Lutheran Liturgy Explanation

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The Service of the Sacrament

The church has confessed its sins and been forgiven, and its faith has been nurtured through hearing the Word. The church now reaches a climax of the worship experience in the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion. The following parts of the liturgy help the worshipers partake of the holy meal thoughtfully, thankfully, and joyfully.

 

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Having heard the Word, it moves us to realize our sinfulness and shortcomings as well as God’s grace and mercy to sinners in Christ (this is what we refer to as hearing Law & Gospel). The Offertory immediately follows the Sermon. We know it as “Create in me…” and the Scriptural basis is from Psalm 51:10-12. The Offertory prepares the congregation for the offering of gifts and the Prayer of the Church. Looking back upon the message and meaning of the Gospel, and also forward to the celebration and reception of the Sacrament, we offer to God ourselves (2 Corinthians 8:5), our substance (2 Corinthians 8:2-4), and our praise (Hebrews 13:15-16) in an act of corporate dedication and thanksgiving.


The Offertory

Using David’s words of repentance from Psalm 51, we confess our humble and grateful acceptance of the Word and offer ourselves in thanksgiving to the Lord.


The Offering

The gifts of God's people are a response to God's blessings "as God has prospered them" (1 Corinthians 16:2). Our offerings are for the support of the church. They enable the church to provide the written and spoken word of God, Christian education, and pastoral care, food, clothing, shelter, and a helping hand to those in need.

 

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The Preface

Preface means "introduction." The pastor and people get ready to celebrate the Holy Meal by greeting each other and with an exhortation as how to celebrate the meal.
* Cf. "Salutation"; Lam. 3:41; Ps. 86.4.

The appropriate
(or Proper) Preface


These words state why we should give thanks using words and ideas appropriate for the season of the church year.
* Pss. 69:30; 95:2; 100:4; 107:22; 116:17; 147:7.

Once again the Pastor and congregation pray for and assure each other of the Lord’s presence. Then comes the invitation to “lift up your hearts” and to “give thanks to the Lord, our God.” This reminds us that our entire Communion Service is a service of thanksgiving.

The Proper Prefaces direct our attention to different occasions in the life of our Lord and His Church. For example, the Proper Preface for Christmas directs us to Christ’s coming in the flesh. Lent directs us to the Passion History of our Lord. Each one concludes with the words: “Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious Name; evermore praising Thee and saying…” This unites the Church Militant (the Church on earth) and the Church Triumphant (the Church in heaven) with the angelic host in an ascription of praise which magnifies the Holy Name and introduces the Sanctus. In the Divine Service, we are truly worshipping with the entire Christian Church of all times and places, along with the Holy Trinity and all the host of heaven. (See Hebrews 12:22-29 for a description of what is really going on in Christian worship.)

 

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The Sanctus

Sanctus is a Latin word meaning "Holy." The Sanctus contains words from Isaiah's vision of God (Isaiah 6:3) and the crowd's response on Palm Sunday when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9). We join them in spirit by singing their words as we anticipate Christ’s coming in the sacrament.
* Is. 6:3; Matt. 21:9 (Mk 11:9); Ps. 118:25-26.

In this exalted hymn we join our voices to the angels who sing “Holy, Holy, Holy” round about the Lord’s throne and we welcome Him with the Palm Sunday multitude who sang “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest!”

It may be strange to us that our worship on Sunday morning extends beyond the walls of our church building, even beyond the limits of this present world.

 

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The Lord's Prayer

We pray to God as our Father using the prayer of the family of God* because the Lord's Supper is our family meal.
* Matt. 6:9ff; Luke 11:2ff.

The Lord’s Prayer is the distinctive property of Christians. We are here reminded that we are together in the family of God, that at this Communion table we are not many individuals, but one body, brothers and sisters in the faith, whose spiritual welfare is closely linked together.

The petition to, “give us this day our daily bread,” is fulfilled in the highest way when we receive Christ Himself in His Holy Supper, Christ who is the Bread of Life.

 

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The Words of Institution


The pastor speaks the words which Jesus spoke when He instituted the Supper with His disciples in the Upper Room. With these words the bread and wine are consecrated, that is, set apart for God's use in the special meal.
* 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20.

The Words of Institution are often referred to by their Latin name, the “Verba,” which means “the words.” These words consecrated (set apart) earthly elements (bread and wine) for the Lord’s own holy use. In the Words of Institution, Christ took bread and wine (and nothing other than bread and wine) and said they were His Body and Blood (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25). The consecration consists not merely in the words, but also that we take, bless, distribute, and eat and drink according to Christ’s institution and commandments.

 

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The Pax Domini

Following the Words of Institution, the pastor turns to the congregation and announces these words: “The peace of the Lord be with you always!” in the form of a short benediction. The Pax Domini (Latin for “peace of the Lord”) originally referred to the sign of peace shared among the members. This comes from what St. Paul refers to as the “kiss of peace” (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26). Luther says: “It (the Pax Domini) is the voice of the Gospel announcing the forgiveness of sins, the only and most worthy preparation for the Lord’s Table…hence I wish it announced with face toward the people as the bishops were accustomed to do.”

 

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The Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei is a Latin phrase meaning "Lamb of God." John the Baptist spoke these words as he pointed to Jesus coming toward him (John 1:29). As Christ comes to us in the Holy Supper, we recognize him as the Lamb of God sacrificed for us to free us from the bondage of sin and death.
* John 1:29; Is. 53:7.

This beautiful communion hymn was introduced into the liturgy by Pope Sergius I, about 700 A.D. as a devotion sung during the breaking of the bread. The words themselves are Latin and mean “Lamb of God.” They are a direct reference to John the Baptist’s words in John 1:29: “Behold, the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” John’s words reflect Isaiah’s prophecy, recorded in Isaiah 53. For centuries, the lamb had been a sacrificial symbol for the children of Israel. Only now, the Lamb was the sinless Son of God, who alone could take away the sin of the world. As lamb’s blood saved the children of Israel at Passover, so also now Christ’s blood, as the Lamb of God, redeems the entire world. What Christ accomplished on Calvary remains for all eternity – for all mankind. It seems quite fitting then that we should recall John the Baptist’s words at this point in our service, for Christ is the one who takes away the sins of the world, as He will grant us forgiveness through the eating and drinking of His Body and Blood as we now receive His holy Supper in the Distribution.

 

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The Administration of the Supper


As we kneel at the Lord's Table, the pastor invites us, "Take, eat; this is the true body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, given into death for your sins. Take, drink, this is the true blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, shed for the forgiveness of your sins." After we receive the Sacrament we hear the comforting words spoken by the pastor, "The body and blood of our Lord strengthen and preserve you in the true faith to life everlasting." We respond, "Amen," for this is our sincere desire. It is a good practice to offer a silent prayer of thanks when we return to our pews. While the meal is being distributed, the congregation and/or the choir sing one or more hymns.

 

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The Post-Communion Canticle

"Thank the Lord," "Lord, now let Your servant go in peace," or an appropriate hymn is sung. The purpose is to offer our thanks and express our faith in what God has done for us and promised to do for us in the future.
* "Lord, now you let Your servant go in peace", Luke 2:29f.

or

The Nunc Dimittis

Nunc Dimittis is Latin for the first words of Simeon’s hymn in the Gospel of Luke (2:29-32): “Lord, now let…depart…” when he took the infant Jesus in his arms and began to sing this hymn of thanksgiving. It relates to the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Lord’s Supper. In this holy Supper, Christ comes to us in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine, and we, like Simeon, rejoice at His presence in this holy mystery. As so with the eyes of faith, we see our salvation as Christ comes to us in the bread and wine; and now we can depart (or even die) in peace because our sins have been forgiven and we have seen our salvation in Jesus.

 

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The Prayer of Thanks

After Christ has given us His true Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper, the only response we can properly give to God for such a precious gift is our thanks. That is why from very early times the liturgy was called the “Eucharist,” meaning “the giving of thanks,” that Christians coming to worship God received of Him more than comfort, strength, or answer to prayer. God’s gift was not a memento of Himself, something just to cheer them through evil days. God’s gift then, as it is now, is Himself. Our whole life should be filled with thankfulness and praise for what God has done for us in Christ. Thus we are reminded in several of the Psalms (106:1; 136:1) “to give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”


The Benediction

The Benediction is not a prayer, but a blessing from God. Because it comes from God, it is not conditional, but a guarantee granted to each one of us. The words themselves come from God's command for Aaron to place God’s blessing upon the people in Numbers 6:22-27. Christ, also, as a final act before He ascended into heaven, blessed His disciples (Luke 24:50) on the Mount of Olives. Now, again, in the Holy Sacrament, His presence has been a reality for us, and He now gives us His blessing, through the word of His servant, as the service ends.

 

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I hope everyone enjoyed this thread! Here is a final appendix concerning the service:

“Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise. Music is drawn into this thankfulness and praise, enlarging and elevating the adoration of our gracious giver God. Saying back to him what he has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure. Most true and sure is his name, which he put on us with the water of our Baptism. We are his. This we acknowledge at the beginning of the Divine Service. Where his name is, there is he. Before him we acknowledge that we are sinners, and we plead for forgiveness. His forgiveness is given us, and we, freed and forgiven, acclaim him as our great and gracious God as we apply to ourselves the words he has used to make himself known to us.


The rhythm of our worship is from him to us, and then from us back to him. He gives his gifts, and together we receive and extol them. We build one another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our Lord gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink. Finally his blessing moves us out into our calling, where his gifts have their fruition. How best to do this we may learn from his Word and from the way his Word has prompted his worship through the centuries. We are heirs of an astonishingly rich tradition. Each generation receives from those who went before and, in making that tradition of the Divine Service its own, adds what best may serve in its own day – the living heritage and something new.”