Liturgical Supremacy
Although this is not an editorial, I think I do speak on behalf of our editors in saying that we are Liturgical Supremacists. We believe in the inherent superiority of the traditional liturgy over and against “contemporary worship,” all its works, and all its ways. We are not egalitarian where it comes to worship any more than is our Lord, who in no uncertain terms, expressed His own “worship preference” for skillful artwork, clerical vestments, dignity in leading worship, bells, incense, and a penchant for beauty and expensive materials (see especially Exodus 25-31).
But even though “God said it” is enough, we can observe the many benefits of the traditional liturgy that are objective and observable.
The Liturgy is Biblical
We Christians believe the Bible to be God’s inspired Word. We Lutherans believe and confess:
“the Prophetic and Apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the pure, clear fountain of Israel, which is the only true standard by which all teachers and doctrines are to be judged.”
Suffering the reproach and mockery of the world and of liberal heresies and sects, we believe the Word of God is supernatural. And thus, worship should be centered on and grounded in Holy Scripture rather than emotional outbursts and ginned up excitement as is common in non-liturgical forms and in non-hymnic “praise and worship songs.” A glance at Divine Service 3 in Lutheran Service Book reveals thirty biblical citations - not counting the lectionary readings themselves (typically an Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel, not to mention the Introit and gradual (typically drawn from the Psalms) and the creeds (laden with biblical phraseology), and traditional, Bible-grounded hymnody (as well as traditional liturgical preaching - which further explicates the scriptural texts).
In other words, the traditional liturgy is not just dripping with Scripture, it is saturated with it!
This is in stark contrast to “contemporary worship” that almost always places emotion over and against the Bible, seeking and confusing dopamine hits vs. the objective and supernatural power of the Word of God.
The Liturgy is Catechetical
The Liturgy teaches theology. And even more specifically, liturgical ceremony is “needed to this end alone that the unlearned be taught [what they need to know of Christ]” (Ap 24:3-4).
Much of the ritual of the traditional liturgy serves as a nonverbal confession of Jesus, especially when such liturgical forms are used in their fullness: the people reverencing the altar by bowing or genuflecting ,folding their hands and bowing their heads for prayer, genuflecting at “and was made man” during the creed, bowing the head at the name of Jesus, crossing oneself at various points in the liturgy, bowing for the Gloria Patri, crossing one’s lips at the beginning of Matins, crossing forehead, lips, and heart before the Gospel reading, seeing and smelling the fragrant incense wafting heavenward, and kneeling at various points including the reception of the Holy Sacrament. For his part, the celebrant could well be doing all of the above plus reverently kissing the altar, elevating, and genuflecting, and crossing the elements during the consecration, the ringing of hand-bells, the celebrant’s signing the congregation with the sign of the cross, leading prayers from the orans position while facing the altar ad orientem, while preaching and proclaiming while versus populum, facing the people.
Our traditional liturgical vestments also teach by means of rich symbolism, confessing the Office of the Holy Ministry and covering up the distinctiveness of the man - doing so in a way that defies the modern notion in many Christian churches that preaching is permitted by anyone who has knowledge and a good speaking voice.
These rich liturgical elements take us out of our mundane, pedestrian life and draw us into the realm of the holy - right here on earth, incarnationally, and in a way that teaches: verbally and nonverbally.
The Liturgy is Formative
The liturgy provides a pattern that shapes what we believe, and what we believe provides a pattern, in turn, of how we worship. This is the ancient principle of Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi (the Law of Prayer is the Law of Belief). How can we not believe this, since the liturgy is biblical and catechetical, how can some other alternative be better?
A common objection goes like this: Look at the ELCA, the liberal Anglicans, and other mainline liturgical groups who use the traditional liturgy, and yet have female “pastors,” celebrate same-sex “marriages,” and deny the inspiration of Scripture. Therefore, since the liturgy is “no guarantee” of orthodoxy, it is just one more form of worship among many. All forms of worship are equal.
But this is faulty reasoning. First of all, nowhere does “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi” employ the word “guarantee” or deny the existence of exceptions. To make comparisons, one must logically compare similar things. To compare an ELCA congregation with a woman “pastor” to an LCMS congregation with a male pastor is comparing apples to oranges. Better would be to compare a faithful ELCA congregation (there may be a few left) to a faithful LCMS parish. Or alternatively to compare a bad ELCA congregation that uses the traditional liturgy vs. one that does not.
Nor is a woman “pastor” traditional. It is not liturgically traditional to cross-dress a woman in male garb and have her lead worship. This is a recent innovation and not something that was “handed over” (traditio). But all things being equal, biblical forms of worship are better than non-biblical forms of worship. Perhaps a person hearing the Word in the liturgy - even if the preaching and certain elements of that liturgy are compromised or even ruined - may benefit through the supernatural nature of the Word of God. In other words, which would be better: a liberal Episcopal service that includes readings from the Bible, or rather readings from the Koran or secular poetry? Which is the “more excellent way” - a liturgy based on the Bible, or a liturgy not based on the Bible?
An analogy can be drawn from parenting. We all know people who grew up in unbelieving homes who converted to Christianity. We also know people who grew up in devout Christian homes who left the faith. Do we conclude that all forms of parental religious leadership, oversight, and teaching are equal? Do we argue that it makes no difference if we read the Bible, pray with, and teach the catechism to our children, as well as bringing them to church vs. doing none of these things? After all, raising your child to be a Christian is “no guarantee” of future orthodoxy.
We all know someone who smoked like a chimney from childhood, living to be in his nineties, while we also know people who died young with lung cancer who never smoked at all. Do we conclude that it therefore makes no difference whether we smoke or not? This is the fallacy of drawing conclusions from the exceptions rather than seeing exceptions as proving the rule.
The Liturgy is Continuity
We Lutherans are often maligned as being part of a church founded by Luther in the sixteenth century. This is simply untrue. The Lutheran Church is a misnomer, an insult placed on us by Eck and other papal theologians, a name that stuck. We have always asserted our catholicity, while distinguishing ourselves from the Roman Deviation by means of the term “Evangelical.” We are Evangelical Catholics, those who have restored the more ancient biblical Catholicism of our ancestors. I don’t have the reference, but I recall reading that during the 1970s ecumenical dialogue between Lutherans and Roman Catholics, one of the latter theologians quipped that the Lutherans were much more versed in patristics. We are particularly sensitive to the charge of innovation, as we were being lied about as the Diet of Augsburg of 1530 was approaching. Indeed, we denounce innovation and novelty whether in our theology or practice:
In doctrine and ceremonies nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Church Catholic. For it is manifest that we have taken most diligent care that no new and ungodly doctrine should creep into our churches.
~ AC Conclusion 5
Indeed, many editions of the Book of Concord include a compendium of quotes from the fathers known as the Catalog of Testimonies. And that continuity is expressed in worshiping according to the traditional liturgy of the ancient church, the medieval church, and of the fathers of the Reformation. Non-liturgical worship among Lutherans is a new phenomenon, so innovative and new so as to be considered an ecclesiological fad. Contemporary worship is like the Frisbee, the Hula-Hoop, or the yo-yo - toys that come and go according to popularity and marketing. The traditional liturgy, more like a pair of Oxfords or a classic blue blazer or pair of standard blue-jeans, never goes out of style. It has been practiced by people of every age, nationality, language, and locale. And indeed, there are regional variations, but this is more like the closeness of the languages of Swedish and Norwegian rather than comparing German to Mandarin.
By not chasing after fads, by our pastors not wearing khakis in the chancel one year, skinny jeans the next, and perhaps a skirt five years from now, we see something unchanging, anchored, and dependable - so unlike our crazy, ever-changing world. We can see drawings from the age of the Reformation, the medieval era, or even the early centuries of the church, and see how closely we resemble our fathers and mothers in the faith. We are relieved of the burden of re-inventing ourselves every generation, every decade, or even every year - as the world constantly nudges us (when it isn’t giving us a violent shove).
Young people - whose lives are often confused with blurred lines and mixed signals - truly need constancy. Our liturgy and liturgical forms connect us to our past. And when we get a new pastor, he will wear the same, or similar, holy vestments. And indeed, they are holy, for the word “holy” means set apart. Aside from rare exceptions, not even a Fort Wayne graduate will mow the grass in a chasuble. But we could well see a non-liturgical pastor walk right from the chancel to a barbecue or PTA meeting with no change of clothing. There is nothing wrong with the ordinary. Indeed, most of our time and attention in this life is ordinary. But inside the chancel is anything but ordinary: it is extraordinary; it is holy. And all that we do in the liturgy expresses a difference between the ordinary and the holy.
Article 24 of the Augsburg Confession and from the Apology are both characterized by an indignance at the suggestion of our opponents that we have “abolished the Mass” and done away with traditional rites and rubrics. Were our Reformation fathers to see how low some churches bearing the name “Lutheran” have sunk into the quicksand of secular Entertainmentism, they would use Article 24 to separate themselves from us, seeing that some of us are “Judas goats” instead of shepherds in service of the Good Shepherd. Any Lutheran pastor should be able to read the beginning of Article 24 from both the Augsburg Confession and the Apology without embarrassment, shame, or equivocation. If you could not do that, you should do some soul-searching and consider whether or not you should leave our confession and become Reformed or Non-denominational.
There is a reason the Reformation Fathers were so indignant at the charge being made against them of the very Mass Abolitionism that some in our midst have done to themselves voluntarily. The abandonment of the traditional liturgy is contrary to Article 24. It cannot be reconciled with non-liturgical Entertainment Worship.
In short, traditional liturgical worship handed over to us within our five hundred year tradition of Evangelical Catholicism is superior. And retaining that which is biblical, catechetical, formative, and expresses our confessional continuity is a non-negotiable. We cannot simply “agree to disagree” or see worship that is authentic, biblical, and in accordance with our Lutheran confessions as just one option among many.
We are not the same. Our worship is not equal. We will not be gaslighted to accept your claims to the contrary. You can try to manipulate us by expressing your “sadness.” You can try to bully us with institutional threats. You can try to wear us down with endless loops of logical fallacies. You can whine about our tone. We’re not buying it. We’re not going away. We’re not going to submit and be silent. We’re not going to endlessly dodge your false charges or go down rabbit holes of your design. We don’t care. Here we stand. We will continue to confess Christ, and we will continue confess why we worship the way we do. We will draw lines where lines must be drawn. If you don’t like it, there’s more where that came from.
All that said, when you have seen the folly of your ways, and when you stand erect as men and refuse to return in canine fashion to your vomit - you are welcome to join us in the Holy of Holies in a “more excellent way.” Christ has made us all worthy of the Lord’s presence by His worthiness, and we can join the “angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven” in the heavenly liturgy that extends to earth by virtue of Christ’s coming to us.
And we’ll be waiting for you as your brothers.