Growing up using The Lutheran Hymnal and using it at my current call until recently, something always seemed odd to me. On Sundays when we did not have communion, we followed the liturgy beginning on page five which began with a confession of sin without a proper absolution following. Instead, we were given the declaration of grace. In many ways, the service was absent of an real giving of the Gospel through the means God instituted. No absolution. No supper.
Conversely on Sundays where we did have communion, we followed the liturgy which began on page fifteen which had confession and then absolution to begin. Then we had the service of the Word and then the Supper. We essentially got two deliveries of grace. Absolution and the Supper.
So one Sunday, no delivery. The next Sunday, two deliveries.
And you might just say. Duh. Just have communion every week and enjoy all of the grace offered. But to be truthful, having absolution before communion always seems to me a little odd in two ways. First, in terms of the divine drama the order of the liturgy orchestrates, it always seems to me that the delivery of absolution brings the service to the a dramatic climax too early. If my sins are all forgiven in the absolution, why stick around for the another 45 minutes to have that happen again at the Supper. Secondly, this practice can give the wrong impression that we must get clean before we come to the table. We can think that only the already clean can come to the table rather than those that realize their dirtiness coming to be made clean. This seems to stand in contradiction to the way we often speak of the Supper as a means of grace and how Luther urged the sinful to run to the altar. ((The only other way I see to make the story told by the modern (with confession and absolution) liturgy make sense is to see confession and absolution as the primary giving of grace in the service and the time at the table as the fruit of that forgiving work, namely being able to stand with Christ in his presence. But would we be faithful deemphasizing the delivery of grace in the Supper?))
Obviously all of this comes from they fact that Confession and Absolution were not originally part of the proper liturgy on Sunday. They were done as a separate occasion. Then the gathering on Sunday was primarily just about receiving the forgiveness offered in the Supper.
Let me suggest three items for discussion:
- When the Supper is not offered for whatever reason, do the confession and proper absolution so that the grace of God is delivered in the service.
- When the Supper is offered, do the confession and declaration of grace in order that the service might continue it’s natural drive all the way to the climax of the Supper.
- Practice more private confession and absolution and less private communion (although that is another post altogether).
I am not a liturgical scholar, but I know some of you who read my blog are much more well read on the history of these liturgical items. I greatly desire your input. Please comment and share with others who are likely to do the same.
Phil,
Good piece. Though I’m no longer Lutheran, I only have more questions for you than solutions (though I believe that your third suggestion of more private confession and absolution is the way to go and will probably be the hardest to get through even though this ancient practice was well retained in the early days of the Lutheran church).
1) Doesn’t the new LSB have a service totally dedicated to confession and absolution? I don’t know how many services you have at St. Paul, but could it be conceivable that you could do this service before the liturgy (with communion or not)? You don’t want to advertise this as a prerequisite to receiving the Eucharist (you will only turn people away, unfortunately), but if you can persuade them that the Eucharist will be received with so much more joy and reverence, then I think that will take care of itself. Of course, asking every parishioner to make confession before they receive the Eucharist privately would probably be blasted as too “Romish.”
2) If Sunday morning isn’t available, how about Saturday night? In my experience as an Orthodox, I feel I am more prepared for the following Sunday with Vespers the night before since it leads into the liturgical day. So, couldn’t you do that service or the service of confession on Saturday night? Or would you be opposed by those people who say “church is only for Sundays?”
3) What precommunion prayers do you have in the LSB (if any)? Every time I commune, I say the precommunion prayers (or as many of them as I can) before I go to the church? I realize that my precommunion prayers might be a stretch for a western congregation (though they’re all really good). Maybe this could be a good practice to institute for people outside of the church for proper preparation.
4) BTW, whatever happened to your project of doing weekly communion?
Take care.
“•When the Supper is offered, do the confession and declaration of grace in order that the service might continue it’s natural drive all the way to the climax of the Supper.” I first did this a few years ago at a Maundy Thursday service. I saved the confession and absolution until right before communion. It worked really well, indeed driving the service to the climax of the Supper. Since then, I don’t do it this way every time, but do change the order around sometimes when it seems good to do so, i.e. a particular sermon, sometimes a theme from the church year, etc. Lutheran Liturgy has so much to add to worship, but just going through the motions of it without much thought takes away from how much it can really help us in worship.