My sabbatical has come to an end and I will return to my office tomorrow. I am more than ready to get back to work, although I have enjoyed this time and gained much.During the second half of my leave I have been examining worship practices in Lutheran and non-Lutheran, non-liturgical settings. I will be sharing a number of my observations in the weeks to come, but today I want to talk about the use of the Scriptures.
I discovered if you want to hear more than just a few verses from a single book of the Bible, worship in a Lutheran congregation. Most often our congregations use the Revised Common Lectionary, the appointed readings for any given Sunday, and read from the New Revised Stardard Version of the Bible. We hear a First Reading from the Old Testament, a Second Reading from the New Testament and a Gospel Reading from one of the four gospels. I have found that many of our congregations are neglecting the richness of the Psalms. Perhaps it is the time factor. Perhaps congregations grew tired of singing psalms to the tones of LBW. I am sure there are many reasons. Personally I love to sing the psalms, especially song or hymn versions. I really believe that we need to be well acquainted with the psalms.
Every Lutheran sermon I heard preached during my sabbatical was biblically based. Whereas the Lutheran pastors I heard would usually take a look at an entire passage, some non-Lutheran sermons focused on a single verse or on no particular passage at all. Some of the non-Lutheran sermons were examples of great communication. I came away fed, but not sure of what I had been given to eat. Of course, not every Lutheran sermon I heard fed me, but I will readily acknowledge that is sometimes the problem of the hearer…but not always. I know a bad sermon when I hear one.
Some of our congregations use a bulletin insert with the lesson printed on it. Others print the lessons in the bulletin or project them on a screen. A few of the Lutheran congregations have pew Bibles and worshipers are invited (though not strongly encouraged) to turn to the passage and follow along. It would encourage folks to open the book if they were given the time to do it. By the time I had turned to the First Reading, the second was already being announced.
In one congregation, the pastor invited the congregation to read along. However, he blazed through the reading at such a rapid pace no one could keep up. I was just glad when it was over.
Lectors make a huge difference in the reading of the Scriptures. It is obvious that some practice before worship and work at pronunciation and inflection. It is great to hear different voices reading the lessons, rather than the same voice each week. I hear something new in the way a lesson is read each time. I also really enjoying hearing both the young and the old read.
I think a congregation should invest in a lectern Bible or a ritual lectionary to emphasize the Word. A lector carrying a bulletin insert to the lectern projects a more casual and disposable image than we probably want.
The Rev. Dr. Richard Bliese, president of Luther Seminary, encourages congregations to use Bibles in worship in the April E-lert. Check his thoughts out at http://www.luthersem.edu/elerts/article.asp?id=409.
Care to comment? Go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/, or if you are already there, click on comments below. I am glad for your opinions, whether you agree or not! --JC
