From
Living Theology in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Volume 2, Number 3
Pentecost 1997
Reflecting Faith in Worship: The Use of the Means Of Grace
Randall
R. Lee
In considering The Use of the Means
of Grace: A Proposed Statement on the
Practice of Word and Sacrament, the voting members of the 1997 Churchwide
Assembly will do nothing less than consider the very essence of what it means
to be the Church of Jesus Christ. [This
issue of Let’s Talk was put together before the Assembly.] For Lutherans, who define the Church as the
assembly of believers gathered around the Word proclaimed and the Sacraments
rightly administered, this conversation should be of ultimate importance. Unfortunately such conversation has
virtually been silenced by preoccupation with the ecumenical decisions (also
important, of course) also placed before the assembly in August.
Interestingly, however, the debate
that has occurred regarding the practice of Word and Sacrament among us has
centered not on the issues of infant communion, the frequency of celebrating
Holy Communion, or even the means of distributing the Sacrament. In part this may be due to the fact that the
document is understood to be descriptive rather than prescriptive
of worship practice in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. That is, The Use of the Means of Grace seeks to support liturgical practice
throughout this church by describing appropriate usage rather than attempting
to legislate it. Some will argue that
this is the document’s fatal flaw. But
it is also the reason that the document is likely to be approved in
Philadelphia, precisely because it does not attempt to force congregations to
adopt a specific custom. Given the fact
that less than one-quarter of the congregations of this church celebrate the
Eucharist weekly is just one example of how difficult such legislation would be
if attempted.
The
disturbing nature of the debate which has occurred, however, centers around the
centrality of Sunday as the day for Christian worship. In transmitting The Use of the
Means of Grace to the 1997 Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA Church
Council listed only one recommendation for editing the text of the document,
namely that the word “Sunday” be deleted from principle number seven, a
reference to the reading of the Holy Scriptures as part of worship. The concern expressed by many is that
mid-week worship services or Saturday evening services will somehow be
diminished if reference is made especially to worship on Sunday.
But
as Gordon Lathrop reminds us in Holy Things,
for Christians Sunday is the original feast day, a true celebration setting
this day apart from all others in the week.
As the first day of the week, images of creation and light shape our
understanding of this day. Because
Sunday is also the day of resurrection and serves as a constant reminder of the
central importance of Easter to the entire year and to the events of our
redemption. Hence Sunday has
traditionally been considered the “eighth day” (John 20) of the week, complete
with images of breaking open a good but fallen creation in order that all of us
may be transformed by the power of Jesus’ resurrection as the community gathers
for worship. In a very real sense, the
life of the baptized constantly flows from this day and brings us back to it,
consecrating the week and hallowing all of life and vocation.
Clearly
there are often sound pastoral reasons for scheduling worship on a day other
than Sunday. Increasing numbers of
people, for example, are required to work on Sundays, making attendance at worship
impossible. Others travel on the
weekends and appreciate the opportunity to worship during the week. I certainly do not want to advocate for the
elimination of these worship opportunities.
But I do believe there is a disturbing trend leading us away from a full
appreciation of the centrality of Sunday for Christians. One needs only to look at the high levels of
participation at Saturday afternoon “masses of anticipation” in the Roman
Catholic Church for confirmation of this growing practice. Frankly, the centrality of Sunday is also
endangered by rubrics governing the calendar in Lutheran Book
of Worship. The
unique (dare I say peculiar) Lutheran practice of allowing lesser festival and
commemorations to supplant Sundays when the color of the day is green is not
helpful in focusing our attention on the importance of Sunday.
The
anticipated adoption of The Use of the Means of
Grace by the 1997 Churchwide Assembly is indeed a
teaching moment in the life of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The document strongly asserts the
grace-filled inheritance of the baptized, the central place importance of the
proclamation of the Word of God in the gathered assembly, and the centrality of
the Eucharist in the life of the faithful.
It promises to be an effective teaching tool both in shaping the worship
practices of congregations and for instructing new believers about the means of
grace. My plea is that we are likewise
intentional about including in our catechesis regarding the assembly of believers
a strong emphasis on Sunday as the day on which the faithful gather as reminder
of our creation, redemption, and sanctification by a gracious and loving God.
Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America