The (Sometimes Hilarious) Love Between Lutherans and Their Hymnals

I've not been posting much lately since I'm now back in school, attempting to finish up a BA in Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, but this sturck me as hilarious. Who other than the Lutheran Church treats a change in hymnals like a funeral. I Present to you, directly from the LCMS Central Illinois District's Web Site:

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ORDER OF SERVICE FOR

THE DISPOSITION OF

LUTHERAN WORSHIP AND

THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL


Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Let us be grateful for the many years of service that these hymnals,
Lutheran Worship and The Lutheran Hymnal, have given us. These
hymnals were set apart and dedicated to the glory, honor, and worship
of God and for the ministry of God's Word and Sacrament, even
though they will no longer be used for this purpose.

P: Let us pray.
Lord God, we give thanks for revealing your presence in Word and Sacrament and for the blessings bestowed on your people through the use of these hymnals. As we resign these hymnals from their service, continue to bless us, that we may ever be conscious of your unchanging love, grow in faith and hope, and finally be united with Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

These hymnals are dear to our hearts and are cherished among us because they have been our guide in receiving God's gifts and directing our worship and praise toward the only true God in a most appropriate manner. We will certainly feel some loss with their departure from our sanctuary.

However, we can be comforted that God will use our new hymnals, which include much guidance from these hymnals, for the proclamation of his Word and the administration of his holy sacraments.

So that we may be comforted, Let us hear the Word of the Lord:

David said in Psalm 96 (1, 2, 4, 6-9 (ESV))
"Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to
the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. ...For
great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all
gods. ...Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are
in his sanctuary. ...Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory
due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship
the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!"

Jesus said in Matthew 18 (20 (ESV))
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

And in Matthew 28 (19, 20 (ESV))
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am
with you always, to the end of the age.”

P: Let us go forth in peace in the name of the Lord.
C: Amen

Order of Service for the Disposition of Lutheran Book of Worship
by Rev. Michael Poynter

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I love the, "So that we may be comforted, Let us hear the Word of the Lord" part. I can just imagine the sobbing of a particular congregation member in my parish in Birmingham, who also would never let go of his trusty KJV bible.

"If it ain't TLH, it ain't hymnal."

Against a Merely Spiritual Understanding of Christ's Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar

"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." -John 20:27-29 KJV

It seems strange to me that Thomas expresses his faith in Christ's divinity at this moment. No, he doesn't make the acclamation, "My Lord and My God" at the transfiguration nor at our savior's baptism where the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove and the Father's voice is heard. He doesn't make this exclamation after a blinding vision of Christ such as Saint Paul's or when he saw him ascend to the right hand of the Father.

"Doubting" Thomas returns to faith when he touches Christ's flesh.

Not enough can be said about this, but let us remember that this same flesh and blood which Thomas touches we are given, take, and receive in the Lord's Supper. Christ does not say, "This is my spirit." He does not say to us, "Now go up to heaven through faith so that you may imagine my body." He says,

THIS IS MY BODY... THIS IS MY BLOOD... Take eat... Drink ye all of it...

When we hold Christ's body in our hand, or it lays on our tongue, when our teeth press upon it, and when we drink of his blood we too with Thomas may declare, "My Lord and my God." In doing this we are those blessed who have faith without seeing, but let us not fall into the error of ascribing something we cannot see to the merely "spiritual" sphere.

"There exists both a bond of love and an attraction of love between God and us. It is true that God is the Self-sufficient and Self-blessed, needing none other for His happiness and perfection; but it is His love which so draws Him down to us, that He inclines towards us, and imparts Himself to us. He whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, has chosen us for the habitation in which His love is to dwell. And in proportion as we departed from Him by sin, did His grace follow and draw near to us, till it sunk into our very flesh and blood." -Christoph Luthardt's Apologetic Lectures on the Saving Truths of Christianity, page 25

It is through our faith in God's humanity that we are saved. Nothing is more divine in Christ than his flesh and blood. He has not redeemed us by the sacrifice of his spirit, or at least this is not the focal point of God's revelation of our redemption. By the stripes on his flesh we are healed. By the shedding of his blood we are saved. By the eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood we have life within us, yet these words are Spirit and Truth and not of the flesh. Christ Jesus was not of the flesh, yet he has became flesh for us.

"But how are we to conceive of the reality of the God-man? And shall we ever attain the power of forming a conception thereof? It is a necessity to faith to strive after knowledge; but let us not forget that it is not our knowledge which believes, but our faith which knows. Who has ever really known God ? Would we wait to believe in Him until we comprehend Him ? Are we not, without this, directly conscious of His existence ? Our convictions do not arise solely from the reasonings of our minds; and this is the case here also. No one has ever fully understood the nature of God; no one has ever fully known the nature of man. What then ? If, when we think of God and man, much as we may reflect, there still remain enigmas, shall we be surprised if, when we think of the God-man, all enigmas are not solved ? He would not be as He is, the most wondrous phenomenon on earth, if there were nothing mysterious to us in Him." -Luthardt

Let us not be shy with our speech to others regarding his true body and blood in the Holy Supper. We should proclaim this boldly and without hesitation or ambiguity. Christ himself did not shrink from this proclamation, but let us remember that even when these things were spoken by the incarnate word himself, "many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."

Standing in the Baptismal Font

"Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." -Romans 6:3-8

"Thus it appears what a great, excellent thing Baptism is, which delivers us from the jaws of the devil and makes us God's own, suppresses and takes away sin, and then daily strengthens the new man; and is and remains ever efficacious until we pass from this estate of misery to eternal glory.

For this reason let every one esteem his Baptism as a daily dress in which he is to walk constantly, that he may ever be found in the faith and its fruits" -Large Catechism

"...we do not forget that justifying faith is not the matter of a single moment, but the substance of our whole lives. Such faith is not some act of our commitment to God that is particularly perceived and experienced in some isolated moments of our life. Rather, it is the constant though always clouded reliance on the Gospel's promise of grace. Repentance also, according to the Gospel, is not just a single act but goes on our whole life long. So also our Baptism is not an isolated act, but something that goes on in all our life. Being a Christian does not just mean that we were once baptized but that we live in the strength of our Baptism and again and again return to it" (Herman Sasse's We Confess: The Sacraments, pp. 45-46).

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand" -1 Corinthians 15:1 KJV (emphasis mine)

How is it that we return to our Baptism? In what place do we find such consolation and assurance that we still stand in our baptism and in the true faith?

In this regard, is anything more precious than that God has given to ordinary sinful men the ability to forgive sins in his name and stead? Confession and absolution is truly a return to our Baptism. If we believe with sincerity that when our Pastor says "I forgive you of all your sins" that it is not his words which are pronounced but the very words of God then we know what it is to return to our baptism.

Now, this is not the only place we experience this. What about those times when your perception tells you that you are alone, and it feels like the guilt of your sin is eating you alive? Your wounds stink and the smell of them is nauseous to you. You think to yourself, "Who would want to come near me?" Remember him who did not shrink from the leper but healed him. You are not alone. He is always with you.

Look to the cross. Meditate on our Lord Jesus Christ and his passion. Say...

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner."

Then remember those words which most of us were taught to memorize as children,

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

Jesus Christ has given himself for you. The Lamb of God was not sent into the world for your condemnation but because he has literally loved you to death. He alone has paid the cost of your salvation. You must know that you are poor and have nothing of worth to offer before an infinitely righteous God, but remember this: to be a beggar at the foot of the Cross is better than to be adorned with fine linen and to be lavished with an abundance of earthly gifts.

You have been baptized into his death; therefore hope in his resurrection, but until then take up your cross and follow him.

Scripture Reading and excerpts from the Book of Concord, Quenstedt's The Church, and Loehe's Aphorisms on the offices of the New Testament

All emphasis mine:

"Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you." -1 Timothy 4:14 NIV

"But if ordination be understood as applying to the ministry of the Word, we are not unwilling to call ordination a sacrament. For the ministry of the Word has God's command and glorious promises, Rom. 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Likewise, Is. 55:11: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. 12] If ordination be understood in this way, neither will we refuse to call the imposition of hands a sacrament. For the Church has the command to appoint ministers, which should be most pleasing to us, because we know that God approves this ministry, and is present in the ministry [that God will preach and work through men and those who have been chosen by men]." -Defense of The Augsburg Confession

"This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question." -Acts 15:2

"...there is in the New Testament only one office for the governance and feeding of the congregation, the presbyterate" -Loehe

"The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain." -Titus 1:5-7 (New International Version)

"If this passage does not prove the matter [That there is but one office for the governance and feeding of the congregation], then I don't know what in all the world will..." -Loehe. Aphorisms.., page 45, Repristination Press"

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up..." -Ephesians 4:11-12

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." -2 Corinthians 5:20

"The ministerial cause that God uses in gathering and preserving the church are the ministers of the word" -Quenstedt's _The Church_ "Thesis XV" page 11 Repistination Press

"Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.'" -Mark 16:14-16

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" -Mathew 28:16-20

"The efficiant principle cause of the synthetic church is the Holy Trinity..." -Quenstedt Thesis XIII

"The definition of the synthetic church is this: The synthetic church is the mixed assembly of people called and gathered, by the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments..." -Quenstedt's The Church Thesis XXI (Emphasis mine)

"That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ's sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake." -Augsburg Confession

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" -Romans 10:14

"Everywhere in the New Testament we see that the holy office begets the congregations, never that the office is simply a transferal of congregational rights and authority where the congregation gives the office. The office stands in the midst of the congregations as a fruitful tree that contains its own seed." -Loehe page 55

The Body and Blood of Christ as protection against the evil one

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." [John 6:54 NIV]

"Christ says, 'My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him.' Concerning the truth of His Flesh and Blood there is no room for doubt, for now by the Lord's own declaration and by our faith it is true Flesh and true Blood. And as we are receiving these, we are made to be in Christ, and Christ in us." [St. Eligius. "Homily 8 on the Lord's Supper." 7th Century]

"As one points at the bread, it is entirely correct to say, 'this is Christ's Body!' and whoever sees this bread sees Christ's body. John has said the same thing, as we heard, that he saw the Holy Spirit when he saw the dove. So we also rightly say, 'Whoever attacks this bread attacks Christ's body, and whoever eats this bread eats Christ's body, and whoever presses this bread with his teeth or tongue presses the body of Christ with his teeth or tongue. And yet, it remains true in every respect that no one sees, grasps, eats, or crushes Christ's body like other, visible flesh is seen and crushed. For what we do to the bread is correctly and properly attributed to the body of Christ because of their sacramental union." [Luther. "The Lord's Supper." 1528]

"Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.'" [John 6:53 NIV]

"And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." [Luke 22:19-20]

"Those whom we urge and encourage to fight, let us not leave them unarmed, but arm them with the protection of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Eucharist is meant to be a guard for those who receive it. If we want to make them safe against the enemy, let us arm them with the fullness of the Lord." [St. Cyprian. "Epistle 54 to Cornelius." 3rd Century]

How is the Lord's supper a guard and protection for the Christian against the evil one? It's simple; so simple that modern man with all of his complexities and empirical and rational "wisdom" cannot fathom it. It is simply Christ. There is no protection from the enemy outside of Jesus Christ and the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper is that very Christ. The Word become flesh has revealed to us that he has not only condescended to our mortal nature for our salvation, but now he shows us that he has gone further. He has hidden his great glory in plain bread and wine except to those who have faith. The eyes of faith see his body and blood in the supper. The eyes of faith also know that his body and blood are not separated from his divinity. To partake of his body and blood is to feed on Jesus Christ wholly. We know that he is one Christ and is not divisible because God is one and he is God; therefore, what better protection do we have than his Holy Supper? Whenever we are attacked by doubt and Satan's accusations, when the serpent tells us that God does not love us and has not forgiven us because our sins are just beyond his grace and loving-kindness, faith in the Lord's Supper shuts him up. We say, "That is a lie Satan because he gave me his Body to eat which was broken for me, and he gave me his blood to drink which was shed for the remission of my sins. One crumb of the bread of heaven and one drop of his precious blood leaves me forgiven and you utterly defeated. Go away in the name of Jesus!"

A prayer to be said in remembrance of your last reception of Holy Communion (partly taken from St. Basil's post-communion prayers):

O you who willingly give your flesh to me as food and your blood as drink, You who are a Fire, consuming the unworthy, Do not consume me, O my Creator; But rather pass through all my body parts, Into all my joints, my veins, my heart. Burn the thorns of all my transgressions, Cleanse my soul, and sanctify my thoughts. Make firm my knees and my bones; Enlighten my faith, Establish me wholly in Godly fear; Shelter me always, and guard and keep me from every soul-destroying action and word. Chasten me, purify me, and control me; Adorn me and teach me by your Holy Spirit. Make me a Tabernacle of this same Spirit only, And not the dwelling-place of sin, that from me, your habitation, through the entrance of your Holy Communion, Every evil action and every evil thought may flee as from fire. For you alone, Good Lord, are the justification and sanctification of our souls and bodies. Lord Jesus Christ, God and Master, we the whole body of your Church give thanksgiving and glorify your name forever and ever. Amen

Thanks be to God

This may seem to be outside of the intended subject of this blog, but I hope it is worth saying.

I've been following the convention on the live stream since the beginning, and to be totally honest, most of it has made me kind of nauseous. The beautiful classic hymns turned into 3rd rate rock songs, the seeming indifference of the (now former) president and standing committee to the serious issues brought up by faithful pastors, the political sophistry in the guise of a "meditation and devotion" before the presidential election; all of these things were rather disturbing, yet when Harrison was elected and took the microphone, it was as if all of the nonsense hushed.

"You have kept your long-standing tradition of electing sinners to this office."

With an acknowledgement of the hurt which filled many hearts at that place and time, President Harrison spoke words of healing and forgiveness, and I again remembered that confessional Lutheran doctrine, at its heart, isn't about angry polemics. How easy it is to forget that confessional teaching and living loses its very foundation without compassion, kindness, and forgiveness, for these are the very things which we see revealed by God through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God and may President Harrison faithfully lead our synod and all of its congregations in living a life of repentance through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

An Order of Prayer Before Holy Communion

Read John 1:1-18 understanding that this same Word of God, who has become flesh is united with the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper.

Lord,
I have been unfruitful today
I have not lived up to your Law's demands.

Many times I have rejected your sanctifying grace,
I have not clung to Christ alone,
I am still struggling with the Old Adam.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a miserable sinner.

For the sake of your sorrowful passion, Have mercy upon me and upon the whole world.

Oh Son of God, you have revealed to your Christian Church that you have delivered your body to be broken, and your blood to be shed for the forgiveness of sins, so that we may live in the hope of sharing in your resurrection. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, Have mercy upon us by your Holy Sacrament. Your Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church thanks you for inviting us to this heavenly and spiritual banquet, where your Body is true food, and your Blood is true drink.

Oh Heavenly Comforter, the Holy Spirit of Truth, we thank you for revealing through the Word of God that this simple, yet heavenly and unfathomable, bread and cup offers us the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus Christ, you who are Son of God, God the Son, and son of Mary, we praise you, for you have died for our sins on the agonizing cross. This revelation of your love, shows us that you payed the ultimate price for our attendance at your Holy Supper. In fact, no supper has ever been so costly; therefore, we know that you are delighted to see your children around your table. Gather your Church together Oh Lord, as a mother hen gathers her chicks. Lord Jesus Christ, Grant that we may eat your body and drink your blood, to the saving of our souls and bodies.


Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, and Your will be done

On Earth as it is in Heaven,

Give us this day our Daily bread,

And Forgive us of our sins,

As we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation.

But deliver us from evil. Amen


Heavenly Father,
Clothe your church with Robes of righteousness, Through the forgiveness of our sins, in Christ Jesus, that all who attend your supper throughout the whole Church on Earth may receive you with faith in your precious promises. All of this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit eternally.

Amen.

Wilhelm Loehe's excellent Eucharistic Exhortation found in his Pastor's devotional classic _Seed-Grains of Prayer_

"DEARLY Beloved! Forasmuch as we purpose to come to the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein He hath given us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink, it becometh us diligently to examine ourselves as Saint Paul exhorteth. For this Holy Sacrament hath been instituted for the special comfort and strengthening of those who humbly confess their sins, and who hunger and thirst after righteousness. But if we thus examine ourselves, we shall find in us nothing but sin and death, from which we can in no wise set ourselves free. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ hath had mercy upon us, becoming incarnate for our sins' sake, that so He might fulfill for us the holy will and law of God, and for us and our deliverance suffer death and all that we by our sins have deserved. And to that end that we should the more confidently believe this, and be strengthened by our faith in cheerful obedience to His will, He took bread, and when He had given thanks He brake it, saying, "Take and eat, this is My Body which is given for you," that is to say, I have taken upon Myself human nature, and all which I do and suffer, I do and suffer for you. It is all for you, and unto your certain knowledge and testimony of this, I give you My Body to eat. After the same manner, also, He took the cup, and when He had given thanks,* He gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of it; This cup is the New Testament in My Blood, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins; this do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me," that is to say, since I have interested Myself in you, and have taken your sins upon Me, I shall offer Myself for sin unto death, shed My Blood, work out for you all grace and the pardon of your sin, and so set up a new testament wherein your sin is forgiven you and will be no more remembered eternally. Unto your certain knowledge and testimony of this, I give you My Blood to drink.

Therefore, who eateth of this bread, and drinketh of this cup, firmly believing the words of Christ, and the evidences which he receives of Christ, dwelleth in Christ, and Christ in Him, and hath eternal life.We should also do this in remembrance of Him, showing His death, that He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification, and rendering unto Him most hearty thanks for the same, take up our cross and follow Him; and, according to His commandment, love one another even as He hath loved us. For we are all one bread and one body, even as we are all partakers of this one bread and drink of this one cup. For, as from many berries all crushed together, one wine and one drink comes forth; and from many grains one flour is ground and one bread or loaf is baked, so also all who are members of Christ through faith shall in brotherly love, for Christ our Redeemer's sake, be one body and meat and drink in deed, not in words alone, but in very deed and truth, as St. John teacheth (1. John 3). Showing forth faithfully this relation one to another without shadow of deception. To all this may the Almighty and merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ help us by His Holy Spirit. Amen."

This is a beautiful example of Loehe's liturgical zeal. This was written by the German Pastor who sent CFW Walther and Martin Stephan to America. Walther would later be the first president of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. I'm still awaiting Loehe's _Aphorisms On the New Testament Offices and their Relationship to the Congregation—On the Question of Church’s Polity_ (1849) in the mail.

On Confession and Absolution

"Only those things have been recounted whereof we thought that it was necessary to speak, in order that it might be understood that in doctrine and ceremonies nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Church Catholic."
-Conclusion of the Augsburg Confession

"For this life, is in truth wholly devoted to repen­tance, penthos and wailing. This is why it is necessary to re­pent, not merely for one or two days, but throughout one's whole life."
-St. John Chrysostom's De Compunctione I

"Therefore, if you live in repentance, you walk in Baptism, which not only signifies such a new life, but also produces, begins, and exercises it."
-Luther's Large Catechism

I firmly believe that Lutherans should be directed to read the church fathers more often. Not because they add to the scriptures or bear some authority outside of them but because if we read them more we would be more confident that we have maintained the apostolic doctrine and that our Evangelical Lutheran Church is or is within that same church which was born on pentecost and has flowed not from the 16th century but throughout the ages.

On Confession and Absolution, Father Luther teaches, not a different doctrine, but the same one as Chrysostom in his admonition to confession:

"In the first place, I have said that besides the Confession here being considered (Confession and absolution to a Pastor) there are two other kinds, which may even more properly be called the Christians' common confession.They are (a) the confession and plea for forgiveness made to God alone and (b) the confession that is made to the neighbor alone. These two kinds of confession are included in the Lord's Prayer, in which we pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" (Matthew 6:12), and so on."
-Luther's Admonition to Confession


"'Whose sins you shall forgive,' He says, 'they are forgiven them: whose sins you shall retain, they are retained' [John 20:23].

What greater power is there than this? ...The Father has given all the judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men."
-St. John Chrysostom's Homily on John (86:4)

"Tell your sin to God alone: 'Before You alone have I sinned, and I have done what is evil in Your sight' [Psalm 50(51):4]; and your sin will be forgiven."
-Chrysostom's Homilies on Penance 3:4

I'm concerned that this is a subject which modern Lutherans have forgotten. Sure, we have our common confession in the mass, but what has become of the church which confesses:

"Confession in the churches is not abolished among us; for it is not usual to give the body of the Lord, except to them that have been previously examined and absolved. And the people are most carefully taught concerning faith in the absolution, about which formerly there was profound silence. Our people are taught that they should highly prize the absolution, as being the voice of God, and pronounced by God's command."

The act of examination before absolution points to individual confession and absolution. Have we entered another era of what Melanchthon called "profound silence"; therefore, I leave you with this:

"Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.'” -John 20:21-23

"And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." -James 5:15-16

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." -Ephesians 4:32


"Rather, we give this counsel: If you are poor and miserable, then go to Confession and make use of its healing medicine. He who feels his misery and need will no doubt develop such a longing for it that he will run toward it with joy. But those who pay no attention to it and do not come of their own accord, we let them go their way. Let them be sure of this, however, that we do not regard them as Christians."
-Luther's Exhortation to Confession

Hymns and Confession/Doctrine and Practice

I found out about a hymn by Wilhelm Loehe which is in the LSB (Lutheran Service Book). However, due to our synod publishing house's greediness (I'm speaking facetiously), only folks who have a copy of the Hymnal may read it. They could at least give us samples of new additions to our synodical hymnary on the web. It would probably incline people to want a bound copy. I, possibly wrongly, assume Wilhelm Loehe wouldn't have wanted his hymn in praise of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the altar to become a bought and traded commodity. There is no other English Translation I've found, but I snooped this small portion from the google monster:


The sacrament God gives us
Binds us in unity,
Joins earth with heav’n beyond us
Time with eternity. (LSB 639, st. 3)

-Wilhelm Loehe's Wide Open Stands the Gates Adorned with Pearl.


...and this is INCREDIBLY amazing (amazingly stupid) CPH has also copywrited part of St. Thomas Aquinas's Thee We Adore, O hidden Savior, Thee (How is that possible?)

Here's a pasted example from hymnary.org:

LSB 640: Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior

1 Thee we adore, O hidden Savior, Thee,

Who in Thy Sacrament art please to be;

Both flesh and spirit in thy presence fail,
Yet here Thy presence we devoutly hail.

(Sts. 2 and 3 copyrighted)

4 Fountain of goodness, Jesus, Lord and God:
Cleanse us, unclean, with Thy most cleansing blood;
Increase our faith and love, that we may know
The hope and peace which from thy presence flow.

5 O Christ, whom now beneath a veil we see,
May what we thirst for soon our portion be:
To gaze on Thee unveiled and see Thy face,
The vision of Thy glory, and Thy grace.

Amen.

-Thomas Aquinas/CPH's(lol) Thee We Adore, Hidden Savior thee

Anyways, I was thinking about how our hymnals are a type of confession of faith. Hymns, ideally, teach from the word of God; therefore, I wonder if a synodically approved hymn could be considered a confession of it's faith. I'm thinking of the historical example of the LBW (Lutheran Book of Worship). The Missouri Synod began it's creation yet didn't sanction the finished product. It's use was approved by the ELCA though, and I believe most ELCA liturgical congregations still use it.

Is the way we worship the way we believe?

This IS my body. This IS my Blood.

What saves in the Lord's Supper?

Faith but passively. Not subjective faith, or a Person's act or work of faith, but the object of that faith which in the Lord's Supper is Christ. We believe that Christ himself's body and blood is also bread and wine in the Supper. (SmalcaldArticles III:1) There is a sacramental union, which is beyond the scope of reason, and therefore can only be apprehended by faith. We believe him when he says, this is my body and this is my blood, and most importantly, when he speaks the words: given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. We hold also that this same body and blood which we hold, or recieve on the tongue, or drink from the chalice (or even from those awfull irreverent eyesoars... plastic cups) is his body and blood which there, at that time, place, and location offers the forgiveness of sin to the faithful communicant (one who trusts Christ's simple words). To those who do not believe this, Christ in the Lord's Supper is a stumbling block. In that case, the reception of the body and blood of Christ condemns those who don't believe in his true presence and true forgiveness.

How can we believe such an insane notion?

We can believe this because we understand that the right hand of God is everywhere and that the word has BECOME flesh, not that the word inhabited flesh, which is the error of Nestorius and Zwingli. The two natures cannot be comprehended as separate after the hypostatic union which began at the Annunciation. The person of Jesus Christ must be at one time, fully divine and fully human. Time and eternity have become one in Christ or our eternal salvation is not a reality. The infinite has entered the finite and will never again be seperated from it.

Reason cannnot lead to such revelations but only the word of God and it's explicit, and as secularists and radically reformed "Christians" claim, irrational teaching.

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"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and
my thoughts than your thoughts."
-Isaiah 55:8-9