Ascension Day Worship

The Ascension of Our Lord commemorates the risen Christ's ascension to heaven. The coronation of Christ the King is celebrated, but so in him is the enthronement of humanity itself. As Saint John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) declared in a sermon on the Ascension, "Our very nature ... is enthroned today high above all cherubim." Notice how this thought appears in the liturgy, particularly in the both the Collect and Proper Preface historically appointed for this Festival day.

Almighty God, we believe that on this day your only Son, our Redeemer, ascended into heaven.
May we in spirit also ascend to that heavenly home and there forever live.
Through the same Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord.
He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

It is indeed right and salutary that we should at all times and in all place offer thanks and praise to you, O Lord, holy Father, through Christ our Lord; who, after his resurrection, appeared openly to his disciples and, in their sight, was taken up into heaven, that he might make us partakers of his divine nature. And so, with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn...

The Ascension of Our Lord is one of the six principal Festivals of the Church Year celebrating the central events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his Church&mdashthe other five being the days of Pentecost, the Holy Trinity, Christmass, the Epiphany of Our Lord, and Easter.

Following Saint Luke's account in the Acts of the Apostles, the Ascension of Our Lord falls on the fortieth day of Easter, and thus always on a Thursday. This festival day has been included on the Church's calendar since at least the fourth century.

If you are in the Peoria area, you are welcome to worship the Ascended Lord Jesus with us this evening. In addition to Zion's celebration, I am aware of two other Peoria Lutheran churches, Mt. Calvary (whose pastor is also a PLTS alumnus) and Trinity (both Missouri Synod congregations), that offer worship on the actual Ascension Day. St. Michael's and All Angels Anglican Church in Peoria, which offers Vespers and Holy Communion every Thursday, is also celebrating it. In the Catholic Church, Ascension Day is moved to next Sunday.

Yeago: Facing Reality in the ELCA

Last Saturday some 700 Lutherans of the South Carolina Synod gathered at Newberry College for a “Day of Holy Conversation.” There Professor David S. Yeago of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary began his presentation, "Facing Reality in the ELCA," saying:

The ELCA changed last August in more fundamental ways than perhaps we generally realize. We didn’t only adopt a social statement and two policy changes. Those actions brought about something much more momentous: they altered the very character of the Christian fellowship embodied in the ELCA and its institutions and practices.

To be blunt: since August, the ELCA is internally in a state of impaired communion. Let me be clear what that means. I am not taking the Jeremiah 51 view of the ELCA, as though the word of the Lord to us was: "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity…" (v. 6). Impaired does not mean abolished but diminished, weakened, damaged. There is significant space between full communion and no communion; the result of the CWA actions is that there is no longer full communion, full visible Christian unity, within the ELCA.

Some years ago, in an important essay in ecumenical theology (1. notes at end), my colleague Michael Root proposed a sort of practical definition of a church-dividing difference. A difference among Christians is church-dividing, he suggested, when it prevents them from carrying out the mission of the gospel together without violation of conscience on someone’s part (2). When you and I cannot practically do the gospel-business of the church together without one of us yielding on a matter of conscience, then our differences are, in the nature of the case, "church-dividing." In this light, I think we simply have to admit that in August, the ELCA welcomed a church-dividing difference into its own common life, and is now struggling with how to contain it.

This wasn’t of course what was supposed to happen. The "official" view was that our differences over sexual morality would be non-divisive, if everyone would just be reasonable and remember that our true unity is "in Christ" and not in moral teaching. Everyone’s "bound conscience" would be respected, the sexuality issues would go away, and the ELCA could march off into a glorious future to a rousing chorus of "Lift High the Cross."

But this was never going to work. The official assessment implies that unity "in Christ" is located in some ideal realm, and need never be lived out down on the messy terrain of this world, where people live and make choices and seek for love and affection and identity, where pastors counsel anguished people and children are taught the Ten Commandments. It assumed that we could pursue the mission of the gospel without ever getting involved with questions about what constitutes a good life, without bothering with the way people live beyond, perhaps, exhorting them to have a loving attitude.

In the real world, pastors and other Christians do counsel anguished people wrestling with desire and emotional need, and doing so is not external to the mission of the gospel. In the real world, children are taught what sort of life is good and pleasing to God, and what the meaning of His commandments is. In the real world, preaching the gospel involves proclaiming in public and private what grace it is that God has given us in Christ, what strength God promises us in the struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil. And since last August, with respect to a very significant dimension of human life, the ELCA no longer has agreement on how to do such things together. Instead we have acknowledged the legitimacy of several mutually incompatible words that might be spoken to the anguished person seeking counsel, to the child awaiting instruction in the commandments of God, to the inquirer asking what goods God gives us strength in Christ to pursue and what temptations help to resist.

As a traditionalist (3.), I have to realize that significant elements of what traditionalists would say about sexuality in those settings is regarded in good faith by other Christians in the ELCA as cruel and destructive. They could not say "Amen" to my counsel and proclamation concerning the matters at issue any more than I could say it to theirs. The ELCA has now said that these differences are to co-exist within our shared institutional framework. And to that extent, which is not at all trivial, we do not have full communion any longer, we can no longer pursue the mission of the gospel together without violating someone’s conscience.

Read it all here at the Lutherans Persisting blog. Hat tip to Pr. Paul Knudson over at ALPB Forum Online.

For Hallowe'en/Reformation Day

From "BrotherBoris" on ALPB Forum Online:

"The Reformed are like vampires. They are horrified by the sign of the cross, literally run away from holy water (I wonder if it burns them?) and suck any good ceremonial out of a congregation. No wonder they dress in that dreary black robe of death. God forbid we should have something beautiful, colorful and worthy of the King of Kings like a Gold colored Chasuble or a Gold plated chalice instead of some plastic, disposable Nyquil cup for the Sacrament."

Trick or treat!!

Peoria Area Lutherans Celebrate Ascension Day

Peoria area Lutherans will celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord with candlelight Vespers and Holy Communion on Thursday, May 21, 2009, at 7:00 pm, at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1534 S. Easton Avenue, Peoria. The Rev. Steven P. Tibbetts, STS, pastor at Zion, will be preacher and celebrant. All are welcome to participate in this festive worship service.

Ascension Day is the Christian holy day commemorating the ascending of the resurrected Jesus to the right hand of God the Father. It is celebrated on the 40th day of Easter in accordance with the New Testament account found in the Acts of the Apostles. The Thursday evening worship service marks the tenth consecutive year that Zion has hosted an Ascension Day celebration for area Christians on the actual festival day. A time of fellowship and refreshment will follow the service.

An offering will be received for Zion’s Prison Mission, which provides chaplaincy services at the Women’s Work Camp in Pekin and sponsors Project Return of Peoria. Led by Karen Wong, AIM, Project Return assists incarcerated mothers reintegrate into the Peoria community by matching each returning mother with a team of trained and supported volunteers.

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is located at 1534 S. Easton Avenue, one block west of the intersection of Jefferson and Western on the South Side of Peoria. For more information call 637-9150 or view Zion’s web site at www.zionpeoria.org. A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Zion has been proclaiming the Gospel from the South Side of Peoria since 1894.

Bishop Challenges Pro-Choice Catholic (?) Governor

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, writes the following in the May 9 installment of his weekly column, "Life Will Be Victorious," in The Leaven, the Archdiocese's newspaper. The Kansas City Star seems unhappy (see here and here) that the Archbishop dares to exercise genuine pastoral care with one of his flock.

Governor’s Veto Prompts Pastoral Action
On the day of my return (Monday, April 21) from the exhilarating experience of participating in Pope Benedict’s pastoral visit to the United States, I learned that Governor Kathleen Sebelius had vetoed the Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act (HS SB 389), which had been passed by significant majorities in both chambers of the Kansas Legislature. Last week, an attempt to override the governor’s veto failed in the Senate by two votes.

Governor Sebelius in her veto message claimed: “For years, the people of Kansas have asked their elected officials to move beyond legislative debates on issues like abortion.”  From her veto message, I received the impression the governor considered it a waste of the Legislature’s time to pass a statute that attempts to protect some women by making certain they have the opportunity to be well-informed: 1) about the development of their unborn child; and 2) about abortion alternatives available to them. Evidently, the governor does not approve of legislators devoting energy to protecting children and women by making it possible to enforce existing Kansas laws regulating late-term abortions.

The governor’s veto message demonstrated a lack of respect to the members of the Kansas General Assembly who had carefully crafted and resoundingly passed the Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act, as well as to the many Kansans who find it more than an embarrassment, in no small part due to several previous vetoes by Governor Sebelius of earlier legislative efforts to regulate abortion clinics, that Kansas has become infamous for being the late-term abortion center for the Midwest.

What makes the governor’s rhetoric and actions even more troubling has been her acceptance of campaign contributions from Wichita’s Dr. George Tiller, perhaps the most notorious late-term abortionist in the nation. In addition to Dr. Tiller’s direct donations to her campaign, the governor has benefited from the Political Action Committees funded by Dr. Tiller to support pro-abortion candidates in Kansas.

In her veto message, the governor took credit for lower abortion rates in Kansas, citing her support for “adoption incentives, extended health services for pregnant women, providing sex education and offering a variety of support services for families.” Indeed, the governor and her administration should be commended for supporting adoption incentives and health services for pregnant women.

However, the governor overreaches by assuming credit for declining abortion rates in Kansas. Actually, lower abortion rates are part of a national trend. Our neighboring state of Missouri has actually had a steeper and longer decline in its abortion rate.

Governor Sebelius’ inclusion of public school sex education programs as a factor in the abortion rate decline is absurd. Actually, valueless sex education programs in public schools have been around for years, coinciding with increased sexual activity among adolescents, as well as increases in teen pregnancy and abortion. On the other hand, the governor does not acknowledge the significant impact of mass media education programs, such as those sponsored by the Vitae Caring Foundation, or the remarkable practical assistance provided by Crisis Pregnancy Centers which are funded through the generosity of pro-life Kansans.

What makes the governor’s actions and advocacy for legalized abortion, throughout her public career, even more painful for me is that she is Catholic. Sadly, Governor Sebelius is not unique in being a Catholic politician supporting legalized abortion.

Since becoming archbishop, I have met with Governor Sebelius several times over many months to discuss with her the grave spiritual and moral consequences of her public actions by which she has cooperated in the procurement of abortions performed in Kansas. My concern has been, as a pastor, both for the spiritual well-being of the governor but also for those who have been misled (scandalized) by her very public support for legalized abortion.

It has been my hope that through this dialogue the governor would come to understand her obligation: 1) to take the difficult political step, but necessary moral step, of repudiating her past actions in support of legalized abortion; and 2) in the future would use her exceptional leadership abilities to develop public policies extending the maximum legal protection possible to the unborn children of Kansas.

Having made every effort to inform and to persuade Governor Sebelius and after consultation with Bishop Ron Gilmore (Dodge City), Bishop Paul Coakley (Salina) and Bishop Michael Jackels (Wichita), I wrote the governor last August requesting that she refrain from presenting herself for reception of the Eucharist until she had acknowledged the error of her past positions, made a worthy sacramental confession and taken the necessary steps for amendment of her life which would include a public repudiation of her previous efforts and actions in support of laws and policies sanctioning abortion.

Recently, it came to my attention that the governor had received holy Communion at one of our parishes. I have written to her again, asking her to respect my previous request and not require from me any additional pastoral actions.

The governor has spoken to me on more than one occasion about her obligation to uphold state and federal laws and court decisions. I have asked her to show a similar sense of obligation to honor divine law and the laws, teaching and legitimate authority within the church.

I have not made lightly this request of Governor Sebelius, but only after much prayer and reflection. The spiritually lethal message, communicated by our governor, as well as many other high profile Catholics in public life, has been in effect: “The church’s teaching on abortion is optional!”

I reissue my request of the faithful of the archdiocese to pray for Governor Sebelius. I hope that my request of the governor, not to present herself for holy Communion, will provoke her to reconsider the serious spiritual and moral consequences of her past and present actions. At the same time, I pray this pastoral action on my part will help alert other Catholics to the moral gravity of participating in and/or cooperating with the performance of abortions.

Swedish Eucharistic Prayer

Here is an English translation of the Eucharistic Prayer used in the Church of Sweden as published on its web site and as I've inserted it in my Altar Book.

Praise be to you, Lord of heaven and earth.

You have revealed your mercy towards your people
in giving your only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish,
but have eternal life.

We give thanks for the redemption you have prepared
for us through Jesus Christ.

Let Your Holy Spirit come into our hearts
to enlighten us with a living faith.

Sanctify by your Spirit this bread and wine,
which earth has given and human hands have made.

Here we offer them to you,
that through them we may partake
of the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the same night in which he was betrayed,
he took bread, gave thanks,
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
”Take, eat.
This is my body, which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, he took the cup,
gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
”Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of me.”

Therefore, heavenly Father, we celebrate this supper
in remembrance of your Son's passion and death,
his resurrection and ascension.

We will eat the Bread of Life and drink the Cup of Blessing
until the day when he comes again in glory.

We ask you:
remember the perfect and eternal sacrifice
through which, in Christ,
you have reconciled us with yourself.

Grant that we may be united into one body,
and be made a perfect living sacrifice in Christ.

Through him, and with him, and in him,
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father,
for ever and ever.

Amen.

Lutheran Lite vs. Luther

Light Side is the section of The Lutheran magazine where people send in "funny" anecdotes. The current issue's Light Side, headlined "At the communion rail," includes this:

A couple in our congregation had their visiting grandson, Henry, then 5, hold the bucket for empty plastic communion cups while they served communion. The next morning Henry said to his grandma: “Next time I’ll serve the drinks and you can do the trash.”

Cheryl Geller
Minot, N.D

Think on this for a moment.

Empty plastic communion cups tossed in bucket. Five-year-old sees trash. Grandma and friends think this is so cute.

Such is the state of Lutheranism in 2008.

Then there's Herman Sasse's reference to a description of Dr. Luther's personal conduct as celebrant:

In many churches in which he celebrated the Lord's Supper there remained for a long time memories of his conduct, e.g., in the Church of Our Lady in Halle during his last journey to Mansfeld. Long afterwards they were still telling of this celebration, one of the last, if not the last of his life.

The great number of communicants had wearied his aged arms; at one point his quivering hand caused him to spill a little of the consecrated wine on the floor. Luther put the chalice down on the altar, fell to his knees, and sucked up the wine with his mouth so that it should not be trodden under foot, whereupon the whole congregation broke out in sobbing and weeping.

(We Confess: The Sacraments, pp. 133-134, referencing K. Loewe, quoted by K. Anton, Luther und die Musik [1928], p. 59)

Such was the state of Lutheranism in the 1540s.

It is said that actions speak louder than words. What do Luther's actions say about the Sacrament? What has young Henry's congregation taught him about the Means of Grace? Which seems right and salutary to you?

(Hint: trash vs. reverence)

"...whereupon the whole congregation broke out in sobbing and weeping."

Lutheran CORE Response to Bishop Payne

The following open letter from retired Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod (ELCA) Bishop Paull Spring to ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson quite clearly and succinctly states many of the very serious matters at stake in New England Synod Bishop Margaret Payne's provocative letter in my previous blog entry.

July 27, 2008

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Chicago, Illinois

Dear Bishop Hanson,

Bishop Margaret Payne of the New England Synod has announced that she intends to preside at a celebration of the Holy Communion at a special service during the Chicago churchwide assembly. This service - not a part of the regular agenda for the assembly - is to be sponsored by Lutherans Concerned/North America and others, and the preacher for this service is to be Mr. Bradley E. Schmeling, a former pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Bishop Payne's participation in this service raises many questions by us in Lutheran CORE.

Article 14 of the Augsburg Confession affirms that "nobody should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without a regular call." Mr. Schmeling is no longer an ordained minister of our church and no longer has a regular call to ministry in our church. How can Bishop Payne defend her participation in a service at which Mr. Schmeling is to deliver the sermon?

The ELCA is currently in the midst of a process toward developing a possible social statement on sexuality, for action at the 2009 churchwide assembly. A specific process has been developed for preparing this social statement. How does Bishop Payne's participation in this service affect the credibility of this process? How does her participation in the service lead toward peace, unity, and prayerful deliberation throughout our church on these matters?

Our church understands itself to be one church, with congregational, synodical, and churchwide expressions. Each expression of the church is to be an interdependent partner with the other expressions. How does Bishop Payne's leading this service reflect the polity of the ELCA? Are individual bishops and synods somehow exempt from the interdependence that we expect from all expressions of the church?

We object strenuously to Bishop Payne's serving as presiding minister at a Eucharist, for which Mr. Schmeling is the indicated preacher. We look to you to redress this matter. You are the only one who can do so! We ask that you address our concerns to Bishop Payne, in your role as chief pastor of our church. We also ask that you publicly express your disapproval for her decision to preside at the service.

When The Rev. Paul Egertson was called as a synodical bishop, he indicated that he would resign from the office, should his personal convictions prove to be in conflict with the official policies of our church. With great integrity, he resigned as a synodical bishop when faced with this situation. Is it not appropriate for Bishop Payne to do the same thing now?

We respectfully ask whether Bishop Payne's anticipated action is a matter of discipline.

Regards,
Paull E. Spring
Chair, Lutheran CORE Steering Committee


CC: Bishop E. Roy Riley
      Bishop Margaret G. Payne

Thank you, Bishop Spring!

As an aside, I wonder why is it that in the ELCA it seems only retired Bishops are able to say these kinds of things that need to be said?

New England Synod Bishop Writes Her Pastors

An Upsurge in an ELCA Controversy?

New England Synod Bishop Margaret Payne was the Chair of the ELCA Task Force studying human sexuality while it was focussed on the questions of homosexual unions and gay/lesbian pastors. After the last Churchwide Assembly 2 years ago where the Task Force's recommendations were dealt with (no changes in official practice or documents were approved), she resigned from the Task Force. Earlier this year, the New England Synod (which has been supportive of pastors in gay/lesbian relationships despite ELCA standards) approved blessing of homosexual unions. And now, Bishop Payne has written the Pastors of her Synod:

July 15, 2007

In the past few months, our church has been involved in conversations and decisions that continue to reveal the differing viewpoints among us about the role of gay and lesbian persons in the ELCA. However, we still seek to live together faithfully despite our disagreements and to work prayerfully to discern God's will for our church.

We are called to obey the policies of the ELCA, yet we are also called to consider possibilities for change. Within this difficult tension, we are committed to respect one another's faith-bound beliefs while we disagree about policy related to the ways in which our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters are included in the life of our church.

Over the last few months, I have spent time in prayer and discernment that have led me to choose to be more openly supportive of gay and lesbian persons who seek fuller inclusion in the life of the ELCA. I have accepted an invitation from the worship planners of Lutherans Concerned/North America to preside at a Eucharist that will take place on Wednesday, August 8, 2007, during the Churchwide Assembly. To me, this liturgy represents the commitment to continue support for consideration of change in the policy of the ELCA in a way that depends not on political maneuvering but on the flow of gifts that comes to all of us in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

When I sought ordination as a woman in the Lutheran Church, and encountered hateful resistance, I was profoundly appreciative of men who were allies and stood openly by my side with support and encouragement. I want to provide that same kind of support and encouragement for gay and lesbian people who are deeply faithful brothers and sisters already sharing their gifts among us.

The time may or may not be right in God's plan for change in our church, but I pray and continue to trust that there will be open and ongoing dialogue that moves us beyond our present stalemate. As together we depend on Word and Sacrament to be our center of faith and decision-making, I am certain that we will be drawn more and more deeply into the profound unity that we share in the New Covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bishop Margaret G. Payne
New England Synod of the ELCA

Bishop Payne fails to note that, when she sought ordination, her Lutheran church body had already voted (overwhelmingly!) that one's sex was not a bar to ordination. Furthermore, the resisitance she faced included those who had theological objections (and, yes, even in the ELCA, still have them) to the ordination of women. To which one could point to the ALC-LCA study that presented a serious theological argument for ordaining women. Granted, not all were convinced; nevertheless the argument was theological, not simply "hateful resistance."

Nor is it simply "hateful resistance" that prevents the ELCA from authorizing the blessing of homosexual relationships or permitting those in them to serve as pastors. The Task Force that Bishop Payne chaired, with all the theological resources available to this church, including over $1 million spent on the study, did not present any theological arguments for that authorization. None! Nevertheless, she is now even more strongly convicted that we should do so.

And to make her point, she will use the Holy Sacraments of the Church to make her blatently political statement -- that "fuller inclusion in the life of the ELCA" (that is, blessing gay relationships and ordaining those in them; for nothing else is withheld from homosexuals in the ELCA) for those who engage in homosexual relations is so important that those demanding this change in ancient, Biblical standards of behavior will stop at nothing to get their way.

This is a mighty strange way "to live together faithfully despite our disagreements."

How often should one go to the Lord's Supper?

Among the readings for discussion at the 2007 General Retreat of the Society of the Holy Trinity is the book The Hammer of God, by Bo Geirtz. A wonderful book that I wish I'd known about prior to my pastoral care courses in seminary, what struck me on my first reading a few years ago was how contemporary were the issues Giertz was addressing.

The first section of the book focusses on a young enlightenment-era priest who in 1808 gets caught up in the Pietist renewal. In one episode, the young Fr. Savonius is, with the the more veteran Pietist priest Fr. Lindér, speaking with a group of people following a evening gathering. The laity are taking advantage of an opportunity to question their priests. From page 66 of the Revised Edition of the book:

Then a new voice was heard.

"How often should one go to the Lord's Supper?"

It was again Lindér who answered.

"That depends a little on how you ask the question. If you ask how often you must go, it may indicate a stubborn heart that wants to buy God's grace as cheaply as possible and that does not really want to be with Jesus. If that is the case, you must pray God to convert you. If, on the other hand, you ask how often you ought to go, our Lord's answer is, 'As oft as ye do this,' and that means that you must do it oftener than the great majority, who commune four times a year just for the sake of propriety. And if you ask how often you may go, you are showing the right hunger for grace, and my answer then is: Go in the joy of the Lord as often as you can. But do not be careless about the preparation."