About Our Liturgy

Confession and Absolution

 “Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven” (Small Catechism, LSB p. 326).

Confession and Absolution is a rite of preparation for the Divine Service. The Greek word for confession is homologeo, which means, “to say the same.” When we confess our sins, we are simply speaking back to God what He has already spoken to and about us in His Word. God has declared in His Law that we inherit the original sin of Adam and that we ourselves daily commit sins of thought, word, and deed (Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3). We acknowledge and accept His righteous judgment for sin, that we deserve “present and eternal punishment” (LSB p. 151). When we confess our sins, we recognize that we cannot approach God on our own and expect to live. Confession points us to our need for Christ as we turn to Him in repentance and plead for mercy. By using the rite of Confession and Absolution in preparation for the Divine Service, we acknowledge that everything that happens in the Divine Service is by virtue of God’s grace toward us, not by any merit or worthiness in ourselves.

The absolution pronounced by the pastor is more than a mere reminder that we are forgiven. Forgiveness is declared “in the stead and by the command” of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave the power of the keys to the Church, which has entrusted it to the pastor (John 20:19-23). When the pastor speaks in this manner, he is declaring on behalf of God Himself that we are forgiven on account of Christ. The peace and reconciliation that Christ won for the whole world by His life, death, and resurrection is given to us in the words here spoken through the pastor, “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit” (LSB p. 151). The absolution sets the tone for the Divine Service where the Gospel is delivered through the liturgy, preaching, and Lord’s Supper.

As in the invocation, the congregation may make the sign of the cross at the words of absolution as a reminder that in our Baptism we were crucified and raised with Christ. Being covered with Christ’s robe of righteousness in Baptism and having received the absolution, we poor sinners can stand in God’s presence to receive the gifts which He so freely bestows upon us in His Word and Sacraments.

The Prelude and the Invocation

The purpose of the prelude is to set the stage and to assist the congregation in preparing their hearts and minds for the service. Preludes are often based on hymns, which call to mind a particular text and offer further opportunity for meditation on God’s Word, and they reflect the character and mood of the day or season.

Most services formally begin with the Invocation: “In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In the beginning, all three persons of the Trinity were present and active in creating the world (Genesis 1:1-3). So also all three persons of the Trinity are active in creating new life in the waters of Holy Baptism as God speaks the words of Christ through the pastor, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). In Baptism, the name of God is given to us, and we are brought into His family.

Scripture also tells us that where God’s name is, there He is present: “In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you,” (Exodus 20:24) and, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). God’s name does not indicate an abstract presence, but that He is present and actively working to bless His people in that place. God is present everywhere, but in the Divine Service He is present in a sacramental way to bless us with His gifts.

Beginning the Divine Service with the Invocation reminds us that we are gathered together as baptized Christians and members of one family as brothers and sisters in Christ. It is also a proclamation that God is present and active in our midst working through the liturgy to deliver to us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. It is not we who call God down to earth, but God who gathers us together to continue the work He began in our Baptism as He serves us in the Divine Service.

The Lutheran Service Book includes the rubric, “The sign of the cross + may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism” (p. 151). The sign of the cross was first traced on us in our Baptism: “Receive the sign of the holy cross both upon your + forehead and upon your + heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified” (p. 268). Making the sign of the cross at the Invocation and at other times during the liturgy is an ancient practice that reminds us that we enter into God’s presence having been clothed with Christ’s righteousness in our Baptism to receive His holy gifts as fellow heirs with Christ.

The Liturgy Points Us to Christ

The basic pattern of the Divine Service is Word and Sacrament. This pattern was instituted by Christ Himself throughout the New Testament. On Easter afternoon, Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus and, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). They drew near to the village and invited Jesus to stay with them. “When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him” (Luke 24:30-31). Christ gives us His gifts through Word and Sacrament in the liturgy.

The Church has followed this pattern since the apostolic age. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The earliest Christians followed this pattern of teaching (Word) and breaking bread (Sacrament) because it was given by Christ Himself. “The prayers” here refers to an ordered set of prayers, or what we might call the liturgy. There are several documents from the Early Church that describe this pattern, and even some specific parts of the liturgy, as early as the end of the first century. Christ does not lay out a specific form of the Divine Service that we must follow as a law, but from the earliest days after the resurrection, the Church began to form the liturgy that we still use today.

The purpose of every part of the liturgy is to point us to Christ. The liturgy gives expression to our sinful condition and points us to Christ as the only Savior. It provides the form and structure to deliver Word and Sacrament to us according to Christ’s institution. And it uses primarily God’s own Word to do so as we speak back to Him what He has spoken to us. Yet there are some elements of the service that are adiaphora—they are neither commanded nor forbidden by God. There is some freedom in determining what a service looks like, but with freedom comes responsibility to examine why we do what we do. The Lutheran Church has always sought to retain the liturgy and traditions that have been handed down to us, not for the sake of keeping manmade customs, but because these things teach us about Christ (Augsburg Confession XXIV). In the coming weeks, we will explore the individual parts of the Divine Service in light of these questions: “How does this practice point us to Christ?” and “What does this practice say about our doctrine?”

Image: Caravaggio, “The Supper at Emmaus,” oil and tempera on canvas, 1601.