A Primer on Reformed Liturgics: Lessons from the Past Applied in the Present–(Part One)

The Interior of All Saint’s Church in Wittenberg, Where Martin Luther is Buried (in front of the pulpit)

For the Reformers, Recovering the Gospel Also Meant Recovery of Proper Worship [1].

The Reformers understood that the recovery of the gospel was directly connected to proper Christian worship. John Calvin, for one, saw his own conversion and subsequent work of reform tied directly to the removal of all forms of Roman idolatry (especially the mass) from Christian worship. The centrality of the gospel to the life of the church must be made manifest in the pure worship of God. This meant a Word-centered liturgy in which biblical texts were preached upon, biblical exhortations and commands were made clear, and biblical promises made to the people of God were to be read for their comfort and assurance. As one writer puts it, “the recovery of the gospel in the Reformation was ultimately a worship war–a war against the idols, a war for the pure worship of God.”[2] Our worship must reflect our gospel, and our gospel must define our worship.

The Reformers Sought to “Reform” the Church’s Worship

While affirming Sola Scriptura and striving to base all liturgical reform on biblical principles of worship, the Reformers carefully considered the practices of the ancient church and the teaching of the church fathers when revising the liturgies they inherited. The goal was to reform the church’s ancient liturgies by striping them of all unbiblical additions, not to compose entirely new liturgies from scratch. “New” and “contemporary” when used in the Reformed tradition in connection to worship, are therefore best understood as “reforming” (i.e., removing all unbiblical accretions, as well as adding those things which are missing), not replacing the ancient liturgies with contemporary fads grounded in popular preferences.

Martin Luther stated that his intention was to not to abolish, but to cleanse the liturgies of “wicked additions” (i.e., Roman inventions) and recover their proper (pious) use. Calvin too sought to remove Roman additions made to the liturgies of the ancient church, which is why his Genevan liturgy (The Form of Ecclesiastical Prayers) was subtitled “According to the Custom of the Ancient Church.” Like Luther, he was no innovator, but a “Reformer.” It was said of Heinrich Bullinger (the Reformed pastor in Zurich and a contemporary of Calvin) that he restored “all things to the first and simplest form of the most ancient, and indeed apostolic tradition.”[3] It is fair to say that “tradition mattered to the Reformers. It was the living faith of the dead, not the dead faith of the living.” [4]

Returning to the ancient ways meant, in part, incorporating the reading of the Ten Commandments (or “law” texts from throughout the Scriptures), using the Lord’s Prayer (either recited or as a model for prayer), reciting the Apostles’ or Nicene Creeds, God’s people thereby confessing the orthodox faith while effectively uniting the church of the present to the people of God of the past—the so-called “cloud of witnesses” mentioned in Hebrews 12:1.

Reformed Worship Is Catholic but Not Roman

The Reformers took seriously the charge from the church father Cyprian (c. 210-258), “You can no longer have God for your Father, if you do have not the church for your mother.”[5] Calvin expanded on Cyprian’s comment, explaining,

Let us learn even from the simple title `mother’ how useful, indeed how necessary, it is that we should know her. For there is no other way to enter into life unless this mother conceive us in her womb, give us birth, nourish us at her breast, and lastly, unless she keep us under her care and guidance until, putting off mortal flesh, we become like the angels (Matthew 22:30). Our weakness does not allow us to be dismissed from her school until we have been pupils all our lives. Furthermore, away from her bosom one cannot hope for any forgiveness of sins or any salvation, as Isaiah (Isaiah 37:32) and Joel (2:32) testify.[6]

For Calvin, one finds the Word of God proclaimed and the sacraments properly administered in the church. Since word and sacrament are essential to a healthy Christian life, the Christian must seek these things where they can be found. They cannot be found in false churches (i.e., Rome), nor in our age in entrepreneurial churches which are the institutional facade of their charismatic leader, nor in the various so-called “ministries” which mimic the church’s biblical activities but exist apart from all ties to local churches. Those who claim to be Christians, but who have no connection to a local church (or who do not see the importance of joining a local church) need to be reminded that the New Testament knows nothing of a professing Christian who is not a member (or seeking to become one) of a faithful congregation where the proper elements of worship can be found.

Reformed Worship is Trinitarian

Reformation era liturgies are packed with Trinitarian references (i.e., prayers to Almighty God and Father in heaven, through his Son Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit). Both prayers and worship services often end with phrases taken directly from or echoing Scripture, such as, “through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever, Amen.” The Aaronic Blessing was common (Numbers 6:24–26)—“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” So too, an apostolic benediction taken from one of Paul’s letters is found frequently in Reformed liturgies (i.e., 2 Corinthians 13:14, “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” All proper Lord’s Day worship should express the church’s Trinitarian confession in tangible ways—in its songs, in its sermons, in its creeds, and in its liturgy.

Reformed Worship Is Christ-Centered

What does this mean, exactly? It means that most or all of the following should be found in a Reformed Lord’s Day worship service and incorporated into its liturgy (more specifics to follow in part two).

We start with Isaiah, who tells us, there are no other gods but the true and living God (Isaiah 44:6), and Luke, who in Acts 4:12, clarifies that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Our liturgies should proclaim that our salvation (in terms of deliverance from the wrath of God) comes only through faith in Jesus Christ—God incarnate. As the adopted children of God, Christian believers pray in the name of Jesus Christ (John 16:23), and ascribe praise to the works of God the Son (Ephesians 1:3 ff).

The heart of Christian worship is the act of asking for forgiveness of sin because the shed blood of Jesus alone washes it away, and because the spotless righteousness of Christ covers our unrighteousness. This conviction of sin arises from a reading of God’s law with opportunity given for all those present to confess their sins, before hearing a biblical word of pardon and assurance. This should tied to the present intercessory work of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of the Father interceding for his people, making a defense for his own before the Father (1 John 1:7-2:2).

Paul tells us that preaching is to be centered around the proclamation of the reconciling work of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18 ff). Paul told the Galatians that when he had been to Galatia previously (3:1), he had set Christ before them as on a billboard—that is, the person and work of Jesus had been explained so clearly and thoroughly that it were as though Jesus was publicly placarded before their eyes through preaching. Mentioning Jesus every now and then in a worship service is not in any sense what the Reformers meant by “preaching Christ.”

The Lord’s Supper, as the fulfillment of the Passover, is in one sense, a setting forth as the visible word, a new Exodus, as we, the people of God begin our journey from the captivity of sin to freedom in Christ who now leads us the promised land (the heavenly city). Christ’s death for us and his shed blood which washes away our sin (as recounted in the gospel) is set forth visibly in the bread and wine—the visible signs and seals of Christ’s redemptive work on our behalf. According to Paul, we feed upon Christ’s body and blood through faith (1 Corinthians 10-11). As the preached word creates faith, so too the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper confirm and strengthen that faith.

Even the offering (Christian charity) is collected upon the ground that God redeemed us by the blood of his Son (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Reformed Worship Seeks to Be “Through the Holy Spirit”

What specifically, does this mean? It does not mean a “charismatic” type worship service, in which the Spirit supposedly leads worshipers to profound experiences apart from the preached Word and the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our liturgies are to be based upon those things through which the Spirit works—word and sacrament.

According to John, our confession of sin is brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8 – “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment”). This is closely related to the fact that preaching is said to be a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:4, “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” It is the Spirit who convicts us of our sin, confirms to us that the promises God makes to his people in his Word are true, and that they apply to each one of God’s people.

It is through regeneration by the Holy Spirit that a Christian first confesses that “Jesus is Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:3). It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that Christians continue to profess their faith in Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in Romans 8, that it is the Holy Spirit who helps us when we pray, testifying to us that we are, in fact, children of God (v. 16), and by making intercession for us in our weakness when we do not know how to pray (v. 26-27).

Paul also tells us in Ephesians 5:18b-21, that the church’s praise is based upon the fact that we are to “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Singing in worship is a form of prayer. It often entails recounting God’s mighty acts back to him (especially in the Psalter) to remind us of his promises and how he keeps them. The Holy Spirit unites many members into one body, and stirs our collective hearts to pray to God and to praise his name. It is the Spirit who helps us understand the Word of God when it is read or preached (illumination). When Jesus Christ is preached, we know the Holy Spirit is present, and he will apply to us all the saving benefits of Jesus Christ through faith.

To be continued . . .

The previous installment in this series: Liturgical Diversity Among the Reformers

_____________________________________

[1] Adapted from Gibson and Earngy, Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the Past for the Present, (2018), 47 ff.

[2] Gibson and Earngy, Reformation Worship, 47.

[3] Gibson and Earngy, Reformation Worship, 50.

[4] Gibson and Earngy, Reformation Worship, 50.

[5] Cyprian, De catholica ecclesiae unitate 6, PL 4:503

[6] Calvin, Institutes, 4.1.4