PLAY
BY PLAY LITURGY
What would John
Madden and Pat Summerall Say at Lutheran
Worship?
1. First, I give credit to my worship Prof. George Hoyer,
for saying there are four actions in worship Catch (from
God) Give (to God) Share (with each other) and go Live in
the World. The concept of changing "Give" to "Pass" was the
suggestion of my friend, Packer fan Pastor George
Krempin.
2. At least some adaptation will be necessary, for example
if your first reading is not Isaiah 5. Also if your choir
anthem, or Musical Offering, comes at some other place.
3. This will not work well without the Lord's Supper--but
neither does worship.
4. The sermon included in the script, if I remember, is
about 6-7 minutes. Without a children's sermon or the second
lesson, and singing hymns that are not longer, this service
is no longer than usual, around 65 minutes.
5. Have fun.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
LITURGY
What would John
Madden and Pat Summerall say at Lutheran Worship?
(Well before worship begins, say 10 minutes, JM and PS take
their places, namely, clearly visible to all, yet at the
side. They will need to strike a balance between being just
obtrusive enough that worshipers will realize that something
is up, and yet not so disruptive as to make it impossible
for worshipers to concentrate and pray.
At the appointed time for worship to begin, PS introduces
them.)
PS. This is Pat Summerall here with John Madden to bring you
this week's worship of Almighty God by the people of Grace
Lutheran Church, Green Bay, Wisconsin. It should be a great
worship service, don't you think, John?
JM Should be. I was talking earlier to a couple of the
worshipers: one at the acolyte position and two playing
usher, and they said they were ready to give it their very
best. After all, this is for God.
PS. The preacher, too, is excited. He said that he has some
really good Gospel for the folks, some Good News how
Christ's perfect obedience makes up for our failure to give
God what he deserves, so by Christ we will be saved.
JM. I was talking to a couple of other worshipers, a woman
whose position is fourth pew and a man playing deep back.
They are eager for worship, too. She wants to praise God all
she can for what he has done for her. And that man in the
back is playing hurt today. It's harder to worship when
you're down, but his head is in the game and his heart, too.
He says his spirit needs to hear again how Christ was
willing to die for his salvation.
PS. And here we go. The pastor is coming out to begin the
service.
Pr. In the name of the Father and of...
Cong. Amen
JM See, that right there is called a "Pass" play. God is
here actually Passing something to his people through the
minister, and the worshipers need to Catch it.
PS It's not just words.
JM No. See, this opening drive of the liturgy is based on
the baptism play they have all done. God is here Passing to
the people a renewal of all his baptismal promises to them.
But here's the thing, see, it is up to the people to Catch
it. They have to Catch what God Passes at them. That's why
they say Amen. I even noticed a few using that old "sip of
the cross" play as a way to Catch what God is Passing. You
know, Christians have used the sign of the cross for over
1800 years.
PS The Pass is so important a play that we see it in the
liturgy over and over.
Pr. If we say we have no sin ... .
PS That's another Pass, isn't it John? Through the minister
God is throwing the people the promise of forgiveness of
their sins.
JM Yeah, and it is probably the most important catch the
people can make. The text he just read is from I John, one
of my favorite epistles.
PS But John, there is no "Amen," here. How do people catch
this one?
JM By faith. They Catch it by believing what he said: that
God will cleanse them from unrighteousness for Jesus'
sake.
Pr. Most merciful God,
Cong. We confess that we are in bondage to ...
Pr. Almighty God, in his mercy, has given ...
PS Another Pass play! Wow, God sure is generous in this
liturgy. God just threw them forgiveness. Some of them used
the Amen or the cross-sign to signal their catch. But, John,
did they in fact catch it?
JM You know,
it's always hard to tell. I mean, sure they say Amen, but do
they mean it? Do they believe? - remember that Catching is
believing. Do they believe that God has, just now, for
Christ's sake, forgiven them all the sins they have
confessed?
PS On the replay you can see some nodding or smiling: they
have just made an important grab and they know it!
JM
Yeah,
but others may be humbly glad--or just plain relieved--and
not show it. It still is a matter of the heart.
Opening hymn "All People that on Earth do Dwell" is
sung.
PS We've seen a lot of Passes but clearly that song was not
a Pass play.
JM You're right. That was the second basic play in the
liturgy. It is a Give. Giving glory to God. See, the liturgy
is a two-way meeting and this time the action goes the other
way: the worshipers give to God. The words of that hymn, by
the way, are Psalm 100.
PS Now it looks like another Pass coming up. What will the
folks need to do to Catch it?
JM
Believe! Believe that God's grace, love and communion are
given to them by these words (which, by the way are from 2
Corinthians.)
Pr. The grace of our Lord Jesus ... Cong. And also with you.
The Kyrie is prayed.
PS I don't think that could be called a Pass play, John. The
worshipers didn't Catch anything. They are pleading with God
for help, for badly needed help.
JM Yeah, that's a good point. "Lord, have mercy" is an old
plea from the Bible, like the ten lepers or the blind man at
Jericho asking Jesus for help. But here's how you know that
this play, like all prayers, is a Give play. To both the
lepers and the blind man Jesus says, "Your faith has made
you well." Get it? To pray the Lord's help is to put trust
in him, That's the giving, the worshipers, by praying, are
giving their faith to God-provided that they actually DO
trust God to answer their prayer for help.
Pr. Glory to God in the highest, and peace ...
Cong.... in the glory of God the Father. Amen
PS The words from "Glory to God" are also biblical: the
angels in Luke 2 sing the Christ-child's birth. And this is
another Give, right?
JM Sure. But again, it's not just by singing the words. The
players need to concentrate on what they are doing, direct
their thoughts to God and praise him. Otherwise they aren't
doin' the givin'.
You know, there's a funny history to this. The "Glory to
God" and the Kyrie didn't always begin the liturgy; it used
to start with the Bible readings. But around 600 A.D. in
Rome, it took the bishop so long to get dressed, that they
added the Kyrie and Hymn of Praise for the people to sing
while they were waiting.
Pr. The Lord be with you.
Cong. And also with you.
JM That' s a third kind of play, a Share. But I'll talk
about that later.
Pr. Let us pray.... Cong. Amen The congregation sits.
PS You can kind of feel a transition here, can't you
John?
JM Yeah, the opening drive is over. There has been a lot of
Passin' and Catchin' and Givin'. It's a good set up. It gets
the play going between and God and the worshipers so they
are up for the two main pieces of the liturgy: the Word and
the Sacrament.
PS Here comes the lector onto the field. John, Bible reading
has always been part of the liturgy, hasn't it?
JM Ok sure, since way before Jesus, even. See, the synagogue
service, like at Jesus' time, had three portions from
Scripture: a reading from the first five books of the Bible,
called "the Law" or even "Moses," then a psalm was sung,
then a reading from one of the prophets. Then there was a
sermon interpreting the readings, then prayers. As you can
tell, the first Christians kept the same order of service
they were used to, and it is still used today.
First reading: Isaiah 5:1-7
JM Whoa! What a blitz! I bet Isaiah's hearers never saw it
coming! He sets them up with
this complaint about the well tended vineyard that produced
nasty grapes, then BAM!, he
says, YOU are the vineyard!
PS But in the liturgy today, how can the worshipers read
such a devastating blitz from God?
JM See, there is a kind of a stunt Christians do to enable
them to face a divine blitz like this: they just let it
come. We can't defend against God's accusations: he's got us
dead to rights. But we believe that his blitz is not his
last play: we believe God's last throw to us is forgiveness
in Jesus Christ's death. So when the blitz of divine
accusation comes, Christians don't scramble away from it, or
use excuses to block it, they just let it come and sack
them-all the while trusting Christ Jesus to pick them up
again. In a way, Christians welcome the blitz: not that it
feels good to have our sin pointed out, but it reminds us
again to rely on Christ alone, not ourselves, and that is
good.
PS Of course it is the preacher's job to help us read a
blitz like this.
JM Hey, is that musicians getting ready? This is way too
early for the half-time entertainment.
PS No, that is not half-time but part of the liturgy. The
musicians are not entertaining the worshipers, the music is
to encourage their faith.
JM Oh, I thought it was maybe just entertainment. But it's
not.
Musical offering Cong. (stands) Alleluia! Lord, to
whom ... Pr. The holy Gospel according to ... Con,- . Glory
to you, 0 Lord.
PS What a tremendous show of respect for this reading!
SM Isn't it great? I mean, they are on their feet! They're
cheerin'! These are some of the best fans Christ has!
Wow!
PS It sounds like they are talking right TO Jesus.
JM Sure, because he's gonna talk right to them! See, for
Christians, hearing Jesus! words isn't I like hearing
Aristotle or Shakespeare or one of those dead guys. Jesus is
alive so HE is the one talking to them. It's like he himself
has just walked in to give them his word for the week. So
they stand and sing to him the same words Peter once said to
him; from John, my favorite Gospel.
PS So they listen, because they are listening to Jesus
Christ through the minister. This of course is another Pass
play. So the people have to concentrate to Catch the words
in their hearts.
JM Sure, and that standing and singin': that is a Give
play.
Pr. reads the Gospel. Pr. The Gospel of the Lord.
Cong. Praise to you, 0 Christ. Cong. sits.
Pr. This morning's readings are so clear as to need little
explanation, except how they speak to us.
They are both about God insisting on his rights: that we
return to him what we owe him, and how he destroys people
who don't. Isaiah says that the Lord is going to remove his
protection from Judah so that it will be looted and ruined
by its military enemies. I suppose Isaiah realized that the
people of Judah would never believe the Lord would do such a
thing. So Isaiah uses this clever parable to get the people
to pronounce judgment on themselves. The Lord did everything
for his vineyard, but it did not yield back to him what he
wanted and deserved.
Jesus' "Parable of the Wicked Tenants" does the same thing,
he gets his hearers to pronounce the sentence of "a
miserable death" on the tenants. But the tenants in the
parable represent those who have just challenged Jesus, the
very ones who will kill the Son: the "chief priests" and
"the elders of the people." Leaders bear a special
responsibility to be sure God gets his due from the people.
Jesus' warning today goes especially to us pastors and
bishops, and also to parents, governors and presidents of
companies.
So, has the house of Israel, has the human race yielded God
the good grapes he deserves? There is both a No and a Yes to
this. I must tell you the No, first, so we appreciate the
Yes. No, we have not given God his due. Not Green Bay, not
the USA, not Grace Lutheran, nor the whole race. We do not
worship him as we ought with overflowing hearts. We do not
endure suffering patiently with unworried confidence in Gods
care. We do not gladly serve him in all things. We take for
granted, neglect and even abuse his blessings: our families,
jobs, the earth, our abilities, our bodies. We do not keep
the commandments as we owe him to do. We yield too many
wild, bitter grapes.
But there is also a Yes answer. At least one of us, one
human, one Israelite, namely Jesus the Christ, did yield to
God the good grapes God deserves. He yielded God perfect
obedience unto death, even death on a cross. He yielded God
perfect trust that he would raise him from death. Sweet,
good grapes!
We might say: good for him, but what does that get us?
Plenty. We get his reward. Yes. God will treat us as well as
he treated Jesus: resurrection to life, glory and seats at
the heavenly banquet. Because we, fellow believers, are in
Christ. By our believing in him and being baptized into him,
what is his is ours. We get full credit for his production
of righteousness and obedience. We get to share, just as if
we had yielded grapes as sweet as his are.
And it gets even better. We are even starting to yield
sweeter grapes ourselves. Yes! For we take Jesus into us, in
the Lord's Supper, and he sweetens us. As we receive his
forgiving blood, the wine made of his good grapes, God is no
longer an impatient landlord but becomes instead our Father.
So now we can focus on obeying God not out of fear, to keep
up with the rent, but rather we yield him good works, good
grapes, for love of his Son who paid all our rent, in
advance, by his suffering and blood. We do these good grapes
with the same confidence as kindergartners making Mother's
Day gifts: they do not trust in the quality of their work
for their gifts to be accepted, but trust in their mothers'
love. And it is exactly that, our trust in Christ, that
makes our worship and service sweet to God, a pleasure to
him, as no overdue rent could ever be. That's how drinking
Jesus' wine makes us yield sweeter grapes.
God demands his due, the good grapes of obedience. He gets
them, not from us, but from the vine of Jesus' cross.
Because we belong to Christ by our faith and baptism, we get
full credit for what he has done, And as we drink the wine
from the cross, trusting Jesus' blood, our bitterness is
changed to his sweetness, and how good we taste to God.
Amen
JM Wow, that's what I like about worship, it brings you
right into the face of God.
PS Which is not necessarily good news. The face of God's
impatience with those behind in their obedience was made
very clear. Just because that is so biblically true it is
hard to listen to.
JM Yeah, but it is just that that makes the Gospel so
precious!
See, preaching is for faith. Sermons are not to make people
good, but to make them believers (and then the goodness will
come, too). There is a Lutheran game plan for preaching
faith into people. First you preach God's Law, not only what
we should do, but also how the Law condemns us for not doing
it. We are not talking about mini-sins that only need a
mini-Jesus. The real Law of God puts us to death! And then
you preach the Gospel, how Christ died for our trespasses to
save us from this condemnation. You preach how his death is
good for more than mini-sins, it's strong enough to cover
all! We have been reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
the same Son who rose to give us eternal life. This is how
you preach for FAITH. That is how you preach to make people
believers, not merely to make them good.
PS But now the people are standing to sing again.
JM Yeah, I love this part. See the people have just made a
Catch, right" The Word in all its glory has been Passed to
them, by God through the minister, and they Catch it. Next
thing, though, now THEY say it. THEY sing it to God, or to
each other. They are repeating, or confessing, what they
have just received.
Cong. sings Hymn of the Day, "Salvation unto Us has
Come"
Apostles' Creed
PS What would you say, John, is the creed a Pass or a
Give?
JM It is definitely a Give. I mean, the folks are giving
their faith to the Holy Trinity, putting their trust in him,
pledging their allegiance to him. They Catch the Word from
him and so Give their faith to him.
Like the rest of the liturgy, the Creed is mostly phrases
from the Scriptures. By the way, did you know that the Creed
is one of the most recent additions to the Christian
liturgy?
PS No, how long has it been included?
JM. Less than a thousand years.
Pr. Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus,
and all people according to their ...
PRAYERS
Pr. The peace of the Lord be with you always. Cong. And also
with you. The peace is shared.
PS That must be one of those Share plays you were talking
about.
JM Right! The SHARE is where the people are giving to each
other. But they are not just saying Good Morning out there!
What they Share in the Liturgy is always something divine.
It is the LORD'S peace they are sharing here.
PS And what it privilege it is! No wonder they have such a
good time.
JM You know, now we are in the part of the liturgy that the
church did not inherit from the synagogue. What the first
Christians did was add the Lord's Supper to the synagogue
service. And the Lord's Supper begins with the "kiss of
peace," that the disciples received from the Lord on Easter,
and that Paul mentions in his letters.
OFFERING is assembled.
PS The offering: another Give play, obviously.
JM Yes, but also Share. When the Church began, the offering
was bringing bread and wine for the meal, and the leftovers
were given to the poor and needy.
But you are right, now it is a Give play. It is an offering,
a sacrifice, given to God. It is not a sacrifice to win Gods
favor: Christ did that for us totally-how could we add to
that! This is a sacrifice of thanksgiving, a gift of pure
love from us to God.
PS That's why the believers are so generous: for pure joy.
What are we going to see next?
JM As the offering-bread and wine and money--is presented, a
joyful song is sung, part of Psalm 51 or, this morning,
Psalm 116.
PS But isn't there also an important prayer?
JM Sure, and in the offertory prayer these people are going
to offer not just things but themselves to Christ and his
kingdom. That is a major Give. That is huge.
PS Speaking of big, then comes the prayer called the Great
Thanksgiving.
JM Yeah. "Lift up your hearts" has been part of Christian
liturgy for 1850 years and may go right back to the
apostles! Then comes the Holy, Holy, Holy, which is from
Isaiah but includes the shouts of the Palm Sunday crowd:
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.
PS But the Holy, Holy is prefaced by something the minister
says or sings that includes themes from the season like
Advent or Easter. What is that preface called?
SM It's called The Preface. Then comes the Eucharistic
Prayer. I need to explain this. See, Jesus took bread,
thanked God, broke and shared the bread and then said "Do
this." So the Church does it. We bless God--the way Jesus
and all Jews did that night: for creation and life, for
choosing Abraham and Israel and for their whole history, and
asking the Lord to come and save them. Of course with that
ancient Jewish thanksgiving the Church includes thanks for
Jesus Christ's death and resurrection! Then we break the
bread and share it, just like he said to.
PS So this is a Give play. Giving thanks to God.
JM Yeah, but you know, I almost want to say that at least by
the time the Communion comes it is just everything. See the
Communion is the fellowship: the believers, the Father, the
Son, the Spirit, they are all together having a great time.
You've got Jesus there giving his body and blood and
forgiveness and everything. You've got the people there
Catching it, but even their act of Catching in faith Gives
him praise. And, of course, they are Sharing with each
other. I mean, it's great.
PS Any special music coming up?
JM Yeah, they sing "Lamb of God."
That's what John the Baptist, I like that guy, said about
Jesus. Starting about 700 A.D. the Pope had it sung at the
breaking of the bread.
PS Looks like they're coming with the offering.
Offertory is sung. Offertory prayer is prayed. Great
Thanksgiving Lord's Prayer Lamb of God Communion
Post-communion blessing (As the table is being cleared) PS
Looks like it's all over, John.
JM Not really, Pat. See, liturgy or worship is not just
about what happens here. There is one more important play I
have to talk about. It is the Live play. That starts now.
Now we all go out and believe what we've been told, and live
like we believe it. That's a struggle, but that is why the
liturgy has so much Passin' and Givin' and Sharin': to get
us ready to live out the whole week as Gods people
You know, a great Lutheran, Soren Kierkegaard said that when
he leaves worship he doesn't ask "How was it?" but "How did
I do?" That's really what it's about. The Passing, the
Giving, the Sharing: it's not just words, it actually
happens, it is what we do. That's what makes this a great
liturgy.
PS Indeed it has been. And we will all be back again, next
week, right here, for another great liturgy between the Holy
Trinity and his people at Grace Lutheran Church. Until then,
for John Madden, I'm Pat Summerall; have a great Live play
this week.
Post-Communion Prayer
Benediction
Sending Hymn
Dismissal
Pastor Todd B. Murken, Ph.D.
Grace Lutheran Church
Green Bay, Wisconsin
October 26, 1999
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