My good buddy Sal wrote that he was a bit disappointed that the LCMS church he attended today did not celebrate the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (and he went Slovak this Sunday, though he may not know it; I LOVE the Slovaks - I vicared for them). St. Paul's, Hamel, didn't either - following the new rubrics from Lutheran Service Book, where the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession has been moved to the commemorations and is not regarded as a feast or festival.
We had a visiting clergyman with us this weekend and he asked about our non-celebration too. I must confess, I think that the LSB is more in the spirit of the Augustana than the LW with its observation of the day. The whole point of the Augsburg Confession was to confess "nothing new." To celebrate a day for the "nothing new" confession would be okay, but far more persuasive would be to celebrate the day as what it was: the Second Sunday after Trinity. That's not to put down the Augsburg Confession, but to honor it for what it intended to be: not a charter for Lutheran Independence, but a call for genuine catholicity.
Christopher,
ReplyDeleteSomething in the bulletin would not have been out of line. But the commemorations in LSB, as I understand them (I may be incorrect on this), are not intended for observance in the Divine Service. Did the church you attend observe the Presentation of the AC?
Pax!
Pastor Weedon,
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent way of looking at it (and I agree because that IS SO normal)! However do you think that we can make it a National Observance here in America-Like a Civil Holiday! Like a HOLY GHOST, SIN KILLING, LIFE GIVEN DAY FROM THE FALSEHOOD OF THE ANTICHRIST WHO SEEKS LORDSHIP OVER THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY AND THE LIFE GIVING , LIBERTY, FREEDOM GOSPEL WHICH CHRIST GIVES! I read to much of the Chubby German. I want to LEARN GERMAN! Just to read him in GERMAN!
Your Humble Friend Sal
I Love LUTHERANS
P.S. There was a small picture and a small paragraph about 6-25-1530 in the Bullitin where I went to Church today, but that was all…
Again, I do agree with your "normalness" concerning THIS DAY.
Proceed IN JESUS.
I put a blurb about it in the bulletin, a sort of "on-this-day" thing. I also mentioned it in a veiled way in the prayers.
ReplyDeleteThe Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod church I attended yesterday observed the Presentation of the AC. Unfortunately, it also had a "mime troupe", a handful of terrible "contemporary worship" songs (done in that terrible folksy way when Lutherans attempt to do "contemporary worship").
ReplyDeleteSigh.
My Lutheranism is wearing thin.
By the way, that should read "mime troupe and a handful of ..."
ReplyDeleteI wish it were only one or the other, but such is not the case.
Brian,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds pretty ghastly. Is it normal fare there or was this a "special treat"? May the Lord deliver us from silliness and restore that "acceptable worship" with "reverence and fear" that are becoming for "receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken!" Hebrews 12:28
I really enjoy reading your blog for your original theological insights!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Fathers would be amazed at your creativity!
Blessings...
Dear Anon,
ReplyDeleteLOL. Thanks for the kind words, but honestly the one thing I strive for is never to be original. Seriously! Those who came before us are theological giants. And our knowledge and understanding of Scripture doesn't come close to theirs - insights they gained through holiness of life and prayerful contemplation. But we can always learn from them. Where they are most helpful, in my opinion, is precisely the point at which they seem most odd.
Pax!