Sunday Mass

Sunday Worship (Holy Mass)

Introduction

If you don’t know much about Lutheran churches, it is important to understand that we are simple Christians. We believe that God gives to us poor and contrite sinners His free grace in Jesus Christ. But that grace of Jesus comes to us in particular ways (the means of grace) that Jesus Himself created—His Word preached purely and His Sacraments administered rightly as Christ Himself gave them in the holy Gospel.

Holy Spirit Power

Have you ever wondered where the Holy Spirit can be found today? Don’t just take it from us; hear what Jesus Himself has to say about it. The Holy Spirit is working in the lives of penitent sinners, and He is working precisely in the Gospel gifts of Word and Sacrament which Jesus gave, just as Jesus on the night when He was betrayed foretold it. Jesus makes it clear to His disciples what specifically the Holy Spirit would be doing.

As described by Jesus in that passage, the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is collaboratively and powerfully at work to bring this Mystery of the Gospel of Christ to sinners (“for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you”), and this becomes ever more clear at Pentecost.

So much so, that without the Holy Spirit there would be no participation (no sharing) in Christ’s body through Baptism. Baptism, after all, is God’s work, not ours.

Without the Holy Spirit there could be no participation in (no sharing of) the one loaf (Christ’s body) or the one cup (Christ’s blood) that connects us to Christ and to one another.

Likewise, without the Holy Spirit there could be no faith to believe the Word proclaimed and the Word of Absolution declared by men to whom Jesus grants this authority. These are all the same reality of the Gospel coming to the sinner through the means of grace by the powerful witness of the Holy Spirit, who first gives us the birth from above (a birth “of water and the Spirit”) so that we can see these things and enter His kingdom.

Christ-centered Worship

All our hope rests firmly and eternally in Jesus Christ, who is our Righteousness before God. We rest in this Jesus who is our Hope and our Peace before God. We rest alone in His sacrifice for sinners on the cross—the once-for-all sacrifice for sins. We rest in His Word of promise attached to the three Sacraments He gave. Our worship practices show all of this in many ways, but this is particularly true of the Mass.

Divine Service Is Primary

For Lutherans worship is first and foremost about God coming down to where we are in order to serve us in our greatest need—giving us the forgiveness of sins.

Worship is primarily God serving us poor sinners, who receive His grace and mercy freely through the Gospel.

Worship is secondarily our response (prayer, praise, thanksgiving, sacrifice, offering, and service to others) to this Divine Service for us.

Our Response Is Secondary

Therefore, through this gift of forgiveness, we also receive life and salvation. Our response to this Gospel (this good news) is to:

• rejoice in the Lord,
• praise His Name forever, and
• serve one another and those in need around us.

That’s the Lutheran way of worship.

The Mass in History

Controversy and Confusion

Because the Mass has been around in the church since Christ instituted His holy Supper, we can expect that over those many generations some false teachings and practices may get introduced and get mixed up into it. It sparked controversy even before Christ instituted it.

Later we read that some who heard Jesus’ teaching struggled to grasp it, considering it a hard saying.

And some even refuesed to remain His disciples.

But controversy and unbelief do not change what the Mass is, as Jesus instituted it. Nor should the errors that creep into it from time to time prompt us to react so strongly against the error that we end up creating new errors, which would attempt to strip Jesus’ gift itself of its power and efficacy for the sinner, who, according to Jesus’ teaching (see above), needs to eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood.

Our understanding of this Sacrament, therefore, must begin and end with Jesus’ own teaching about what it is. Abiding in that teaching, as the faithful have always done, is our goal and aim.

Two Extremes to Avoid

There are actually many such errors (some newer ones) in how the Mass is celebrated among Christians today, so it is important that we identify some of the dangerous ways in which this holy Sacrament gets misunderstood or misused. In doing so, even Lutherans can get things wrong or introduce new-fangled approaches that are not in accord with Christ’s teaching. We must always be on guard against deceptions of the evil one, who loves to stir up division. We must remain faithful in our vigilance to handle the holy body and blood of Jesus with full devotion and reverence, knowing what it is that Christ gives us in them for our good.

The Danger of Papistic Ceremonialism

We never want to pretend to have power to create this miracle that transforms simple bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. Such power belongs only to God, but Jesus can and does wield that power in our midst each Sunday through His Word which the pastor speaks over the bread and wine, and therefore it is Jesus who makes it what He says it is. We don’t quibble or harbor doubt in our thinking about Jesus, who is both God and man, nor about His having such power even in our midst today.

In turn, these Ceremonialists complain that we refuse to support their theory of Transubstantiation and so attempt to call into question our faithfulness to apostolic belief and practice. To this charge we reply that God could use any number of a thousand ways to bring about this miracle by which the bread can rightly be called Christ’s body and the wine His blood. We simply don’t know how He does it, as God has not revealed it in His Word, but we believe Christ’s Word anyway. Our ignorance on such philosophical questions, where God’s Word is silent, is one reason we call it a Sacrament (“Mystery”).

The Danger of Protestant Rationalism

We take Christ’s Word literally. “This is My body.” But those we call Sacramentarians reject this approach. We believe that this is primarily because of the undue influence of Rationalistic thinking among these theologians, although we know that some of them would deny this.

In turn, the Sacramentarians may call us simplistic or even childish in our thinking, just because we take Jesus’ words simply and literally. However, being called a simpleton about this great mystery is actually a compliment to any of us who remember what Christ said about receiving the kingdom of God as little children. Simple trust in God and His Word, you see, is always the safest path.

Our Practice Today

Holy Mass (10 a.m. Sunday)

We celebrate the Mass every Sunday, and we use this historic form of worship handed down to us from many previous generations of Christians. If you’re new to Lutheran teaching and worship, our worship practices have a long, long history in the Church, and we don’t aim to change that anytime soon.

We take Jesus’ words simply and with utmost reverence and awe, when He tells us:

Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.

Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.

Simple words to say, but as spoken by our Lord, they carry the full weight of Divine authority and power. Christ tells us what this is, and we have no reason to doubt anything He says about it.

Other Labels for the Mass

There is both an incomprehensible mystery and life-imparting reality, along with heavenly joy and beauty, in all that happens during the observance of the Lord’s Supper, which has gone by various names in church history:

• The Eucharist
• Holy Communion
• The Breaking of Bread
• The Paschal Celebration/Feast
• The Divine Service
• The Divine Liturgy
• The Lord’s Supper
• The Sacrament of the Altar
• The Mass of the Faithful
• (et al)…

What our churches believe, teach, and confess about this holy Sacrament given by our Lord Jesus is that Christ (because He is almighty God the Son, co-equal in power and might with the Father and with the Holy Spirit) gives His true body and His true blood for us Christians to eat and to drink, as He Himself declared it to be so to His disciples. Therefore, we understand our beliefs and practices in this to be in keeping with biblical and historic church teaching and usage.

The Sacrament of Unity

However, we know that there is much confusion and no small amount of disagreement about the words of our Lord in the institution of this Sacrament. This greatly troubles and concerns us, as it should all Christians. Our unity in doctrine must have its basis in the clear Word of God, without the toxic influence of rationalism or mysticism to cast doubt on Jesus’ statements on this or any topic.

Therefore, and because of this widespread misunderstanding and disagreement among different Christian communities, and like other churches, we also practice Closed Communion.

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