To Eat and Drink in the Fellowship of God

It is for this purpose that God the Lord has brought you out of Egypt, for this purpose that He has written and revealed His Word to you — that you should have Life and Fellowship with Him, that you should eat and drink in His presence, in peace and without fear.  Indeed, this is your Life, both now and forever — to be and abide with God in harmony, in holy faith and holy love, in Christ.

In view of that divine Life to which He calls you, do all that He has commanded you.  Fear, love and trust in Him above all things.  Hear and heed His Word.  Call upon His holy Name.  Follow the Cloud of His Glory by day, His Pillar of Fire by night, and dwell with Him in His Tabernacle.

Eat and drink the Food that He provides — the Living Bread from heaven, the Living Water from the Rock — for these are your Meat and Drink indeed, even here and now in the wilderness.

So, also, love one another; for love is of God, and you and your brothers and sisters in Christ are His own people, the beloved sheep of His green pasture.  Love is the fulfillment of the whole Law; for love does no harm to the neighbor, but helps him and supports him in all things, at all times.

Do not yearn for the feasting and fashions of Egypt, from which the Lord has set you free.  Do not return to your sins, like a dog to its vomit, nor indulge in the lusts of your flesh, like a pig in its wallow.  Rather, stay the course and trust the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and spirit.

Do not grow restless in the desert, nor suppose that the Lord has forgotten you or failed to keep His promises.  Tremble in fear of the Lord, to be sure, for He is the Holy One before whom all creation bows in reverence.  But do not quail in terror and deathly despair, as though His desire were to destroy you.  It is not.  His desire is to save you and give you Life, because He loves you.

Repent of your false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice.  And do not attempt to fathom the heart and Spirit of God apart from His incarnate Son, Jesus the Christ, the beloved and well-pleasing One, the new and greater Joshua who serves you in love.  Not even Moses enters the glorious presence of the Lord God Almighty apart from this Joshua, Christ Jesus, the Word-made-Flesh who tabernacles among His own with grace, mercy, and peace.

The Law of God is good and wise.  It instructs you in the way that leads to Life in fellowship and harmony with the Holy Trinity.  Yet, apart from Christ Jesus it is a consuming Fire, which accuses and condemns you and threatens to destroy you utterly and forever.  It exposes the darkness in your heart and mind, the self-idolatry and lack of love in your thoughts, words, and deeds.  It uncovers the nakedness of your sin and the stench of death that already clings to the carcass of your flesh.

Apart from Christ Jesus, you are an animated corpse, merely biding your time on the way to your grave (and far worse) — separated from the Living God and devoid of His Life-giving Holy Spirit.

Who, then, shall save you from this body of death and the darkness and damnation of your sin?

It is Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus, the beloved Son of the Living God.  He is the Holy One of Israel.  He is the Christ, your Savior.  He is the Glory of God — in Person — in the Flesh.  He is the Sacrifice of Atonement, and His Blood is the New Covenant of peace and reconciliation with God.  You are anointed with the Holy Spirit unto Life, and you have Fellowship with the Father, only in Jesus.

So, listen to Him.  Hear what He says to you, take it to heart and believe it, and live by His Word.

Consider also the touch of His hand — His Body given for you — and be raised up from the death of doubt and fear to Life and Hope and Peace and Joy in His holy Flesh and precious Blood.

He has brought you through the waters out of Egypt.  He has baptized you in the Cloud and in the Sea of His own Exodus, His Cross and Resurrection.  And so shall He bring you through the Jordan into Canaan, the Promised Land, flowing with Milk and Honey and every Good Thing.

Not Moses the Lawgiver, but this new and greater Joshua does it, who is the fulfillment of the Law.  By the Gospel of His Cross and His forgiveness of your sins, He brings you in with Himself.

So shall He bring you at last up to the high and holy Mountain of God in and with Himself.  That is, not to Sinai, but to the true Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, His Holy Hill — not consumed with fire and brimstone, lightning and thunder and billowing smoke, but bathed in the beauty of His divine holiness and cloaked with the radiance of His righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

The time is not yet.  But do not fret, do not be afraid, do not hide yourself away.  Do not withdraw from the world and curl up inside yourself.  Do not lie there frozen, nor sit there dumbfounded.

See, here is Jesus.  Stand up, and follow Him.  He is your Pillar of Cloud by day and Fire by night.

He leads you forward by the way of His Cross.  That is hard to understand, more difficult to bear, but it will not defeat you.  It is by the wood of His Cross that He parts the sea and opens the Rock and pours down Manna from heaven, by the wood of His Cross that He defeats all your enemies, sin, death, the devil, and hell, the world with its wickedness, and the treachery of your own flesh.

Cease your grumbling and complaining.  The Lord has heard the cries and lamentations of your heart, and He has already acted to save you by His mighty arm and His outstretched hands.

So, then, close your mouth altogether, and first of all open your ears to hear what Christ Jesus the Lord shall say to you; for you have nothing worth saying until He has spoken and you have listened.  Then open your mouth and be fed.  Eat from His hand, drink from His Cup.  And after He has filled you with Himself, confess what He has said, what He has done, what He has given.

Yes, you’re in the wilderness — and Jesus is right there with you all the way.  You’ll not starve, for He is feeding you.  Your shoes will not wear out, your feet will not blister or swell, so long as you follow Him.  Though an army encamp against you, do not be afraid.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is with you; the Lord God of Sabaoth is for you.

Lift up your eyes roundabout and see.  You are surrounded by the Glory of the Lord, already in His Ministry of the Gospel here within His Church on earth, and so also in that great Cloud of His witnesses, His saints, who have gone before you in the faith and live forever in His presence: Moses and Elijah, Aaron and his sons, Samuel and David, Peter, James, and John, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna, Stephen and Paul, Timothy and Titus — a multitude of disciples from every nation, tribe, and tongue, which no man could ever count, but God Himself has numbered.

All of them have been transfigured by the Cross of Christ Jesus to share His Resurrection and His Life everlasting.  And you are likewise being transfigured by His Cross.  Not yet outwardly — for your mortal flesh is still wasting away — but inwardly you are being renewed, day by day, in hope and expectation of the Glory that shall be revealed in you, both body and soul, in the Resurrection.

Here and now the surety of that exceedingly great and precious Promise is being given to you — the Word of Christ Jesus in your ears, in your heart, and in your mouth (for He is not far away but near to you with His Word); and the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, given and poured out for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins.  See, He stretches out His hand, not to harm you, but to save.

To eat and drink in His presence — to feast upon Him, who is the Lord your God in the Flesh — this is already a sweet Foretaste of the neverending Feast to come.  It is the endless Sabbath Rest that remains for the people of God.  It is your Life and your Salvation in Fellowship with God.

Arise, therefore, and do not fear, but live.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

With Great Freedom Comes Great Responsibility

Theses on the Salutary Use of Adiaphora in the Conduct of the Liturgy

I first began developing these theses back in the fall of 2009, largely because I was frustrated with the way that our doctrine of adiaphora was often misunderstood and misapplied. I published the original version on another blog, and then also had the opportunity to work through them with local colleagues over a series of winkels. Based upon feedback, discussion and debate, and further reflection, I revised the theses in 2014 for presentation at the Synod's Institute on Liturgy, Preaching, and Church Music. Since that time, I have referred to them on occasion and shared them with others, because they have been helpful in navigating some of the landmines that remain from the still unresolved "worship wars" of the 1990s. And I was very pleased by the opportunity to present them for discussion at a recent "day of theological reflection" with some of my brother pastors from the Columbus, Aurora, and Seymour Circuits of the Indiana District. As a number of people have asked to see the theses, I promised to make them available for wider consideration and discussion; and to that end, I offer them here, as follows:

Defining and Identifying Freedom in Worship

The freedom of faith in worship, as in all of Christian life, is the freedom of the Gospel. It is the freedom of divine righteousness, holiness, life and love in Christ Jesus, by grace through faith in Him, and not by human works. It stands in contrast to the bondage of legalism, by which one attempts to justify himself before God and to acquire divine life by the keeping of the Law.

There is also the freedom of adiaphora, that is, the freedom of rites and ceremonies and other practices that are neither commanded nor forbidden by God. In themselves, they are free, either to be taken up and used or set aside and let go. What is more, as man is not justified by keeping the Law of God, far less is he justified by the performance or rejection of adiaphora.

There are those things that God has commanded, and those things that He has forbidden, both in life and in worship, which are therefore not adiaphora. According to these commands, genuine good works are done, not for justification, but in obedience to God and in love for the neighbor. For though we are free from the condemnation of the Law, we are not free to disregard it.

The Right and Responsible Use of Freedom in Worship

The teaching and confession of adiaphora should not be abused (in the service of self-interest); instead, true Christian freedom is rightly used in love (in the self-sacrificing service of others). In faith toward God the Christian is free, but in love he is bound to serve his neighbor.

Love will be ready and willing to sacrifice anything and everything that is truly free (adiaphora), but love will never sacrifice anything of the Gospel; nor will love willingly contradict or disobey the Law of God. That is to say, love will readily give up whatever may be given up, but love will tenaciously insist upon that which is necessary, as determined by the Word of the Lord.

All things are lawful in Christ, but not all things are meet, right and salutary (1 Cor. 10:23). Even that which is free and clear can be measured and evaluated according to its service and support of the Word of God, and thus determined to be more or less helpful to faith and love.

Pastoral Care and Oversight in the Use of Freedom

The freedom of adiaphora allows for a flexibility in caring for the Church under a wide variety of circumstances, and across broad differences of time and place. Such practices are thus to be used with pastoral care, and as a means of pastoral care. Therefore, pastors should exercise discretion and discernment in their use of adiaphora, and they must discipline themselves in doing so, for the sake of faith and love.

In a similar way, bishops (overseers) ought to care for the pastors in their necessary exercise of discretion and discernment, and so also assist them in their fellowship with one another.

Criteria for the Right Use of Freedom in Worship

Freedom in worship is used rightly, in faith toward God and in love toward the neighbor, when it is used to serve the catechesis and confession of the Word of God.

The boundaries and parameters of freedom in worship are established and contoured, not only by explicit commands and prohibitions, but also implicitly by the constitutive rites and ceremonies of Holy Baptism, the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and the administration of the Holy Communion in remembrance of Jesus. These divinely given means of grace are the foundation, the beating heart, and the central high point of the Church’s faith and life in Christ. Whatever else may be done in worship is determined in relation to these constitutive means.

Along similar lines, but more practically speaking, the use of rubrics, rites and ceremonies is fundamental to the pastoral ministry. Rubrics are the instructions for the conduct of the Liturgy, mutually agreed upon within the fellowship of the Church. Rites are the words that are spoken in the administration of the Liturgy. Ceremonies are the bodily actions, movements, furnishing, and adornments of the Liturgy. Rubrics are needed for an orderly conduct of corporate communal life. Rites belong to the fact that God does everything by His Word. Ceremonies belong to the fact that human life is lived in the body, occupying space and time.

It is not possible to administer and receive the means of grace without ceremonies. However, not all ceremonies are created equal. Some ceremonies are better, and some are worse than others; and some ceremonies have no place in the Church, even if they would otherwise be "free."

Ceremonies powerfully support (or contradict) the confession and catechesis of the Word. One may compare the role and purpose and positive benefit of ceremonies in human relationships.

Ceremony as Beautiful Adornment of the Gospel

The measure of a ceremony’s worth and benefit requires more than the avoidance of overtly false doctrine. The best ceremonies are not only true (as opposed to false) but are positively helpful in confessing the Word of God, and they are beautiful in adorning His Liturgy. Whatever is true, lovely and of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise, dwell on those things (Philippians 4:8).

It is appropriate and salutary to adorn the Ministry of the Gospel with beauty, as a confession of faith in the Word and work of Christ, and as a catechesis in the hidden truth of the Gospel. One may consider such examples as chanting, the sign of the cross, chasubles, the elevation of the Sacrament, genuflecting at various points in the Liturgy, and the use of incense.

The Basic Rubrics of Reverence and Courtesy

Reverence toward God and courtesy toward the neighbor summarize the criteria of faith and love and so provide a foundational response to all questions pertaining to the proper use of adiaphora.

That which is harmful to faith and love is not free but forbidden. That which is irreverent or rude is likewise not free but forbidden (Formula SD X.1, 7, 9). The Second Commandment requires that God’s Name be kept holy, and that God must be sanctified by His priests and His people.

Pastors and congregations, and individual members of a congregation, should set aside their personal proclivities and preferences for the sake of faith and love (1 Cor. 10:23–33; Rom. 14). Love will care for the entire body of Christ, for the minority as much or more than the majority, not allowing either the few or the many to lord it over the Holy Communion of the Church.

Making changes in ceremony, including the introduction of new ceremonies, requires a special measure of pastoral care. It also requires the patience of pastors and parishioners for one another.

Likewise, love for the body of Christ — for the Church in all times and places, past, present, and future — calls for circumspection and great caution when it comes to changes in practice.

Here, again, the pastoral oversight of godly bishops would be of particularly salutary benefit.

Tradition and Catholicity Give Shape to the Church’s Exercise of Freedom in Worship

Tradition is generally more conducive to the Gospel than novelty (1 Corinthians 11:1–2, 16–26), because it is received as a gift from the past, rather than fabricated in the present.

In contrast to the legalism of Rome on the right and of the Reformed on the left, Lutherans have been evangelically conservative with respect to tradition.

There is always a reason for any practice in the Church, even if this reason is no longer readily apparent. These reasons need to be evaluated in order to judge the merits of the practice.

Lutherans have also recognized that traditions are interpreted and understood, at any given time, within a theological context, which adds to their significance either positively or negatively.

Catholicity in practice is generally more conducive to love than personal innovation, because it belongs to the entire body of the Church, to the household and family of God, rather than being the invention or property of any isolated individual or small group.

The collective wisdom of the Church is usually wiser than the personal insights of an individual. True, the nature and needs of pastoral care require the free exercise of pastoral discernment and discretion, just as the Church in each time and place is free with respect to human customs. Yet, the starting point should be what has been given and received within the life of the Church, rather than the novelty of personal ingenuity. Consider, for example, the tremendous value and benefit of the Church Year and the Lectionary, the Ordinary and Propers of the Divine Service, and the use of customary vestments and furnishings.

Consistency and Continuity Serve the Church’s Catechesis and Confession of Christ

Consistency and continuity of practice are beneficial to peace and rest in the Liturgy of Christ; they permit a ready participation of the entire congregation in the Church’s worship of Christ.

Frequent fluctuations and diversity in practice are unsettling to the people and easily distract from the Liturgy of Christ; they require a level of literacy, attention, energy, and effort that tends to frustrate or prevent the participation of many members in the Church’s worship of Christ.

Neither is it an appropriate use of freedom when hymns, or any other practices, are used simply to fill up space and pass the time, or when they are used to entertain emotions instead of edifying the people and glorifying God by the confession of His Word (Formula SD X.1, 7, 9). Whatever is done is to honor and adorn, serve and support the Divine Liturgy of the Word and Sacrament.

The Benefit of Good Church Order for the Responsible Use of Freedom in Worship

The unity of a common confession of the faith is both embodied and substantiated by a unity of practice. Church fellowship does not depend upon a uniformity in adiaphora, but the fellowship of the Church gravitates toward a common and consistent usage of adiaphora wherever possible. And the beauty of it is, the Church is free to do so.

It is not a violation of faith or freedom when the fellowship of the Church mutually agrees, in love, to order and conduct its liturgical life according to common rubrics, rites and ceremonies. The example of the 16th-century Church Orders is a significant case in point. Good order, polity, and the legislation, exercise, and jurisdiction of good church government should not be equated with the bondage of legalism; it rather belongs to the responsible use of freedom in love.

Especially in gatherings of the Church’s fellowship beyond that of a local congregation, the use of commonly agreed-upon rites and ceremonies is most appropriate and beneficial. In general, the same principle pertains to the practices of each congregation as a fellowship of the one Church.

Your Righteousness Goes Before You

It is because of who you are in Christ Jesus that you now live as God has called you to live.  That is to live in the way of righteousness for which you have been created, redeemed, and sanctified by His Word and Holy Spirit; for the great salvation that your dear Lord Jesus has accomplished for you and for all people is not the abolishment of the Law, but its fulfillment.  Not only does He keep all of the Commandments of God, but in doing so He also teaches you to do the same.

His teaching and His righteousness are not like those of the scribes and Pharisees.  But it’s not that He dismisses the Law, which is the Word of God and the revelation of His good and acceptable Will.  Jesus does not trade legalism for anarchy, debauchery, or licentiousness, as though sin and disobedience were now “okay.”  He has not come to set you free from the righteousness of God, but to bring you into the glorious liberty and genuine righteousness of God’s beloved children.

The righteousness of which your Lord speaks — and for which He sets you free — is not some quantity of stuff to be purchased or sold, earned, or traded on the stock exchange.  Nor is it a self-contained interior aptitude or disposition within you.  There is no genuine righteousness that exists or happens in isolation from the Lord your God and the neighbors He sets alongside of you.

The righteousness of Christ Jesus is the right relationship of sonship with His God and Father in heaven.  It is a relationship of faith and love, that is, to fear, love, and trust in God above all things, and, for His sake, to love your neighbor as yourself.  Such living and loving proceed from within the relationship of sonship.  Because you are a son of God in Christ by His grace, so do you live as a son of God by faith in Christ Jesus, sanctifying His Name in your words and actions.

This is the righteousness that the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished and fulfilled for you and for all people — from His Baptism to His Cross and Passion, and in His Resurrection from the dead, even forevermore.  His dying and His rising are the way and the means whereby you enter the Kingdom of heaven, and whereby you now also live with Him in His Kingdom in righteousness.

That means dying to yourself and your own self-righteousness, and rising to newness of life in Christ Jesus.  And that is to speak of repentance and faith in the forgiveness of sins, which is not a mental exercise or a do-it-yourself program; it is to give attention to God’s Word, to make use of the Means of Grace, to remember and return to your Baptism by contrition and repentance, by confessing your sins and receiving Holy Absolution, and to receive and remember the Lord with thanksgiving in the Holy Communion of His holy Body and precious Blood.  And all of that is not the end, but the beginning — the daily new beginning — which emerges in a new way of life.

To affirm that your righteousness before God is by His grace alone in Christ Jesus — by faith in His Gospel — is not to say that it may be kept hidden away in your heart.  Indeed, it cannot be.  No, the righteousness of faith before God is manifest in love before your neighbor.  It is foolish to suppose that a Christian disciple of Jesus could be or live otherwise.

To refrain from love, to neglect your duties, to ignore or disobey the Commandments of God, is to deny and disavow your very identity as a child of God — like salt that is not salty, or water that is not wet.  It is to disown your Father and His Family, to run away from His Home, and to set yourself outside of His Kingdom and His righteousness in Christ Jesus.  It is to lose everything.

Where you have disregarded the Commandments of God, as though He had no authority over you; where you have hidden yourself away from your neighbors and their needs; where you have been concerned with lighting only your own path and progress, rather than enlightening your neighbor and glorifying your God and Father in Christ — I tell you now: Repent.  Return to the Lord your God, and live before Him by faith in Christ Jesus, to the praise and glory of His Holy Name.

If you are a Christian, live as a Christian.  As you are baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ — baptized into His Cross and Resurrection — die to yourself, to your sins, and to the passions of your fallen flesh, and rise with Him to live unto righteousness as a child of God.  And where you have not lived as a Christian, repent of your sins, return to the significance of your Baptism, and believe the Holy Gospel, that for Jesus’ sake you are fully forgiven and righteous before God.

It is by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus that you are His own dear child, named with His Name, anointed with His Spirit, a member of His household, and a royal citizen of His Kingdom.  That is who and what you are, by the grace of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus.  And the simple fact is that who you are and how you live belong together, hand in glove.  The righteousness of your life is an exercise and expression of the righteousness of your relationship with God in Jesus.

This is how and why it is that repentance and righteousness both result in new behavior, in keeping with the Commandments of God.  In Christ Jesus you are a new creation, a new person, a new man, woman, or child — not in isolation, not independent of other people, but within your relationship with God, and so also in a brand new relationship with all of your neighbors.  You think and speak and act differently, because, by the Word and Spirit of your God and Father, you have the heart and mind of Christ Jesus.  It is no longer you who live, but Christ lives in you.

This is truly an amazing new reality, which you could not accomplish or achieve for yourself.  It is given to you by the gracious adoption of God.  You do not storm the gates of heaven with your good works, but you do good works of faith and love because the one true God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has called you to be His own, has brought you into His Home, and has established you within His Kingdom of grace.  Indeed, not only do you live with Him, but in Him; and He now lives and moves in you.

The Commandments of God, from the greatest to the least, describe this Life of God in human flesh.  It is the Life of His children, of His people, of His family, on earth as it is in heaven, because it is the Life of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son, for you and for all.  It is the Life that is lived in His Kingdom, in which you now live by His grace through faith in His Gospel.  It is a Life that can be seen, which fills the whole House with the Light of Christ to the glory of the Father.

What shall your new Life in Christ look like?  Instead of using and manipulating your neighbor, set her free and serve her.  Instead of hoarding what you have and contriving to get more and more from your neighbor for yourself, share what you have, and use whatever God has given you to care for the people around you.  Instead of entertainment and personal pleasure, invest yourself in your relationships and in your actual callings, where God has stationed you.  Befriend and benefit your neighbor, rather than avoiding her.  Provide for both body and soul, with tangible gifts of money, food, and clothing, and with forgiveness for those who trespass against you, rather than holding grudges and harboring bitterness.  Be at peace with all people.  Let your gentleness and kindness be evident to all.  In the confidence of Christ Jesus, sacrifice yourself in order to serve others.

The great Mystery of His own Cross and Sacrifice is the culmination of His divine righteousness, the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets.  It is the righteousness of God Himself, acting entirely in Love, in accordance with His own divine nature and the very Being of the Holy Trinity.  It is the righteousness of perfect faith and love on the part of the Son for His Father — not hidden away within the inner Life of the Godhead, but manifested in His own Body on the Cross.

In this way He keeps the Commandments of God and brings them to completion, and He catechizes you to live in the same way: Not that you become the Savior of the world, but that you are crucified and raised with Jesus, and that you live now in righteousness and purity, in faith toward God, and in love for your neighbor.  His teaching and catechesis are by instruction and example, to be sure, but more than that, they are the living and active Word of His Cross, whereby He puts you to death and brings you to life in Himself.  His Cross, therefore, is not only your crucifixion, but also your Atonement and Redemption, your Reconciliation with God and neighbor, and your Righteousness forever in His bodily Resurrection from the dead.  You live, because He lives.

This same Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is your Righteousness and Sanctification, who goes before you through death into life; indeed, He goes with you all the way.  He has opened up the way for you to enter the Kingdom of heaven.  Not only that, but He has become the Way, by which you have access even now to the Holy of Holies, to the Mercy Seat, and to God the Father.  So do you live as a child of God by faith in His forgiveness, by His Word and Holy Spirit.  And the same Lord Jesus Christ, who goes before you into Glory, also guards and keeps you on your right and on your left, and as your rear guard, to preserve you steadfast in His Righteousness and Peace, unto the Resurrection of your body and the Life everlasting of your body and soul in Him.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.