Sacraments

Awesome worship (explained)

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

O.K…time to share with you what happened at worship on Sunday.

I said that worship was awesome on Sunday.  Two things contributed to that:  (1) My wife and her team of singers lead worship with the guitars (with me playing as well…which I really enjoy); and (2) continue reading below…

…The Gospel text was from John 6:1-14 (The Feeding of the 5000).  This is one of my favorite miracle stories (next to the Resurrection of course).  I talked about the miracle as something that the people (the 5000 present) did not really get.  I mean…after they had eaten and realized what happened they thought Jesus was the prophet who had come into the world.  They probably likened him to Elisha who fed 100 in 2 Kings 4 (the OT text on Sunday).  In any case they wanted to take Jesus and make him king by force, but that is not what Jesus came to do.  They missed the point…they did not get who Jesus really was.

From that I moved to talking about Holy Communion…another great meal that we a lot of times miss.  We come forward for Holy Communion in a ritualistic kind of way and totally blow off the words that are being spoken.  I mean think about it…Holy Communion is about the death and resurrection of Jesus and the promise of the forgiveness of sins, but how many times do you REALLY really think about that when you receive the bread and the wine?  I urged the people on Sunday to think about this.

Then I went on to say:
“When you come here to Salem on the 1st or 2nd Sunday of the month you expect to receive Holy Communion.  You know that Holy Communion happens towards the end of the worship service.  You know the liturgy and how to respond.  Well…I am going to throw you off guard today.  It may be the 4th Sunday of the month but we are going to celebrate Holy Communion right now.  I did not get permission from the altar guild, the worship/music committee, the deacons or the church council.  We are just going to do it.”
I did not use the “normal” liturgy…actually I didn’t use any liturgy.  I went on to invite people to come forward whenever they felt ready to encounter a miracle.  I urged them to listen to the words “The Body of Christ broken FOR YOU…the Blood of Christ shed FOR YOU“.  I urged the people to listen to these words and hear the miracle…the forgiveness of your sins.  I invited them to pray before hand and confess if they would like and then come forward.  There was going to be nothing that was ritualistic about this celebration of Holy Communion.

Everyone came forward (except for one person) to partake in this miracle.  And after the worship I got so many comments from people who were very appreciative of what happened in worship (Praise be to God!).  I think people liked it because Holy Communion was not ritualistic.  Maybe some people were hearing for the first time the miracle of this sacrament…I don’t know…but what I do know is that is was powerful for me (and for my wife who was helping serve communion and obviously for a number of others).

Worship was awesome on Sunday.  And all I can say to summarize it is:  “PRAISE  BE TO GOD!”

-edh-

Encountering a miracle

/ The Pastor

In John chapter 6 a miracle takes place…

…Jesus feeds 5000 men with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

After everyone ate, people realized that something amazing happened, but didn’t truly know what happened (they wanted to forcibly make Jesus their king).

During Holy Communion do we truly pay attention to what is taking place or do we see Holy Communion only as some ritual that happens once/twice a month (or however often)?

Do we comprehend that a miracle take place?

Do we truly understand that we are getting a tangible, physical reminder that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins (The Body of Christ broken FOR YOU…The Blood of Christ shed FOR YOU)?

Or do we simple walk up front during worship to receive some bread/stale wafer and some wine/grape juice and feel that we have done what we are supposed to do on this particular Sunday of the month.

In Holy Communion a miracle happens.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

Holy Communion (Lay Presidency)

/ The Pastor / 30 Comments

I am going to throw something out there that may be a hot button topic for some (at least it is for some here in the SW MN Synod).  I hope that by me writing this I don’t get myself "in trouble" with the synod, but my guess is that they would want a pastor willing to speak their mind.  So I am going to go with that belief. 

The topic I want to throw out there is the issue of lay presidency.  If you don’t know what this is basically it is the celebration of Holy Communion where a lay person (instead of an ordained clergy person) presides.  In SW MN and other rural synods this is an important practice in some areas because of the lack of pastors (in the Minneapolis, St. Paul synods and other urban areas this is NOT an issue because of the plethora of additional pastors waiting for call or retired).  Sometimes small churches have to rely on lay leaders to lead their congregations in worship (and preside at communion).  Because of this problem in rural areas there are programs such as Faith Builders and SAMs (Synodically Authorized Ministers).  To limit lay presidency would be to limit a congregation’s access to the Lord’s Supper.

Recently, lay presidency has come under scrutiny among many bishops and has been a heated topic of discussion at synod assembly.  When I has on internship lay presidency was an issue.  My supervisor wanted me to preside at communion at least once before I left.  So he was able to get the bishop’s approval for one service (and lucky for me because the bishop before him would not have given the authorization).  I don’t get it.  A person can do a lot more damage preaching than they could presiding at communion.  As I heard a colleague quote someone, "Any idiot can read the words of institution" (not that pastor’s are idiots…you get my point).  As people (as pastors, SAMs or the like) we add nothing to the bread and wine.  Our faith (or knowledge) does not make communion any more effective or ineffective.  As our mantra says its "Word alone".  God’s Word does the work…not us.

Now…I do understand maintaining "good order" (that is the reason the Church requires ordained pastors to preside at communion) but if you have a SAM or some other trained person, why can’t they preside in extreme cases?  Rural ministry has a number of challenges that urban areas do not have (or do not understand).  We have small congregations fighting to stay open.  We have faithful, hungry people longing for the Lord’s Supper.  Why do we have to limit the leadership to a select group of people?

I guess the next question would be…then why go to seminary?  Why have a group of people set apart for the ministry of word and sacrament?  Why not just become a Synodically Authorized Minister…that would be cheaper?  The thing is…pastors do serve a purpose.  We are not any more special than anyone else.  Our calling is not any more important than the calling to be a garbage collector.  And lay presidency is not going to minimize the role of pastors.  All that lay presidency will do is allow flexibility in proclaiming this the gospel…something that is free…something that we have no right to "control".

So…where do you stand on this?  Is it okay for a lay person to preside at communion (in extreme situations)?  Should bishops be free to give this authorization?  Am I missing something in my argument?  I would love to hear from you.

I know there are many various different opinions out there and I am not trying to minimize those…I am simply stating my belief and current frustrations.  I honor other beliefs and encourage healthy dialog.  So leave you comments here…I (and others) would love to hear from you.

God bless!

-edh-