What Does This Mean?

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Readings

Encore Post: [Seventh Post in a series on the divine service] After the Collect of the Day has been said, the pastor typically takes up residence at the lectern to read the set lectionary readings for the day. So what are these readings? And how do they work together?

Most Sundays at my congregation, you will hear an Old Testament lesson followed by a psalm. After the Psalm, then comes the Epistle lesson. Then, after the Epistle lesson, the congregation rises to sing the Alleluia before hearing the Holy Gospel for the day.

We finally get the “meat and potatoes” of what we call the “Service of the Word”. As Dr. Arthur Just says in his magnificent book Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service, “Christ comes to us from the voice of the pastor to our ears” (Still for sale from CPH) Jesus is really the one speaking when we hear the Word of God proclaimed from the lectern. Jesus is the Word of God now enfleshed, present among us for our salvation.

We begin with the Old Testament and move through the Psalm, which makes us consider the surrounding lessons, to the Epistles and finally to the climax of the Gospel. We note this climax by rising from our pews to stand out in reverence for the very real and recorded words of Jesus being spoken to us.

I often ask my confirmation students to find connections between the readings. The easiest connections to find at least in the three-year lectionary are those connections between the Old Testament lesson and the Gospel. Those who constructed the new lectionary wanted to follow what Dr. Just calls a “promise and fulfillment hermeneutic”. That is a fancy way to say that what is spoken about in the Old Testament lesson is dealt with in the Gospel. For instance, look at the first Sunday in Lent. The Old Testament lesson is Genesis 3:1-21, the fall of Adam. The Gospel is Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus overcoming the temptations of Satan. What Adam could not do, the new Adam, Jesus, did, and ultimately, the battle was fully won at the cross.

Depending on the season, the Epistle lesson might be part of a continuous reading from one book. But in other seasons, it jumps around a decent degree. However, what should be noted is how all the readings point us to the Gospel, the very living words of Christ Jesus our Savior, who is present for us in his flesh and blood even in His Word to work in us our salvation. Having heard the Words of Christ in the readings, we are prepared now for the Creed and the Sermon to follow.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Gloria in Excelsis

Encore Post: [Fifth post in a series on the Divine Liturgy] During two seasons of the Church Year, the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) is absent from the Liturgy.

During the rest of the church year, when Pastor and congregation finish singing the tri-fold Kyrie, there is a very short line that is sung solely by the pastor: “Glory be to God on High!” And immediately the whole congregation join in singing “And on earth, peace, good will toward men.” It’s as if the Pastor and congregation are reenacting the events of Christ’s birth according to Luke 2:8-14.

The Pastor and congregation join in that wonderful song with the angel and all the company of Heaven (similarly to the Sanctus). But why does the pastor have the first line by himself? Perhaps, and this my speculation, it has to do with the fact that the Pastor is the “angel” to the congregation. “angel” means messenger. And in the book of Revelation, Jesus tells John to write the seven letters to the seven angels of the churches. The angels are the pastors of those churches. The pastor is the messenger sent by God to this congregation to announce the good news of Christ Jesus, that in Him we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God. Pastors proclaim the same peace sung by the angelic host to those in the congregation! With such news of forgiveness for the sake of the Son, Jesus Christ, it is only right and proper for the congregation to join in the hymn of the heavenly host.

But the words of the Gloria go further than just the words of the angels on the night of Christ’s birth. We know the full story of Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension for our salvation via the Gospels. The canticle hymn of praise hits all of these facets for which we ought to praise God for what He has done to save us from our sins and give to us His peace. With this hymn, we have a fitting close to a little portion of the service, singing praise for the forgiveness of sins just recently announced upon us for the sake of Christ Jesus. We are ready now for the Collect of the Day and the readings of the Day.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Kyrie

Encore Post: [Fourth post in a series on the Divine Service] As we continue looking at the liturgy of the Divine Service, after the Confession and Absolution, Introit, we find ourselves staring at the Kyrie, the most basic and frequent prayer made to our Lord.

The Church has always been a place where prayers are said. In our services, we offer up prayers and petitions seemingly at every point. All of those are prayers in their own ways as we are speaking to God the words He has given us to speak.

The word Kyrie is the Greek word for Lord, which is the first word we sing in prayer. But Kyrie is shorthand for the longer phrase: Kyrie Eleison or in English “Lord have mercy.” This prayer is perhaps the most basic prayer in the entire world. It certainly is the most frequent prayer to Jesus that we can find in the Gospels. See Luke 17:11-19, Mark 10:48, Matthew 15:21-28.

You might ask why do we sing the Kyrie when we do in the service? We have just received absolution. Mercy was just poured out to us in the forgiveness of sins. And you would be correct, so think of this prayer/song not only as a prayer for mercy, but an acknowledgement that mercy comes solely from the Trinitarian God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is why we sing it three times. Dr. Luther wrote his own hymn for the Kyrie, which is much more specific, addressing each person of the Trinity by name.

One Pastor calls the Kyrie the first great pillar of the Divine Service because it teaches us what true Christian worship really is. If we look to the Book of Concord in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, we learn that true worship of God is the reception of His gifts, namely the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life won for us by Jesus. Mercy has been shown to us, and with this prayer leading us further into the Service of the Word, mercy is exactly what we receive by hearing God’s Word in truth and purity.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Jews and Gentiles

Encore Post: The Greeks saw the world as made up of two kinds of people — Greeks and Barbarians. For the Romans, it was Romans and Pagans. In the 1960s, we saw the world as Americans versus Communists. The Communists saw the world as Communists and Capitalists or Imperialists. For the Jews, it was Jews and Gentiles.

Of course, for them, God was the source of this separation. He called Abraham out from the Sumerian culture and the serving of multiple gods to the service of the one, true God. He set him aside from the rest of the world to be a blessing to it. He grew the nation from the descendants of Abraham and Sarah. He freed them from slavery in Egypt, gave them his law, formed them in the desert and gave them the land of promise.

But there the other nations — the gentiles — worshiped other gods and lived in great immorality.Not the least of that evil was that they would sacrifice their children for favors from their gods. So God commanded the people of Israel to kill them all and destroy all their possessions. The Israelites did not do this perfectly. Those people tempted God’s people to wander from him and sink into their immorality. God punished them with exile in Babylon. Except for 150 or so years, they lived as the subjects of pagan nations.

They learned the lesson. The Jews — at least the pious ones — tried to keep the law so perfectly they invented their own laws and traditions. Among those was strict separation from Gentiles, to the point of not even eating with them. In the temple, they would not allow gentiles to enter the temple proper and punished transgression with death.

The celebration of Epiphany marks how the coming of Christ changes this once and for all. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of both Jew and gentiles. The reason for the division is destroyed, demonstrated when the temple curtain tore in two from top to bottom. Now, as Isaiah prophesied, the nations come to God through Christ and meet God’s people there. Together we praise him who called us both out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Collect of the Day

Encore Post: [Sixth post in a series about the Divine Service] Today we will look at the Collect of the Day, the prayer which “collects” the thoughts of the day’s readings and succinctly summarizes them in prayer form and continues pointing us toward the theme of the whole day. Now, there are other “Collects” that we say in other services. Sometimes you might read in the service of Matins the “Collect for the Word” or something else, but they all follow a typical pattern. The pattern is this: There is an address to God, recalling His character or action in the world on our behalf. Then we make our request known to God. Then we close the prayer typically in this fashion, “through Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.”

If you are a parishioner, you probably do not see the “Collect of the Day” unless you are in a congregation which prints it in the bulletin. In past hymnals, you could find each collect printed next to the readings for the day. The Collect, like the readings for each day of the church year, should be understood as a proper. By that, I mean to say that it changes each Sunday. Remember, in the divine service, there are ordinaries and there are propers.

The Collect of the Day, as I said earlier, should help tune our ears to hear what we just prayed for in the upcoming readings. So we pray this prayer with great anticipation, waiting to hear from Christ’s own Word concerning the fulfillment of what we just prayed. May you take a moment in worship to truly hear and listen to the Collect of the Day this Sunday and always.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

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God in Man made Manifest

Encore Post: Epiphany is a season of unwrapping God’s gifts. The word comes from Greek. It means reveal, make known, and, in old English, make manifest or clear. As creatures and sinners, we cannot fully understand God. Even if we could stand in God’s holy presence, we would die. (Exodus 33:20) Even as Christians, we often find ourselves say, “I don’t get you, God!”

God knows this well. It is why he reveals himself to us in Jesus. When we want to see God, we can look at Jesus. The Apostle John sums it up well: “No one has seen God. The only begotten God, he is from the Father and he has made him known.” (John 1:18) In the season of Epiphany, we get to know Jesus by what he said and did. We sit at his feet and see with our own eyes that he is the Messiah — and more than that — that he is God himself.

The season begins with a θεοφάνεια (Theophaneia) — God appearing or making himself known to people. At the Baptism of our Lord, we see the Son of God, hear the voice of the Father, and the Holy Spirit settles on the Son in the form of a dove. For the Three-Year Lectionary, the season ends with another θεοφάνεια. The Son glows with his full glory as God; the Father speaks and the presence of God settles on the mountain in the ancient Cloud of Glory.

In between, he calls disciples from their nets, turns water into wine, feeds whole crowds with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. He casts out demons, raises the dead, gives sight to the blind, not with shows of great ritual, but with a few words: “I will; be clean!” “Get out!” “be still!” He prays and teaches with authority — unlike the Pharisees and Bible experts. In the next season, Lent, we will see him be the Lamb of God, who takes our sins to the cross, pays the price of our salvation with his own blood and rises from the dead to break the seal of the grave forever.

So we get to know Jesus, and, through him, get to know God. One day, we will see him — and God face to face — in our own flesh, we will see God.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Wisemen, the Star and the Gifts

Encore Post: At Christmas time, we see them everywhere. The crèches– Nativity scenes– appear on lawns, in malls, under Christmas trees and especially in our churches. They are not only great decorations, but they are ways to tell the Christmas story to those who cannot read. In virtually all of them are three figures bearing gifts. They stand next to camels. Often they look like kings from the Middle Ages of Europe.

Yet these figures were not yet there on the night Jesus was born. Nor were they kings. They were scholars from Persia or Babylon, skilled in the study of the stars. No wonder the star got their attention. No one knows what the star was, but it appeared two years before they got to Bethlehem. They are in the stable because the Christian Church in the West celebrates their arrival on the 12th night after Christmas. It makes it easier to explain what is happening on both holidays. You can read their story in Matthew 2.

The day that follows is called Epiphany — appearance. It is the first day of the season of Epiphany, when the Church celebrates the ways Jesus revealed himself through his ministry in ancient Galilee and Judea. The church cherishes the Wisemen because they were the first Gentiles to worship Jesus.

The child Jesus did not remain small, however. Like every one of us, he grew up, learned his lessons, worked with his father and brothers as a craftsman. Both God and his community were very pleased. Yet this is but the first way that Jesus earned our salvation. This season, watch for the other ways Jesus and his Heavenly Father reveal the rest of the story.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Introit

Encore Post: [Third in a series on the Divine Service] I began this series because people in my congregation, namely confirmation students, asked me questions about the service. Knowing they probably weren’t the only ones asking why we do what we do, I figured I would churn out my responses here as well. A recent question about the service that I received was about this funny word: Introit.

Yes, what is an introit? I am ever so thankful for the work of The Commission on Worship of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in producing the most recent Lutheran Service Book. It is spectacular. The book is a great resource and really should be purchased for home devotions. It contains so many great things, not just hymns! It contains a wonderful glossary of terms too.

In that little glossary, we find the definition for the word introit. The word comes from the Latin, meaning to enter. An introit is a collection of psalm verses sung or spoken at the beginning of the service. It is a part of the Propers for the day, which, like the scripture readings and hymns of the service, change each Sunday in accordance with the Church Year.

The Introit plays a pretty important part in setting the tone for the rest of the Divine Service. It is the first words we hear that begin to develop the theme of the day.

Why is it called the Introit? Well, historically speaking, the pastors or bishops of the early church would go from house church to house church. Upon entering the church, they would begin singing the psalm and take up their place at the altar. This is still a practice in many churches, see CTSFW, for instance. While I do not begin the service from the back of the church, I do not go up to the altar until we chant the Introit.

This singing of the Introit also begins what is called the Service of the Word, for the Word of God is central to the event taking place. The Introit then is a key aspect of the Divine Service, further preparing us and conditioning us to tune our ears in to the themes of the upcoming readings, hymns, and sermon as well.

I encourage you to take a long look at the introit for upcoming Divine Services. May they help prepare you for hearing the Gospel proclaimed.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Sign of the Cross

Encore Post: [Second post in a series on the Divine Service] I began this series on the liturgy by talking about Confession and Absolution as preparation. Today, I am hoping to talk about one action that pastors do over the people: making the sign of the Holy Cross.

I received a question from one of my confirmation students asking about the sign of the cross, and why “we don’t do it.” I responded that all Christians are encouraged to make the sign of the cross, for it is their mark. It was given to you all the way back at your baptism (see page 197 of the link). It is by this sign of the cross that you were and are marked as of one of the redeemed by Christ.

The Lutheran Service Book encourages all the baptized to make the sign of the cross at the Invocation and elsewhere throughout the service. There in red, we read, “The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their baptism.” The sign of the cross is not just for the pastor to make, but for the whole congregation to do for themselves.

The sign of the cross is the oldest symbol of Christianity. The cross and specifically the crucifix, that is the cross containing the body of Christ, represent clearly that Jesus Christ and him crucified is the object of our faith and worship. There is no other sign more Christian than the cross, and it is a sign for all the baptized to use in worship and devotional life.

Luther in the Small Catechism makes that explicitly clear. “In the morning when you get up [in the evening when you go to bed], make the sign of the Holy Cross and say: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” The sign of the cross is not just for Sundays. It’s for every day because every day we are to drown the Old Adam and rise to newness of life. Remembering our Baptism into Christ helps us in that fight. Making the sign of the cross then is a physical action in which our body and our brain are engaged in worship, helping us to further meditate on the gifts given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you have the desire, make the sign of the cross this Sunday when the hymnal suggests, and may it be an aid to you in your worship and devotional life.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

A Walk Through the Liturgy: Confession and Absolution

Encore Post: [First post in a series on the Divine Service] We go from one activity to another, often without even beating an eye. This certainly can happen within the Divine Service. How much attention do we pay to what’s going on? Do we know why we do what we do in worship service?

Before confessing our sins as a whole congregation, we speak back and forth responsively, “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord” and the congregation responds, “and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” After those words, there are some important red words printed in the hymnal. They say, “Silence for reflection on God’s Word and for self-examination.”

There is a time of silence. It is a time to consider myself and yourself in light of God’s Law found in the Ten Commandments. Have I been the best father and husband I could have been for my children these past days? Probably not. I failed in my responsibility to my wife and children, breaking the 4^th commandment not being a faithful to my calling as head of my household. Did I grudgingly congratulate someone who won the raffle or the lottery, when in reality wishing it was me? Yup, so I broke the 7^t^h, 9^th and 10^th commandments. And oh, by the way, I broke the first commandment because I didn’t trust God to give me all that I need.

Lord, have mercy. I am a sinner. I deserve exactly what I am about to confess about myself. I deserve death. We plead for God to have mercy on us.

But God who is faithful and just forgives our sins. Thanks be to God that, for Christ’s sake, God forgives our sins. We cannot add anything to make God forgive us. Christ has done it all. Thanks be to Christ!

When we confess our sins and receive His forgiveness in the words of Absolution, we are prepared to sing our Redeemer’s praises. We are prepared to receive from His bountiful goodness the forgiveness of sins purchased and won for us by our Lord Jesus by his death on the cross.

So, take a moment slow down and brush up on the Lord’s Ten Commandments in preparation for Confession and Absolution as we begin the Divine Service where God comes to serve us His gifts of forgiveness, life, salvation given to us on account of Christ, our Lord.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack