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How God preserves His church

How God preserves His church

Last updated on: October 20, 2015 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

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How God preserves His church 2015-10-19T19:59:00-04:00 Gene Veith

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We were on our own for several days in Copenhagen, so on Sunday we attended a service of the Church of Denmark. Gabriel had invited us to a congregation in fellowship with the LCMS, but the service was at 4:30 p.m., and we had to meet up with our hosts around then. We had earlier come across a magnificent church (“the Marble Church”) near the palace (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are all constitutional monarchies, like England). We thought we would go to a service there. So we set forth from our hotel for a trek of probably just over a mile or so.

When we saw it as tourists, we saw a sign that the building would be closed to the public during services, so we hoped that they would let us in. We were graciously received by the usher. There was a far bigger crowd than I was expecting, around 100 people. We were given an English translation of the liturgy. We could have probably followed it without the translation, since it was the basic service that we had in the United States. The tunes of the hymns were some of the same that we sing.

There were certainly differences. Pastors there wear a black gown with a cool 17th-century-style ruff. There was no offering, since the government and church taxes support the churches financially. (They did have a box that you could put coins in as you leave, which I think is an ancient practice, before the advent of pews and passing the plate.) They also had no confession and absolution. (I was told later that liberal congregations tend to leave out that part of the service, while conservative congregations retain it. Later, in Norway, we went to an Inner Mission service, which did include the confession of sins, though not an absolution from the pastor.)

We are more “high church” in the states, at least in our congregation. Our service book has a service that is sung, with chanted responses from the congregation. This was all spoken, except for parts sung by the choir. The congregation did sing the Creed. The service here, though called “high mass,” was simpler, with not so many signs of the cross and other elaborations. But the service was definitely reverent and followed the historic liturgy.

Of course we didn’t take Communion, but part of their practice was interesting: The pastor used a common chalice to pour wine into individual glasses held by the communicants. That was a curious combination of the common and individual cups.

We couldn’t tell what the pastor was saying in his sermon. I don’t know whether he preached the gospel or not. But the liturgy preached the gospel, as was evident in the English translation. The creed did. The hymns did. The Scripture readings did.

It occurred to me that this is the way that God preserves His church.

The heresy of Donatism taught that the sacraments presided over by apostate priests are not valid, but the church has taught instead that God works even through immoral or unbelieving ministers. This is also the Lutheran doctrine of vocation, that it is God who is at work by means of the earthen vessels whom He has called to service–not only as pastors but as spouses, parents, workers, and rulers–despite their personal failings.

So God can work through these ruff-garbed state-employed pastors, even when they give in to liberal theology. The church often goes through phases of unfaithfulness. The gospel was obscured–though never completely missing–during the Middle Ages. But people were still being baptized. They still received the Body and Blood of Christ (shed “for the remission of all your sins”) in Holy Communion. In the liturgy they still sang to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The Word of God was read out loud in every service. So the Gospel was there, and the Word of God does not return void but creates faith in those who hear it.

God is doing the same thing in the churches of secularized Europe, in the churches secularized in perhaps different ways in the United States, and throughout the world. The gates of Hell, let alone the forces of secularism, cannot prevail against it.

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