Reflections
ON WORSHIP AND LITURGY
Bob Busch, Worship Committee
Reflections: - 106
It's a rather long trip from New York to Bethlehem. First, there's the long flight to Tel Aviv (about 12 hours), and after one goes through a rather tough security check, you take a bus for about an hour up gently rolling hills to Jerusalem. After settling into your hotel (surely much fancier than the mud hut the pregnant Mary and her husband Joseph probably encountered), you have several choices. You can go to the Arab bus station outside the Damascus Gate and get on a bus marked "Bet Lehem" (in Arabic) and sit in the bus and wait - ask the driver when the bus leaves and he'll tell you "when its full." Or you can join a guided tour and make a long stop at a souvenir shop. Or you can walk the 5 or 6 miles in about 2 or 3 hours past Rachel's tomb and past the shepherd's fields. But in each case you'll have to cross the border from Israeli lands to Palestinian territory. And plan on spending a good bit of time doing this as, at best, it's a daunting and treacherous task. And leave early in the day as you are not allowed to stay in Bethlehem overnight, so you'll have to get back to Jerusalem by nightfall.
The little town of Bethlehem, at the edge of the Judean desert, is hardly dreamless or still (as the hymn puts it) for it's a typical Arab town - a jumble of shops, street vendors and crowds of people. But you make your way to Manger Square and to the Church of the Nativity - hardly peaceful as Christians, Orthodox and Muslims still squabble over every inch of the place. But we persevere - and finally reach the right side of the main altar where 14 steep steps lead down to a small grotto beneath the altar. There we find a silver star in the floor where, legend has it, Jesus was born. The grotto is surprisingly small, but the people there are generally rather quiet and subdued, reverent, praying, or perhaps quietly singing "Silent Night" - and some are just curious tourists.
Then it's back to reality. After leaving the grotto and the church you'll be bombarded with vendors selling every imaginable carving of olive wood, wooden and plastic stables and all sorts of shawls, crosses, souvenir books and postcards.
But there's another way to get to Bethlehem. Like the Magi, we can follow a star. A star of wonder, star of night, a star with royal beauty bright, guiding us to God's perfect light. But what happens when you've spent a lifetime following a star and discover that it doesn't lead to something grand, royal or glorious, but to the backyard of a barn - a stable where animals are kept and fed with hay? There, instead of a great palace, you find a baby being held in the arms of his young mother. It's nothing like what you expected or anticipated, but that baby in his mother's arms makes all the difference. The God of the universe, with no limitations, was born in that humble stable and looked at us through human eyes, and grew up like us, and finally died and rose to save us. For us Lutheran Christians, following that star is a lifelong experience - until that day when, in God's good time, we reach the stable and see Jesus face to face, and then we, with all the angels join in praise singing "Glory to God in the highest."
So, once again this Christmas, come and bring your friends, and follow the star with us as together we worship the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, and the promise of our salvation.
December 2008
Reflections - 105:
The festival of Christ the King has an interesting, but rather short, history. Some of us may have thought that the festival has been celebrated for many centuries, but in fact it is only about 85 years old. Pope Pius XI established Christ the King Sunday on December 11, 1925 to counter what he regarded as the destructive forces of the modern world: the rise of secularism in the west, the rise of communism in Russia, fascism in Italy and Spain, and the beginnings of Nazism in Germany. The date was set as the last Sunday in October coinciding with Reformation Sunday. Some think this date was intentionally established as an affront to Lutherans and other Protestants who celebrated the Reformation.
But, during the papacy of John XXIII, the second Vatican Council took place, and in 1969 the festival of Christ the King was moved to the last Sunday of the church liturgical year. So it no longer seemed a "Counter Reformation Day" celebration.
This new date proved to be more than just an ecumenical gesture, for by placing it at the end of the church year with its traditional eschatological (that means reflecting on "end time") emphasis, the festival now proclaims Christ the King as the joy of human hearts and the center of humankind.
The new date seems appropriate since the year began with the anticipation and hope of the coming Messiah, and now ends with the proclamation of Jesus' universal sovereignty. Christ the King is a triumphant conclusion to the church's liturgical year, yet also becomes a seamless transition to the Advent season of hope and expectation which begins the following Sunday.
So where do we at Saint Peter's stand? The day focuses us toward the crucified and risen Christ whom God exalted to rule over the whole universe. Christ rules supreme. As the Alpha and Omega, Christ is the beginning and the end, the center of the universe, and the ruler of all history. In him all things began and in Christ all things will be fulfilled. Christ will triumph over all. We stand with those of every age who confessed "Jesus Christ is Lord," and to that we joyfully sing (ELW 435:4):
Yea, Amen, let all adore thee,
high on thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
claim the kingdom as thine own,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou shalt reign, and thou alone.
November 2008
Reflections - 104:
I think many of us at Saint Peter's know that Pastor Mark S. Hanson is the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA. But I also think that many of us don't know much about him.
Born in Minneapolis in 1946, Mark graduated from Augsburg College, and was a Rockefeller Fellow at Union Theological Seminary in New York where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1972. Ordained in 1974 Bishop Hanson served congregations in Minnesota and was elected bishop of the Saint Paul Area Synod in 1995. He soon was elected Presiding Bishop of the ELCA and also President of the Lutheran World Federation. Married to Ione (Agrimson), and parents of 6 children, the Hanson's now live in Chicago.
To know Bishop Hanson is to read some of his writings. When asked about his message to mankind - believers or nonbelievers, he wrote: "I think right now we need to stop and listen to each other: to hear the agonies and joys of our life stories. And hear where those stories are different and where they intersect."
When asked "What is the meaning of life?" the Bishop responded: "As Christians, what we say is, the meaning of life for me is Jesus the Christ. And yet, for non-Christians, that makes no sense. How can a person become the meaning of life? Because this one embodies the love of God…. You begin to see that this one, Jesus, is the meaning of my life. He's going to rearrange all the realities of life. He's going to confront all the boundaries of life. He's going to cause me to live my life entirely differently if I'm serious about being his follower. And it probably means that he's going to lead me into places of suffering, and struggle, and violence of death to bear witness to God's desire for peace and justice. So to go from a person to meaning ultimately shapes the whole way I'm called to live my life and lead this church."
And about religious leaders, he wrote: "I believe religious leaders must always, at the same time, be three things: proclaimers of the truth, conservers of the tradition, and reformers. As a Lutheran, our Church was born as a reforming movement within the Catholic Church. Martin Luther, for whom we're named, was a reformer. The Reformation for us did not stop in the sixteenth century. It is part of our ongoing identity."
When asked about faith, the Bishop responded: Faith for me always becomes active in love. It's very passive at first, because I can't do anything to earn God's favor. God loves me because of who God is. God is merciful to me because of who Jesus is. But once I feel loved and embraced, then I will love others."
He has also said: "There are times when it may seem like we are out on our own in this world, that it is up to us to find within ourselves the resources, the energies to bring peace into the world. And then feeling inadequate, overwhelmed, discouraged, we can easily give up, withdraw into ourselves, tend to our personal issues and challenges, and just turn our backs and forget about the violent, struggling world. But what then do we do with Christ's words: "As the Father sends me, so I send you." We claim the promise, Christ's promise, that we are sent into the fearful and often violent world not on our own, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, as a community of faith.
You see, peace is not simply the absence of conflict. Peace is the presence of justice for all. No, you and I will not always agree on the way to peace, yet in the power of the Holy Spirit we are all sent into the violent world to be peacemakers."
We at Saint Peter's know Bishop Hanson from his having preached the William Reed Huntington sermon here is 2006 and by his presiding at our altar earlier this year. All of us who have met the Bishop are so very impressed with his amazing knowledge of the world-wide Lutheran church and by the grace, faith, sincerity and talent he displays to all of us.
I've been blessed to see him in action presiding over week-long church-wide assemblies three times now, and am always impressed how he "keeps his cool" in the midst of some of the controversial discussions at these assemblies. When I told him how awed I am by the way he conducts these large meetings of over 1,000 people, he graciously replied: "That comes from having raised 6 children." All of us are delighted that Mark Hanson is our Presiding Bishop, for he is truly a man of God who daily lives his life the way Christ, our Savior, has taught us.
October 2008
Reflections - 103:
As many of us know, Robert A. Rimbo, our colleague, neighbor, dear friend, and pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Central Park West) has been elected Bishop of our Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He took office on August 1 and will be installed at Central Synagogue (Lexington Avenue at 55th Street) on Sunday, October 12 at 3:00 PM. Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson will preach and preside at the festival Eucharist. Of course, everyone is welcome.
Bishop Rimbo has wide experience with Lutheran Liturgy having served as Executive Assistant to the Project Director for the publication of our beloved green Lutheran Book of Worship. He is the author of essays published in CrossAccent, Currents in Theology and Mission, and the popular worship planning guide Sundays and Seasons. Among the bishops recent writings are Worship Matters. Worship does matter, for as Bishop Hanson has written in the forward to the book "Worship is central to the Christian Life. The crucified and risen Christ is present at the center of the assembly gathered around the means of grace. Through the word proclaimed and sacraments celebrated, the Holy Spirit is at work. Lives are changed. Sins are forgiven. The alienated are reconciled. Strangers are welcomed. Unbelief gives way to faith. God is praised. Worship Matters!"
And if all of that is not enough, Bishop Rimbo writes a monthly column for The Lutheran magazine is a member of the Board of Directors of Trinity Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Liturgical Conference, an he was recently appointed as the ELCA representative to the ecumenical Consultation of Common Texts.
Now for a bit of history. Having along and varied career, the bishop, 57, attended Christ Seminary - Seminex and was ordained in 1976. He has served St. Paul Lutheran Church in Valley Stream, NY; Grace Church, Teaneck NJ; Antioch Lutheran Church in Farmington Hills MI; and St. Paul;' Lutheran Church, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI.. He spent several years as bishop of the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod before becoming pastor of Holy Trinity in NYC in 2005.
Bishop Rimbo and his wife Lois are the parents of two adult children: Deborah and Justin.
At the 2008 synod assembly which elected him Bishop, Rimbo told the assembly that he wanted to "create a culture of faith, rather than fear, abundance rather than scarcity, and focusing on what unites us rather than what divides us." He went on to say "I would persistently remind us that we are engaged in God's mission for the life of the world and we should not be timid but boldly proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen.
So welcome dear friend Bob, be among us dear friend, preaching, teaching, healing, leading and guiding as together we seek to work for the future of the kingdom of God.
September 2008
I've recently come across a book by Robert Alter, professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University California, Berkeley simply called; "The Book of Psalms." You might want to consider reading it this summer. In it he re-translates all 150 psalms with an eye toward translating the Hebrew of David's time into contemporary English. Alter seems especially interested in the synonym in the second verse, which strengthens the first verse. This art of parallelism has a "strong forward thrust" which makes many psalms seem more intense.
A thought about Psalm 23, so familiar to all of us (or is it, in Alter's translation?):
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
In grass meadows He makes me like down, by quiet waters guides me.
My life He brings back. He leads me in pathways of justice for His name's sake.
Though I walk in the vale of death's shadow, I fear no harm, for You are with me.
Your rod and Your staff - it is they that console me.
You set out a table before me in the face of my foes.
You moisten my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Let but goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for many long days.
Psalm 23 is probably the best known and loved of them all, for it speaks of God's love and faithfulness. In the early church it was generally read at baptisms and now it is often also read at funerals. In this psalm we see a metaphor - the shepherd at work as the leader, provider, and protector of his flock. Such a representation was rather common in teaching and preaching to the generally illiterate people of the time before Jesus.
This is how God is with God's people says the psalmist. God is like a shepherd and we are in God's constant care for God's goodness never fails - and so our lives are transformed to a life of worshipful praise.
Alter has tried to represent the Psalms in a kind of English verse that is readable as poetry yet something like the Hebrew of the day. In the King James' version, line 4 above "Yea, though I walk through the valley …….." contains 17 words and 20 syllables. Alter translates it closer to the early Hebrew which had only 8 words and 11 syllables - a better approximation of the Hebrew rhythm of the psalm.
In his book, Alter seems to invite readers to slow down, to pause, and to notice that we are dealing with a remarkable artistic practice - one that we might miss in a hurried reading because some of the lines have become so familiar to us. For example, did you notice that in Psalm 23 the word "Lord" only appears at the very beginning and at the very end of the psalm? Isn't that rather like our own lives - for we ask the Lord to be our shepherd at the beginning of life, and then, as our lives draw to a close, we ask God to allow us to dwell in God's holy presence forever.
July-August 2008
It's been well over a year since the people of God, assembling in worship at Saint Peter's, began using a new worship book, so perhaps now is a good time to reflect on it. As I see it, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) is not a ground-breaking book as was the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) of 1978, with its increased emphasis on Baptism, on the weekly celebration of the Eucharist, on the singing of Psalms, and the recovery of the liturgies of Holy Week. Our new book, though, is a splendid updating of the work begun thirty years ago.
Since LBW was introduced, music and language has significantly changed, and this too is reflected in ELW. In fact, there are 10 settings of the mass in the new book. We now have the three familiar settings of LBW as well as several newly composed settings, a bi-lingual setting, a Gospel setting, and one comprised of familiar hymn tunes. We've been using most of these settings to broaden our worship experience at Saint Peter's.
The new book is evangelical in that it is centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the good news of his life, death and resurrection. It is Lutheran because it embodies the Lutheran Confessions that the God we praise and trust is a triune God - and that this God has created and continues to sustain all things, has acted in Jesus Christ to save us, and has sent the Spirit to bring all people to faith through Word and Sacrament. And at the same time, it is ecumenical because faithful Lutheran worship is, at its very best, ecumenical for it encourages all Christians to place the gospel of Word and Sacrament at the heart of worship, and ELW is designed to foster unity without imposing uniformity.
The book's resources include Luther's Small Catechism as well as all 150 Psalms and many pieces of liturgical music in order to allow for greater flexibility in worship while using just one resource. And there are brief essays explaining sections of the book.
Rites and sacraments such as marriage and baptism are wonderfully updated and there is a healing liturgy which we at Saint Peter's find so meaningful.
The music section begins on page 335 with the Psalms (and 16 Psalm tones) followed by 89 pieces of service music. The 654 hymns contain many new and wonderful songs as well as many, many old favorites. Do you miss a favorite hymn or two? Not to worry, they are all still available for our use in electronic format. Just speak to Tom Schmidt if you have a special request.
Through all of this change though, the liturgy continues to be at the very heart of our public worship taking us back to our Jewish and early Christian roots, and it requires our active participation and praise of God as the gathered people who assemble to worship at Saint Peter's. You see, there are no bystanders in worship - each of us has a part: reading, singing, praying, serving, or perhaps just listening for this is our response to what God does among us.
So, where do we stand after more than a year of ELW? I'm generally pleased with our new worship book. I'm grateful for our new resources, and give thanks that our new book rests and builds on the solid liturgical foundations of our marvelous Lutheran heritage. How about you? What do you think?
May-June 2008
Many years ago while preparing a Good Friday Service of Devotion for the Lutheran church at which I was the organist, I came across a prayer by Abbe Michel Quoist, a French priest in a busy church in Le Havre. Private prayers, of course, should be personal, but in these busy days, moments of being alone with God seem to be very rare. I'd like to share Fr. Quoist's prayer as a starting point for our Good Friday devotions. While reading this prayer, be still before God, talk to God, and listen to God summoning you and me to himself, and then respond -- to God in love and service to one another. Abbe Quoist writes:
A few hours more, a few minutes more, a few instants more. For thirty-three years it has been going on. For thirty-three years you have lived fully, minute by minute. You can no longer escape, now: you are there; at the end of your life, at the end of your road.
You are at the last extremity, at the edge of a precipice. You must take the last step, the last step of love, the last step of life that ends in death. You hesitate. Three hours are long, three hours of agony, longer than three years of life, longer than thirty years of life.
You must decide, Lord, all is ready around you. You are there, motionless on your cross. You have renounced all activity other than embracing these crossed planks for which you were made. And yet, there is still life in your nailed body. Let mortal flesh die, and make way for Eternity.
Now, life slips from each limb, one by one, finding refuge in this still-beating heart, immeasurable heart, overflowing heart, heart heavy as the world, the world of sins and miseries that it bears.
Lord, one more effort. Humankind is there; waiting unknowingly for the cry of its Savior. Your brothers and sisters are there; they need you. Your Father bends over you, already holding out his arms. Lord, save us. Save us.
See. He has taken his heavy heart, and, slowly, laboriously, alone between heaven and earth, in the awesome night, with passionate love, he has gathered his life, he has gathered the sins of the world, and in a cry, he has given all. "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
Christ has just died for us. Lord, help me to die for you. Help me to die for them.
Amen.
March 2008
Those of us who took part in Jared's ordination last month were delighted to have been asked to be a part of this significant event in his life. And all of us at Saint Peter's were thrilled to attend this magnificent service of worship. And did you see the wonderful smile on Jared's face?
A liturgy of Holy Communion with the Rite of Ordination is always a celebration - for every Eucharist is a celebration - and a reminder of God's love in Jesus Christ. Yes, it was a marvelous and festive celebration. But just what is an ordination? Is it an admission to some secret society, or inviting someone into a special group of "higher ranking" people. No, it's just the opposite.
To me, "setting apart" a person at an ordination is firstly a service of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving to God for God's love, God's grace, and God's mercy. And it's a service of thanksgiving, to the people of God at Saint Peter's for putting their love, and their trust in Jared to be one of our pastors. For the people of God at Saint Peter's are entrusting our spiritual nourishment, our Christian education, and our religious well-being in Jared.
When the bishop places a stole around the neck of a person being ordained, it is like a yoke being placed around a team of oxen. And when the assembled pastors gather in their albs and stoles, they are affirming their own yokes as well as reminding Jared of the yoke he is accepting. To me it's a symbol of becoming a servant of the servants of God. Read the back of our worship bulletin carefully, and it will tell you that our people of God are the ministers of Saint Peter's. The pastors then become ministers to the ministers, or servants of the servants of God.
So welcome, dear Jared, wear your stole and clerical collar proudly, but always remember that God and the people of Saint Peter's are entrusting you to baptize our children, to marry our people in love, to pray with those who are ill, to care for our elderly, to be with our dying, and to help us bury those who have died.
And each time you consecrate the bread and wine remember that not only do the people of God at Saint Peter's put their trust in you, but that God puts God's trust in you to be a servant among us and, as a person of God, live, work and serve among us as one of God's holy and redeemed community of faith we gratefully know as "the people of Saint Peter's."
January 2008