Grace Notes 2022-09-14

I understand why some people are turned off by theology and doctrine. People often say to me, “I am a spiritual person too. I believe in God. I have experienced Him. But I experience Him in nature and in my own personal ways. Frankly, organized religion with all its dogmas and strictures isn’t what I experienced. I just don’t need all that.”

There is a sense in which such an objection makes sense and even bears true witness. When a person turns from an experience of the Divine to the Christian Creeds, they are indeed turning from something real to something less real. We can picture this in what happens when a person looks out over the ocean, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic. He is turning from something real to something less real. He goes from the wind and the waves to a sheet of colored paper.

But it is just here that you begin to see the importance of the map. The map is just a colored sheet, but it has two advantages over one person looking out over the sea. The map has been developed by thousands of sailors who have sailed the seas. Their experiences are also real, but collectively the map encompasses all those experiences, so that it gives a more complete understanding. And secondly, having a good map will be crucial if you want to get to some place on the shores of the Atlantic.

As long as we are content with walking along a beach and peering out at the ocean, our experiences will be more fun than looking a map. But if you want to get somewhere, you will quickly discover the advantage of having a good map.

Of course, we might not want to be getting somewhere. But God may wish otherwise for us…  (free and loose paraphrase of an argument made by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity)

Since You Asked…

What is meant by the term “liturgy”? 

(from the Greek, “work of the people” or “public service”): more than a set form of service or one particular service, the liturgy is the whole body of texts and music used for the worship of God. The Lutheran Book of Worship is the liturgy of many Lutheran churches in North America.  (from “Manual on the Liturgy” companion to the LBW, from Augsburg Pub.)

Our Lutheran liturgy involves the participation of all who are gathered: clergy, worship assistants, and laity. Worship is not a spectator sport. We have been gathered by God to receive from Him. And so in reverence, we give thanks by offering praise and thanksgiving to our Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Liturgical worship helps us all share in this.