Worship Space Everywhere (Part 2 of 3)
by Aaron
In Part 1 of this series I noted some scripture passages that would suggest a church building is not necessary. God nor Jesus requires one according to the biblical witness. In Part 2, I will discuss some Lutheran reasons why congregations need not build a sanctuary for worship.
What makes a congregation? It is certainly not a building. The Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the church wherever and whenever “the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly.”* God is present wherever God’s Word, Jesus Christ, is present. Wherever God’s Word is, there the church is also.
No church building is holy in itself. No place has intrinsic holiness. What, then, makes a holy place? “Nothing else than devoting it to holy words, holy works, and holy living,”† Martin Luther declares in his Large Catechism regarding special days and times. But his argument holds for places as well. Wherever God’s Word is proclaimed to God’s children is a holy place. In our time, church buildings have become a form of social “dress-up”. When one wants to act holy or feel holy one goes to a holy place. One “wears” a church building like nice clothes in order to experience holiness. But how do we really become holy? “Not when we…place a garland on our head and dress up in our best clothes, but as has been said, when we make use of God’s Word and exercise ourselves in it.”§ As Melancthon (another Lutheran theologian) notes in the Apology (an explanation of the Lutheran confessions), “The true adornment of the churches,” and of oneself, “is godly, useful, and clear doctrine, the devout use of sacraments, ardent prayer, and the like.”° God’s Word, in preaching and the sacraments, are all that is necessary to make a holy people.
The Lutheran confessions affirm church buildings do not make a holy people but only God’s Word does this. One must ask the question then: have church buildings become impediments to God’s Word and hindered the gathering of God’s people? How might a congregation without walls share the Gospel in their words and actions better than one within the confines of a building? I will cover this in Part 3 of this series.
* Augsburg Confession, Latin translation part 7: marginal numbers 1-4, in the Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p. 43.
† Large Catechism, part 1: marginal number 87, in Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p. 398.
§ Large Catechism, part 1: marginal number 88, in Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p. 398.
° Apology to the Augsburg Confession, part 24: marginal number 51, in Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p. 267.
(Click the following link for a pdf copy of the Lutheran Confessions as compiled in the Book of Concord or check out www.bookofconcord.org. Note, however, these translations differ from the edition I site in my blog.)
What makes a congregation? It is certainly not a building. The Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the church wherever and whenever “the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly.”* God is present wherever God’s Word, Jesus Christ, is present. Wherever God’s Word is, there the church is also.
No church building is holy in itself. No place has intrinsic holiness. What, then, makes a holy place? “Nothing else than devoting it to holy words, holy works, and holy living,”† Martin Luther declares in his Large Catechism regarding special days and times. But his argument holds for places as well. Wherever God’s Word is proclaimed to God’s children is a holy place. In our time, church buildings have become a form of social “dress-up”. When one wants to act holy or feel holy one goes to a holy place. One “wears” a church building like nice clothes in order to experience holiness. But how do we really become holy? “Not when we…place a garland on our head and dress up in our best clothes, but as has been said, when we make use of God’s Word and exercise ourselves in it.”§ As Melancthon (another Lutheran theologian) notes in the Apology (an explanation of the Lutheran confessions), “The true adornment of the churches,” and of oneself, “is godly, useful, and clear doctrine, the devout use of sacraments, ardent prayer, and the like.”° God’s Word, in preaching and the sacraments, are all that is necessary to make a holy people.
The Lutheran confessions affirm church buildings do not make a holy people but only God’s Word does this. One must ask the question then: have church buildings become impediments to God’s Word and hindered the gathering of God’s people? How might a congregation without walls share the Gospel in their words and actions better than one within the confines of a building? I will cover this in Part 3 of this series.
* Augsburg Confession, Latin translation part 7: marginal numbers 1-4, in the Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p. 43.
† Large Catechism, part 1: marginal number 87, in Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p. 398.
§ Large Catechism, part 1: marginal number 88, in Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p. 398.
° Apology to the Augsburg Confession, part 24: marginal number 51, in Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), p. 267.
(Click the following link for a pdf copy of the Lutheran Confessions as compiled in the Book of Concord or check out www.bookofconcord.org. Note, however, these translations differ from the edition I site in my blog.)
Labels: building, church, confessions, congregation, holiness, house of God, Lutheran, sanctification, temple, worship
posted by Aaron at 6:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home