Tag: worship

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The Uncultured Saints

Ep. 12: Adiaphora isn’t Adiaphora

Every single thing you do in church — both the traditions explicitly given in the Bible, but also the smaller stuff — should point you to Jesus. If it does, it’s good. If it doesn’t, it’s bad. But it’s definitely not meaningless. The things that we do, the space we do them in are all meaningful. They aren’t “worship” in and of themselves, but they help us understand and convey the truth of the doctrines we hold. What you believe influences what you do and what you do influences what you believe. When you believe a thing, it’ll change your behavior. When you behave a certain way, it’ll change how you think about it. 

 

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Pop. Culture & the Arts

Art Set Apart

art christian lutheran church

by Kelly Klages

As Lutheran Christians, we have a lot of freedom when it comes to using art in the church. You may have seen a wide variety of art forms in different churches you’ve encountered. But church art isn’t just a matter of style and personal preference. The way a church uses art communicates its beliefs. So whether your church is simply or ornately decorated, there are some common denominators in Lutheran art that paint a very distinctive picture of our faith.

Freedom to Use Art

We are free in Christ to adopt art forms that are beautiful, reverent and reflective of the truth of our faith. Lutherans aren’t iconoclastic (against pictures and statues), like some other Protestant churches. Paintings, statuary, wood carving, stained glass, and other kinds of art are welcomed in the church as a way of teaching the faith and beautifying our houses of worship. Because these things are neither commanded nor forbidden in the Scriptures, we are free to use them.

Art Confessing the Faith

The great, central teaching of the Lutheran faith is justification by grace through faith in Christ alone. Lutheran church art (like its sermons) will be very concerned with communicating, above all, the importance of Christ crucified for the forgiveness of your sins. This is portrayed in many ways. For example, you should never be surprised to see a crucifix in a Lutheran church or home, because it is such a clear and direct picture of the reality of our salvation.

Art Highlighting the Word and Sacraments

Also, Lutherans teach that this Gospel, that Jesus himself, comes to us in concrete ways through God’s Word and sacraments. So in a church sanctuary, your eyes will be drawn front-and-center to where those means are delivered to us: the pulpit, the altar, and the baptismal font. Many churches decorate these objects in a spectacular fashion so there is no doubt that what happens there is of great importance. Even in churches with simpler decoration, these things are usually placed in such a way that they are the most prominent things that you see in church.

Art Teaching Us What Worship is About

No matter how simple or elaborate the sanctuary is, it will be obvious that it is a set-apart place for a holy purpose (the word “sanctuary” comes from “sanctus” meaning “holy”). Because we believe that in the Divine Service, we actually encounter God in the flesh through His Word and gifts, church is distinct from everything else that happens in our Monday-to-Saturday lives. So your standard Lutheran church will look deliberately different from an entertainment center, movie theater, rec room, lecture hall, etc. This is not where we go to merely get information about God and life, or to seek thrills. It is a unique and holy place where we get to actually encounter the God of the universe to receive His blessings.

What Art Isn’t

Art itself isn’t a means of grace or a mystical portal into another spiritual dimension. No veneration of weeping Madonnas or praying “through” icons will happen in a Lutheran church, and of course the art itself is not an object of worship. Nor is it proper to use the arts to manipulate emotions to the extent that the feeling of tugged heartstrings is mistaken for the Holy Spirit. We 
look only to God’s Word and His Sacraments to receive God’s grace and forgiveness. Manmade means, no matter how attractively packaged, have no power of this sort. Art forms may adorn the means of grace, but they should not compete with them.

Art Reminds Us the Church is Bigger Than We Are

Not all forms of art must be exactly the same in all places (e.g., using only one painting style to depict Christ and the saints), but may vary according to Christian freedom. However, Lutherans also recognize the catholicity (or universality) of the Christian faith. That is, rather than reinvent the wheel for every generation, we acknowledge that we are part of the church of all times and places. This means that we use the best, most Christ-honoring traditions that have been handed down to us, and we continue to share them with other churches throughout the world.

For example, when you walk into any Lutheran church on Pentecost Sunday, odds are that everything will be decorated in red. At a different Lutheran church, you would probably also see many Christian symbols that you would recognize from the artwork at your own church. These are things that we hold in common from a long heritage together, and they help to communicate our unity. An emphasis on catholicity also means that the art forms used in church will seek to avoid a “dated” look that comes from mimicking pop culture trends. The artwork is more likely to be of a timeless quality that seeks to transcend one specific culture or era, since the body of Christ itself transcends one culture or era.

Artist is a Holy Calling

Another distinctive Lutheran teaching is that of vocation. Being an artist or craftsman is an honorable and God-pleasing calling when our neighbor is served by the good works that are done. As such, using art in the church is not categorically decried as a “waste of money.” Communicating truths about God through the arts, and doing it well, is a very important task for those creating church art. (And, of course, church art isn’t the only kind of artistic vocation honorable to God.) Doing art poorly can, perhaps inadvertently, communicate things about God or worship that aren’t true.

So, art isn’t an indifferent thing—it’s meant to tell you something. Next time your mind wanders at church, let your eyes rest on the art that you see, and ask yourself why it was put there. The answer is always the same—it’s meant to point your eyes, ears, and heart to Jesus.

Categories
Higher History

Concord #25: Augsburg Confession (Worship of the Saints)

christian augsburg worship saint Mary

Article 21: Worship of the Saints

The final article on Christian doctrine in the Augsburg Confession is perhaps one of the most obvious outward practices that distinguishes Lutherans from Roman Catholics: the worship of the saints. Even today, one of the first differences people identify between the two churches is that Roman Catholics pray to Mary, the Mother of God. In fact, if you go into a Roman Catholic bookstore, you’re likely to see more products picturing the saints than you will Jesus.

But that doesn’t mean that the saints are absent from Lutheran practice. Open to the front of your Lutheran hymnal and you’ll see a lot of saints. So, what is it about the saints that is good, right, and salutary?

Of the Worship of Saints they teach that the memory of saints may be set before us, that we may follow their faith and good works, according to our calling, as the Emperor may follow the example of David in making war to drive away the Turk from his country. For both are kings. But the Scripture teaches not the invocation of saints or to ask help of saints, since it sets before us the one Christ as the Mediator, Propitiation, High Priest, and Intercessor. He is to be prayed to, and has promised that He will hear our prayer; and this worship He approves above all, to wit, that in all afflictions He be called upon, 1 John 2:1: If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, etc. (Augsburg Confession, article XXI)

 

Idolatry

First, Christ alone is worthy of worship. He alone stands between us and the Father as Mediator. This is because the sacrifice He made, the blood He shed, and the place He now occupies at God’s right hand. Prayer is effectual when it is prayed through Jesus and in His name. No other saint in heaven or on earth has done what Jesus has done. Any prayer or worship that is directed to God apart from Jesus is prayer to and worship of a false god.

 

Examples of faith and good works

But it’s not as if the saints never existed. We keep the memory of the saints for two reasons: as examples of faith, and examples of good works. It can be discouraging to be a Christian. Sometimes it feels like you’re the only one who believes. But the history of the saints who have gone before us for generations shows us that we are not alone. As the book of Hebrews says,

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

 

Sinners as saints

And as to good works, the history of the saints shows us two things. First, every saint was also a sinner. Good works do not mean a perfection of life here on earth. David was a liar, murderer, and adulterer, yet also is an example of good works. Second, good works are not works that go over and beyond the works of daily life, but are simple works done in our vocations and in service to our neighbors.

So the next time a saint’s day comes up on the Church calendar, remember the simple works of faith they accomplished and be encouraged in your faith. And look to Jesus, the only Advocate we have with the Father, who is the beginning and ending of our faith.

You can read the Book of Concord at http://www.bookofconcord.org

 

“Concord” is a weekly study of the Lutheran Confessions, where we will take up a topic from the Book of Concord and reflect on what we believe, teach, and confess in the Lutheran Church. The purpose of this series is to deepen readers’ knowledge and appreciation for the confessions of the Lutheran Church, and to unite them “with one heart” to confess the teachings of Holy Scripture.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO.

Categories
Christ on Campus

Your Church is Too Sexy: Why Church Architecture Matters

Article PDF | Bible Study PDF | Leader’s Guide PDF

Chad Bird

The chandelier is fashioned from fingers, toes, skulls, and a whole skeleton’s worth of other bones. There are chalices, candelabras, pillars, and other artwork, all forged from the remains of saints. In fact, over 40,000 people are crammed into this Sedlec Ossuary, a small church in the Czech Republic—at least, parts and pieces of them are. The obvious question is why? You might say that, inside this Bone Church, an artist has literalized the verse, “surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). These skeletal “witnesses,”gathered from the nearby church cemetery when the citizens eventually ran out of burying room, were artistically arranged to form this most unique architecture. And while it’s a bit creepy, this creation confesses a truth about which today’s church is often mute: that within the walls of God’s house, we are never alone. Now let’s slip inside another church. This one is worlds away from the Bone Church’s rather raw architecture.

Welcome to Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas, where Joel Osteen serves as pastor. Maybe you’ve heard of this popular preacher or seen his books. Osteen’s congregation has mushroomed over the decades to out-mega all other mega churches. To fit everyone in, they transformed the sports arena, where the Houston Rockets used to play, into a 16,000-seat worship facility. One end of the stadium was gutted and remodeled to become what traditionally would be known as the chancel. Two 30-foot waterfalls gurgle and splash on either side of this platform. Three massive screens project images of the preacher or other worship leaders. Several hundred LED lights allow for multiple mood settings. What is most obvious, however, is what is absent: crosses and crucifixes, altars and icons, baptismal fonts and stained glass, along with just about everything a traditional church might have. And, needless to say, in Lakewood Church, there hangs no chandelier of saints’ bones.

So from this tale of two churches, what can we learn? When you visit other churches with friends, or check out churches around your college campus, does the art and architecture of those churches really matter? Is it all just a matter of taste and practicality?

Here’s the point: There was nothing haphazard in the construction of either of these churches. From the carpet color in Lakewood to the bone choices in Sedlec, the architects of each venue did not work willy-nilly. They had a theological “vision” for what a church should be, even on the level of the senses—how it should look, feel, sound, smell, and what kind of taste it should leave in your mouth. In short, doctrine determined design. Theology designed architecture, and architecture signaled theology. Sometimes, when you walk into a church, what you see is indeed what you get.

If you’re like me, you wouldn’t want to sip Christ’s blood from a chalice of human bones, but neither would you want to sip Starbucks from a comfy stadium seat while gazing at Osteen’s smile beaming from a monstrous screen. Somewhere between the super-earthy of Sedlec and the swank-and-sexy of Lakewood, there’s a church that captures the reality of what church is: a gathering of wounded, hurting sinners around the throne of God and the Lamb, surrounded by angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, to become united with the crucified and resurrected Christ. That’s the church we need.

I mentioned earlier that within the walls of God’s house, we are never alone. That’s because the church on earth and the church in heaven are not two churches, but one. And never are they more together as one than in the liturgy. Earthly soil becomes heavenly ground. We are surrounded by heavenly believers and angelic hosts. So why not make the invisible, visible in art? That’s one purpose of pictures and icons of the saints; those images remind us that the church is bigger than what we see. Also, since Christ is not only the central message, but the sole message of the church, shouldn’t the architecture proclaim the same? For example, crucifixes preach the only knowable God; altars, the table from which we feast upon the body and blood sacrificed for us; fonts, the bath in which the filthy garments of sinners are made white in the blood of the Lamb; incense, the smoke of supplications wafting upward to Christ’s throne. All of these, in their own way, serve the Gospel. They preach the God who became a man with all His senses, that we, with all our senses, might receive His life and worship him.

The art and architecture of a church deeply matter. They are the embodiment of theology. They should be catechetical, teaching the faith; beautiful, imitating the God who makes all things well; catholic, expressing the totality of the church on earth and in heaven; and Christ-centered, focusing upon the One who is the be-all and end-all of the church. For when people step into the space in which the Lord is present, the goal is not for them to say, “This is none other than a stadium!” or “This is none other than a practical place for worship and, afterward, basketball!” No, they should confess with Jacob, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Genesis 28:17).

Chad Bird is a member of Crown of Life Lutheran Church in San Antonio, Texas. His email address is birdchadlouis@yahoo.com.