Gospel

  • (Alleluia and) Verse

    One of the liturgical terms that is often misused (simply because it is different from secular use) is the term "Verse." While you may hear a pastor or worship leader refer to hymn "stanzas" as "verses" (e.g. we will now sing hymn 555, verses 1, 2, and 5), that's not the liturgical meaning of Verse. 
     
    The Verse comes right before the Gospel Reading. In every season except for Lent, the Verse is preceded and followed by an Alleluia. The most common Verse is this:
    Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia.  
    These are Peter's words from John 6:68, spoken after Jesus proclaims Himself the bread of life and that everyone must eat His flesh. Everyone stops following Jesus except for the Twelve. Jesus asks if they want to leave as well. This is Peter's reply. Who else can we follow? Where else can we go? Jesus has the words of eternal life. 
     
    Then we listen to Jesus' words in the Gospel Reading.
     
    Some congregations choose to use John 6:68 throughout year (except Lent). First Lutheran typically uses the designated Verse of the Day. This is often a line taken from the Gospel reading. Sometimes it is drawn from the Epistle or another scriptural passage. It is meant to set the tone for the Gospel that is about to be read.
     
    The Verse is a prelude. It's almost like a theme song. It lets you know what's coming. Theme songs are of course common in television. When you hear the first few notes, you know what's coming. It only takes a few notes for me to know exactly what's coming in theParks and Rec,Cheers, orFirefly theme songs. I'm sure you have your own favorites.
     
    But the Verse, to me, is more reminiscent of personal theme songs that we see in sports. This is common in baseball. As batters make their way to the plate, their music plays. It pumps them up I guess.  
     
    Even better in my opinion is a professional wrestler's theme song. There are so many iconic wrestler theme songs, but none is better than Stone Cold Steve Austin's. It begins with broken glass. You don't even need to hear a note of music, you know as soon as you hear that broken glass exactly what's coming. The Texas Rattlesnake is on his way!
     
    That's what the Alleluia and Verse are like. They are a moment of praise that grabs your attention and points you to what is coming: The words and actions of Jesus.

  • Gospel Reading

    The readings that take place during a worship service differ greatly in regard to genre, setting, and theme. Some readings from the Old Testament are narrative, others prophetic, others poetry, others apocalyptic. They span more than a thousand years of Israel's history. They are penned by nearly three dozen different authors.
     
    The Epistle readings are all letters written to specific people or communities addressing specific issues that were problematic. They span a 50-70 year period of the early church.
     
    But the Gospels record a narrow time frame, a narrow geographic range, and focus in on one person: Jesus. The four Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the story of Jesus. Matthew and Luke include Jesus conception and birth in their story-telling. Luke throws in a story of Jesus as a 12-year-old boy. But the vast majority of these four books is spent in a three year period that records Jesus' baptism, temptation, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension.
     
    The Gospels record the story of the most important character in God's salvation narrative. Every other scriptural writing up to this point had been pointing to this character. Every other scriptural writing after this point will be pointing back to this character. Everything hinges on the Gospels. Everything hinges on Jesus. 
     
    In the three-year lectionary system, about 68% of the the Gospels get covered. Most of what doesn't get covered are sections that are repeated by multiple authors. (So you'll get Luke's version of a particular healing rather than Mark's on occasion.) Only two chapters are entirely passed over in the lectionary, Matthew 8 and Matthew 12. 
     
    The lectionary follows a three-year cycle, which tends to follow one Gospel writer throughout the church year. Year A is Matthew. Year B is Mark. Year C is Luke. John fills in the gaps along the way and we actually hear more from John's Gospel than Matthew and Luke. 
     
    Many people have a Gospel author that they tend to prefer. They each bring their own style and their own stories. Without Matthew we wouldn't know about the Magi or Wise Men from the East bringing their gifts to the infant/toddler Jesus nor the great commission of Matthew 28. Without Mark, we wouldn't have some of the details of Jesus' arrest and trial that we hold dear. Without Luke we wouldn't have the infancy narrative of Jesus, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the thief on the cross, and much more. Without John, we wouldn't have the raising of Lazarus, the foot-washing, the proclamation of Jesus as the light of the world, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the bread of life. Without John we wouldn't hear "It is finished" from the cross. We wouldn't have Thomas's story of missing out on Jesus' appearance. 
     
    Each Gospel author has been vital to our understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. 
     
    It goes without saying, but I highly recommend reading and/or listening to the Gospels. And I highly recommend doing so multiple times in a short period of time. If you can manage to read Mark once a week for ten weeks in a row, you'll begin to notice things in the eighth and ninth reading that you missed on the first several reads. 
     
    We need to treat the Gospels like a child treats their favorite Disney film. We need to consume them over and over and over again so that they are so embedded in our memory that when we return to them years later, we still know them by heart, we still remember the nuance and the detail, and we still see Jesus saving His people.

  • The Language of the Gospel

  • The Variety of the Gospel

    This Monday will mark the one-year anniversary of my ordination. In that first year, I preached 57 sermons. You may or may not have noticed, but I am a big proponent of variety when it comes to preaching. The Gospel has many facets and far more depth than I will ever uncover. In each sermon I preach, my introduction typically starts with these words – “Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord, Savior, and (fill in the blank), Jesus Christ. That fill in the blank spot is the Gospel metaphor I’ll be working with in the sermon. In the 57 sermons I delivered in my first year, there were 41 different words that filled in that blank. There were 41 different Gospel metaphors that came to light in just one year of preaching.

    Each of these speaks to who Jesus is. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Savior. We see that every week. But we also see over time that Jesus is our leader, our shepherd, our refuge, our strength, our peace, our reconciliation, our joy, and so much more.

    As I enter into my second year here at First Lutheran Church and Preschool, I hope that you will continue to see that I have not exhausted the Gospel. I hope you will see that the variety and depth of what Jesus does for us is expansive. I hope you will find that Jesus’ incarnation, life, ministry, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and return are applicable to your life and your walk with God.

    God’s richest blessings on your week.

    Pastor Andy
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