But first, some reflections on our hymnals and worship books. Every book of worship, every hymnal, is a concrete, historical representation, a snapshot, if you will, of the church and its devotional life in particular periods of church history. It’s fascinating to study the evolution of worship books and hymnals throughout the generations. Particular compilations of hymns in any given worship book, for example, reflect the theological sensibilities of specific eras in the life of the church.
For Lutheran Christians in their shared faith practice, our books of worship, our hymnals, stand next to the Bible itself as authoritative, trustworthy sources for grounding our lived life of faith. Look at your family’s archives of that which is passed on from generation to generation, and you’ll probably locate worship books and hymnals alongside your family Bibles.
As a child, I distinctly recall the presence of worship books and hymnals in our home. I recall members of my home congregation who brought their own personal worship books, often leather-bound and well-worn, to church and back home again, a bridge between congregational life and domestic spirituality.
Church geek that I have always been, I remember my fascination with the processes that introduced the Lutheran Book of Worship in the mid to late 1970’s. In fact, I attended a synod convention of the Lutheran Church in America’s Illinois Synod as part of the Youth Convo, but somehow, I escaped many of the youth-oriented activities to attend workshops on what would be included in the new LBW. Even as a young person, I had a sense of the importance of our church’s worship books
In short, and again, our worship books and hymnals are treasures of the church to be honored and explored for their richness in supporting our worship and our prayer, at church and at home. So, here is a brief, guided tour of the book which is Evangelical Lutheran Worship with a mind to encouraging your further devotion at home during this time of pandemic-induced absence of assembling as a congregation in person on each Lord’s Day.
Orders of Worship for Daily Prayer
In addition to ten musical settings for the Holy Communion, there are musical settings for daily prayer – for morning, evening, and night prayer. These treasures are underutilized in our life together, but can be employed by you at home – even if you read and pray through the texts without singing – to prayerfully ground the rhythms of each of your days and your routines.
Daily Lectionaries
In addition to listings of Sunday readings from the Revised Common Lectionary, there are daily lectionaries available to you. One set of readings reinforces and complements the Sunday readings. Another allows you to read through the scriptures semi-continuously, so that you may receive the wisdom of whole scriptural books. Please note that we publish each weekend in our bulletin for home worship the daily readings for the coming week. Again, this serves to ground and guide your daily prayer at home in scripture.
Calendar of Commemorations
In addition to the calendar of festivals and lesser festivals, Evangelical Lutheran Worship also includes a calendar of commemorations of saints, church leaders, renewers of society and more, particular to our shared, global Lutheran identity and history. Engaging these commemorations, learning about and from those who have gone before us, offers a palpable sense of the communion of saints, an experience of being surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who cheer us on as we run with perseverance the race that is set before us (cf. Hebrews 12:1ff.).
The Psalms and Hymns
Evangelical Lutheran Worship includes all 150 Psalms, the ancient and foundational source of prayer which grounded Jesus’ own prayer life, that of the Hebrew people as well as Christians throughout the centuries. The Psalms speak to the full range of human experience, good and bad, exalted and full of lament, essential to guide and guard us through these days of crisis. It is interesting to note that the hymns in ELW begin with the number 151, acknowledging that the Psalms themselves are the first 150 hymns in our book. While we cannot sing together at church, there is nothing stopping us from singing at home, alone or with those with whom we live and love. Even if you are not moved to sing hymns at home, you can still pray through the poetry of beloved hymn texts as a source of consolation and encouragement during these trying times.
The Small Catechism
Another feature of Evangelical Lutheran Worship is the inclusion of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, a centerpiece of shared Lutheran practice and piety. The Small Catechism is not just meant for confirmands in confirmation class. Rather, Luther intended it as a pillar for life in the domestic church at home, where parents are called to explore the features of the catechism with everyone in the family. Revisit the Small Catechism – it’s not just meant for adolescents!
Conclusion
In short, Evangelical Lutheran Worship is a treasure and treasury to support you in your worship and prayer at home. I thus encourage you to claim the fullness of this treasure as part of the menu of wholesome selections we offer to support you in your life of faith during this long season of absence from each other in person. As your Pastor, I am concerned about your spiritual well-being and want to support you in your journeys of faith even when we are absent from each other. This written, guided tour is admittedly cursory and brief. Thus, I would be happy to have conversation with you to more specifically guide you in how best to open up and fully call upon ELW’s treasury of resources.
Finally, if you do not have a copy of Evangelical Lutheran Worship at home, I encourage you to buy the book so that it is always available to you alongside your Bible. You can find a copy of ELW here: https://www.augsburgfortress.org/store/search?ss=Evangelical+Lutheran+Worship&c=0
With continued prayerful best wishes in Christ, as I seek to support you in your worship and prayer at home,
Pastor Jonathan Linman