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The Song of Simeon and What We Have See

 

Today’s blog post is from Kevin Strickland, Assistant to the Presiding Bishop and Executive for Worship for the ELCA, and is the longer form of the Worship E-news greeting for January 2017.


 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant[e] in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
 a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

 

In this season after Epiphany, how can Simeon’s song continue to carry us through the cadences of life’s darkness and bring hopeful light? Simeon’s “song”, has become one of our own. Many know these words well in the Latin, Nunc Dimittis, which means, “now send away,” the hymn that is sometimes sung after Communion or interestingly it is also what we sing as part of the service of Compline—the “going to bed” liturgy.

 

As we close our day, we sing, “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”

 

What have our eyes seen before going to bed? It’s usually the common ordinary stuff of life: dirty dishes, endless e-mails, which kid forgot to do their science experiment and waits until bedtime to tell you, paper work, bills, dirty clothes that seem to never end, aging parents that require more attention, etc, etc, etc.

 

What have our eyes seen before going to bed?

Is it the news that once again someone has been shot, or another terror attack, or another political slam made from one side of the aisle to the other.

 

What have our eyes seen before going to bed?

Is it the test results that reveal cancer, or the loved one who has to go into assistance because her memory is no more, or have our eyes looked into the eyes of another for the last time, as in peace and joy they now depart?

 

Is God’s salvation to be seen in such common, ordinary, even mundane things of life? As well, is God’s salvation to be seen in all of life’s good and bad, joy and sadness, celebration and mourning?

 

What have eyes seen when we gather as the assembly of God in worship? There are people who are vast and different. People who bring with them into this space a host of issues and yet in our brokenness as a body we are made whole by Christ own. Is God’s salvation to be seen in our gathering?

 

What have eyes seen in sacrament of Holy Communion? It is around simple things that we gather: bread and wine with one another. Is God’s salvation to be seen in this?

 

What have eyes seen in the sacrament of Holy Baptism? It is around simple things like water that we gather with one another? Is God’s salvation to be seen in this?

 

God is indeed present in an infant, in bread and wine, in water, in each other, in our gathering, in the ordinary and extra-ordinary events of every day life. Where God is present, there salvation is for those with the faith to see more than just the obvious or what is transparent.

 

Could it be that Simeon sings the starting notes of the canticle of all of our lives? Could it be that Simeon reminds us that we behold God’s salvation each and every time we behold the face of another that God created and each and every time we gather to watch over as another saint of God’s departs in peace?

 

Let us continue to sing with Simeon. Let us continue seeing the salvation of God that is before our very eyes each and every day with each and every person, until at our last we sing and we rejoice with Simeon and all the saints: “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”

 

May it be so! Amen.

 

Worship Resource Highlights from 2016

 

Have you seen these worship resources that were recently published by Augsburg Fortress? All are available at https://www.augsburgfortress.org.

 

More Days for Praise:
Festivals and Commemorations in Evangelical Lutheran Worship

For centuries the church has paired its church year— focused on Christ’s life, death, and resurrection— with a second calendar that uses the lives of saints as a lens to see God’s gracious acts. Evangelical Lutheran Worship has
continued that practice with its calendar of festivals and commemorations. In this volume teacher and scholar Gail Ramshaw shows that those whom the church has lifted up are both faithful and fascinating, always pointing to Christ. Here is a guide to help you include these observances in your prayer life.

Each day’s entry includes
• a brief chronology of the person’s life
• a summary of why the person is remembered by the church • an image of, or related to, the commemoration
• a quote from the person, where possible
• devotional hymn and prayer suggestions for the day.

$15.00

 

Peace at the Last: Visitation with the Dying

 

Peace at the Last is a richly illustrated liturgy for use by individuals and groups who are visiting those who are dying. The text is drawn from the psalms, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and other sources. Simple musical refrains easily sung without accom- paniment are also provided. These words, images, and songs, gathered in a beautiful and portable form, will help Christians to accompany those who are dying, assuring them that “whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).

Peace at the Last emerged out of congregational need and experience at Lake Chelan Lutheran Church in Chelan, Washington. The creative team includes Pastor Paul Palumbo, composer and musician Rolf Vegdahl, artist Wendy Schramm, and the Lake Chelan Lutheran congregation.

$14.99

 

 

Braille Edition: Service Music and Hymns

This edition contains the words to service music and hymn texts (#151–893) from Evangelical Lutheran Worship on braille-embossed pages. Congregation leaders are invited to provide a copy for each braille-using worshiper’s use.

Over 1,600 pages of braille are produced on sturdy paper stock in a standard 11 x 11.5 page size. Pages are loose-leaf, three-hole punched, and enclosed in eight red hardcover binders. Each binder includes a cover sheet that is both printed and embossed, indicating the page range in that binder. The loose-leaf format helps the braille user select and remove pages to be used in worship for a given occasion.

All contents have been prepared and thoroughly reviewed by experienced braille users and in cooperation with the Disability Ministry section of the Congregational and Synodical Mission unit, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

$375.00

 

A Place of Refuge and Rest

 

Today’s blog post is from Laura Ferree, current seminarian and Leadership in Context student at Jacob’s Porch, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Laura shares her experience following the car and knife attack that took place on the OSU campus on Nov. 28, 2016.

 

On Monday November 28th I was driving to the Columbus airport to pick up a friend when a NPR news broadcaster stated, “There is an active shooter being reported on Ohio State University’s campus”. My heart sank. My mind instantly raced to all the students I have come to know during my time as the Leadership in Context student at Jacob’s Porch, Ohio State’s Lutheran Campus Ministry. Through social media, we quickly determined that all of our students were safe but some were in buildings very close to the violent incident. As I went through my morning at Trinity Lutheran Seminary I knew that I needed to be at the Porch that night. My mind was racing about what kind of space we needed to create at the Porch when Grant Eckhart, the pastor at Jacob’s Porch, called. He told me that he was out of town but we agreed the Porch needed to be open. My heart sank once again.  I am only a seminary student. How did I have the qualifications to do this? With Grant’s trust and guidance, I felt prepared to enter ministry that day with students at the Porch knowing that the Holy Spirit would intercede when our sighs were too deep for words.

As soon as possible I went to the Porch and was greeted by students, but also by news crews and cameras. As the media buzzed around there was a deep sense of palpable anguish. Amid the distress and uncertainties, we created a sacred space of prayer and lament as we reflected on the events of that morning. The Porch is a place of vulnerability where people can simply be, and on this day of tragedy many people needed to just be.

On this day we turned to something we often do: light candles and place them in a sandbox cross remembering that Christ is the light of the world. We sit on cushions around this cross and turn to prayer remembering the promise that is in the cross, the promise of eternal life and forgiveness of our sins. Coming back to the cross in this way centers us on the promise of an everlasting light that extinguishes darkness which can be easily forgotten in times of tragedy.

The Porch is a place of refuge and rest, for our Christian family but also for the Muslim and Somali community. Due to the identity of the attacker our Muslim and Somali siblings were experiencing a threat to their safety. We are called to come together in love not hate and therefore we strive to make the Porch a safe space for all regardless of religion or nationality. On that chaotic afternoon, we found rest in each other and cried out to God to be our refuge and strength.

 

LiturgyGram: Communion Distribution

 

A young man receives communion by common cup at Churchwide Assembly.

 

As Lutherans we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present in the meal we call Holy Communion. This holy mystery calls for reverence, care and pastoral wisdom in the practices surrounding its distribution. As set forth in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s set of priorities for the practices of word and sacrament, The Use of the Means of Grace,

Practices of distributing and receiving Holy Communion reflect the unity of the Body of Christ and the dignity and new life of the baptized (Principle 45).

How is wine distributed?

The question of wine distribution is less straightforward and more controversial than the same question for bread. We will highlight the three most prevalent practices: common cup, individual glasses and intinction.

(In this post, which is excerpted from the ELCA Worship FAQs, we will only look at the various ways wine is distributed during communion. For a discussion of bread as well, please refer to the complete FAQ, “How do we distribute Holy Communion?”)

Common cup

The oldest practice associated with partaking the wine is to drink from one cup. Like eating the bread from one loaf, the one cup symbolizes our unity in Christ.

Authors of The Sunday Assembly, a companion volume to Evangelical Lutheran Worship, note that this practice began to abate in the beginning of the twentieth century, most likely a result of concerns about hygiene.

However, evidence seems to show that when used properly, this method is actually the most sanitary method of distributing the wine, especially if wine glasses are pre- filled or intinction is practiced (see below). The latter practices involve much more use of the hands, which are “the most frequent source of passing pathogens, not our mouths” (The Sunday Assembly, p. 193).

How is wine distributed from a common drinking chalice?
From The Sunday Assembly: “The minister of the chalice will usually hold the middle or node of the chalice stem by one hand, presenting the cup near the person’s mouth and allowing the communicant to tip the chalice to his or her lips while holding on to the base. The communion minister uses the purificator, held in the other hand, to wipe the outside and inside of the lip of the chalice while, at the same time, rotating the cup to present it to the next communicant” (216).

Individual glasses

If congregations use individual glasses, it is advised to pour during distribution rather than pre-filling them. As stated in The Sunday Assembly: “This practice will maintain the symbol of the cup, make the altar less crowded, make caring for what is left over much easier and more reverent, and actually result in a healthier practice than is possible with pre-filled glasses” (193).

How is wine distributed from a pouring chalice?
From The Sunday Assembly: “In assemblies using small glasses, the minister with the cup must pour carefully into the small glass, afterward touching the spout of the chalice with the purificator to catch any stray drops.” (216)

Intinction

Intinction refers to the process of receiving the bread or host and dipping it into the wine. This method is typically commended for its convenience. While this process seems less complicated one most consider its limitations.

When we eat and drink a meal in everyday life, we eat and then drink. We rarely dip our bread in our wine. It is easier to understand communion as a meal when we are eating and drinking.

This method is likely to be more unsanitary because many hands can touch the cup. There is also the issue of pieces of bread floating in the wine, a problem if this chalice is also used as the drinking chalice. It may be preferable to use hosts/wafers for intinction or to have a separate chalice for intinction.

 

Again, Lutherans do not dictate a manner of eating or drinking, but it is important to carefully consider how and why we do what we do. (See The Sunday Assembly, 192- 194).

 

Of Light, Blessing and S’mores: Epiphany at Trinity

 

Today’s blog post is from Jill Henning, Pastor of Faith Development at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lilburn, Georgia.

 

The day of Epiphany has become a special celebration within my congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church in Lilburn, Georgia.  In an area where most of the Christmas decorations are put away before the New Year and the world has grown a little darker without Christmas lights, we gather under a lit star to carry that light out into the world.  Several years ago we were able to find a battery operated star that we place on a long pole, then one of our youth is chosen to bear that light into the world.  We gather around the baptismal font with the star and pray that God might bless our homes and that we might be the light shining in our world. We hear again the passage from Matthew of the Magi’s journey to find the Christ child and then sing as we process to the front door of the church.  This door is marked with chalk, “20+CBM+17,” the year with the initials of “Christus Mansionem Benedicat” – May Christ Bless the House.

From the front door everyone is given a branch of evergreen and we sing “We Three Kings” as we process to our labyrinth to celebrate.  While traditionally the three gifts brought to the Christ Child were gold, frankincense and myrrh, at Trinity we bring our evergreen to be burned in a fire pit and everyone enjoys our own three gifts of Epiphany: graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate.  The night ends with the greens burned, the reading of John 1:1-4, 14, 16 and the making of s’mores.  In bleak, cold winter’s night light shines in the darkness and laughter fills the sky.  As pastor I get to enjoy my own tradition of seeing which of our youth can roast the perfect marshmallow, with me as the judge and official Epiphany taste tester.  For those unable to attend we also provide a home devotion so their homes can be blessed and marked for the New Year.

May your home be blessed this Epiphany and may your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

 

Advent & Christmas Greetings from the Worship Staff

 

“We are called to ponder mystery and await the coming Christ, to embody God’s compassion for each fragile human life. God is with us in our longing to bring healing to the earth, while we watch with joy and wonder for the promised Savior’s birth.” (Unexpected and Mysterious, ELW Hymn #258)

 

In this season of Advent waiting, we pray that God stirs up God’s power among us: embodying God’s compassion for each fragile human life, reminding the world of the longed for healing that only God can bring to earth, and we watch with joy and wonder as we draw closer to the promised Savior’s birth in the beauty of the nativity at Christmas.

 

We wish each of you a blessed season filled with hope, wonder, and joy! We pray God’s blessings of great joy and expectation in this New Year!

 

Blessed Advent—Merry Christmas—Happy New Year!

The ELCA Worship Staff

Kevin—-John—-BethAnn