By Rev. Tim Pauls
But what happens if you get rid of the Sacraments? Then you don’t have those tools with which to operate anymore.Then worship is not about using tools outside of us but about working with what’s inside of us. Like a psychologist who keeps searching for a personal approach to my brain, the pastor has to experiment continually, trying to find a personal approach to make each individual’s heart cooperate. Unlike the psychologist, he’s working with a whole congregation of different people, so he has to try to make all their individual hearts respond. In this case, worship is always changing to try to reach the people. But it gets complicated quickly. Some music and messages will work with some better than others. Dance. Clap. Sway. Rock out. Dim the lights. Be quiet and ponder. Do skits instead of sermons. Instead of a service where the same tools help everybody, only some are going to like it.Worship isn’t for everybody anymore. It might be for older people or youth or young professionals, but not for all. It’s a convoluted mess. It’s a train wreck. And what happens to the liturgy? It usually disappears for a couple of reasons. For one, the liturgy points to Jesus’ presence in His Sacraments. If you get rid of the Sacraments, the liturgy doesn’t have much to point to. For another, it’s removed from worship because it doesn’t seem to reach peoples’ hearts. Maybe it did “back then,” goes the excuse, but not now, so other methods are needed. So does it matter? It matters. Read through your catechism, and you’ll find all the proof you need that Jesus gives forgiveness through His means of grace. Put that together with Jeremiah 17:9,“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (NKJV). For forgiveness, is it better to rely on God’s certain means of grace outside or your own tricky heart inside sinful you? Again, the answer is simple. Sure, a lot of churches that reject the Sacraments still hold onto the Word, and thanks be to God the He’s always present in His Word to save. But isn’t worship better where God works through the plan, rather than in spite of it? It’s a sad, funny thing that many people look at Divine Service with Word and Sacrament and leave, saying,“It’s not for me.”Truth be told, that service is for everybody more than any other. It doesn’t cater to one group or the other but gives forgiveness for all. It’s deeper and greater than you can ever comprehend, but Jesus’ presence isn’t complicated. Keep it simple. Dare to be Lutheran. Rev.Tim Pauls is associate pastor and acting school administrator at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School in Boise, Idaho. He is also a member of the Higher Things editorial board. His e-mail address is tpauls@goodshepherdboise.org.
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