Abba Gerontius of Petra said that many, tempted by the pleasures of the body, commit fornication, not in their body but in their spirit, and while preserving their bodily virginity, commit prostitution in their soul. "Thus it is good, my well-beloved, to do that which is written, and for each one to guard his own heart with all possible care." (Prov. 4:23)
Sayings. Gerontius, 1.
Prs. Eric Brown and Mark Bersche were gracious enough to bring the Treasury to our Circuit Conference today, so I was able to look through it during the meeting. I justified myself that I was attending sacred matters, though I ignored the brethren at times. Shame on me.
By and large, it seems that this is something long lacking in American Lutheranism, and I praise the editors and CPH for publishing it. Even after my cursory examination, I plan on promoting this heavily among the congregation and praying that many will use it. I do have some issues with it that I will address when I receive my copy and am able to spend some more time with it.
Thank you to all who have here, and in other places encouraged me to check it out. I hope to receive my copy soon and will do a full review of it ASAP.
Lutherans do not pray the sacrificial language of the Eucharistic Prayer, and never really have. The Reformers rejected the inclusion of the Verba within prayer for the fact that they understood the Eucharist as God's gift to us, rather than the priest's or the people's offering. In other words, they understood that the Verba (the "words of institution") are proclamation to us, not prayer to God.
This is the simple version, admittedly. But consider any Lutheran liturgy (save some from the ELCA of late), and you will find that the verba are not included within prayer. The LCMS, seeking to be faithful to the Lutheran Confessions, have always rejected this.
For example, Lutheran Service Book Setting One has an expanded "Prayer of Thanksgiving" following the Sanctus which immediately precedes the Verba. However, it makes pains to make clear that the prayer is completely over before the Verba are proclaimed: "To You alone, O Father, be all glory, honor, and worship, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen." The Verba are included under the bolded heading "The Words of our Lord." Clearly the LCMS wanted to keep the Verba outside and separate from any Eucharistic Prayer.
Until The Pastoral Care Companion.
See this on p.36 under the rite for "Visiting the Sick and Distressed."
Rubric: If the Lord's Supper is not to be received, the service concludes with the Blessing on page 38.
Text:
It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places.... Above all, we give thanks for Your boundless love shown to us when You sent Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into our flesh and laid on Him our sin, giving Him into death that we might not die eternally. Because He is now risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, all who believe in Him will overcome sin and death and will rise again to new life.While there is a page turn involved, there is no conclusion to the prayer, nor an amen, nor any distinguishing between the prayer addressed to the Father and the Verba.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed...
Abba Ammonas was asked, "What is the 'narrow and hard way?'" (Matt. 7:14)
He replied, "The 'narrow and hard way' is this, to control your thoughts, and to strip yourself of your own will, for the sake of God. This is also the meaning of the sentence, 'Lo, we have left everything and followed you.'" (Matt. 19:27)
Sayings. Ammonas. 11
The NaNoWriMo, that is. 50,000 words in thirty days. I'm beginning to feel that this was a horrible mistake. Beginning tomorrow, you'll see a widget on the right that will track my word count. I'm doing this to keep the pressure on me, you see.
Little devotional books are popular in the LCMS. These kinds of books tell a 200-word story with a basic message, one for every day. There are periodicals our publishing house publishes, devotional books, and even some web-based devotional stories.
I always appreciate it when I learn that members read these on a daily basis. I'm glad that they take a few minutes for this devotional time. When I was in college I used one of these...but I also cheated. You see, they usually proscribe a reading of a pericope or chapter, along with the single verse printed at the top of the page. I usually "overlooked" the longer passage, read the single verse, the flash-devotion, said the one-sentence prayer at the end and called it quits. Devotions done! Now on to life.
This obviously is not the intent of those who produce devotional books like this. At minimum, the entire passage is supposed to be read, and the prayers are usually intended as a start for prayer. I know this; I've written some of these before (but not for a Lutheran publisher...shh!). But I fear that many people consider that "doing devotions" means reading a little story, saying a prayer and getting on with life. One website puts it this way: "What most people talk about when they talk about devotionals is a book that helps you grow in your relationship with God." (source)
That's not exactly how it is supposed to work. Devotion(s) are defined as "An act of religious observance or prayer, especially when private. Often used in the plural." (American Heritage Dictionary ) Prayer. That's the action of daily devotions. What Christians do privately, outside of the liturgy is, well, some of what they do inside the liturgy: pray and mediate on Scripture.
For this reason, we Lutherans have hymnals that are designed not just for church use, but also for home use, with short orders of worship, daily reading tables and much of the psalter (book of Psalms). There are other options, like the Brotherhood Prayer Book (an independent Lutheran diurnal I have no experience with) or The Monastic Diurnal (not just for monks...but hard to use, Catholic--or Orthodox if you will, and a treasure for the patient or stubborn!). Apparently Concordia Publishing House refused to be left out of the fray and have designed their own diurnal, the Treasury of Daily Prayer (I don't know that much about it this one, but ought to check it out). But whatever source you use, the object is not reading stories to warm our hearts, but praying to God, praying with the psalms, and praying with the Church, i.e., praying along with the Church Calendar in the season, the commemorations, and so forth.
To be clear, there's nothing wrong with reading inspiring little stories that you may find in all kinds of sources. On the contrary, these are good! But we shouldn't limit ourselves to them. Christians need to pray the psalms, to mediate on Scripture, and be encouraged in Christian living through short (or long) homilies, exhortations, lives of saints, meditations from Church Fathers, contemporary stories and devotional reading too. All this will feed and nurture faith in ways it is impossible to reckon.
A few weeks ago I posted a review of The Faith of Barack Obama
I am pleased to report that Thomas Nelson has expanded this program, and soon I will be regularly reviewing books they publish. Stay tuned for these as they come in. The publisher also wishes to enroll many more bloggers into the program, so if you're interested, you can find out more here.
In other news, the Sayings of the Desert Fathers project needs to change. The number of sayings that I would like to share is dwindling--some are too long and others are too hard. As the response to this feature has been enthusiastic from a few, and very muted from most, I've decided to limit the sayings to one or two a week, and re-commit to more regular writing from me.
One day when [Abba John the Dwarf] was sitting in front of the church, the brethren were consulting him about their thoughts. One of te old men who aw it became a prey for jealousy and said to him, "John, your vessel is full of poison."
Abba John said to him, "That is very true, abba; and you have said that when you only see the outside, but if you were able to see the inside, too, what would you say then?"
Sayings. John the Dwarf. 8
