There are probably a lot of correct answers to this
question. I don’t always answer with the
most theologically sound responses. I
don’t always answer with the most politically correct responses. I will, however, try to answer with the most
honest response.
Why am I a Lutheran?
There was this boy and I liked him. I liked him enough to walk into a Lutheran
service to surprise him one Sunday. I
must have liked him a lot. I was scared
of a Lutheran service. The only thing I knew
about it was that it was “like a catholic mass.” That was enough for me, a good little Nazarene
girl, to stay clear. I didn’t know much about the theology of Roman
Catholicism, but I did know that their mass just seemed so distant. It seemed confusing, rehearsed, boring,
unchanging, and stuffy. If Lutherans
were like them, I just didn’t think it was for me.
But…the boy. So I
went.
That first Sunday was everything I thought it would be –
confusing, rehearsed (except by me), boring, unchanging, and stuffy. I was not hooked. I was anything but hooked by the service, but,
alas, I was hooked by the boy.
So, week after week, I kept giving it a try. I didn’t go because I enjoyed the service. I didn’t go because I thought I fit in
there. I didn’t go because I felt
connected to God. I honestly went
because of the boy. But something
happened in those weeks that I kept following him to church. I began to recognize the flow of the
service. I began to hear familiar
tunes. I began to recognize little
nuances of the prayers matching the hymn matching the sermon. Over a few weeks, the confusing, rehearsed,
boring, unchanging, and stuffy service became interesting, familiar,
intriguing, unchanging (in a totally awesome way), and freeing.
It took some effort on my part to get there. I could have gone in, thought, “This is
terribly confusing,” and never tried again.
I actually had to try to pay attention.
I had to follow the lead of others more matured in the liturgy than
me. I found myself looking for the
connections in the service. I found
myself diving into how the words we were saying were actually IN THE BIBLE! I found myself more interested by church than
I had ever been.
This is not a statement against my parents or my former
churches or pastors. I am extremely
grateful for the Christian home and churches I have been blessed to be a part
of my whole life. Growing up Nazarene
gave me the greatest respect for reading, learning, and memorizing the
Bible. What an amazing gift to be given –
the love of the Scriptures! To this day,
when people ask me the difference between Nazarenes and Lutherans, I say, “As a
Nazarene, I was taught the Bible. As a
Lutheran, I have been given the lenses to understand it.” That is what Lutheranism gave to me – a really
great pair of glasses. And the most
influential part of those glasses was taught to me through the liturgy. Week after week I was being taught the
Confessions through strong liturgy. I
was reciting the Bible (many texts I had memorized from my Nazarene days) every
week. I was immersed in God’s Word every
Sunday.
For people who say that a liturgical Lutheran service is confusing,
rehearsed, boring, unchanging, and stuffy – I would agree with you at
first. It is scary not knowing what
everyone else knows. It is intimidating
when you don’t know how to use a hymnal.
But the exact things that felt scary and intimidating to me in the
beginning are the exact things that I treasure most now. I can travel almost anywhere and find a
church within driving distance that will feel just like home. I don’t walk in like a stranger anymore, even
when I am a stranger in this world.
And about being unchanging?
Oh, thanks be to God that the service is unchanging. Bring on the boringness of sameness. In this world, we are inundated with newness,
change, excitement, and pizzazz. Our God
is an unchanging God. The same yesterday,
today, and forever. I love thinking of
the liturgy as a reflection of that aspect of God. I don’t get that anywhere else in my
life. I get it in Church. Thanks be to God. How amazing is it to know that the saints of
old were saying those same words? How
amazing is it to know that, God willing, my children and grandchildren will
continue to say the same words each Sunday?
Unchanging bad? No, most
certainly not. Unchanging good.
Thank God for the liturgy.
The most amazing part of the liturgy is the fact that the
more I learn about it, the more I want to know.
The more I know about it, the more I learn about the Bible. Actually becoming an informed lay person has
made me want to be more informed. It is not boring; it is intriguing. It has very deep rooted beliefs bleeding
throughout it. I just had to be willing
to learn about it a little.
I do not need something new in my life. I have too many new things. What I need is something old. I need something interesting, familiar,
intriguing, unchanging, and freeing.
That
is why I am a Lutheran.
