is facing similar problems outlined in the newsletter in his church.

I can't speak for the other denominations referenced in Bloom's book, but as a lifelong

Southern Baptist and pastor, he sure has us pegged.

It gave tremendous insight on not only what is happening in our denomination, but in numerous local churches. Thanks for pointing out this re­ source.

The leaflet was very informative and the maga­ zine, which I received yesterday and fiFlished read­ ing today, is as well. Your insightful analysis of this "ism" and how it permeates our religious scene is very helpful. In reading your second article "Gnos­ tic Worship," I suddenly realized that there is no need for the spiritual ladder, because God has come to us inCh rist. It is because of the Incarnation and the Cross that I need make no journey, because He already made it. The fact that my relationship with God is based on the accomplished sacrifice of Christ and not the quality of my search is both very comforting and immediately dictates that God is in charge of this show and not me. Thanks for the magazine and your books. They have been very helpful.

R. B.

Via Internet

I would like to get the chance to thank you for your great magazine. I just started readingthe lastcouple of issues, and I treasure all of them. Being a fresh­ man in college, modern REFORMATION is an impor­ tant part of my library and my studies.

Studying in the forefront of old and new ideas, I am better able to understand the Church's place in the world with modernREFORMATION. Whether Mo­ dernity or Post-Modernity, modern REFORMATION helps me understand the contrasting paradigms in society. I have also loaned my issues to friends, because it applies very closely with our studies in philosophy and European History. I am very sur­ prised atthe accuracy and depth of your assessment of modern culture.

I also love the balance of your essays. Where else would you find an essay dealing with examples ranging from the storming of the Bastille to a song lyric by Sting? Thank you for writing a magazine for the layperson without comr.romising on the schol­ ... arly work! '" I also love t~e White Horse Inn! I know that CURE is one of the few outlets for Reformed theol­ ogy. Hopefully, with God's grace, CURE and the other Reformed organizations will have a huge impact on modern evangelicalism.

B. Y.

Via Internet

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

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Thanks for opening my eyes to the influence that Gnosticism has had on my theology. It was difficult for metoavoid, beingthatwhen I becamea Christian eight years ago my diet came from the local Christian bookstore and not from an orthodox church. Par­ ticularly enlightening to me was Leonard Payton's article, "The Pride of Simplicity."

I have been a musician almost all of my 26 years, and my wife and I moved to Nashvi lie two years ago, primarily so I could expand my musical career. Since I've been 'a Christian, I purposefully limited my musical intake to contemporary Christian music, viewing other musical genres as "unspiritual" and not necessarily useful for God's Kingdom. But once I was introduced to Reformation theology and the serious study of Scripture, Christian music began to ring hollow, both lyrically and musically. The depth of the richness of the creativity of God was absent from the majority of what I was hearing. Thus, what I once found to be "high art" now seemed to be nothing more than sticky-sweet bubble gum music with the name of Jesus (sacreligiously) tacked on to it.

(This is not true in every case, however. There are some artists expressing the faith in Biblically creative ways.)

I always thought because I was a Christian, I was under the obligation to listen to contemporary Chris­ tian music and that anything else was dishonoring to God. Boy, was I missing out! I now find freedom and beauty in exploring improvisational jazz and classical music. I don't feel guilty for pursuing musical av­ enues in my career that were dubbed "non-Chris­ tian" by the evangelical subculture: Many heartfelt thanks to all of you at CURE for the teaching, wisdom, and encou ragement.

A.P. W. LaVergne, TN

~~. I<o/wd (J~ ~: ~~ 0/ Ute PJ~~;' (!)c:toIun 16, 19.24 -: N~ 4, 1995 , ~, \. ~'. ,\, .,:~~t~91~':>·

.

I recall on two ot'l ;a;si'Q,n:s Dr. Preus,:., mentioning how he wanted 'G;'i jtist alone to be ":.;~ ,'> pfJeached at his funeraL ((I'm just ,a miserable" sinned", he proteste.~;,t ~~Why shouldI ,pe glorified at a funerahwhen it is only b~:9iu'Se Christ's work that I have any reason to b6ast?"

As a precoci0l.l§young man, I appr<l~,thed Dr. Preus to help uS\X\1t here at CURE, as we,,;a,re building a cooperativ~ ~ffDrt between Reforihed and.Lutheran Christians in an effort to rest6re !iaJi'{ef~rUlation witness. Or:'rre1;ls was only too willing to lend his ,arn~itng gifts to thJs' enterprise by serving on our board. He aqdi~d a larger coaliti(~J;'l, of this nature,.~i() his overwhelmin'g' :' ~sFhedule, The Alli~nce of Confessing Ev'a:bgelicals, and althougi):be was the only Luthenin,i!;!Jhe room, everyone around the table would fa!!§i1ent whenever Dr.~Eeus began to speak. We always knew to expectp~arls to fall from his lips; Everything he said/~~as important. i A gener~l' ~~sbeen taken home}» the heavenly procession, to join the cloud of witnesses surrpunding us in this difficult time.

While many ofu§~ c;ould wish that he werrwith us still on the battf~field, fighting for th~ltllths he and we have lo,v:ed so dearly, surely. our Heav~nly Father want~,d him in his presence. ' May his homego'i ng,like his life alid ministry, be an abiding testimony to'~the announcement (o)tywhich he labored, «(;Having been justified ri}:;hrist's blood, wehavepeace with God!"~ '; , Michael Horton ~'L

.; ' ::-.'' " ... ,,:";:.;'*-;"':,:.41:: -'. (' ~" ~

. ,,;::,.,C. '''PLEASE

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If at anypoint during your subscription to modernREFORMATIO~, your address :cihanges, please ~onta~rus ASAP. vye.,wilihO longerreFJ!ace "missing::~ Issues . If the~e was an address cnangE( that'we were ' ; not notlfed of In advanc~-the postage costs of paying for the magazin~ ~et!Jrned to us du~:t0 a change of

address., a?R'tQ!e:n mailing it to you'a 'second time, IS ~~$lgrilfLcant expense. ThankYou! ,~'

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

Next Issue Saved f rom God ((How can I be saved from God's wrath?" is a question that is seldom asked by the unchurched because Christians are no longer telling them the bad news that makes the good news so -great. Before we decide that the need that J~sus answers is something other than the biblical clc,ctrines of sin and grace, wrath and forgiveness, judgment and justification, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether our laudable zeal has actually led us to the same fountainhead ofProtestant liberalism, where, as H. Richard Niebuhr described it, ((A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations ofa Christ without a Cross." ~

modern REFORMATION

Is

MICHAEL HORTON

UIt is possible that, some day soon, an advertising man who must create a television commercial for a new California Chardonnay will have the following inspiration: Jesus is standing alone in a desert oasis. A gentle breeze flutters the leaves of the stately palms behind him.

Soft Mideastern music caresses the air. Jesus holds in his hand a bottle of wine at which he gazes adoringly.

Turning toward the camera, he saxs, liWhen I transformed water into wine at Cana, this is what I had in mind. Try it today.

7 You ll become a believer.7n NEIL POSTMAN TECHNOPOLY

W

en-known New York critic and com­ munications theorist Neil Postman offers the preceding image, warning those ofus who think his prediction too far- fetched to consider the fact that already a TV commercial for Hebrew National frankfurters features Uncle Sam pushing the product, closing with an ominous voice declaring, «We have to answer to a Higher Authority."

«What we are talking about here," Postman reminds us, «is not blasphemy but trivialization, against which there can be no laws."l As in the Middle Ages, images have become more im portant than words, as the mod­ ern world insists that the former are more meaningful and relevant to people than the latter. «One picture, we are told, is worth a thousand words. But a thousand pictures, especially if they are ofthe same object, may not be worth anything at all."2 Postman's remarks remind us why God gave the Second Commandment.

The problem is that modern church leaders do not seem to appreciate the extent to which style not only reflects content, but actually shapes it. Postman observes that the TV commercials we see are not concerned with the nature of the products, but with the nature of those who consume them. Extensive marketing surveys are conducted to determine pro­ files of potential consumers. «Images of movie stars and famous athletes, of serene lakes and macho fish­ ing trips, of elegant dinners and romantic interludes, of happy families packing their station wagons for a picnic in the country-these tell nothing about the products being sold. But they tell everythingaboutthe fears, fancies, and dreams of those who might buy them." In this kind of setting, Postman says, «The business ofbusiness becomes psychotherapy; the con­ sumer' the patient reassured by psychodramas."3 Would it be extending our reach to suggest that this is precisely what has happened in evangelical attitudes toward worship? It does not require the ex­ plicit denial ofthe Trinity, the Two Natures of Christ, Original Sin, the Substitutionary Atonement, the Res­ urrection, Justification, Sanctification, or the Return of Christ. All that is necessary is the trivialization of God, Scripture, and these biblical themes by the spirit of the age. That is why perft!ctly orthodox Reformed and Lutheran P\lrishes can affirm confessional theol­ ogy while adopting an essentially secular methodol­ ogy that undermines everything they wish to pass on to the next generation.

Ofcourse, this tendency is evident in evangelism, where «testimonies," like the advertisement for a sta­ tion wagon, focus on the satisfaction offelt needs (i.e., the consumer) rather than on God's attributes and his

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

5

saving work in Christ Jesus (i.e., the "product," to follow Postman's analogy). But nowhere is this in plainer view than in the church growth movement in general and in the contemporary praise and worship service in particular.

The Role ofTradition As evangelicals, we are committed to a high view of Scripture that subjects even the tradition ofthe elders to the touchstone ofbiblical fidelity. And yet, many of those in evangelical leadership who decry the ascen­ dancy ofthe Sixties radicals in Washington are them­ selves curiously attached to the rebellion against au­ thority and tradition. "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western Civ. has got to go," that famous Stanford chant that rallied the student revolt, finds its ironic parallel in a conser­ vative evangelical world in which that which is in the past, part of our heritage from the early church, the Reformation, Protestant Orthodoxy, the Puritans, and the Great Awakening, is rejected in favor of personal liberation and the triumph of the free spirit.

Note Postman's analysis of the modern outlook and see if it is not reflected in the evangelical world in which we live and move and have our being: In the institutional form it has taken in the United States, advertising is a symptom ofaworld­ view that sees tradition as an obstacle to its claims.

There can, of course, be no functioning sense of tradition without a measure of respect for sym­ bols. Tradition is, in fact, nothing but the ac­ knowledgment of the authority of symbols and the relevance of the narratives that gave birth to them. With the erosion of symbols there follows a loss ofnarrative, which is one ofthe most debili­ tating consequences ofTechno poly' s power. We may take as an example the field of education. In Technopoly, we improve the education of our youth byimprovingwhatarecalled 'learning tech­ nologies.) At the moment) it is considered neces­ sary to introduce computers to the classroom) as it once was thought necessary to bring closed­ circuit television and film to the classroom. To the question 'Why should we do this?' the answer is: 'To make learning more efficient and more interesting.) Such an answer is considered en­ tirely adequate) since in Technopoly efficiency and interest need no justification. It is) therefore) usually not noticed that this answer does not address the question 'What is learning for?' 'Effi­ ciency and interest' is a technical answer) an an­ swer about means) not ends. 4 Like the Bible) Technopoly has its own "grand story" or "metanarrative"-its way of explaining the whole enchilada. Now let's adapt Postman) s descrip­ tion ofits effects on education to worship. First) tradi­

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

tion is an obstacle to Technopoly's claims. How is Technopoly-the tyranny ofthe technological world­ view over all of life-directing our thoughts in this supreme religious activity? It trivializes everything that a particular tradition holds dear. For instance) the commercialization of the American flag ends up trivializing it to the point where it can be worn on clothing or even burned in public spectacle. While many Christian leaders would issue the gravest invec­ tives against the burning of the American flag) how many stand up for the desecration of God at the local Christian bookstore) where T-shirts and other para­ phernalia are sold with "This Blood) s For You" printed over a mock beer can or Jesus is portrayed as doing push-ups with a cross) with the line) "God)s Gym: Bench Press This"? aken into the church sanctuary itself) this trivialization ofthe sacred takes the form of shallow) repetitive ditties in which God)s name is taken in vain and the music bears striking familiarity to commercial jingles. An overhead projec­ tor is simply a "worship technology)" an element of style) we are told) justified) like Postman) s classroom computers) purely on the ground of efficiency. As Postman noted that the "learning technologies" are justified on the "unquestionable" basis that they "make learning more efficient and more interesting)" the same can be claimed for worship. How can one question praise and worship choruses simply on the basis of style? This is because Technopoly rather than Scrip­ ture has the last word: it works. And yet) as with so many other useless products that we buy because of clever advertising and smooth) caressing images) be­ fore long we become bored with this trivialized deity.

We move on) like the consumers in John chapter six who followed Jesus after the free lunch) but left him after he began teaching his "hard doctrines)" stomachs growling for the next meal.

Style is not neutral.

Cicero reminds us of what every Christian should know from Scripture) that "to remain ignorant ofthings that happened before you were born is to remain a child." The so-called "tyranny ofthe urgent)" so much a part ofour e'Ver-changing Technopoly) is adopted in cHurch growth strategies that eagerly anticipate the ne'xt "wave" in worship technology) like a computer hacker salivating over the arrival of a new PC. At least the latter is appropriate to its sphere) computer tech­ nology being the proper province of such innovation.

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modern REFORMATION

Getting "Blessed": By Grace or By Works?

But worship is not a technology. God is not stirred from his heavenly throne by the whirl ofthe electronic keyboard and the beat of the steel drums. Unmoved by the uplifted hands and the praise band's steamrolling crescendo (ending in harmony on a high note, at full volume)~' God waits to hear his Word rightly preached and his sacraments rightly adminis­ tered before he sends his Spirit to bless his people and reconcile the lost.

When writing of his Jewish countrymen, Paul laments that they are lost because in spite oftheir zeal they do not accept the righteousness that is a gift and comes by faith rather than by their own efforts. ((But the righteousness that is by faith speaks in this way, (Do not say in your heart, ((Who will ascend into heaven?'» (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, ((Who will descend into the abyss?" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).' But what does it say?

(The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word offaith we preach): that ifyou confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom 10:6-9).

There are, therefore, two ways of seeking God's blessing or salvation: one in which we seek to pull Christ down, and one in which we receive Christ as he comes to us freely and on his own terms in the Word offaith-thatis, the Gospel. Is our worship character­ ized by our ascent to him in order to bring him into our meeting through our own efforts, determination, emotional zeal, with the assistance of ((worship tech­ nology"? Or is it characterized by finding him as he is already present to us in Word and sacrament? He is not far away. He cannot be summoned before us, as if we were the Judge and he the defendant. Rather he summons us into his presence, as he judges us through the preaching of the Law and reconciles us through the preaching of the Gospel.

So it isn't a matter ofstyle after all. Those who seek God's face apart from Christ (as so many of the praise choruses either imply or explicitly entreat) can find only a God ofglory and wrath, doom, and judgment.

To avoid the ((consuming fire," we must come hum­ bly, stripped ofour righteousness, with no confidence in our zeal or emotion, the purity of our hearts or the dedication of our energies. We come empty-handed to receive.

If this is true, how do we judge contemporary praise music? By my own reckoning, ninety-five per­ cent of the praise and worship choruses I tracked down in two leading Maranatha and Vineyard

@Xo4tUmJ,@}Uup

A Modern Day Tale 6 " The Book ,of ComrnonPrayer ,LEONARD PAYTON ((The Lord bg with Y0l:'. » » ((And with thy spirit.-

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i~;:~;

There areBpiscopalians and then there are Epistdpa­ ",; lians. : · '

((The Lord is in his holy temple: Let all the earEh keep silence before him. " Som~ Episc9palian~~re recell~ly converted Baptists.

They are like famished people whoJ'lave bee~ adrift thn~~:' months ina life raft. When they "Yash ashore; they fin,~ the~selves at N~rman R,9ckwell'sTh9-nksgiving feast. . ((1 was glad when they said unto me, WewiU go into .the

house ofthe Lord. "

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They can '!:get enough of the~iained glass windowsflnd . the vest~ents. ((Let the words ofmy mouth, at1:d the meditation of my heart, be 4Zwajlsr;lcceptable in thy sight, 0 Lord~ my strengtlr · " . h ,

and my reqeemer. " ·'A bove .all, however, ' they are .t aken witli the biblica,J intensity 9f the' liturgy. «Because they were< evangelica~s;' '"they know the.irBiblesand are su.rprised to find wqrship forms whicha,lign themselvestQ,biblicaldetail right clown to a gnat's eyelash.) There is a vi$ceral resp?nse to God, our hope and strength.Their faith reaches a newlevel ofsecurity knowing that God's people have said these s~me words<and kneeled at the same portion of the service for hundreds ?f years. .

"0 send outthy light and thy truth, that they may ieaqrne,

'and bring me unto thy holy hill, qnd to thy dwelling." " Perhaps they are drawn to this timeless worship because the temporal world around>them seep1s progre'ssively unstable. The very\yord, "progress," has come to be a traitorous euphemis:rv. In the Bast, they shopped atQuality Shoes on Lincoln Street, but no'w they buy thongs at ~Mart and shoes at a factory Gutlet up in Prune Center. ' th~ir companies cp~!d move ,them Texas or Georgia ~~th a . month's not1c'e. They are cOl)sumed !vfonday through Saturdaywith'investment, tax,banking, in~urance, software and ha~dware, and 1'nanagement; and when you get right down'to it, what are those things anyway? Noth~l1g, just so mucnsand trickliIlg between your fingers.

Other e¥angeli,c,,<t al refuge~s flee to the Orthodox church ' :;'y>':. )'.

to

'~.

.<

Conti n ued on Page 10

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

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songbooks were entirely subjective. That is, the focus was on me: I will, I feel, I just want, I promise, I love, and so on. Contrast this with the objective focus ofthe older hymns: "Holy, Holy, Holy," "Alas, And Did My Savior Bleed," "0 Sacred Head, Now Wounded," "Amazing Grace," "A Mighty Fortress," "No Other Lamb," and "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise."

Style is not neutral.

Is Anybody In Charge?

Authority, like tradition, is a shibboleth in modern society, and conservatives and radicals find their own ways of pursuing this quintessentially American pas­ time of iconoclasm. Here again Neil Postman is help­ ful. "A bureaucrat armed with a computer is the unac­ knowledged legislator of our age," he notes, "and a terrible burden to bear." Wondering how Adolf Eichmann might have exonerated himself from his actions ifhe had enjoyed the assistance of computers in the extermination ofthe Jews, Postman ponders, "I am constantly amazed at how obediently people ac­ cept explanations that begin with the words, 'The computer shows.. .' or 'The computer has deter­ mined...' It is Technopoly's equivalent ofthe sentence 'It is God's will,' and the effect is roughly the same."5 One of the reasons that the mainline churches fell to liberalism was due to the shift ofauthority from the church courts (local churches, responsible to regional and national assemblies) to bureaucrats. It is no won­

Tlle~av

ion ""hi(~h ~(~ "".)rshi '. God i~_~ not; only i l l l l " . lication of the cont/e o'f/ of ,vhat ""e believe il,bout/ God~ I.ut; is pilrt of t/hu,t/

./

.:~.)nt;entl it;s(~lf. T(t sf:~el,­

t~o separaf/e s~/yle frOID subst,all(~e is 'I(tt .~.nly like sepilraJt~iog t/l'e body frOII) t/h(~ SOI,1 ; it/ is ii,S if to sayt;llat/ one I ay ol.ey ." t,he Firsd; ~~~f~.n)lnilndl'lent ,vhile ,treaking ~/ Ie Se(~o Id. ~

8

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

,

der that they all moved in together on Riverside Drive in New York City. After all, they were all the same person. It mattered little whether the bureaucrat was United Presbyterian, Reformed, Evangelical Lutheran, Episcopalian, American Baptist, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, or whatever. It was the frus­ trated social worker who dominated the church com­ mittees and knew how the endless paper trail worked. oday, it will not be the frustrated social worker, but the frustrated CEO who will destroy what is left of American Protes­ tantism, ifgiven the opportuni ty. It matters not whether one is Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Reformed, Wesleyan, for they are all similarly de-theologized, like their parent bodies whose collapse gave rise to the new denominations. Where the style ofworship used to immediately distinguish such churches from one another, today a visitor to a Reformed church might never know that he or she was not in a contemporary Pentecostal meeting on a given Lord's Day. They have all bought into the same technology, buy from the same Pentecostal music conglomerates (Integrity­ Hosanna, Maranatha, The Vineyard, etc.), and favor the same soft lighting, theater seats and stage-plat­ form architecture.

Some years ago, Marshal McLuhan made the fa­ mous observation that "the medium is the message."

That is the point here. Style and content cannot be divorced any more than the body can be divorced of the soul. Like the physical body, style is a matter of sights, sounds, touch, gestures, postures. When the people ofGod were commanded to "worship and bow down... [and] kneel before the LORD our Maker" (Ps 95:6), and to "present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Rom 12:1), the possibility of separating style from content was excluded. The way in which we worship God is not only an implication of the content of what we believe about God, but is part ofthat content itself.

To seek to separate style from substance is not only like separating the body from the soul; it is as if to say that one may obey the First Commandment while breaking the Second.

T

Then What Iletermines Our Style?

one thing to make the case for style being value­

liden and normatively-determined. It is quite another

to suggest a norm upon which everyone can agree.

However, if it can be established that the Scriptures

themselves provide just such a norm, surely every

Christian is obliged to follow it.

The assumption one often finds is that the Bible provides the answers to our doctrinal and moral ques­ I~ is

modern REFORMATION

I;

tions, but leaves the business ofstyle up to us. One may worship the true God in various settings-some would say, even in various religions-so long as one is sin­ cere, relativism being the tie that binds, the dogma over all dogmatism. But even where Bible-believing men and women are committed to the exclusivity of Christ and the infallibility of his Word, one finds a relativism in this matter of worship. Does God leave this up to us? Surely Cain, Nadab and Abihu, Uzzuh, Ananias and Saphira, and the Corinthians who were going to early graves because they turned Holy Com­ munion into a fiasco would answer in the negative. ne of the great insights of the Protestant Reformation was the recovery of the analogia fidei, or the idea that Scripture interprets Scripture. The problem in the medieval church on this point was the concern over who inter­ prets the Bible. How could Luther and Calvin justify this controversy that would lead inevitably to a break with Rome? Rome saw it in terms of the pope's inter­ pretation versus the reformers' interpretation, but the reformers saw it in terms of the Bible's interpretation of itself versus the pope's interpretation. This is not simply a rhetorical slight of hand, for they believed that the difficult passages (which, for Rome, oddly enough, tended to be those which clearly preached justification by grace alone through faith alone) were to be interpreted in light of the clearer passages. They demonstrated how reliable this method was in actual practice. Purgatory was not declared erroneous be­ cause it conflicted with the reformers' interpretation, but because the passages upon which it had been precariously and dubiously based were understood to be reconciled with the rest of Scripture only by the rejection of the medieval doctrine. The clearer pas­ sages did not "win out" over the difficult ones, but so clarified the latter that it was obvious even to many who never joined the reformers.

This displays an enormous confidence in the Word of God not only to convey the truth, but to interpret itself. If one thinks this approach impracticable, one need only be reminded how many popes and councils have issued contradictory "infallible" interpretations!

Fallible human interpreters may err, but the Bible never errs in its interpretation of itself.

Now take this key principle of interpretation and apply it to worship, for Scripture knows no division between doctrine and worship. Genuine orthodoxy does not simply require correct doctrine, but correct praise. IfScripture is sufficient to guide us in faith and life, then surely it is sufficient to instruct us in the manner of our worship. What are we to make of the

O

«ienni.lle ort;iIOdf)XY floes DOC; silDply rt~(11Iir(~ (~(.rr4~.:~t docf~rilte~ bllt correct

praisf~~.

If S(~ript/'Ire is suffici.e·ntJ t;(. gtlide ns in fait;h and lif(~~ th(~ll - t sureI y I-t IS suff-I(-~Ien (/0 instrtlct us in ()he GIl

tltanlte.- 4)1 ollr ""o.-silip. numerous commands in the Old Testament concern­ ing worship? Is the Psalter, God's inspired hymnal, not filled with directives for the correct responses, postures and even the tempo of the musical arrangements?

Of course, in the New Testament, we are not regulated by the ceremonial laws ofthe Old Cov­ enant, since the reality to whom they all pointed has come and fulfilled all shadows (CoI2:16-19). Never­ theless, we are crucified and raised with Christ. "There­ fore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments ofrighteous­ ness to God" (Rom 6: 12-13). The body is still in­ volved in worship as well as the soul, the style as well as the content under the lordship of Christ.

The glorious liberty of the New Covenant leaves no room for us to conclude that there are not restric­ tions concerning New Testament worship. In fact, quite the contrary. It is because we have been united to Christ that we are not to participate in false worship of any kind (I Cor 10:21). In the New Testament, we find the following elements ofworship: Divine greet­ ing, prayers ofconfession, thanksgiving and interces­ sion, reading and preaching..pfthe Word, Commun­ ion, and the Ben~diction. At least mentioned, in other places describea\in detail, these are the elements for which we find precedence in the worship ofthe apos­ tolic community, recorded in Scripture. In Acts 2 we see many of these elements together: "And they con­ tinued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fel­ lowship, in the breaking ofbread, and in prayers" (v.

42). In 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, Paul lays out the

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

9

importance and centrality ofCommunion in worship, hinting at the way in which it is to be conducted. In chapter 14, he mandates order and decency as over­ arching principles in the services.

Granted, we have no single place outlining the specific acts of worship in one list, so we have to carefully study a number of passages. Brothers and sisters of good will can and do come to differences on these interpretations and there should be latitude where the analogia fidei does not yield such obvious conclu­ sions. While exclusive psalm -singing, for instance, enjoys a long history among a number of Reformed Christians around the world, it is not anywhere men­ tioned in the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic, Heidel­ berg, Dort) and even the Westminster Standards do not require this position. It is important, as we defend biblical absolutes, that we do not command and forbidd beyond God's own authority.

Within the Reformed tradition, there has always been a certain degree ofsuspicion toward any form of worship that does not sanction every act ofworship by the biblical text, ranging from the more latitudinarian approach of Anglicanism (allowing that which is not forbidden in Scripture, but is conformable to it) to the view of the Puritans (rejecting anything that is not clearly prescribed in Scripture). While there may be differing views on this scale, no Reformed theologian (or, for that matter, Lutheran) argued that the way in which we worship is neutral, that style was a matter of preference or fashion. In fact, it was the universal protest of the entire Reformation movement against the medieval fancy for new and exciting additions to the service (including drama and entertaining cer­ emonies) that caused the reformers to devote so much time and energy to the subject of correct worship.

«Worship is the most important matter with which we have to deal," said Calvin, as he comprehended even the debate over the nature of salvation in terms of the correct worship of God. ~ 1 Neil Postman , Technopoly (New York : Alfred Knopf, 1993), 164­ 165 .

2 Ibid., 166.

3 Ibid ., 170.

4 Ibid ., 171.

5 Ibid ., 171 .

Michael S. Horton is the president of CHRISTIANSUNITED for REFORMATION. Educated at Biola University and Westmin ster Theological Seminary, Michael is a Ph . D. candidate at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and the University of Coventry and is the author/ed itor of nine books, i ncl ud i ng The Agony of Deceit Putting Amazing Back Into Crace, Beyond Culture Wars, and Where in the Worla is the Church?: A Christian View of Culture and Your Role in It.

10

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

Pa1:ton, continue<i from Pa e 7

or to Roman Catholicism. An occasional stray finds his way into the Lutheran church. Those are few in number, however, because, just at this fragile histori­ cal juncture, Reformed and Lutheran folks are ashamed of their heritage and are striving to become evangelicals in demeanor. Lutheran surnames bris­ tling with hard consonants will hamper them, how­ ever, in this effort. Just imagine an ad on KRAS Chris­ tianradio outofPruneCenter: «Cometo Zion Lutheran Church where Pastor Oskar Waldo Bloedenkitzch will be preaching on <fathers playing with children on vacation.'"

It's not that Lutherans, any more than Reformed Christians, are anxious to become evangelicals. Rather, theywant to catch the wave ofseeker-friendliness, and yet, there are plenty of evangelicals and Baptists who are justifiably leery of this movement. No, the Lutherans and Calvinists want to be likeable like the evangelicals. Unfortunately, they often suffer an eth­ nic personality deficit in this department, and expect­ ing them to change any time soon would be like re­ moving a leopard's spots. Such evolution demands gadzillions of years.

They're an obstinate lot, those Lutheran and Dutch Reformed pastors, insisting on distributing «the true body and blood ofthe Lord Jesus Christ." It fits them; Germans and Dutchmen are stubborn. Still, this rigid claim is transcultural. After all, serving up the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has always evacu­ ated seekers. Jesus asked a mere twelve after such an exodus, «Will you leave too?"

These days, if you really want to feel like you've gone to church, you have no option but to attend St. Timothy's Episcopal.

«Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long, and mine age is even as nothing in respect ofthee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity. " When you hold the Book of Common Prayer in your hands, you're in a pew next to a Vermont farmer of the 1700's, a man who reshaped his left thumbnail when he missed with the mall. He was splitting fence rails which are now around a field of glowing pump­ k~ns.

. ~\ «Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holyplace, with him also that is ofa contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit ofthe humble, and to revive the heart ofthe contrite ones. " And then there are Episcopalians who also like the vestments and the candles, butwhose spiritual mission

modern REFORMATION

t

is to save the Mendocino striped slug from the ravages of Douglas fir clear cutting. They are on a crusade to expunge all vestiges of bigotry and gender from religion. All constraints on sexual preference and practice are perceived by them as sin against the Holy Ghost. (Oddly enough, it doesn't occur to them to ask the Holy Ghost about how he perceives the matter.)

"The hour cometh, and now is, when the true wor­ shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. " These two groups of Episcopalians form a widely divergent minority. Most Episcopalians, however, are Episcopalians because their parents before them were, as were their parents before them. Saying "Morning Prayer" every Sundayis as much a part ofthe rhythm of life as heartbeats and breathing. Father Peter Cogswell, rector of St. Timothy>s, was of this type.

"Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." is parents wrapped him in swaddling clothes and dutifully laid him in the arms ofthe vicar, who, ever so gently, touched his forehead with water and said: "We receive this Child into the congregation of Christ's flock and do sign him with the sign of the Cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen." With that, young Peter's lie was set in inexorable motion.

"Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us, insundryplaces, to acknowledge and confess ourmani­ fold sins and wickedness ... " Acolyte, catechumen, and confirmed, he could recite all the words of "Morning Prayer" (including those of the celebrant) by the time he was fourteen years old. He received an undergraduate degree in English at U. C. Berkeley, then went to a venerable divinity school in Tennessee. He was then placed in his first vicarage in 1972. Those were heady days in the Protestant Episcopal Church of America. She drank the Greening of America and the Age of Aquarius in full measure. Not young Father Cogswell.

"Almighty and most merciful Father, We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires ofour own hearts ... " He was busy caring for the sick and dying, establishing a youth group, preparing homilies, and tending to diocesan matters.

"Almighty God, the Father ofour LordJesus Christ,

H

who desireth not the death ofa sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live, hath given power, and commandment, to his Ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their sins ... Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name... " ...and he was in love.

"0 Lord, open thou our lips. " "And our mouth shall show forth thy praise. " Peter and Kathy Cogswell were married in June of 1973. In 1975, Benjamin was born. They moved to Morton's Landing in 1976. Noel arrived in December of 1978. As long as they were kneeling, all seemed to be plodding along in the wholesome timelessness of Anglicanism, but that couldn't keep the barbarians from the gates forever.

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; "As itwas in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. " "Praise ye the Lord. " "The Lord's Name be praised." "(Then shall be read the first lesson according to the Table or Calendar.)"

The Protestant Episcopal Church of America instituted a revised the Book ofCommon Prayer about 1980, sending shock waves through the fellowship.

Younger members had been demanding this foryears.

Many older parishioners could not adapt. The rhythm of the old book was too strong in their souls. "(Then shall be sung the following hymn.)"

Father Cogswell instated two services. One with the old book, one with the new. St. Timothy> s at the corner of Church and Elm Streets became two congregations divided by age. "(Then shall be read, in like manner, the Second Lesson, out of the New Testament, according to the Table or Calendar.)"

Almost simultaneously, younger members began to push for different, more "relevant" music. This perplexed Father Cogswell to no end. What could be more relevantthan "Ofthe Fathers Love Begotten," or "All Creatures of Our God and King?" To his mind, only timeless things were ...relevant; all else was just passing fashio~, youthful lusts to be regretted later.

"J believe 'in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth ... " One forty-five year old man wanted to sing contemporary music. He suggested '(If I Had a Hammer" and "Kumbahyah." Father Cogswell noted wryly that these were already at least twenty years old. "(And after that, these Prayers following, the People

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

11

devoutly kneeling;)"

A young woman brought in a cassette tape with a picture of a dove on it. These were songs which were sung at a neighborhood women's Bible study. "I just thought it would be nice if we could sing this one song in worship. It's cued up already on side B." "0 Lord, show thy mercy upon us."

"And grant us thy salvation."

"0 God, make clean our hearts within us. " "And take not thy Holy Spirit from us." love you Lord. I lift...my voice ... my soul re­ joice." How could this happen?! Episcopa­ lianism had a deep-seated distrust of rugged American individualism. "If had a hammer... " A plethora of first -person singular song texts looked like potential schism to Father Cogswell. After all, the church is a visible manifestation ofthe bride ofChrist.

"Let us pray...we have erred ... Our Father, who art in heaven..."

"Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men; We bless thee for our creation, preservation and all the blessings ofthis life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means ofgrace, and for the hope ofglory ... " Father Cogswell listened to the tape in his study. He listened to it several times. Then he pulled a well-worn copy ofthe 1940 Hymnal off the shelf and opened it to the second page where canon twenty-four was printed: "It shall be the duty of every Minister to see that music is used in his congregation as ari offering for the glory of God and as a help to the people in their worship in accordance with the Bookof Common Prayer and as authorized by the Rubric or by the General Convention ofthis Church. To this end he shall be the final authority in the administration of matters pertaining to music with such assistance as he may see fit to employ from persons skilled in music. It shall be his duty to suppress all light and unseemly music and all irreverence in the rendition thereof." "(Prayer ofSt. Chrysostom.)"

Where were his parishioners getting the idea that they were competent or called to design gathered worship? Perhaps they were emboldened by the trend to ordain oneself, hang out a shingle, and be in the church business. They saw it on TV and heard it on a "Christian" radio station out of Prune Center. There were even several congregations in and around Morton's Landing which were hard to explain historically. They just spontaneously generated

,'I

12

II\NUARY IFEBRU A R Y 199('

business. That was it The music was a business as well, pure dollars and cents. It angered him.

"Almighty God, who hastgiven us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered in they Name thou wilt grant their requests; Fulfill now,O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of they truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen."

As you can imagine, the emergence ofNew Hope Family Life Christian Center had a destabilizing effect on St. Timothy's. It only fueled the pressure for con­ temporaryChristianmusicin the liturgy. Indeed, there were parishioners who were questioning the sense behind liturgy at all. Father Cogswell brought his di­ lemma before Bishop Shaftesbury when he was at a diocesan conference on worship music. The bishop's response: "Times are changing; you need to bend."

Father Cogswell brought his dilemma before Bishop Shaftesburywhen he was at a diocesan confer·­ ence on worship music. The bishop's response: "Times are changing; you need to bend."

"The grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship ofthe Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen."

So Father Peter Cogswell bent, but like all bent materials, a weakness was introduced at the bend which had not been there previously. "(Here endeth the Order ofMorning Prayer.)"~ A graduate of The Master's College and th e University of Californ ia in San Diego, Dr. Leonard Payton is Chief Musician at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.

modern REFORMATION

What

S

~

s it m a

ome weeks ago I attended a worship service in another state. While I was reading through the bulletin and looking at the order of worship, I was surprised to see a section of the service that had just the heading «P&W." I knew that Iwasgettingold and was out oftouch, but I was a little bit surprised atthis: I thought I was well informed in liturgics. I thought I knew something about the traditional liturgical forms. So I wondered, "What is P&W?" I racked my brain for various appropriate Latin phrases but none seemed to work out. When we finally got to P&W in the service, I discovered that it stood for "Praise and Wor­ ship." Now probably most of you who have been around already knew that. But I was surprised. I had not heard that abbreviation and was not entirely familiar with that phrase.

But it did remind me that in many of the churches I visit the opening section ofthe service is given over entirely to what are usually called praise songs and this section of the service is often called the "worship" part of the service.

Such language troubles me. As a preacher, I like to think that my preaching is also part ofthe worship. It is distressing to think that when the people stop singing and I stand up to preach, the worship is over. This new use oflanguage led me to further reflection on what we mean today by worship and perhaps, in a more focused way, on what we mean by praise.

The use of praise songs has circulated far and wide in our time and become very popular. Initially, when I first heard of their use, I thought such songs must all be psalms since the Book of Psalms is called, in Hebrew, the Book of Praises. But r soon discovered that these praise songs are not exclusively psalms.

In discussions on the subject of praise, people frequently appeal to Psalm 150 as if it gives a blank check for virtually any kind ofactivity to be offered as praise to God, since it seems to gather together all sorts of praise activities-and not inciden­ tally that little phrase, "praise him with ... dancing." Is it pro­ viding a carte blanche for our liturgics? What is it really teach­ ing us about praise?

t prals III

?

How does the Lord want us to praise him? What is the character of our praise? What should be the character 0 four praise? And, most importantly, of course, what does the Bible itself say about our praise? Since we, as Reformed people, have always insisted that we must worship God as he wants to be worshiped, so we must certainly praise God as he wants to be praised. Therefore, the only way we can answer these ques­ tions is by looking into his Word and taking a special look at this important, often-quoted psalm, the culminating psalm of the Psalter.

Psalm 150 on Worship Certainly Psalm 150 is very much concerned with the praise of the Lord. Its recurring refrain, "Praise the Lord," appears thirteen times. Andits call to praise is an appropriate culmina­ tion to this book of praises.

Some observers of the Psalter have noted the careful way the Book of Psalms as a whole has been put together. In the early section of the psalms there are many psalms of lament.

Many psalms reflect on the difficulty of the human condition and the sadness that can easily come into human life. But as you move toward the end of the Psalter, there is a growing chorus of psalms of praise and of delight and joy reaching its crescendo in Psalm 150, which is purely a psalm of praise.

These observers suggest that the Psalter is perhaps put to­ gether in a way to reflect the pattern ofthe life ofbelievers as we pass from suffering into glory. Therefore, Psalm 150 then is, in a sense, tqe culmination of the glory, the hope, the praise that is to be oun~ as the people ofGod. Itis good, then, to look at this psalm, this key psalm, and to ask, "What does it say about praising God?" «How does it direct us in praise?" I would suggest that this psalm is comprehensive in its direction of praise because it talks about the where, the why, the how, and the who of praise, just as if the psalmist had been a good journalist.

w.

ROBERT GODFREY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

13

The Where ofPraise Where are we to praise the Lord? The psalmist instructs us in the second part of verse 1, «praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens." The psalm­ ist declares first of all, that we must praise God in his temple, his holy place. We must praise him, that is, with the focused communal character of our worship. We must be a worshiping people. We must be a people who gather to praise God and to worship him. That is a teaching of the New Testament. Hebrews 10:25 says, «N eglect not the assembling together ofyourselves as is the habit of some." It is easy to think that we can worship and praise God just anywhere, concluding that we do not have to come together as his people-we can stay home and praise him. But the psalmist makes the point that communal worship is central. Communal worship is necessary. Communal worship is important for the people of God. We need to come together. We need to focus on God. You may have friends who talk about worshiping God on the golf course. I think that is a good idea, ifit is possible. We have a number of golfers at Westminster Theological Seminary and I hope they are able to wor­ ship God on the golf course. But I have heard that sometimes on the golf course people have thoughts in their minds other than ofpraising the Lord. Sometimes there are distractions on the golf course. I have learned that sometimes there are temptations on the golf course to think ofthings other than the Lord. And so the Lord, knowing our human frailties, knowing our easy distrac­ tion, and knowing that some ofyou are golfers, says to us that we need to have times together praising him in his sanctuary, praising him with his people.

The Psalm also declares: «Praise him in his mighty heavens." I think that this phrase does call us to praise him in all of creation. Praise him wherever you are.

Praise him at all times and in all places, including the golf course. The psalmist, in the first verse, speaks not only about our gathered, focused worship as a commu­ nity, but also about all the moments ofour lives. Weare always to be praising the Lord. Our lives are to be-as much aswe are able-filled with praise. We are notto be just «Sunday" Christians, as we gather Sunday morning and Sunday evening, but praise is to characterize us at every moment wherever we are. And that, ofcourse, has a very solid, Reformed ring to it. All ofour lives are to be lived for God, whether we are at school, at work, or at home. These are not places away from the Lord. These are not places where we are not serving the Lord. But all of these areas of life are to be places where we glorify him.

So, where do we praise the Lord? We praise him everywhere. And we praise him with focused devotion when we gather together as his people.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

The Why ofPraise Why do we praise the Lord? Verse 2 talks about that. We praise the Lord for what he has done and for who he is.

We praise him for his «acts ofpower" and we praise him for his «surpassing greatness."

We praise him for what he has done. When we reflect on the Lord, when we lift our voices in praise, our songs ofpraise are to be filled with the acknowledgment of the activity of God. God is our creator. God is our judge. God is our sustainer. God is our redeemer. We are to think about the things that God has done, the things that God is doing, and the things that God will do for us. We should raise our voices in praise because ofall the wonderful things that he has done for us.

But even more, it seems to me that this psalm en­ courages us to recognize that we are to praise him for who he is. We praise him for his «surpassing greatness."

Now, in human relationships, we all like to be appreci­ ated for the things we have done. I think parents like to think that their children occasionally pause to be thank­ ful. In friendships we are glad when something we have done that is special is acknowledged and appreciated.

That is important. But isn't it also true that in human relationships there are times when we would like to be loved just for who we are?

The Lord says to us that this attitude should at points characterize our relationship with him, too. We should love him for his own sake. We should love him for his surpassing greatness-just for who he is. And sometimes that is hard. It so easily becomes character­ istic of us to think only ofwhat God has done and that to thank him for that. But we should also thank him for who he is, for his greatness, for his goodness, for his love, for his faithfulness. We should meditate not only, then, on what he has done but on who he is. «Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise" (Ps 145:3).

The How ofPraise Here we come to the section of the psalm that occupies about half of it, and where we are told to praise God in a great variety of musical ways: «Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, ~raise him with resounding cymbals." " I suspect that ifyou had been asked to make a list of ' ~owwe should praise the Lord, you would have written more about song and prayer. So why, then, does the psalmist at this point talk not about words ofpraise, but rather primarily about sounds of praise lifted to the Lord? Why does he marshal these musical instruments: strings and percussion and wind instruments-just about the whole range of instruments in ancient Israel?

Why does he want us to focus on these sounds ofpraise

modern REFORMATION

raised to the Lord?

We should not look at these instruments as ab­ stractions, as instruments without any background, history, or character to them. Nor should we read this psalm as saying, «If we really want to worship God, we must have a trumpet, a tambourine, and cymbals ." No; I suspect that as the pious Israelite heard this psalm read he would have thought very much of the occasions on which these instruments were used in the history of God's people. These instruments are so richly attached to crucial experiences in Israel's worship and national life that as the people of God read or sang this psalm, their minds would have gone back to those events.

Think of the trumpets: The pious Israelites would surely have thought o(the various solemn religious occasions-the offering of sacrifices at the temple, the Day of Atonement, the great moment of victory when the Ark was taken up to Jerusalem-at which the trum­ pet was sounded (see Nm 10:10, Lv 25:9, and 2 Sm 6:15). The psalmist's call to praise God with the trum­ pet would have reminded the people ofthose powerful acts of the Lord and the greatness of the Lord. They remembered that the trumpet was used to summon them together both for worship and civic meetings (see Num 10:4). It would have reminded them how they were summoned to go into battle for the Lord against the enemies of the Lord and to preserve their nation.

They would have remembered how the trumpet was / sounded at the anointing of their kings (see Joshua 6 and Judges 7). This instrument, you see, would have carried their minds back to all sorts of occasions in which they praised the Lord. Praise him in his temple.

Praise him under his heavens in all that you do. hink of the harp and the lyre. These instru­ ments of rejoicing (Gn 31:27) were played at the dedication ofthe temple, played at the dedication ofthe new walls ofJerusalem, played some­ times to accompany prophecy and sacrifices, and played to celebrate victory in battle (see 2 Chr 5:12, Neh 12:27, 1 Sm 10:5, 1 Chr 25:1-6,2 Chr 29:25,20:28). Again we see the richness of the historical background of these instruments for Israel. They produced not just sounds to praise the Lord, but sounds resounding with the religious, national, and military history ofGod's people.

All that they did in service to him was recalled in their praIse. "Praise him with the tambourine and dance." Here again we have instruments that are particularly used as expressions of joy. Dancing is contrasted regularly in the Scripture with mourning. In the book ofEcclesiastes, there is a time to mourn and there is a time to dance (Eccl3:4). Dance and the tambourine especiallyrecog­ nized those times ofhappiness, those times of celebra­ tions, those times preeminently of triumph (see Ps

T

30: 11 and Jer 31 :4, 13). For in Israel the tambourine and dance were brought out to celebrate military victory.

Thus we find Miriam dancingandleadingthewomen of Israel in dance and playing the tambourine as they celebrated the drowning of Pharaoh in the Red Sea and the deliverance of the Israelites (Ex 15:20 ) We find repeated references to how the women danced to cel­ ebrate the victories ofSaul and David over the enemies of God (see 1 Sm 18:6,21:11,29:5). We also find danc­ ingattimes ofthe harvest celebration (see Judges 21 :21).

The dance is not particularly recorded in Scriptures as used for worship in Israel except at that tragic moment

Our lives are to I)e-as 1I111(~11 H,S ,ve are H,ble-filletl ,vith oru,ise. 'Ve are (lot t.o be JIISt. aSuDdHY~" t~lll-istiH,11S~ as ,ve giltller ---SUllday fDOI"lillg iliid Sunday evellillg~ Iliit raiseis t/o chH,rH,(~t/erize us H,t eve.ey Blonlent ,vlle.-e,re,· ~e are. when all of Israel danced before the golden calf (Ex 32:19). But in the worship of Jehovah we find no in­ stances of dancing as a regular part of the worship of God. There is one possible exception to this pattern. In 2 Samuel 6:14 we are told that David "danced before the Lord with all his might" as the Ark was being taken up to Jerusalem. And you remember that his wife, Saul's daughter, criticized him for that dance and the Lord cursed her for her criticism.

This event is interesting because the Scripture says that David danced naked before the Ark. This might raise the question whether the only legitimate kind of liturgical dancing we find in Scripture is naked dancing.

Certainly this conclusion would pose even more prob­ lems than we have had thus far in our study ofworship together. What is really going on in this story of David dancing before the Ark? It seems to me that when the Scripture says that David was naked, it does not mean that he was bare. It means that he had put aside his royal robes and insignJa. He had put aside the royal vest­ ments that the k\ ng ordinarily wore in a triumphal moment. He had 'divested himself and had humbled himself before the people and before the Lord. In that sense he was naked ofthe signs ofhis office. (I hope my understanding is not just a Victorian, prudish reading of the text, but the most probable, since nakedness was not a frequent occurrence in Israel.) What David's wife criticized was that he took upon himself this humble

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

15

role. He did not measure up to her image of a king and soldier when he joined with the women, removing his royal insignia, dancing before the Ark. But he gave proper glory to God in this celebration of the great victory that the Lord had given the people of God in conquering the city 00erusalem. He did not claim glory for himself. He celebrated his joy humbly in this trium­ phant moment of the people's existence. So David danced preeminently as a celebration ofthis victory that the Lord, his great God, had given to his people.

The strings and the pipes recorded here in Psalm 150 (or the strings and the flutes as the NIV has it) are also general terms for instruments of rejoicing. Cym­ bals are associated with the moving of the ark and with the sacrifices in the temple (see 2 Sm 6:5, 2 Chr 29:25).

So we see that these instruments lift not just sounds in praise to God, but they lift the whole history of the nation's experience to God in praise. nterestingly, the greatest description of the use of instruments in Israel's history comes pre­ cisely at that moment when the Ark is taken up to Jerusalem. In 1 Chronicles 13:8 we have the key to what all this means. There we read, «David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets." Note that phrase, «with all their might." How are we to praise the Lord? We are to praise the Lord with all our might. That is what is prin­ cipally being taught here. This is a great message of Scripture: Our praise of God is not to be an casual or incidental, but wholehearted.

Iloveto come to church and sing. Itis one ofthe few places where I am invited to do that! And it has always troubled me to look around and see people not singing.

There may be good reasons for not singing occasionally.

Sometimes I stop singing in some churches and my children lean over and whisper, «What is theologically wrong with that one?" There are times not to sing. But we are invited to sing praises with our whole heart. The Lord wants us to have an enthusiasm in his worship.

And it is not really a matter ofhow much volume we can produce-that is not the primary thing to think about when we are praising the Lord.

Sometimes after I have sung a song in church which has particularly moved me and when I have returned home from church I have said to my children, «Now which psalm was it that we sang in church today?" They have learned to be ready because they know that such a question may be coming. But, you know, that is a good test. Can you remember what you sang two minutes after you sang it? Have we really allowed the wonderful blessing of praise to fill our hearts, to fill our minds so that we are focused on what we are singing?

There are voices raised today that saywe should not

I

16

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

have too many words in our praise. There is even a little joke about it: the church now sings four words, three notes for two hours. But you see, God has given us an abundance of words to lift in praise to him, words that we cherish, words that we should love, words that con­ nect us with all the history ofhis great redeeming work.

Therefore, when we read these words about these in­ struments out ofthe history ofIsrael, what it should say to us is that both when we gather for worship and when we are out in our everyday activities oflife, we need to be praising the Lord.

Now, obviously, we cannot drive a car and praise the Lord with all our might in the same way that we can praise him in church. Butwe dowantto allow our hearts to be connected to God. That is why the Bible stresses the value ofknowing the Scripture, memorizing it until those words fill our hearts and our minds. That is why it is so wonderful to sing the psalms, so that the very word ofGod is planted in our hearts and in our minds. When we really know the psalms, our praise can rise so easily and so naturally to God. So, how are we to praise the Lord? We are to praise him with all our might, with all of our focused energy.

The Who ofPraise Who is to praise the Lord? The psalm concludes: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.» All of us who have been enlivened by God, all of us who have been created and have had the very breath of God breathed into us, all of us who have been made in God's own image for fellowship with him, let us praise the Lord. You see, we have been entrusted with a tremen­ dously important task. We have been given a great command-«praise the Lord!" We dare not take it lightly. We dare not take it casually. But all of us who have breath, all of us especially who have been re­ deemed by Jesus Christ, who have been recreated, who have been born again by the Spirit of God, all of us who have experienced the saving work ofJesus Christ in our hearts, we need to be about the business of praising God. We need to fill our lives with praise, praising him with all of our might as we gather together and as we serve him in the vast expanse of the world that he has given to us. We need to guard ourselves against trivializing his praise as if it can be just a little corner of worship or lif-e under the abbreviation P&W. Our minds }\ave to be stretched out to the whole world that God has clade, to recognize that we praise him everywhere. . NowI hope you see how this psalm is filled with praise and how it informs and directs our praise. Let all creatures everywhere with all their strength praise the Lord! ~ Educated at Stanford University and Cordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Dr. W. Robertcodfrey is president and professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. He is the editor of Through Christ's Word (Presbyterian and Reformed) and the co-editor of Theonomy: A Reformed Critique (Zondervan).

modern REFORMATION

why

evangelicals think they HATE

liturgy O

ne of the common ways of configuring the world ofAmerican Protestantism is to divide it along the lines of worship ~ practice. Accordingly, there are liturgical and non­ - liturgical churches. What makes communions litur­ gical is their use of prayer books, set forms for wor­ ship, ministers dressing in garb different from the congregation (gowns or robes), an occasional proces­ sional and recessional to begin and end the service, the weekly observance ofthe Lord's Supper, and gen­ erally a sober and dignified mood in worship. Most typically we think of evangelicals as having perfected the non-liturgical worship service. Evangelicals are non-liturgical because they refrain from those very elements that characterize liturgical worship: prayers offered extemporaneously, the avoidance of routine or prescribed orders ofworship, ministers dressing in suits or sometimes even more informally, no special festivity to mark the beginning or end of the worship service, a lengthy sermon beginning in almost clock­ like fashion at the middle ofthe service, the occasional celebration of the Lord's · Supper (monthly or bi­ monthly), and a casual atmosphere.

The Liturgy ofthe Great Commission But evangelical hostility to liturgy in the sense of ~ balking at formality, decorum, and sobriety in wor­ ship, came well before the rise and appeal of charismatics. One ofthe first threats to accepted pat­

Much of the confusion about worsh ip with in Protestant circles is bound up with confusion about the nature and work of the Holy Spirit D.G.HART

terns ofworship, whether Lutheran, Reformed, Epis­ copalian, Quaker or even Anabaptist, occurred dur­ ing the triumph of revivalism and mass evangelism.

This victory happened not with the crusades ofCharles Finney during the Second Great Awakening (1820's and 1830's)-Finney merely built upon assumptions about worship that had been forged almost a century earlier. Rather, the origins of mass evangelism can be traced to the efforts and practices ofGeorge Whitefield and his supporters during the First Great Awakening (1740's). Few historians of that revival study Whitefield's Iiturgy, and for good reason. The settings in which Whitefield spoke, whether out in the field, in the market, or within a church (the latter were rare because church buildings could not accommodate large crowds), were not services of worship to the triune God of the Bible. Instead, they were vehicles designed to move individuals to an experience of converting grace. Whitefield's audiences may have sung praise, he may haye led them in prayer and confession o{ sin, and he might even have begun with an invocatid~, but the chief reason why people came to hear him was to hear his m'essage, not to worship God. For this reason the modern equivalent of Whitefield's revivals is not a church service but rather the mass meetings sponsored by Promise Keepers.

Ofcourse, we cannot blame the excesses ofreviv­ alism on Whitefield, whose theology was Calvinistic in outline. Charles Finney codified the standard fea-

JANUARY/FEB RUARY 1996

17

ture ofa revival, one which has become the one piece of evangelicalliturgy, namely, the alter call (though Meth:. odist circuit riders could rightly claim this innovation for themselves). But while the altar call used to be reserved for the revival meeting and is still the way Billy Graham closes his services, it eventually became a regular part of evangelical worship. This is why it became a standard practice for evangelical churches to conclude sermons with an invitation by the pastor to come forward to accept Christ or rededicate oneself to

'Vorsllilt be(~OII.eS., Ilot a tilile f~)r tIle Pl-(.(~Iclillcltion ~)f tIle Wort) il'IIDrecl,(~lling iliid Sil(~rilillellt~ Itllt ,-cltllel· il tilDe to I-'llly SllltPOI-t for clll of tile prog.eilHIS of tile (~II'lr(~ll. In (_tIber 'Words~ "Torsllilt in tile "Sll(~(~essful~~ (~bur.~~ll

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a holy life, and with the seemingly endless repetition of the verses of "Just As I Am," to induce sinners and lapsed saints out of the security of their pews. Rather than following the sermon with the celebration of the Lord's Supper, where believers would come forward to table or rail to receive Christ in the elements of bread and wine, with the advent ofrevivals evangelicals would come forward to meet Christ in the form of the altar call.

Just as destructive was revivalism in re-configur­ ing the purpose of worship. Worship in evangelical circles has been oriented primarily to reaching the lost rather than in ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to God. Once the gathering of the saints and the procla­ mation ofthe Word becomes chiefly a way to reach the lost, worship moves from its properly God-centered­ orientation to one where pleasing men and women, preferably the lost (or in today's lingo, "seekers"), becomes the overarching goal.

Worship as Homeroom While revivalism upended Protestant patterns ofwor­ ship wherever itwent, thus making evangelicals hostile to accepted liturgies and redefining the meaning of worship, it has also proved to be destructive to a proper

18

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

understanding of the work of the church. One of the curious features ofthe relatively recent novelties asso­ ciated with church growth is the decline ofthe altar call in churches desiring to reach unchurched Harry and Harriet. This is curious because the first seeker-sensi­ tive ministers and churches were those who took an active interest in the work of revivals. Revivals, after all, were the way to reach the lost. But in an era of refined consumer tastes and sharp competition for market share, altar calls don't appear to be the most effective anymore. Why would the owners ofa half-a­ million dollar home in the suburbs want to subject themselves to the embarrassment ofwalking down the aisle to pray a prayer of conversion in a place where they are strangers? These same homeowners would probably be just as reluctant at a local meeting of the PTA to walk down to the front at the end of the meeting to volunteer for assisting with the school lunch program. Such a leaving of the seat is a bit too uncomfortable and exacting for consumers who want the comforts of faith without the commitments.

Consequently, the strategy ofmany churches that want to grow and make an impact (or "transform the culture," in Reformed lingo) is to sponsor a variety of programs designed to meet the felt needs of residents in the vicinity. This way ofgrowing the local church has had a profound effect upon worship and says volumes about the way evangelicals regard the task ofthe church.

Ifthe real work ofthe church is the ministry that all the saints perform for each other throughout the week, whether in Christian aerobics class, story hour for pre­ schoolers, classes on parenting for first-time fathers and mothers, or even the more legitimate evening Bible study, then the weekly gathering ofthe saints on the Lord's Day takes on a much different character and purpose. Word and sacrament, the traditional marks and purposes of the church, and as the Westminster Shorter Catechism describes them, "the outward and ordinary means whereby God communicates to us the benefits ofredemption," become less important. Min­ istry is no longer defined by these means of grace, but rather shifts to all of the things that believers do in times offellowship and support groups. (This is not to say that fellowship and support are unimportant, but oplyto note that fellowship and support are things that spheres such as the family and neighborhood also pr'ovide and may not be at the heart, but more the fruit, of the church's ministry.) In the process, worship be­ comes, not a time for the proclamation of the Word in preaching and sacrament, but rather a time to rally sup­ port for all ofthe programs ofthe church. In other words, worship in the "successful" church becomes homeroom.

modern REFORMATION

! \ -b

Homeroom, as all graduates ofpublic high schools know, is that time usually at the beginning of the school day where the logistics of the educational en­ terprise are addressed. The teacher takes attendance, pupils say the Pledge ofAllegiance, administrators or teachers make announcements about upcoming school events and programs, and the time provides an opportunity for other record-keeping activities. In many churches this is exactly what worship has be­ come. The attendance pads at the end ofpews provide a record of individuals ' present for church. Praise songs projected overhead become the equivalent of the Pledge of Allegiance. And the announcements that come in a variety of forms perform the function of-well-announcements. It is interesting to note the many ways in which announcements come in evangelical worship. Not only do ministers or various heads of committees talk about upcoming events in the church. But testimonies, or people talking about the work ofGod in their lives, also become plugs for a specific program in the congregation. Then there is the time for recognizing or even commissioning various workers in the church, whether Sunday School or Vacation Bible School teachers, which also serves to draw attention to church programs and the need for more laborers. he significant difference between evangeli­

cal worship and public high school homeroom is the collection ofthe offering and the pastoes message. Public schools have real estate taxes to rely upon and so have no need to pass the plate in homeroom unless, of course, there is a field trip not covered by the annual budget. Public schools also have the sense to put lectures in real class time, not having it mixed up with the details of oper­ ating the school. But the message in evangelical wor­ ship does provide a valuable vehicle by allowing the pastor to give a pep talk which will inspire church members to become involved in the weekly activities ofthe congregation. In the process, the means ofgrace become the means ofmotivation. Rather than regard­ ing the proclamation of the word, again as the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, as the way of «convincing and converting sinners and of building them up in holiness and comfort," preaching has become a tool for inspiring believers to become in­ volved in the real work ofthe church, that is, all ofthe activities and programs throughout the week. As a result, preaching and the other elements of worship, indeed, the whole liturgy, suffer. People no longer see them as the means ofbeing nurtured in the Faith, but instead perceive «special ministries" as the way of reaching out, growing the church, and making mem­ bers more devout.

T

Spiritual Positivism The mention of devoutness brings up the question of what counts for devotion in evangelical circles. And this question also has important implications for why evangelicals do not care for liturgy, whether in the sense of an ethos of formality and sobriety, or in the; sense of using prayer books, hymnals, Scripture les­ sons, and exegetical preaching. For the way that evangelicals have come to judge whether devotion or piety is genuine stems from a faulty view of religious experience.

Evangelicals have for almost three centuries now distrusted the formal and the routine in worship. They discount forms in worship because they insist that genuine piety or faith must be expressed in an individual's own words. The idea that a believer would use the language of the Westminster Confession of Faith to express his own faith, or the fact that a believer would use prayers written by dead Christians suggests that someone is going through the motions and hasn't experienced a real outpouring of grace which would automatically express itself in personal and intimate language. Thus, evangelicals often ridicule the ele­ ments of various liturgies as dead and boring. Real Christian experience comes alive in new and different words, and the more emotional and intimate those words are, the better. Evangelicals are also suspicious ofroutine in worship for similar reasons. Order or set patterns of worship, according to evangelicals, re­ strict or confine the movement of the Holy Spirit. It doesn't seem to matter that these elements may be precisely the means that God uses to bring people to himself. If there are some people who don't respond well to the various elements of worship, such as the unchurched, then we need to find new ways of wor­ ship that will allow seekers to be moved by the Spirit.

The irony, of course, is that even the most seem­ ingly spontaneous and informal worship can be just as formal and routine as the highest of Anglo-Catholic services. Again, anytime there is an order of service, even if only 30 minutes of praise songs, 30 minutes of talking by the pastor, and 20 minutes for prayer, an­ nouncements and offering, then worship is not spon­ taneous. Also, what evangeJicals so- often fail to re­ member is that qutward expressions ofpiety, whether the hymn, «A Mighty Fortress," or the praise song, «Majesty," do not guarantee or determine the state of the singer's heart. A participant in the most charis­ matic of services can fake waving hands, speaking in tongues, and falling in laughter on the floor just as much as the Presbyterian can fake recitation of the Nicene Creed, praying the Lord's Prayer, and paying

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

19

attention to the sermon. None of us can see into the human heart. All we have to go on are outward appear­ ances or a credible profession of faith. Worshiping in a particular manner does not indicate the state of the soul. Once this truth is conceded, once it is a given that all worship will be formal in some sense because we can't help but use forms in worship (again speaking in tongues is as much a form as a corporate prayer of confession), the question then becomes which forms of worship does God reveal to us are the forms we

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should use. The answer to that question is not an­ nouncements' testimonies, and special music. Rather the elements or forms ofworship revealed in Scripture are the reading and preaching of the Word, prayer, singing of praise, and the administration of the sacra­ ments.

But these forms are not satisfying to evangelicals, hence their hostility to liturgy. These forms are unsat­ isfying because evangelicals want absolute certainty in knowing who is and who isn't areal Christian. Because forms are not good barometers of the state of the human heart, evangelicals have looked for other clues.

And the clue that seems to be the most convincing is experience, especially a religious experience which testifies to a dramatic and immediate work of God in the individual's life. Conversion filled the bill for a long time. But then came the second blessing ofperfection, and with it speaking in tongues and, most recently, holy laughter. Whatever the manifestation, evangelicals want direct proofofGod's activity. This activity has to be visible, a dramatically changed life or an extraordi­ nary display of piety. Thus, evangelicals, despite their

20

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

seemingly mystical stress on experience are really closet positivists. Theyneed a physical manifestation ofgrace to be convinced that it has occurred and cannot be content with expressions ofgrace that may be formal, routine, restrained, and conventional. This conclu­ sion only confirms David Bebbington's suggestive observation that evangelicalism originated at the same time as the Enlightenment and adopted criteria for spiritual truth that were remarkably similar to stan­ dards for truth scientists used in the natural world.

Both Enlightenment philosophers and evangelical itin­ erant preachers demanded that truth be empirically discernible. Such amovewas disastrous for Christian­ ity. It repudiated what Scripture teaches about the inscrutability ofGod's dealings with mankind and the hiddenness of the human heart. It also denied the importance of the work of the church in providing a body ofbelievers and pattern ofdevotion in which the individual's faith is disciplined and nurtured.

Liturgical Renewal?

Of course, some evangelicals are beginning to redis­ cover liturgy. A successful megachurch now will not only have a P&W service but also one with robes, choirs, and read prayers. But these dabblings in lit­ urgy are not the genuine article. They display once more the entrepreneurial instinct of evangelicalism, another way to attract the unchurched, this time the ones with tastes too refined and minds too intelligent to be satisfied with the MTV -like worship that charac­ terizes many evangelical services.

The solution, of course, is not for evangelicals to rediscover the value or appeal of liturgy. Rather it is for evangelicals to take stock theologically of what constitutes biblical worship, the real purpose and min­ istry of the church, and genuine Christian piety. But that kind ofstock -taking would undo evangelicalism.

For it would send evangelicals off to the riches of the Reformed, Lutheran and Anglican traditions where these matters have been defined and articulated and where worship is the logical extension of a congregation's confession offaith and lies at the heart of the church's mission. And it would get rid of those awful praise songs. Keep that thought. f'-> ' 1

Dr.ti C. Hart is Head Librarian and Associate Professor of Church History and Theological Bibliography atWestminster Seminary, Phila­ delphia. From 1989 to 1993 he directed the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals and taught history at Wheaton College . Dr. Hartalso worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Duke University Divinity School on a project studying the secularization of American univer­ sities. He earned his Ph.D. at John Hopkins University in American history and also did graduate work at Westminster Seminary and Harvard Divinity School . Dr. Hart's research interests include religion and American higher education, and American fundamentalism .

modernREFORMATION

.~

""

Recently, I have be~:~ thinking throug~Jn~pos?ihilities of a modern Reforrned liturgy. Aft~t,wo?~['Qg through f e trail of worship bqoks from theOldW6r1dlQ:'~9~, New/fr?m~he sixt~~nth century to the tw~Ptieth, the ':0110 ving service resulted and is one of three form$:'\,y~ now;'q5e~ Jt is nofi mposed on the fol~' at(l~r new Christian Reformed congregation in Orange County, California, but has been:rather cheerfully received~a.~ a vay of confor~ing their'ne~!~ found love for Reformed truth to their Worshipofan9serviceto theirRedeem~\.

Congregation ofChrist, 0lJ/ help is in the name of the Lord who has made heaven and earth.

He is our Rock and'we shall not be moved. * Grace b~:u,' nto you and p~a" cefrom God our Fath $!) and from the t ord Jesus ChrJ$t.

Amen ,',:.: The Lord's Pr; i er

,

Our Father?,w ho art inl1eaven hallowed be thy name. ThYlUngdom come, thy will be done on earth as itJs in heaven:~ Give us this day our daily bread, and forgiy~ us our debts as we forgiv~ ;,9ll,r debtors~< And lead us not into tempt~ti9n but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingd(),m and the power and the glory forever. ' Amen.

Our Fcuher, altho~;~ you are a holy GQ;d wh:~;: p(JnnQt}ook uponsin, look upon Christol1r:$avior at1s~fc~rgive usfar his sake. You :haveproftJi.sed us tha:tifwe confess our sins, you are faithfuldnd just ; ,to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteous. W~ask also that you would give ,us an increase ofthe grace:ofyour Holy Spirit, so that w,~,;?;

;?r ~:&np~~~s~j~~;~u~fJo~~ra~lrh:;:od~}~~~'~ i neighbor.

Amen.

"

,;"',

Brothers and~isters, youfLdVe heard the Law and If(jlv~:~ confessed YOI1' sins to Almighty God. Do you believ¢,) that Jesus Christ, by his perfect life, sacrificial'death, and glorious"resurrection, has atoned for your sinsaljd satisfied the wrath ofGod tql1'Jlrd you? " We do. ' '/"

HYfBnbf Invocation

Declaration ofPardon

~b~e~ Reading o(the Law ", ExoJus20, Matthew 5, or Galatians 6:16-25

In the name ofChrist and by the authority ofhis Word I declare to you that your si;1JI;§!gre forgiven and you are not under the condemnatio~ ;of God. .

The Generalt6nfession

The Nicerte 'Creed Ort' l,mison)

,

,

Dearly loved brothers and sisters, we are called to I believe in God, the Father almighty, cre,(i,tor of heaven ~nd earth. I believe in Jesus Chrfst,'his examine ourselves in the light ofGod's Law. Let us go to only son our Lord,\vho was conceived by the Godi n public confession. ' , ., Our Father, we are sinful and you are holy. We Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius .P:ilate, was crucified, ,recognize that we have heard in your Law died, and was buried; h¢descended into hell. ~lifficult words, knowing how often we have The thinfday he rose ag:~in from the dead. He ~£fended you in thought~ word and deed, not ascended into heaven and is seated at the righ,t ";, ~nly by obyious violations, but by failing to Ar" (.":onform to its perfect commands, by what we hand of God the father almighty. From then h~: , . "have done 'and by what we have left undone. will cOIne to judg~ the living and the d,e~d. I There is nothing in us that gives us reason for believe in the ' HQly Spirit, the holy ' catholic church, the c~nimunion of saints,the hope, for where we th9,u ght we were well, we are forgiveness ofsins, the resurrection ofthehody, ~ickinsoul. Where we thought we were holy, we and the life everlasting. Amen. ' .' ~re in truth u'n holy and ungrateful. Our hearts are filled with the love of the world; our minds ,!:::

are dark and are assailed by, ~oubts; our wills The Pastoral Rr~yer ~,(e too often given to selfiS,b ness and our bodies [Here the minIsf~r may offetan extended prayer fOL "

t() laziness and unrighteousness. By sinning the church militant, the nation, the state, and ·, the

against Qur neighboxs,) we have also sinned needs of this particular :,congregation, with a tirnefbr

against you, in whose image they were created. the congregation to offer extemporaneouspraY€fs.]

In this time of silent 'confession we bring you , Old Testament Lesson our particular sins.

[Silent Confession] Our,Father, we have heard wonderful things o,flt ofthy Cont inued on p'age 27 --

IANUARi 'FEBR UARy 1990

21

WILLIAM M. CWIRLA

.

The Two-Fold Word «The Word ofGod is living and active" (Heb 4: 12), the «Spirit-ed," ,exhalation out of the mouth of God, who breaths out his life-giving breath into lifeless clay and makes man a living being. Through the Word all things were created, and by the same Word all creatiQn is sustained and preserved.

This living and active Word is a two-fold Word ofllie Law and the GospeL The Word ofthe Law judges and kills the sinner. It silences every mouth before God. It stripsllie self-righteous, self-excusing sinner of every credential and covering. Under the Law, Adam andEvewere stripped of their self-stitched fig leaves. They stood naked and ashamed in their sin before a holy God. The Law declares every work ofsinful humanity as

The Gospel justifies. It acqui ts the guilty, declaring the convicted sinner righteous with the external, objective righteousness of Jesus Christ (Rom 3:21­ 26). Sinful man, exposed by the Law, is now clothed by the Gospel with blood-bought clothing, his sin blessedly exchanged for Christ's righteousness (2 Cor 5:2 1;) .q'heGospel does not seek the saint. It creates the saint, it seeks. And it does so in the humble, hidden, .rejec:~ble way ofthe manger crib and Calvary's cross, through the spoken word and baptismal water, through the bread and the cup.

The Gospel does not look fO,r saving faith. It creates and sustains saving faith. And faith born ofthe Gospel feeds on the Gospel which gave it birth. As a newborn baby nestles at the breast of its mother, so faith,

utterly sinful, no matter how holy that work may outwardly appear. «Through the lawcomes knowledge ofsin" (Rom3:20). The Law does not make a sinner. It seeks the sinner, and it inerrantly and infallibly finds, judges, and kills the sinner it seeks. «The wages ofsin. is death" (Rom 6:23a). All die for all are sinful. ;The Law mortifies; it kills.

The Gospel makes alive; it vivifies. «Th~gift ofGod is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord') (Romtalis 6:23 b).

The Gospel resurrects life from death. It bri athes the breath of Jesus' resurrection into the breathless death ofour sinfulness. This life-creating good news, is found only in Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and reigning. And in Jesus Christ there is only Gospel: «The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" On 1: 17).

conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the holy mother church in the water of baptism, feeds on the pure spiritual milk of God's Word that is proclaimed through the church in the liturgy.

~lle liturgy is the Word in action. It is the

present and ongo' ~work ofthe Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, the crucifieCh"'tisen, and reigning God-man, who lords his saving death and resurrection over the world. As Jesus once stood among his fearful locked-up disciples on the first day ofthe Resurrection to proclaim his peace and present his wounds On 20:20), so in the Liturgy, the same Jesus\s now present with his church, an eq~llyfrightenedandlocked-up band ofdisciples, to pro~laim his peace and show forth his wounds in his

"

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IANUARYr FEBRUARY 1996

..;.

modernREFORMATTON

Word and in the Supper of his body and blood.

Because the liturgy is the Word in action, the liturgy is properly called "Divine Service." The Iiturgy is God's leiturgia, his public service to his fallen creation through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Here the Father creates true worshipers who worship him in spirit and in truth On 4:23-24). God's liturgy for the life of the world are the deeds and words of Jesus.

Jesus' words are Spirit and life, for Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life On 6:63b; 14:6). His words are cleansing words On 15:3). With Jesus' words come the fruits of his once-for-all-atoning sacrifice on the cross. Calvary's gifts offorgiveness, life, and salvation are offered, delivered, and applied personally to the sinner.

Death and Resurrection The twofold Word of the Law and the Gospel creates a duality in the life ofevery ba ptized believer in Christ.

The Christian is at once a total sinner under the Law and total saint under the Gospel. This duality means that the Christian must continually be brought into the presence of the Law and the Gospel throughout his life. His old nature in Adam must continually be . crucified and buried by baptism into the death of Jesus. His new nature in Christ must continually be raised in Jesus' resurrection. The believer in Christ must daily be reckoned dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. The baptismal life of the Christian is one of continual repentance, of being turned continually from death to life, away from the self and toward Christ.

God's work in the liturgy is nothing else than the ongoing two-fold work ofholy baptism: to kill and to make alive. This two-fold work stands in sharp contrast to anyone-track view of justification as a gradual movement or progression from sinner to sainthood.

In this life, the Christian remains a total sinner-total saint. It also opposes any semi-Pelagian notion of worship, that by our worship we merit God's grace and favor. In the liturgy, the Christian stands before God as an empty-handed beggar calling out, "Kyrie, eleison. Lord, have mercy." And in his dying and rising in the death and resurrection 00 esus, he departs to his home justified, filled to overflowing with the gifts of Christ.

This understanding of the Word in action as the Law and the Gospel profoundly shapes our understanding of the church at worship. The church is not a gymnasium in which the righteous bulk up their spiritual biceps and then gawk admiringly into the mirror of the Law to see how well they are

progressing. Nor is the church's worship an aerobics session for the pneumatically fit to recharge their batteries for another week of victorious living. The church is a sanatorium for the sick unto death with sin, in which the medicine of God's Word is applied in the liturgy-the Law, which diagnosis and kills the deep, inherited disease of Adam; and the Gospel, which brings new life in Jesus Christ by the healing balm of his blood. 1

Sacrament and Sacrifice The two-fold Word of Law and Gospel imparts a characteristic duality to the liturgy, often expressed in terms of "sacrament" and "sacrifice." For the purposes of this article, the term "sacrament" will be defined as an external rite or ceremony instituted by God in which he has promised to be graciously present to forgive sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus. A sacrament delivers what Jesus won by dying.

A "sacrifice" is faith's grateful response toward God in prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and loving service of the neighbor. 2 The sacrifices of sinful man can never atone for sin. To imagine that they can is paganism. Only the once-and-for-all sacrifice ofthe sinless flesh ofChrist hanging dead on the cross atones for the sin of the world and every sinner in the world. A Christian's sacrifices are «eucharistic" in character, that is, they «give thanks." They are thank offerings rendered to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.

Christians offer their bodies as "living sacrifices" holy and acceptable to God through the sacrifice of Jesus (Rom 12: 1). They offer spiritual sacrifices as priests to God through the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ (1 Pt 2:5). Only through Christ are such sacrifices pleasing to God, for he alone is both high priest and sacrifice- «a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek," who stands in our place before the throne ofthe Father, and the "Lamb ofGod who takes away the sin ofthe world" (Heb 5:7-10; 6:19-20; 7:26­ 27; In 1:29).

The Liturgy runs in both a "sacramental" and a "sacrificial" direction. God justifies man sacramentally~ and justified man serves God sacrificially. Gop speaks his Word and as his Word has its mortifyi~g and vivifying way with us, we speak to God and to one another. God opens our lips, and our mouths declare his praise (Ps 51:15).

Jesus Christ always remains the center and focus in the liturgy, whether we are speaking sacramentally or sacrificiC!lly. Through Jesus Christ, the Father bestows forgiveness, life, and salvation by

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

23

the Holy Spirit who works through the Word. And through the same Jesus Christ, the church renders her thanks and praise sacrificially to the Father in the Holy Spirit. In both directions, Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5).

Where sacrament and sacrifice are confused, there will be a corresponding confusion of the Law and the Gospel. Worship that is focused on our prayer, praise, good works, love, caring, outreach, mission, stewardship, and sanctification instead of on Christ's saving death and resurrection, is focused on the Law and not the Gospel. Sacrifice without sacrament is Law without Gospel. To worship God according to the Law is idolatry, even if the God whom we are worshiping is the one, true God. This distinction of sacrament and sacrifice provides a Christo centric litmus test for worship. If what is said, sung, or preached in the liturgy could be said, sung, or preached had Jesus Christ never died on the cross and rose from the dead for the salvation ofthe world, then that worship is not uniquely Christian.

The sacrificial death ofJesus for the life of the world is the essential, core of the Liturgy. "For as often as you eat ofthis bread and drink ofthis cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Cor 11:26) . .

Ministry and Priesthood With the distinction of sacrament and sacrifice also comes the distinction of the Holy Ministry and the Royal Priesthood. Every baptized believer in Jesus Christ is a priest to God anointed by the Holy Spirit in holy baptism (1 Pt 2:9), but not all baptized believers are ministers. Jesus chose his apostles from among his disciples, but not all disciples were apostles (Lk 6: 13).

Priests are born of the water and Holy Spirit in holy baptism; ministers are made by call and ordination.

The distinction of ministry and priesthood is a horizontal distinction before men, not a vertical distinction before God. A Christian's priesthood is his or her eternal dignity before God in Christ. It is the receiving the gifts of Christ's sacrifice and in the sacrificial giving ofthe self in the service of God and neighbor. In the world, this priesthood is exercised according to one's calling and place in life as husband and wife, father and mother, parent and child, employer and employee, governor and citizen. In the liturgy, it is exercised by hearing the Word preached and receiving the Sacrament, and by offering its spiritual thank offerings to God in prayer, praise, offering, and thanksgiving.

The Holy Ministry is distinct from the priesthood which every Christian has by virtue of his or her

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JANU ARY/ FEBRU ARY 1996

baptism. The holy ministry is an office, a service ofthe Word that ends with the visible appearing ofthe Lord Jesus on the Last Day. This office was mandated and instituted by Christ in the sending of his apostles for the dispensing of his gifts of salvation so that saving faith in him might be created and sustained (Lk 24:46足 47; Mt 28:19-20; Jn 20:21-23). The Holy Ministry is a stewardship ofthe mysteries of God, charged with the task of giving out to the priestly servants of God their proper food atthe proper time (1 Cor 4: 1-2; Lk 12:42).

It is not an elevated status or dignity before God, but a service of the Word within the church wherein a man speaks and acts "in the stead and by the command" of the crucified, risen, and reigning Lord Jesus Christ with his authority to forgive sins. The pastor, by virtue ofhis office, represents Christ the bridegroom, before his bride, the church, and speaks as his authorized ambassador. ((Hewho hears you, hears me" (Lk 10:16). he Holy Ministry is the extension of the apostolic office into the present (Eph 4: 11).

This is confessed in the liturgy by the placement ofthe sermon after the readings from Holy Scripture. First, we hear the Old Testament prophet, preaching Christ from the Torah within the typology of Old Testament Israel. Then we hear the apostle in the Epistle reading. Then we hear the evangelist in the Gospel proclaiming the words and deeds of Jesus.

Finally, within this continuum of prophet-apostle足 evangelist, we hear the local representative of Christ who stands in the church's midst as her shepherd足 teacher. His sermon is not an isolated event. It is grounded in the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures and is tied to baptism, which it presupposes, and the Lord's Supper, which it anticipates. The preacher is bound by ordination and by the liturgy to preach the two-fold Word of Law and Gospel as it has been revealed through the prophets, apostles, and evangelists, centered in Christ crucified, for the justification ofthe sinner. He is under the same charge as were the apostles sent directly by Jesus: To preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in his name from the Scriptures (Lk 24:45-47).

This distinction of office and priesthood guards the external and obf~ctive characterofthe Gospel. The church dQ~s not give herself gifts, nor does she preach to herself, but ~he receives the gifts ofsalvation through those whom Christ has sent to preach good news. Gifts come from outside of ourselves. It is not Jesus in our hearts who saves, but Jesus on the cross and in the preached, enscripturated, sacramental Word. Faith comes by hear足 ing the preaching of Christ (Rom 10:14-17).

This does not mean that every Christian does not

T

modern REFORMATION

I

also proclaim the Word as a priest to God. The Word of God is not bound exclusively to the holy ministry, but has free course and is preached in the world wherever God has located his Christians. In the liturgy, the priestly hearers of the Word become themselves proclaimers of the Word to each other. Through psalms, hymns, and creeds they declare the praises of him who called them out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Pt 2:9). In the eating of the bread, which is the body of Christ, and the drinking of the cup, which is his blood, they show forth the Lord's death until he comes ( I Cor 11 :26 ).1n the Benediction, they are sent forth from the liturgy into the wo~ld blessed in the name of God (Num 6:22), to proclaIm the words and deeds of Jesus in their lives for the life of their neighbor.

Well-schemed and Ordered Implicit in the distinction of Law and Gospel is order in the liturgy. The creative Word is an ordered word that brings order out of chaos. Christian worship is "well-schemed" (euschemonos) and "according to order" (kata laxin) (1 Cor 14:40). II is wel1-schemed in that it is not chaotic or random, but everything proceeds one thing after the other in a harmonious way. II is according to order in that everyone is ordered into his or her place. There are those who preach and those who hear, shepherd and sheep, ministry and church, and ministry and priesthood.

Because the Word of God is an incarnate, creaturely Word, it takes concrete form and shape in the liturgy. Since the Word ofGod is living and active, the form and shape the Word takes never remain completely static.

The form of the western Mass did n01 arise spontaneously, nor does it exist today as a fossilized relic of the past. The early church adapted the liturgy of the synagogue and the liturgy of the table for her services ofthe Word and Holy Sacrament, respectively.

The two part service ofWord and Meal is discernible already in the apostolic church (Lk 24:13-35; Acts 2:42). Over the centuries, a framework of fixed texts and canticles developed to adorn the service of the Word and the service of Holy Communion: Kyrie, Gloria in Excelsis, Creed, Sanctus, Agnus Dei. The liturgy continues to develop around this framework today.3 J t is noteworthy that this framework ofthe liturgy is almost en tirely Gospel in its content. The Kyrie is a bold prayer of the justified for the church, the world, and those who are gathered in worship: "Lord, have mercy."

'Y::\De'ense of

Rero~m,~d fiturg,y

~

~

1

Vi

.

I,f.a r~~~e.n~:?~t~~::e.~~~:~~;~II~tJf~~%~:~t~:s~<'~

.. ' ;something Jalled "R.eformed'liturgy"~'fI woul~~ave ' pglitelythanged the;,subjectBut herel am; :,~ritingy~~at yery art~fle apd alrn-ost gid;gy withenthusi(~sm foi;;the "Bfoject.1f the reader-will permit a bi~ ofbrief autoblogra­ . phy, it may help make the 'p oint. . . .

Raised in ma'i nstreani conserVative~vangeliFallsm, wrestling w;ith God and,his people bec~me so~ew?at commonplace. In my ear1.y teens,;,! began" questlOnIn,g ';:things and tu.rned to.the Book of Romans, atmy brot~~r s suggestiq-n, for answers. Wha;~ I found lpere ~9;Il:trad~c~'ed milch of what I was being taught in an"Armlnran pnvate sdihol and church, b~t there 'was no cnurch il1towntpat s.~erned to serve up a diet of"sovereigngrace; 7~so offI xyent t~the "big city" nextgoor, to~Bidwell P;resbytelian Ch~rch, ~ distinguished Unite"d Presbyterian ~,ongreg~tion i~Chico, , ,.Californja, whose ~ell-preserved Yictorian archItecture 'apd vaul~ed ~eilings'jnspired a mixture of et}chant~t~nt, awe, unf~.miliarity and no stnflll degre~of fear. "Isn't·this awtuJly (Catholic,'" r ,recall having sai d to myself. Tb,e service itself coiltributed littleto ease my wor~ies in that reg~rd, as the congregation in unisoJ;} recite4 a cr~,~~'~ a cdnfession ofsin, and heard a declaration ofpardonfrom the mini,ster up frolit. It w~~ all very strange. The s'6 ngs ;,were not the Sill Gaither choruses {had corrie to kno.w and ;;loathe. (I hav~ always had t1S9uble unperstan~ing the~harge 'of contempO:ary ~orship teat traditipnal worship music 'iS~boring, given the r~petitio~s and unip1aginMive styl~ ~f many ofthe praise choruses. Hnstead, fhe almqst demQ:~! c bSlSS end of the organ' s pipes nearly uqhinged my jaws~;:as the procession'al made its waydown the aisle "Yith, "Por All The Saints." the past'Or got rl1e reading seriQus theolqgical work and I fjnallyiound compadres, sou~ ,rn-ates,jn this passion for t,h e th~ology of the Book of R~:nans. '; In l<;lter years, Twould reflect on the harmony hetween ,that service ,~nd RQ,mans~, .; Each Sunday a,t' Bidwel,l, the >'f~)Cus ofthe liturgy and singi~g wouJp be onGod aq~? his saving workJ n Christ for h{~ wholechurch, while ~y home churcli.,the focus was on me arid my personal., wIll­ ing andrunqing,"as Paul put it (l}om 9:1 Since~then, I have studied liturgy in some depth and have come to believ~that'it is impossible to be Reformed intheology~" and have 6~e's worship shaped by mu~ic c0il'lpanies ir; N ash~ille o~ned and 0Rerated by Pente~ostals~ I do not

':t

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MiCHAEL HORTON , '"

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Continued on Pa e 28

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!Al"UARY'FEBRUARY 1996

25

The Gloria in Excelsis is the song of the heavenly host extolling the Word made flesh) once cradled in lowly Bethlehem) now mangered in humble Word and Sacrament: «Glory be to God on high) and on earth) peace) goodwill toward men.»

The Creed expounds the triune name ofthe Father) Son) and Holy Spirit into which we are baptized and his creating) redeeming) and sanctifying work for us and for our salvation.

The Sanctusreminds us that we have been brought into the pre'sence of the thrice-holy God with the angels) archangels) and all the company of heaven: «Holy) holy) holy) Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven and earth are full ofyour glory.» This same God who once came humbly riding into Jerusalem atop a borrowed ass to die) now comes to us hidden beneath the lowliness ofbread and wine. «Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is Hewho comes in the name ofthe Lord. Hosanna in the highest.»

The Agnus Dei extols God) s Lamb on the cross and in the supper: «Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world) have mercy on us.» Calvary's Passover Lamb is now our life-giving food. The Lamb)s body and his blood preserve us from the second death. «He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life) and I will raise him up at the last day» On 6:54).

Through its fixed texts and canticles) the liturgy has served to preserve the Gospel, even at those times when the Gospel was not preached clearly in the sermon) or when the Law and the Gospel were frightfully confused by the church) s teachers. The conservative Reformation recognized the Gospel content in the liturgical tradition and reformed the existing liturgy by removing or revising only what got

f ",ha,t, is said., sung., o.e pre'l(~lle.1 in t,l le

I-t/urgy coni. be

said~ sUllg~)r preac~he

lad .Jesus Cllris'C;

«:.11 tile cross an rose fronl nf.~Vt·~r dif~d t/Il{~ d.~~ad

SilviltJio

ff)r t/hf~ off/be

t/bat, 'vc~ rship is.)t -- -4­ 11111'llte y CIlrISw/lan. ~orld., t/h{~n

26

JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 1996

in the way ofChrist crucified for the justification ofthe sinner. Luther proceeded cautiously and theologically with his liturgical reforms. Neither his 1523 Latin Mass nor his 1526 German mass represented radical departures from the western catholic tradition.

Liturgical reform is a matter of the proper distinction ofthe Law and the Gospel. The conservative Reformation did not attempt to recapture the worship forms ofa previous «golden age») nor did it create new worship forms from scratch. Both approaches would have been confusions of the Law and the Gospel, implying that the Word of God in action is somehow dependent upon form for its efficacy or that the Word was not present before the Reformation came along.

Instead) what was received by the Reformers was handed on in a purified way so that Christ crucified and risen for the sinner was central and unobscured in all things. At stake in the Reformation was not the form ofworship per se) but the justification of the sinner. 4

The Gospel Presence ofGod To enter the liturgy is to enter into the saving presence of God. It is holy ground. The Law is preached all around us through the cursed created order. In the earthquake) the flood) the fire) the storm) and the tempest. In the frustrations and failings of the workplace) in the sweat and weeds of the field) and in the brokenness and disorder of the family. The Law is preached in the bathroom mirror that reflects the signs of our aging) and in the diseases and deaths that scar our lives. Even those who do not go to church or read the Scriptures intuitively feel the Law)s pressures (Rom 2:14-15).

The liturgy is a Gospel place) a sanctuary) a place of refuge from the Law's terrifying sentence. God has provided a death in the death 00esus in which a sinner may die and live forever. To be sure) the Law must be preached and heard. Obstacles to Jesus must be removed. Like Dagon before the Ark (1 Sam 5: 1-5) our false gods must be toppled from their thrones before Jesus. But the Law serves the Gospel in the liturgy by clearing the way for Christ) who is present to bless and to forgive at pulpit) altar) and font.

In a remarkable passage on worship in the book of Hel'Iews) we are reminded that the church in the liturgy has come to Mt. Zion not to Mt. Sinai) to the Gospel not the Law. Gathered in the Name) we are in the most concentrated Gospel presence of God on earth. The kingdom of God is in our midst. We have come to Jesus and his Blood.

«For you have not come to what may be touched) a blazing fire) and darkness) and gloom) and a tempest)

modern REFORMATION

and the sound ofa trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers entreat that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, 'Ifeven a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.' Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I tremble with fear.' But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city ofthe living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God ofall, and to the spirits ofjust men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the

sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:18-24). ~ 1 Ken Schurb, "The Church: Hospital or Gymnasium?" Logia 7, no. 7

(Reformation/October 7992),17-22.

2 For a thorough discussion of sacrament and sacrifice in worship, see

Peter Brunner, Worship in the Name of)esus, trans. M. H. Bertram (St.

Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1968), 126-213 .

3 For an overview of the historical development of the western Mass,

see A. G. Martimort, ed., The Church at Prayer (Collegeville: The

Liturgical Press, 1982), vol. 2, The Eucharist, by Robert Cabie, 5-107.

4 Bryan Spinks, Luther's Liturgical Criteria and his Reform of The

Canon of the Mass (Bramcote Notts : Grove Books, 1982), 18-37.

The Rev. William M . Cwirla is a pastor in the Lutheran Church­

Missouri Synod and is currently serving at Holy Trinity Lutheran

Church in Hacienda Heights, California . He is a graduate of the

University of Chicago and received his theological and pastoral

training at Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

Word. We praise you for revealing Christ by promise and shadow in these pages. Help us to understand these words, for thy name's sake.

through the body and blood ofChrist our Savior.

Brothers and sisters, our ascended Savior does not live in temples made by hands, but is in heaven where he Amen. continues to intercede on our behalf. Through this mystery, by God's own promise in his Word and through New Testament Lesson the ministry ofhis Holy Spirit, these common elements Our Father, we have heard wonderful things out ofthy of bread and wine actually become for us a means of Word. We praise you for revealing Christ as the grace through which we receive forgiveness ofsins and fulfillment ofthe Old Testament and ask you to give us eternal life. Let us now go to our Heavenly Table and your Spirit so that we may understand the fullness of receive the gift ofGod for our souls. Lift up your hearts your truth.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Amen.

Sermon Hymn Preparation for Communion For all who live in rebellion against God and unbelief, this holy food and drink will bring you only further condemnation. If you do not yet confess Jesus Christ and seek to live under his gracious reign, we ask you to abstain. Nevertheless, for those of you who have confessed your sins and affirmed your faith in Christ, the promise is sure: ÂŤWhoever eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life and will not come into condemnation. " You are invited to this sacred meal not becauseyou are worthy in yourself, but becauseyou are clothed in Christ's righteousness. Do not allow the weakness ofyourfaith or your failures in the Christian life to keep you from this table. For it is given to us because ofour weakness and because ofour failures, in order to increase our faith by feeding us with the body and blood ofJesus Christ. As the Word has promised us God's favor, so also our Heavenly Father has added this confirmation of his unchangeable promise. So come, believing sinners, for the table is ready. "Taste and see that the Lord is good. "

The Communion [During Communion the congregation will come forward to receive the bread and wine, during which the minister shall say to each group: "The Body of Christ broken for you, to preserve your souls unto everlasting life"; "The Blood of Christ poured out for the remission ofyour sins, to keep you in life eternal."

The choir may quietly sing an appropriate psalm or hymn during the distribution.]

Prayer of Gratitude Our Gracious Heavenly Father, we acknowledge the great mystery of this holy feast. Although we are unworthy to share this meal with you, it is by your invitation and dressed in Christ's righteousness thatwe have come boldly into the Holy of Holies. Instead of wrath, we have receivedyourpardon; in the place offear we have been given hope. Our High Priest and Mediator ofthe New Covenant has reconciled us to you and even now intercedes for us at your right hand. Please strengthen us by these gifts so that, relying only on your promise to save sinners who call on your name, we may, by your Spirit, honor you with our souls and bodies, to the honor and glory ofyour holy name.

Amen.

% ;.. 0 ~

Hymn of Gratitude The Consecration Almighty and everlasting God, who by the blood ofyour only begotten Son has secured for us a new and living way into the Holy of Holies, cleanse our minds and hearts by your Word and Spirit that we, your redeemed people, drawing close to you through these holy mysteries, may enjoy fellowship with the Holy Trinity

The Offeri ng and Doxology Benediction ~ *Congregational responses and prayers appear in bold type.

Michael Horton and Kim Riddlebarger are co-pastors of Christ Reformed

Church in Placentia, California.

JAN UA RY/FEBRUARY 1996

27

hate Pentecostals. But having experienced the deeply Arminian (even Pelagian) theology that fuels their experience-oriented style, I have come to believe that style and substance are indivisible. God-centered the­ ologyrequires God-centered worship and piety, while human-centered theology will always lead to enter­ tainment, en10tional exuberance, subjective fanati­ cism, and the never-ending roller-coaster ofrepeating the same "h~gh" next week. There is no reason why a Reformed church needs to adopt the resources of charismatic and Pentecostal groups, since the Re­ formed tradition has, by God's grace, produced some of the greatest hymns and choral music in church history. Its heritage of Psalm-singing, including the full range of psalms, set to appropriate tunes, is rich.

There is a reason why that organ with its imposing and ominous-sounding pipes is given priority over the guitar. The ministry of Word and sacrament is one of proclamation, not chiefly of informal story-telling.

The whole service centers not on an experience, but on an announcement! How do we best convey this sense to the people?

According to The Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith, "Reformed worship glorifies God, the holyGod, whose gracious salvation is a free, undeserved gift.

Therefore, Reformed worship can be described as 'ob­ jective'; with awe it glorifies the sovereign God, yet it is essentially thankful." It is important for those of us

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28

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

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who call ourselves "Reformed" to realize that Re­ formed theology is not simply a new way of thinking or believing, but a new way of worship and service.

First, Reformed worship is dialogical. That is, God speaks to us (guilt, followed by grace), and we respond (gratitude). This, by the way, is the division of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563): Guilt, Grace and Grati­ tude. As David G. Buttrick points out, "If medieval worship had become an 'office,' a propitiatory work offered to God securing mercy, Reformation worship was responsive-like the biblical leper who, healed, turned back to praise God." In the Reformed tradi­ tion, he notes, "worship is neither a transactional sacrifice nor an awareness of religious experience.

God acts empty-handed and we respond to God's goodness in a 'sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.'"

But, as Buttrick also observes, the Reformers were not innovators. On the contrary, they thought the medieval church had added too many new services and ceremonies that obscured the Law and the Gospel and the centrality of Christ.

Origins ofReformed Liturgy While the differences pale in comparison to today's free-for-all, Reformed patterns varied slightly even during the Reformation. Zurich, for instance, led by Ulrich Zwingli, was largely out of fellowship with the rest of the Reformed movement, until after Zwingli's ­ death especially for its extreme views on the Lord's Supper (i.e., a memorialist view, chided as "the Real Absence" doctrine). One might expect Zwingli to have been a liturgical radical, as he had silenced the organs and whitewashed the walls. Yet, his service actually retained the sung Ave Maria and a Commemoration ofthe Dead and he only abandoned Latin, ceremonies and vestments under strong pressure from the people.

More principled reflection on biblical worship took place in Strasbourg, a German city during the Reformation, led by the Reformed theologian Martin Bucer, Calvin's mentor. In 1524 the Reformed service was the German mass, purged of its errant theology.

The goal was to find the most ancient threads of the mass (which were in some way centered on a progress ofguilt, grace, aftd gratitude) and expunging the more rec~t accretions that tended toward works-righteous­ ness'land the re-sacrifice of Christ. It was here where John Calvin developed his liturgical views and took them back to Geneva, where he had already attempted unsuccessfully to reform the liturgy away from Zwinglian lines that William Farel had established. In Strasbourg, Calvin pastored the French refugees and adapted Bucer's service. "Thus," writes Buttrick,

modern REFORMATION

"Calvin's new liturgy incorporated the basic shape of the Mass, Word, and sacrament, rather than the stark (preachiness' of Farel's" service. "No meeting of the church," Calvin wrote, "should take place without the Word, prayers, partaking of the Supper, and almsgiving" (John Calvin's Institutes 4.17.44).

Although the Reformed departed from the Lutheran understanding ofthe Lord's Supper in cer­ tain essential respects, both agreed that Christ was actually present and was not only exhibited but given through the preached Word and received sacrament.

Both rejected any Zwinglian interpretation of the sacraments as "bare and naked signs" (see the Belgic, Second Helvetic and Westminster Confessions on the point), and emphasized the connection between Word, sacrament, and Spirit. While the Spirit is ac­ tive in every aspect of our lives as Christians, he only dispenses his saving blessings in Christ through Word and sacrament. Thus, the service must be a "Word and sacrament" service, not cluttered with special music, excessive singing, and lavish ceremonies.

The outline of a Lutheran and Reformed service was basically identical. As Dr. Bryan Chapell (Presi­ dent of Covenant Theological Seminary) points out, the Liturgy ofthe Word, for both groups, began with the call to worship (hymn and blessing), recitation of a prayer ofgeneral confession, absolution or declara­ tion of pardon, pastoral prayer (including specific requests on behalf of the congregation), Scripture readings, the Apostles' Creed, and sermon. Hymns and psalms, ofcourse, were interspersed throughout.

The Liturgy of the Upper Room (i.e., the Commun­ ion service), for both Lutheran and Reformed churches, began with the offering, the intercessions, the Lord's Prayer, followed by the Exhortation (i.e., warning against unlawful eating and drinking), the Creed (sung in the Reformed churches), Words of Institution, Prayer ofConsecration, and the Fraction (breaking of the bread or wafer). Communicants then came forward to receive the common cup and the bread from a common loaf. As in the Liturgy of the Word, here hymns and psalms were interspersed as appropriate and the Aaronic Blessing was pro­ nounced as a benediction.

What is the point in all of this? First, it is biblical.

All ofthe described elements are evident in Scripture and are present in these services. Paul's warnings about properly exhorting the congregation and fenc­ ing the table are taken seriously here. As the early church simply adapted the synagogue worship (in which Jesus himself was reared and, when he taught his disciples to pray according to the form of the

Lord's Prayer, seems to have endorsed) to Christian use. Jesus was raised with a service book, full ofprayers and the Psalms, as were many of the first Christians.

The basic elements of the services thus described are actually patterned on the earliest forms of Christian worship available.

Second, therefore, Reformed worship is God-cen­ tered.1t focuses on the objective, what God has done in Christ for the salvation ofsinners, applied by the Holy Spirit. Calvin himself insisted, against opposition on the city council, that there be an assurance of pardon and weekly Communion. Believers must constantly be reminded that they are sinners who require divine forgiveness even for the sinfulness that clings to their best works. They must never be allowed to fall back on themselves for assurance nor live again for themselves, so the service must concentrate on Guilt and Grace, with gratitude as the only appropriate creaturely re­ sponse. Medieval worship had degenerated into a show, Calvin lamented in a number of places. Since people could not read or follow the Latin sermon and liturgy, their only point of contact with the service was emo­ tional. In fact, morality plays-dramas-often over­ shadowed or even replaced sermons. Similarly today, images prevail and sermons and worship styles are increasingly reduced to the lowest common denomi­ natoL What results, of course, is another tyranny of images over words, « orthofeely" over orthodoxy, ex­ perience and entertainment over proclamation and announcement. ~

modernREFORMATION January/February 1992

Understanding the Conversion July/August 1993

The Lord's Prayer January/February 1994

Heresy November/December 1994

The Word Became Flesh May/June.. 1995

M(ssions and Evangelism . ~uly/August 1995 1

Gnosticism

September/October 1995

Postmodernism November/December 1995

The Person and Work of Christ Back Issues $4.00 each/Limited supplies

JANU ARY/FEBRUARY 1996

29

74 tJoldlh~ the Cltzall ttzom

Why shoula those who are trying to promote reformation in our day be so devoted to liturgy?

M

any people who are interested in the Ref­ ormation are also interested in liturgy.

This surprises some people, since they think that the Protestant Reformation was instituted to get rid of all of that «Paptist claptrap." If anything, they believe, where the Reformation left vestiges of Catholic ritual, the Reformation was incomplete. Reformation means getting rid of what is Catholic.

So why should those who are trying to promote reformation in our day be so devoted to liturgy? What makes it so compelling? A writer promoting the Episco­ pal church has an easy answer to this. To become Epis­ copalian is to become liturgical. To defend the liturgy is to engage in a form of Christian apologetics. The same is not true for a Lutheran Christian. For us, to become Lutheran is to become confessional. We join a Lutheran church on account of its doctrine, and these churches are to varying degrees liturgical. Our transition to an­ other style ofworship appears to be a mere side-effect of our change in doctrine.

I, like many, have found this to be a happy side­ effect. In the beginning I was uneasy about the fact that liturgy seemed always to exclude the contemporary. I liked the liturgy, but I also liked the contemporary forms. I wanted to have the best ofboth worlds. I slowly came to see, however, that form follows function. We worshi p a certain way because we believe certain things.

This was a gradual discovery, one whose ramifications I still have not exhausted. I now believe Lutheran liturgy to be a natural outgrowth of Lutheran teaching.

The difficulty of arguing this is that my own transi­ tion to this way ofthinking was gradual. I would expect it to be gradual for most people, especially if they were raised in churches where they were taught to be suspi­ cious of formalism, or anything that had the faintest hint ofCatholic roots. This type ofchange is the precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little type ofchange. But I am convinced that it is a change for the better, and would like to argue for it.

At the outset, I want to distinguish my position from that being argued by others. There are many writ­ ers today (e.g. Tom Howard, Peter Gilquist, Franky Schaeffer, and Robert Webber) who are trying to con­ vince evangelicals to «get into" liturgy. While some of their works provide helpful information,l their overall approach seems to guide people from «Clap-Clap" (in­

30

JANUA RY/FEBRUARY 1996

formal evangelical worship) to claptrap (pre- Refor­ mation worship with all of its abuses) . I want to argue the case for another option.

In Heaven as it is on Earth?

My first argument for liturgy is that it resembles the worship we find in Scripture. This can be argued in a variety of ways. Much of the content of the liturgy comes straight from the Bible. The Scripture readings are obviously Scriptural, and we have four of them on a Sunday (from the Old Testament, a Psalm, an Epistle, and a Gospel). The Words of Institution used during Communion come from a conflation of Communion passages found in the synoptic gospels and First Corinthians. The benedictions are straight Scripture as well, the most popular being the Aaronic benediction from Numbers 6:24-26. Not onlyis much ofour liturgy derived from Scripture, much ofScripture seems to be recorded liturgy. In the Psalms we find the God-pleas­ ing worship of Israel. In the New Testament we find hymns and creedal formulas used by the early church (e.g. the Kenosis Hymn: Phil 2:6-11, The Mystery of Godliness: 1 Tim 3:16) . But in addition to citing spe­ cific Scriptures, there is another way to argue that liturgy in Scriptural. It involves comparing our wor­ ship on earth with the character ofheavenly worship as we find it described in Scripture.

I nowwish to presen tan imaginary vision ofheaven in light of current attitudes and worship practices we find on earth. I am using Scriptural imagery as a back­ drop in order to bring into bold relief just how unscriptural some of today's working principles are.

My vision begins with an ascent to heaven where I see some High Churchmen standing before the gate of heaven, being examined by St. Peter as to their hope ofheaven.

St. Peter: How wonderful it is to welcome trained men who..have been taught correctly to recite the Faith. This should be easy for you gentlemen. If you will recite the General Confession of Sin from the liturgy ofyour earthly congregation's worship service, and demonstrate trust in the grace of God, the gates will open for you.

First Church man: Magnificent. This is just what I h oped for. You appreciate our liturgy! We have done so much to further the true worship of God.

modern REFORMATION

elap elap to elapttzap!

RICK RITCHIE I knew someone would take notice. Our work went unappreciated down below. Ijustknowhowmuch more receptive they will be up here. Have you heard ofmy work? I wrote a widely published tract called "In Defense of-Incense."

St. Peter: No, I can't say I have read it. But to get back to the matter at hand, I want to examine your faith. First things first.

Second Churchman: Yes, first things first, I sup­ pose. We make sure the foundation is established, then we move onto bigger and better things. Start with the elementary principles and move onto the mysteries. Like we said on earth, evangelical is not enough.

St. Peter, excited: So you are evangelical? You know the Gospel?

Second Churchman: We began with it, butit is not enough.

St. Peter: Not enough for what?

Second Churchman: Just not enough.

St. Peter: I still wish to know what you mean bynot enough. Do you mean it is not enough for salva­ tion? Do you deny the teaching that faith alone saves?

Second Churchman: I wasn't referring specifi­ cally to salvation when I said that. There are so many more things to talk about though. The Gos­ pel is just a beginning. Our church life is more comprehensive, embodying the fullness of the church's heritage.

St. Peter: That is all very well, but you have me worried. Perhaps you are merely confused about priorities. Can you at least define the Gospel?

First Churchman: Enough with your fixation on the Gospel! We have spoken enough of that. Now we want to talk about more important things per­ taining to the glory of God. Your obsession with individual salvation is an expression ofnarcissistic individualism. No wonder they keep you out here and don't let you in. Heaven is for those who have moved on. To think that we have a banner for you in our All Saints Day procession! Thafs one more thing I intend to reform. [He pulls out his note­ book and jots down some notes.]

St. Peter: Since you cannot or will not answer my question, I am afraid I cannot let you in. You will have to go to the other place.

Second Churchman: Are you sending us to purga­

tory? None of my evangelical friends believed it existed. Scripture alone! Hah! This will showthem! [to the First Churchman 1 You'll be my witness we were there.

The two men walk offhappily together until they step into a trap door in a cloud. St. Peter sadly shakes his head and returns to worship.

Atthis point in my vision, the high altitude make me delirious. I briefly lose consciousness. As I come to, I seem to be inside the gate. I see a silk-shirted figure ahead oftne who otherwise resembles St. Peter as 1saw him earlier. 1approach him, noticing strange creatures flying above me.

Six-Winged Seraphs [to each other]: Touch a friend's wing, touch the wing next to ya, touch a friend's wing and sing along ...

St. Peter: Hi, I'm Pete. I used to hate worship. Then I found that it could be fun.

Myself: This looks like the heavenly Temple of Isaiah's vision, except for the sound system and plexiglass pulpit. But where is the smoke? Wasn't the temple filled with smoke?

St. Peter: It was until recently, butthen there was an uprising. The evangelicals said it was too Catholic.

Myself: [struggling to remember what I knew of heaven]: But where is everyone? I was told there would be a countless multitude before the throne.

St. Peter: With dozens of generations, no one mu­ sic style could please everybody. In fact, whole generations are missing. Church growth consult­ ants attribute the absence of baby-boomers to the absence of a keyboard.

Myself: \\There is the Marriage Supper ofthe Lamb?

St. Peter: Pizza and coke will be served later. [He notes the sick look on my face.] Not to worry. It doesn't matter what we use. It is the thought that counts.

Myself: But the Scriptures talked about something bigger and more glorious than this!

St. Peter: vy e were told to invite everyone to the banquet, but. we could hardly get anyone to come with the old dtenu. Would you have us offer Christ's flesh to eatifitkeptpeoplefrom coming? It is selfish to put your own taste above the salvation ofothers.

[I begin to feel guilty, but then I remember that my hopes were based on the Scriptures, not my own tastes.]

Myself: This cannot be heaven. The High Church-

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

31

men were right! There is a purgatory!

At this point I awaken, relieved. I may not be in heaven, but at least there remains a heaven that is truly heaven.

Liturgy and Restoration Myvision is a sad vision. It should be clear that combin­ ing elements from both portions ofthe vision would not improve matters. To the cold, meaningless ritual of the High Churchmen, add warm-hearted devotion, and you get a warm, meaningless ritual. Combine the flip­ pant zeal ofthe evangelicals with solemnity, and you get solemn zeal, but you are still left without knowledge.

The way out involves something other than an uncriti­ cal combining of differing traditions.

The sixteenth century Reformers brought together two better dynamics for the service of improving wor­ ship. Lutheran theologian Charles Porterfield Krauth called them conservatism and reformation. Reforma­ tion is the attem pt to rid the ch urch ofabuses and ensure that scriptural principle guide all that is done. It ensures that the church's Gospel focus is not blurred by anti­ quarianism. It keeps the church from looking like a graveyard of rituals from all centuries but the first.

Conservatism is the attempt to maintain continuity with what the church has done in the past. It ensures that the accum ulated wisdom ofthe ages is not pushed aside by this year's fleeting fashions. It keeps the church from looking like a human organization that was invented last week by marketers. Conservatism and reformation belong together. I fear that in our own day both are in danger ofbeinglost. Even current worship reform move­ ments that possess awareness of these principles seem always to promote one at the expense of the other.

Conservatism plus reformation equals restoration.

We want to restore what is truly Biblical, and that means studying the Scriptures. We want to restore what is catholic (with a little "c"), and that means finding out what has been done through the centuries, and what has been avoided. Neither task should be done without the other.

The conservative dynamic by itself does not qualify as restoration. There is nothing more useless than a churchman who has an encyclopedic knowledge ofwhat was done by churches in the past, but who knows noth­ ing about why these things were done, or whether they might have been abandoned for good reason. People like this are junk collectors. A good restorer, however, knows how to judge the value of the discarded item he finds. Junk is left on the heap. Only valuable finds are kept. What is in good condition may be put to use at once. Some items need to be cleaned off first.

The following are some quotations form Luther concerning the worship service which should give some

32

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

of the flavor of how he went about reforming worship with restoration in mind. Notice how some things are abolished, some retained, some left up to choice, and some set aside until they can be cleaned up: The feasts of the Holy Cross shall be anathema. 2 Let the chants in the Sunday masses and Vespers be retained; they are quite good and are taken from Scripture. 3 the Gospel lesson follows, for which neither pro­ hibit nor prescribe candles or incense. Let these thing be free. 4 But'for the time being, we can shelve the antiphons, responsories, and collects, as well as the legends of the saints and the cross, until they have been purged, for there is a horrible lot of filth in them. 5 This is a healthy critical attitude toward the past, recog­ nizingthatGodhadbeenatworkinthemedievalchurch in spite ofabuses. Luther wished to maintain continuity with the past where possible. Unless we are careful readers, we may miss this. The Reformer penned anti­ Romanist tracts with such harsh titles as "Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil." It was not the Roman church, however, but the Papacy which tyrannized it, that Luther wished to attack. The Papacy was an enemy not just to Lutheran, but to Catholic congregations. Luther wanted to be a reformer of the catholic church, not the founder of a new sect. Luther retained what he could, while making what he kept serve the Gospel. he reformation dynamic without the con­

servative is radicalism. In our own day this radicalism often hides itselfbehind political conservatism. Even among so-called confessional churches, it is common to find a radical order ofservice (that is, one containing few if any historical elements) alongside of a sermon where conservative values and the founding fathers take center stage. Is the heritage of America so much more important than the heritage of the church? The irony is that these same churches are celebrating a conservative political revolution where tyrannical rulers were rejected, while the wisdom ofthe past was incorporated into the new order. Conservative reformation is valued in the political realm, but not the churchly. _ To be sure,...ifwe could by ourselves create a service wl'\ich was purely Biblical, there would be nothingwrong wHh this method. But history has shown how 19th century Restoration movements (e. g. the Campbellites and the Plymouth Brethren) had a distinctive 19th­ century cast to them. They even reflect that fact that their leaders broke off from Anglican and Presbyterian churches. Attempts to start from scratch are bound to fail. We must study the past to free ourselves from bondage to the present.

T

modern REFORMATION

It is immersion in history which liberates us from our hidden assumptions. When we know the different ways the church has worshipped in the past, we become aware of the vast array of choices open to us. We come to learn what has proven effective and what has failed.

Conservatism also means that the reformer has a larger pool ofmaterial available to draw on when he decides to change worship.

Maybe you have been in a worship service where someone introduced the congregation to an old hymn with which you were nbt familiar. They explained the background of the hymn and the value it had for gen­ erations of Christians. You felt like someone had done you the service of rescuing something for your use you might easily have missed out on. This type of experi­ ence is in miniature what worship restoration brings about. Instead of an individual hymn, however, larger portions of the worship service that past Christians loved are restored. What is ancient is rescued and what is unbiblical is purged. What is experienced anew is both biblical and catholic. It is Christian worship. or such a thing to happen, the work behind it must be valued. Pastors must have the free­ dom and encouragement to pursue it. They must be allowed and expected to study the history of worship. Some of J. Greshman Machen's words are valuable here. He applied them to the study of the Gospel, while I am applying them to the study of wor­ ship: At this point, indeed, an objection may arise. Is not [worship] a very simple thing, it may be asked; and will not its simplicity be obscured by too much scholarly research? The objection springs from a false view ofwhat scholarship is. It springs from the notion that scholarship leads a man to be obscure.

Exactly the reverse is the case. Ignorance is ob­ scure; but scholarship brings order out of confu­ sion, places things in their logical relations, and makes the message shine forth clearly.6 The study ofworship ought to make things clearer, not more difficult to understand. Perhaps worship reform will require a pastor to do a lot of tedious reading. The result should not, however, be tedious sermons on proper worship, but a worship reformation. The results ofthe tedious research may be simple changes in prac­ tice, but they will be changes with powerful results.

An example of how painstaking research leads to changes that are understandable by the laity can be found in those churches where the pastor has investi­ gated the subject of Holy Communion. For some pas­ tors, ittakes months oryears ofcareful study to cometo a recognition of the centrality of the Lord's Supper in the life of the church. In the American church, such an idea is implausible because we have so long acted as ifit

were untrue. A study of the pertinent Scriptures and somefamiliaritywithchurchhistorychangesourminds.

What is the natural outcome ofthis change ofmind?

A three month series on how important Communion is, taught at a church which does not serve it? Of course not! The natural outcome is the placement of the altar front-and center in the church, and more frequent Communion. Instruction surely follows as well, but once convinced himself, the pastor need only present the proper teaching. A seven-year old will naturally come to understand the centrality of communion by seeing his parents go forward Sunday after Sunday to receive the body and blood of Christ. A viewpoint which was hard-won for the pastor becomes second­ nature to the little children.

Sacrament and Sacrifice In my early days studying Lutheranism (I was still at­ tending and evangelical church), an Antiochian Ortho-

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'4qd.. .It is not in the Jpovyer of men to'f9rm; modes of wet'ship they p'lease ... They trifle with god like children with their pltppets ....,for they are( ; perpetually contriv,iQg new modes qfworship." John Calvin ~~~~fyou!wantJ(o glory in yohr worship of God, then show a ~6Td of Godito ratify it, not your own ideas 'and the idol of ,;your heart.~~: Martiil'l;uther ;~W~t 'i

"We.. are assai)ed by two's~~ts, which seemtp differ most . widel~, from Y each other. <>Por what similaritSr js there in appearance between the Pope, and the Anabaptist~·? And yet, that you may,,¥ee that Sat~rj:tnever transforI}1s ::iiimself so eu~ningly, a~, not in somehleasure to betray; himself, the principal weapon with v,rhichthey both assa,lusis the same.

For when t~~y boast e~~avagantly ofthe~§p{flt:, the tendency certainly is,\,o sink an~bury the Word ofGod, that they may . . make room:,for thei~\own falsehoods.'"

John Calvin ',~ ',' ~'The Lord, jn his W6t~\~nd Sacramerits,;;brings himself 'up,der obligation to us, as.' ,ifhe had given it~phis own hand"::'t> . writing.. .In&acraments God alone properly acts; men bring

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Cambridge don andPuritan divin~1}ichard Sibbes tb~'young Thomas G'()odwin, ~i1fter a Westmi1J~ier divine, paSf,or and president o.fMagdal~n College, Oxf~rd. ~ ': . '...;

!ANUARYtFEBRUAR'r 1996

33

dox friend explained to me that the word liturgy meant «the work ofthe people." The explanation was thought­ provoking. Before, I would have thought that since liturgy was formal, it must be something for profession­ als. But as my friend explained, it was the people, the laity, who were active. They were more active in a litur­ gical service than in many evangelical gatherings. This brought about a turnaround in my thinking. Wasn't active participation supposed to be a hallmark of Prot­ estantism?

In my later study, my attention shifted from the «of the people" aspect of the liturgy, to the «work" aspect.

My friend's definition suggested thatliturgywas some-

tJO SUlrt/ frOII. SCrilt/c ilrebollnd t!o fail.

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thing we did for God. Such an idea is foreign to Lutheranism, which emphasizes man's absolute depen­ dence on God. The old Lutherans called the liturgy God's service. It was something he did for us.

Our Lutheran confessions explain how what we do for God and what God does for us are two very different types of elements in the service: The theologians make a proper distinction between sacrament and sacrifice. The genus [category] com­ mon to both could be «ceremony" or «sacred act."

A sacrament is a ceremony or act in which God offers us the content of the promise joined to the ceremony.; thus Baptism is not an act which we offer to God but one in which God baptizes us through a minister functioning in his place. Here God offers and presents the forgiveness of sins ac­ cording to the promise (Mk 16:16), «He who be­ lieves and is baptized will be saved." By way of contrast, a sacrifice is a ceremony or act which we render to God to honor him.?

The proper distinction between the Law and Gospel results in the proper distinction between sacramen t and sacrifice. The sacrificial portions of the service were familiar to me from my evangelical past, but most ofthe sacramental portions were not. My role in church changed when I switched to a liturgical church.

The chief role of those who attend evangelical churches is that of one receiving marching orders. If it isn't announced directly, the message still goes out to the congregation «You are here to learn how to be Christians. Church isn't about Sunday, but about your

34

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

whole week. Take out a notebook, and we will instruct you how to live like Christians." The church service is notofvalue for its own sake, but has instrumental value in making people become better during the week. hen a pastor takes to haranguing his congregants to improve, you know that the church is focused on the sacrificial.

Wearied by the burden of having to innovate Sunday after Sunday (because they don't have a tradition to guide them), the exhausted pastor begins to resent the complacent members who want more and more from him. Finally, the congregation is told, «You are un­ happy because you are here for what you can receive.

You ought to be here for what you can give." Our giving is the focus. We are to be sacrificial. This week-after­ week emphasis will be remembered long after the con­ tent of any individual sermon that served to create it.

A sacramental environment is different. In a sacra­ mental environment, the focus is on God's blessing of his people. One place where this is evident is in the benediction. I was fortunate in the Presbyterian church in which I grew up to have heard a benediction every week. Many evangelicals do not even receive that much.

Dr. Rod Rosenbladt once told me of a retreat where an evangelical leader was asked to close with a benediction and did not know what one was. Instead of pronouncing God's blessing, he guided the people in a meditation.

Perhaps this doesn't sound so tragic, but think of the ramifications. To mistake a benedic­ tion for a meditation is to misunderstand whose turn it is to act. A benediction is God's turn to speak. It is not merely another opportunity to say something nice.

Consider what it means that this leader's innate leaning was to turn sacrament into sacrifice. This is more com­ mon than you would imagine. Some people think that if there is too much forgiveness, it will cease to be special.

They forget that forgiveness is like food. We live for it.

In addition, if we have been on a starvation diet for far too long, we may lose the ability to digest it. I speak from a human perspective, of course. God can soften the hardest heart if he chooses. Still, the loss of ability to digest forgiveness is concretely illustrated whenever sacramental elements become sacrificial through lack of familiarity. On the other hand, the overall character ofa sacramental service ensures that forgiveness will be ref\lembered long after any individual sermon on for­ giv~,ness has been forgotten.

W

How do Freed People Worship?

The church is the place where God is the giver, yet reformation seems to be our responsibility. How are we to go about it? In the Old Testament book of Second Chronicles, we read ofa worship reformation that took place before the time of Christ. Hilkiah, a priest during

modern REFORMATION

the reign of King Josiah, found the lost Book ofthe Law in the Temple, and a worship revolution began. The law was read, and its precepts followed. There was much to - do to restore the old ways, but the task was clear. obody had to guess what God wanted in the way of worship. It was spelled out in detail, from architecture to priestly garments to ceremonies.

In our own day, a worship reformation is over due, but deciding on a course for reformation is a more challenging task for us than for King Josiah.

We do not possess a Book of the Law prescribing spe­ cific ceremonies and vestments. Nadab and Abihu were struck dead for offering unauthorized fire before God (Lev 10: 1), but I would venture to guess that no believ­ ing Episcopal priest has ever worried about with what kind of incense he fills his censor. Even in those Re­ formed churches which claim allegiance to the regula­ tive principle (i.e. in worship, what is not biblically commanded is forbidden), nobody has ever identified a passage of Scripture mandating a Geneva gown. It is clear we live in a different age. here does that leave us? Since Lutherans teach that the New Testament church is not bound to a prescribed church or­ der, can we say that anything goes? Contrary to popular opinion and common practice, this is not where we are left. In his study guide for the Westminster Confession of Faith, G. 1. Williamson wrongly identifies as Lutheran doctrine the teaching that true worship is compro­ mised of what God has commanded plus anything he has not expressly forbidden. s It is true that Lutheran teaching says that those activities as God has neither commanded nor forbidden, he allows. It is a false as­ sumption, however, that all activities that God allows qualify as true worship. This conclusion is condemned in the Lutheran confessions, where we are told: We believe, teach, and confess that true adiaphora or things indifferent [those things God has neither com­ manded nor forbidden], as defined above, are in themselves no worship ofGod or even a part ofit, but that we should duly distinguish between the two, as it is written, «In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the precepts of men" (Mt 15:9).9 It is interesting to note that Williamson cites the same verse as the Lutheran confessions in condemnation of such teaching. Williamson goes on to ask «What com­ mand requires the candlelight service so common to­ day? But if such a 'ceremony' as this, invented by Prot­ estants, is ruled out, how can the ceremonies invented

by Rome be condemned?" The Lutheran confessions answer that «useless and foolish spectacles, which serve neither good order, Christian discipline, nor evangeli­ cal decorum in the church" cannot be considered indif­ ferent. IO We condemn claptrap.

W

The Lutheran insistence that what God has neither commanded nor forbidden can neither qualify as true worship nor be condemned is essential to a maintenance of both pure worship and Christian lib­ erty. In fact, in his chapter on Christian liberty, Williamson says that playing the piano per se is good, «for the simple reason that it is not forbidden by any of the Ten Commandments."ll But there may be times when to do so is wrong because it does violate them (e.g. one's father has forbidden it). Or perhaps someone sins by playing the piano for personal fame rather than to glorify God. In spite ofthe possibilityofabuse, Williamson argues that maintaining liberty is important.

A further safeguard to sanctification is found in the section of the Westminster Confession, which teaches that actions not commanded do not qualify as good works: Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy word, and not as such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men out of blind zeal, or upon any pretence of good intention. 12 Substitu te the words «worship ofGod" for «good works" and this is almost a paraphrase of the above-quoted passage form the Lutheran Formula of Concord. Ac­ tions not commanded are allowed, but must not be considered good works. Sanctification is kept free from human invention, and liberty is maintained. Abuse is possible, for as St. Paul says «Everything is permis­ sible-but not everything is beneficial" (1 Cor 10:23).

What is true with regard to the Christian life is true with regard to the Christian worship service. In both we are at liberty to do those things God has not forbidden. But an act which God has not commanded cannot be con­ sidered a good work on the part ofan individual, or true worship on the part of the church. In our sinfulness we like to manufacture new forms of piety and worship even though such invention does not please God. Still, the freedom to do unforbidden things is to be main­ tained even in light ofthe possibility ofabuse. Christian liberty requires it.

Looking Ahead The restoration of Christian worship does not exist in order to create a final resting place for worshippers. The liturgical church is not to b~ an enclave where Chris­ tians hide from .~ fast-paced ~orld. Granted, there is a timelessness ab~;ut liturgy such that a thirteenth cen­ tury Christian might find parts of our modern service somewhat familiar. The fact is, however, that the wor­ ship service exists as a place where God can break into our century. A word of forgiveness spoken today for­ gives a twentieth centuryindividual who was not around to hear it in the thirteenth century. We continue to restore worship not so that an ancient Christian would

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

35

feel comfortable in our church, but because the ancient way contained much wisdom regarding how people can come to believe in the forgiveness of sins.

Ifyou are about to embark on a journey into liturgy, there are some familiar landmarks you can expect. First, even from the first Sunday, much more will be biblical than you had been led to believe. Second, you will find that when there is solid biblical principle behind a form ofworship, your tastes will change. I have known many people who thought a journey into liturgy would be a

Lit11rgy is 00_:1a roatl ,ve_,ravel_:lo ge_.1 to heav(~n.

It is a ,vay of leaving rou_~es 01)t~ll fo.- ti«-td tf) COID(~_,(~ us. These ilrt~ IIO_/ ~./lle .-Clll_:/es f~ha_~ loa.o lias devised~

bl.1_, r01Ites tlla_, God has told us abO'It

in Ilis Word. trek into the desert where they would be far from the water oflife, only to find more water than they dreamed possible.

At some point, you can expect the novelty to wear off. The question at that point is, does the liturgy still deliver? I doubt anyone has ever decided to leave church because the idea of a sermon got old.

Perhaps we might find some individual sermons to be dull, but nobody expects the idea ofhaving a sermon to remain new. With liturgy it is different. We tend to expect the idea of doing liturgy to remain exciting. It does not. The first time I was in a service were ceremony was used to bring attention to the reading ofthe Gospel, I was overjoyed. The Gospel was being brought to the people, and ceremony bought attention to that fact.

After a while, the novelty wore off. If the ceremony was the only reason I had for coming to church, I might as well have stayed in bed. But what remained fresh was the Scripture underlying the ceremony. Before hearing the gospel, we would hear texts chanted which told of the nature ofthe Scri pture that was to be read. I was learning hermeneutics. So were the children sitting next to me.

While the idea of doing liturgy may grow mundane, it serves its Gospel purpose faithfully.

36

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

The irony of liturgy is that this long-collected wisdom exists to wean us of this world. The most beautiful Lenten service in the world, with vest­ ments and gold vessels, exists in order to point us to the fact that we are to rend our hearts and not our garments, and thatwe are not to worship God with silver and gold.

I point you to the liturgy not because it is so worthy of attention for its own sake, but because it points beyond itself to Christ. Here we receive a foretaste of the heav­ enly feast. Our choirs are not angelic but human. The streets are paved not with gold but with asphalt.

Liturgy is not a road we travel to get to heaven.

It is a way of leaving routes open for God to come to us. These are not the routes that man has devised, but routes that God has told us about in his Word.

I used to attend a church which held altar calls, and though I was a Christian, I always had an urge to go forward to make sure things were right. It is an irony that now in the Lutheran church I can walk forward to the altar to the singing of "Just as I Am" without being looked at strangely. I can admit my need ofgrace which is shared by the whole congregation. When I reach the altar, I am not left waiting forever for a bolt ofelectricity to hit my heart. I am given something tangible to re­ ceive, the body and blood ofChrist for the forgiveness of sins. A real sacrament is so much better than a pseudo­ sacrament. Liturgy exists to make sure that what reaches us is the real stuff.~ 1 Robert Webber's books are surely the most informative. I would be

miles from him doctrinally, but if you want good nuts-and-bolts

information on practices, he offers a lot of help.

2 Martin Luther "An Order for Mass and Communion" in Luther's

Works, vol. 53 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1965), p. 23. These feasts

commemorated legendary events, not the cru cifixion.

3 Martin Luther, "Concerning the Order of Public Worship " in

Luther's Works, vol. 53 (Philacfelphia: Fortress Press, 1965), p. 13.

4 Martin Luther, "An Order for Mass and Communion" in Luther's

Works, vol. 53 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1965), p. 25.

5 Luther, "Order of Public Worship, " p. 14.

6 J. Gresham Machen, "The Importance of Christian Scholarship" in

Education, Christianity, and the State, (Jefferson, MD: The Trinity

Foundation, 1987), p. 20.

7 ApologyXXIVofthe Augsburg Confession, 17, 18. Tappert, p. 252 .

8 G. I. Williamson, The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study

Classes (Philadelphia : Presbyterian and Reformed Pub . Co., 1964),

pp. 159-160.

9 Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration X, 8.

10 Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, X, 7.

11 G. I. Williamson, The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study

Classes (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co ., 1964),

pp.153 .

12 Westminster Confession, Articles XVI, 1.

~

Rick: Ritchie is a CURE staff writer and is a contributing author to Christ theJi.prd: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation. He is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts and he attends Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California.

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