tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post6610934520483567027..comments2023-11-05T02:55:10.230-06:00Comments on Gottesdienst Online: "Style Doesn't Matter" or "In the Spirit of Martin Luther..."Pr. H. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16756503062523543708noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-76465095116229016702015-10-23T15:37:29.437-05:002015-10-23T15:37:29.437-05:00"Our churches are falsely accused of abolishi...<i>"Our churches are falsely accused of abolishing the Mass. Actually, the Mass is retained among us and is celebrated with the greatest reverence."<br />~ AC 24:1</i><br /><br />One particular liturgical obsession of some in the Missouri Synod, is the use of the word, “Mass” to refer to the Lord’s Supper. Some claim that Martin Luther’s denouncing the Mass as “the greatest and most horrible abomination” in his 1537 Smalcald Articles (Part II, Art. II) refers to the Roman Mass, and not the use of the word, "Mass," itself, as in Luther's 1526 "<i>Deutsche Messe</i>,” which had been purged of Roman heresies. <br /><br />However, as Missouri Synod Lutheran, currently 3SVP, Rev. Daniel Preus discussed in his paper, “<a href="http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/PreusDanielLutherandtheMass.pdf" rel="nofollow">Luther and the Mass</a>" (<i>Logia</i>, 10:4, 2001,13-19):<br /><br />"By 1533, however, Luther came to the conclusion that 'mass' should no longer be used in reference to the sacrament of the altar. Luther’s Letter Concerning His Book on the Private Mass [AE:38, 139-214; WA 38:195-256] is very illuminating in regard to his distinction between the two. In this letter Luther provided a definition of the term 'mass' that clearly drives a wedge between mass and sacrament. According to Luther, 'mass' refers <br /><br /><i>"to what the priest does alone at the altar, to which no ordinary Christian or layman adds anything. For they indeed know that no layman or ordinary Christian can celebrate mass and they will not allow it. Nor do they allow it to be or to be called a mass when a layman receives the sacrament; but they . . . alone celebrate mass; all other Christians simply receive the sacrament and do not celebrate mass."</i><br /><br />"The word 'mass,' Luther believed, should be defined as the sacrifice that the priest offers for sin. It should never be used to speak of that sacrament which grants to believers the body and blood of Christ and the forgiveness of sins. He spoke of the time when he himself could not differentiate between the two: <br /><br /><i>"For me mass and sacrament at the altar were one and the same thing, as they were at that time for all of us. Yet they are not one and the same thing. It is the mass when I sacrifice the sacrament to God for my sins and the sins of others as a work performed by human beings (whether they be evil or godly) . . . it is the sacrament when I receive from the priest the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine."</i><br /><br />"Luther was convinced that the use of the terms 'mass' and 'sacrament' interchangeably has resulted in great confusion, and that the only way to provide a clear understanding of the nature of the Lord's Supper is to stop calling it the mass. <i>"Indeed, I wish and would very much like to see and hear that the two words 'mass' and 'sacrament' would be understood as being as different as darkness and light, yes, as different as devil and God."</i> Again Luther prayed, <br /><br /><i>"May God grant to all devout Christians such hearts that when they hear the word 'mass,' they might be frightened and make the sign of the cross as though it were the devil's abomination; on the other hand, when they hear the word 'sacrament' or 'Lord's Supper' they might dance for pure joy…"</i><br /><br />“Lutherans tempted to use ‘mass’ as a synonym for the Lord's Supper should take seriously Luther's observations on the difference between ‘mass’ and ‘sacrament.’<br /><br />“In 1537, when Luther's Smalcald Articles appeared, he continued to view sacrament and mass as inimical to each other. Mass and sacrament are so opposed to each other that Luther dealt with them under two different headings.”<br />Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-13962109617603909922015-10-23T09:41:37.740-05:002015-10-23T09:41:37.740-05:00Brother Beane-
we are making use of the German Mas...Brother Beane-<br />we are making use of the German Mass in Hamel this weekend. In the bulletin, this portion of the Preface to that Order of service is printed.<br /><br />“In the first place, I would kindly and for God’s sake request all those who see this order of service or desire to follow it: Do not make it a rigid law to bind or entangle anyone’s conscience, but use it in Christian liberty as long, when, where, and how you find it to be practical and useful. For this is being published not as though we meant to lord it over anyone else, or to legislate for him, but because of the widespread demand for German masses and services and the general dissatisfaction and offense that has been caused by the great variety of new masses, for everyone makes his own order of service. Some have the best intentions, but others have no more than an itch to produce something novel so that they might shine before men as leading lights, rather than being ordinary teachers – as is always the case with Christian liberty: very few use it for the glory of God and the good of the neighbor; most use it for their own advantage and pleasure. But while the exercise of this freedom is up to everyone’s conscience and must not be cramped or forbidden, nevertheless, we must make sure that freedom shall be and remain a servant of love and our fellowman. Where the people are perplexed and offended by these differences in liturgical usage, however, we are certainly bound to forego our freedom and seek, if possible, to better rather than offend them by what we do or leave undone. Seeing then that this external order, while it cannot affect the conscience before God, may yet serve the neighbor, we should seek to be of one mind in Christian love, as St. Paul teachers (Rom. 15:5-6; 1 Cor. 1:10, Phil, 2:2). As far as possible we should observe the same rites and ceremonies, just as all Christians have the same baptism and the same sacrament of the altar and no one has received a special one of his own from God. Luther’s Works Vol. 53 p.61<br /><br />The Rev. BT Ballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14699707490165113926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-77050711990965436912015-10-23T07:09:35.229-05:002015-10-23T07:09:35.229-05:00Well said. Thank-you. Well said. Thank-you. Rev. Michael Monterastellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16445244885038398811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-45627954776172361592015-10-23T05:08:46.248-05:002015-10-23T05:08:46.248-05:00Wasn't it John Lennon who said "We're...Wasn't it John Lennon who said "We're bigger than God" ?<br />Timothy C. Schenkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11770741345144496175noreply@blogger.com