“Thus they obscure the glory of Christ, and deprive consciences of firm consolation, and abolish true divine services, namely, the exercises of faith struggling with [unbelief and] despair [concerning the promise of the Gospel]. 45 They have obscured the doctrine concerning sin, and have invented a tradition concerning the enumeration of offenses, producing many errors and despair.

They have devised, in addition, satisfactions, whereby they have also
obscured the benefit [and merit] of Christ. 46 From these, indulgences
have been born, which are pure lies, fabricated for the sake of gain. 47 Then, how many abuses and what horrible idolatry the invocation of
saints has produced!” – Book of Concord, Treatise on the Power and
Primacy of the Pope. Par. 44-47

In Sunday School we’ve been reading the “Treatise on the Power
and the Primacy of the Pope.” This treatise is the Lutherans response to the Roman Catholic church’s claim that the Pope has all authority in the church by divine right. Or put in another way, God gives the Pope authority a regular pastor doesn’t have. In addition, the Roman Church claims that in order to be considered in the Christian Church you must recognize the authority of the Pope. No Pope, no Christian.

It has really been great reading this treatise because, like the rest of the Book of Concord it is just one big Bible study. What I wanted to draw your attention to in this section is a very observant point
made by the Lutheran reformers. They point out that once you abandon the things commanded by God you end up substituting your own requirements.

The Roman Pope had decided to enact indulgences and all sorts of traditions or church orders that would give a person the forgiveness of their sins. Indulgences was just one. There was also the praying to the saints and a few other things the Pope established as able to merit grace. What the Lutherans noticed is exactly what happened in the Old Testament when the Israelites built the Golden Calf.

In Exodus 24 God called Moses up onto Mt. Sinai. Moses went up to receive the 10 Commandments. Moses was taking longer than the people were happy with, they grew impatient and so instead of waiting the built the Golden Calf and worshipped it. The people didn’t trust that Moses would return with the law of God. They abandoned living by faith and instead substituted a false worship. A false sacrament. A false certainty.

Israel worshipped the Golden Calf. They danced around and sang to it. They did all kind of manner of weird stuff. This is what happens when you abandon what the Lutherans called, “true divine services.” What has God demanded and given to us to find consolation?

God demands faith. He demands that we live by faith in what Jesus has done for us. God also institutes true sacraments, baptism, Lord’s Supper and absolution which deliver the gospel to troubled consciences. It is these things that God demands. It is these things which truly strengthen our faith. But what about churches that don’t teach these gifts?

If you look at the landscape of American Christianity, you see that they have all sorts of “services” and “sacraments.” Most notable is the entertainment driven service where the question people ask is “Did I like the service? Did it make me feel good?”

Of course this is silly. God himself tells us what his “divine services” are and what we are to do that truly brings to him worship in spirit and truth. American Christianity has for the most part abandoned the sacraments. How many megachurches have communion every Sunday? How often are the promises of God given in baptism preached from the pulpit? They aren’t.

We owe a great deal to our forefathers and mothers in the faith that have not swerved from true divine services. In fact, this is why when you look in the hymnal or on the bulletin you see we still call our church service “Divine Service.” This is because we are being served by the divine. God comes to us to serve us what we need. He does this because he doesn’t want you to trust yourself or your own imagined sacraments. St. Paul says it this way in 1 Cor. 11:23-26,

“23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for[a] you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [b] 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”

Notice Paul says that we are to do this to “proclaim the Lord’s
death until he comes.” This is a promise that we have clear and absolute assurance that what God demands of us is indeed given for our sake.

See you on Sunday!

In Christ
Pastor Ottmers