Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi--what's that and who cares?

The rule of prayer/worship is the rule of faith. That's what Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi means.  And in today's postmodern world of no absolute truth we need to understand this as the people of God continue to be deceived and led astray.

Many like to believe, and I am seeing this all over, especially, and unfortunately, in our Lutheran Churches that there is this belief that it doesn't matter how we worship as long as we talk about Jesus.  The service, it is thought, can be entertaining or serious, liturgical or pop-influenced, Lutheran or some other denomination and all be the same.  I recently experienced this and it got me tho thinking. 

We see this, for example, in our Lutheran Schools and churches when the services are turned into an entertainment time.  The issue becomes the Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi.  For the Pastor is portraying that to keep the children and adults interested in the church, in Christ and His Word, it has to be entertaining.

So our daily offices like Matins, or Morning Prayer or the Divine Service are not used. When pastors dress in a business attire instead of his liturgical garb he is saying something about the service.  When entertaining songs that talk about you and not Christ are used instead of music that points us to Christ, the people are being taught something.  When the chancel area is defamed into a place of games, instead of reverent and Holy Space the congregation the Lex Orandi influences the Lex Credendi.  When  women are encouraged to participate in the leading of portions of the service their faith is being effected. When the message becomes a motivation speech of practical how tos rather than a Law and Gospel message the people have learned something.

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi is also effected by our sin.  If I say I don't need to go to church to receive God's gifts of forgiveness, my rule of prayer/worship is destroying my rule of faith as I am led away from Christ and his gifts of forgiveness found in the Word and Sacrament.  If  I believe that repentance and forgiveness should not be taught in the church because it will be offensive to someone and will upset them because how dare you call me to repent and even suggest that there is something I must be forgiven of, then again my rule of faith is effected in that person's faith is now in themselves and not in Christ and his gifts. 


Should we be worked up about this?  You bet.  As I struggled as to how to address this issue, I had been reading Rev. Klemet Preus's book, The Fire and The Staff that I realized what the issue is.  The rule of worship if we must make the services entertaining is that we think we have to entertain the children (and adults) to keep them interested.  It has to be fun and silly and certainly not serious to be exciting.  It needs to be dumbed down or they will leave it.  And faith will be effected because of it.

Rev. Preus says it clearly, "The way we worship affects the way we believe.  Or to put it another way, practice teaches doctrine." (pg. 132)  And so what did I pull out of this chapel service?  The service is all about me.  For when the service must be stripped of its parts, dumbed down, and made to be fun it says, "let's not take God seriously, let's not take my sin seriously, and let's certainly ignore the consequences of my sin.  Why not just give them some good practical guidance for living since they all believe in Jesus, right?"

One of the increasing fads in Lutheran Churches is why not start children's church (a place where the children can go so that they don't have to go to worship with the adults).  The arguments are diverse for creating this, for example the children can't handle the liturgy, or the adults are distracted and a variety of other reasons.  Well the Lex Orandi that they are taught is that this is how we worship.  And so guess what happens to the their Lex Credendi?  When it comes time for them to move up to the "regular" church service, they are turned off.  Or if Fathers do not go to the Divine Service then their Lex Orandi is telling the children that at best the service is for women and children and so the child's Lex Credendi is effected because they then they too will stop going, and their rule of faith, turns them into a faithless generation.

The way we worship is important, and the more I watch and learn, the more crucial this battle becomes because our children are falling away from the church at alarming rates.  A stat in the latest Lutheran Witness, The Missouri Synod's official magazine, stated that more than half of all children in the LCMS who are baptized are not completing catechesis! Let alone who will continue in the church after college. (Which another statistic has been given that half of all who complete catechesis are no longer attending a Lutheran church after college.)

That should be an alarming statistic to us! And I can't help but accredit at least part of this to a lack of a proper Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi.  Does it take a while to teach our youth the importance of the Divine Service and what is going on in the Liturgy? You bet, because we adults and even your pastor is still learning the value of it.  I am continuously learning how to have a better Lex Orandi, so that my Lex Credendi may be strengthened.

Lutheran School chapel services, Sunday morning services and Children's church doesn't seem like that big of deal?  But as you examine what this way of worship is teaching and not teaching, you begin to see the correlation of how the rule of faith is effected.  And it is literally damning.  For it can certainly lead people to fall away.  If we make our focus of the services about us rather than Christ we have removed salvation from Christ's work.  If we do not focus and think about the importance of these two, the statistics of faithful church going people will continue to decline, let alone being able to confess the faith to those who have fallen from the faith or have never received  the good news.  And while yes, your pastor must be faithful in his calling, it begins with parents, for the parents are the ones who interact with their children on daily basis.  So whether you are a parent or a youth who is asking why do we do what we do.  Ask questions, understand, and value this ancient liturgy that has been use for some 1,400 years.

The Way you worship is important for by it your faith is either strengthened or weakened.  The last thing we need is to be encouraged to worship in a way that focuses on ourselves.  We don't come to worship to be entertained or to feel comfortable and not be offended.  The Gospel is offensive.  For by it alone are we saved and this is offensive to our psyche which wants to go it alone.  What do we need?  We need a Lex Orandi that points us back to Christ and his gifts of forgiveness. 

Ephesians 2:1-10 Are you walking dead or alive?

Ephesians 2:1-10  (ESV) 
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

        Grace, mercy, and peace be to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.  "We got a dead man walkin' here. Dead man walkin'." So Percy said in the movie "The Green Mile" as John Coffee arrived at the prison.  And that was you.  The whole world, because of sin, contained, "dead men walkin."  But Paul today makes a profound point in our epistle text.  Are you part of the walking dead?  Or are you alive?

            Well of course the one who trusts in grace alone is alive.  Unfortunately though many in this world think of themselves as alive when in fact they are dead.  There is only one contributing factor to our being part of the "walking dead" or  "walking living"  and that is ourselves.  Do we contribute to our salvation or not? So what will it be?

ARE YOU WALKING DEAD OR ALIVE?

I.

            The walking dead are those who are apart from Christ.  Now, they may even look like one who is saved if they live a pious life, I think especially of Hindus or Buddhists.  They certainly think they are alive, they think they don't need Christ and his work of salvation.  That's simply how the world thinks, because there is this need to be active.  We live in a world that looks at passivity as bad.  We can't rely on someone else .  We think that we must be active in our salvation and so Christianity makes no sense to rely on someone else to be saved.    

            So also the idea of walking.  When you walk the idea is to get from point A to point B.  It is most often viewed as an active thing you do.  This makes sense because who else is going to get you to where you need to be?  Important for us today is the figurative meaning of walking.  To walk also means to put into practice which also has idea of getting somewhere.

            For example, 1 John 1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  Here John contrasts walking in sin to walking in truth.  His point: each is brought about by practice which reflects doctrine.  Or 1 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us… For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.  Obviously to walk in idleness means to continue to be idle.

            So this blatant walking in sin Paul warns of will lead you away from Christ and back to being part of the sons of disobedience.  For example, when we persist in our hatred we are pulling ourselves away from Christ as we read in 1 John 2, "Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."  This analogy of walking in darkness is much the same as saying you were spiritually blind unable to even see the magnitude of your sin, or as our Epistle text says, you are spiritually dead in your sins.  As you will see this walking in Christ that you do is not your work it's the result of Christ's work.

            Unfortunately there are others who think they are alive but are dead because they desire to hold Jesus hand and work with him.  They think they can assist in their salvation.  An illustration I use when I teach catechism is that I have a youth lie down on the ground and tell him there is a $100 up on the table.  It's yours if you can get it.  Now what cruelty is that!  They can see the prize but because they are dead they can do nothing to get this great prize! 

            So also the one who believes they can help in their salvation.  American evangelicalism says, "Jesus has suffered and died for you.  He sits there ready for you to accept his gift of grace, all you have to do is reach out and take hold of him."  And then these poor people hear Paul's Words, "you were dead in your trespasses and sins."  If I'm dead in my sin how do I grasp hold of Jesus? 

II.

            To walk alive then is to trust solely in Christ and do nothing for your salvation.  That sounds bizarre but the Rev. Dr. Murray, the 5th V.P of our synod says, Sometimes the best thing to "do" is nothing; especially if our actions would be unhelpful, or might impede the work of another who could accomplish something truly helpful. This is the deal with God. If He has done everything to accomplish our salvation in Christ, then nothing we do will help and indeed might actually hurt. Our efforts actually get in the way of God's business. When someone is being rescued by a well-trained lifeguard, if the drowning person struggles in the attempt to save himself he may well make the rescue impossible. He is better off to stop struggling and remain as still as he possibly can. The professional will take care of it. He will live if he does nothing. In Christ, God does everything and gives everything. We have everything by remaining passive. Rather than our knowing of Him, His knowledge of us is decisive.

            In our life with Christ, our "doing something" may well fight off our Savior, and in doing this our salvation would be lost. Good works can actually be harmful in the article of justification, if they intervene in our relationship with God by offering a righteousness of our own." (from Memorial moments: 8/25/2014)

            Our salvation is not because we actively do something, in fact, our salvation is based entirely on us doing nothing!  This is what it means to trust solely in Christ.  For he alone delivers to us the means of salvation that we could only dream to help in, let alone do ourselves.  How then does this salvation happen?  How do they receive it?

            It is by grace alone.   For without God's grace you got nothing because doing something is actually destructive to your faith. Grace is crucial because it is why we are saved.  Let us recall what grace is.  Grace is undeserved love and kindness.  We simply do not deserve anything from God except his eternal wrath.  But instead he shows us superabundant love and kindness. 

            So when you picture grace think of a gift.  When someone gives you a gift, do you think "well it's about time, I deserve this!"  No, of course not, you think, "wow! You shouldn't have!  How generous you are to give this to me!"

            This is grace.  Your salvation is a gracious gift!  Your ability to now walk in the light of Christ only comes about because of Jesus dying on the cross and God giving it to you through his means of grace.  This is not something you have to wonder about if it's truly yours, because Paul spells the graciousness of the gift out for us very clearly in the first verse.  He says,  "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins." Did you hear it?  Let me say it again, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins."  What a wonderful gracious proclamation: you WERE dead.  Amazing good news, he speaks in the past tense.  You WERE dead.  He then reiterates his point, "you once walked…we all once lived."  Which tells you what?  This is you no longer!  Paul speaks to believers, to you who now walk in Christ..  For faith in Christ has been created by the grace of God. The awesome thing about this text is that it is all good news.  Something has already occurred in you and Paul wants you to remember it forever.

            God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Paul's words are astounding because these aren't words to tell us what we could be if we walked in them.  It  doesn't tell us a future condition if we do something.  They're a present tense reality.  There's nothing you do to be saved, you already have eternal life with Christ.

            God is rich in mercy.  Paul is telling you what has already occurred.  The work of Christ is complete.  How is this grace delivered to you?  "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."  Faith receives the free gift.  Faith isn't something you must do to accept the grace.  Rev. Klemet Preus, in his book The Fire and the Staff describes faith  as a trick-or-treater's bag.  "When you don't have it, you are lost (because you have nothing to hold your candy).  When you do have it (the bag), all you think about is what's in it (and not the bag).  When a person does not have faith, we say, 'They are lost.  You can't get to heaven without faith.  Faith is necessary.' But when a person believes, you stop talking about faith and talk only about Jesus."  Jesus is the content of the faith.  (pg. 72)

            Another way you can look at it is to equate faith with trust.  Jesus is what we trust.  Trust is a passive thing, it simply relies on not being "hosed" by someone else.  So faith is not a goal, it's not what we add, faith is a given.  Because grace works to create faith.  For the Word works in you to create the faith that receives the grace.  So you trust that by the Holy Spirit, through the hearing of the Word, you have received the grace of Christ.  As you hear about your Savior who saves you from yourself, from the sins you commit, this walking dead body now hears grace alone proclaimed and becomes part of the walking living.  You have done nothing for your salvation, you are simply a passive receiving vessel, who has been made alive to walk in Christ.

            Luther in his Galatians commentary speaks to this passivity, "Truly, our knowing is more passive than active; that is, it is more a matter of being known by God than of knowing God. Our 'activity' is to allow God to do His work among us. He gives the Word, and by apprehending a divinely given faith, we are born as sons of God. Therefore the statement, 'You are known by God' (Gal 4:9), means 'You have been visited by the Word; you have been granted faith and the Holy Spirit, by whom you have been renewed.'"

            God know what you need, and he gives you faith.  So we're raised to a newness of faith, what now?  Does this mean we have the power to never sin because grace abounds in us?  No.  Will I ever?  No.  But because this faith receives Christ, it now creates in us the walking living. 

            You are now created to walk in Christ who has already worked salvation in you.  By Christ's grace alone he is now with you, beside you, in you, of you, it's all His Work because his grace takes you into himself on the cross.  By Christ's grace he washes you clean in the gift of your baptism.  By Christ's gracious work you receive the gift of his body and blood, shed for you. By his grace you receive all this and much more.  You now receive the knowledge of how to live out this faith.

            By his grace he directs and guides you to the one holy truth.  You are saved and now created to be in him, you walk in him, practicing his truth for he is in you.  As Paul says, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. God created us to receive Christ and being in Christ he has prepared good works for you to do.  This dovetails nicely with last week's Gospel text as we are reminded that we're called to serve.  That's what these good works do, these are things which God, through our vocations leads us to serve not for our salvation but because of our salvation.

            Ephesians 2 is written to you, to Christians, to comfort you that you no longer belong to the devil but to God.  Today he reminds you once again that while yes, you will sin, you no longer are to walk in that sin, practicing that sin, but you've been redeemed by Christ, bought back not because of who you are but because of Christ crucified.  God the Father, was gracious for he sent Christ to suffer, die and rise so that you would be saved.  There's nothing that we can do to help let alone do on our own to save ourselves.  The faith that you have is primarily a passive gift that receives Christ's undeserved love and kindness.  Then having received Christ it turns active, walking in the works you've been give to do.  Today you're reminded you're no longer part of the walking dead.  Instead you are walking alive in Christ doing the good works he has prepared for you to do to serve the world so that they too may hear about the grace of God.  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.