One of the Sundays I was on vacation in July, my family and I attended an AFLC service. The other Sunday we attended one outside of the AFLC. Both services were good. The sermons were good. The liturgy was good. They were different, but also similar in many ways. There are some traditions we keep that are kept by many Christians around the world. And this is good.
Both services had a confession of sin and absolution, though the wording was somewhat different. Both services confessed the Christian faith using one of the ancient creeds. Both had the Lord’s Prayer, Scripture readings, other prayers. Both had spoken and sung responses, like the Kyrie, Gloria, and Amen. There were at least slight differences in almost everything, but we were keeping the same traditions. And this is valuable.
During the Lutheran Reformation (16th century), there was a desire among some theologians to jettison every tradition left over from the Roman Catholic Church. Luther and other level-headed theologians resisted this. In the Augsburg Confession, Philip Melanchthon wrote,
“Our churches teach that ceremonies ought to be observed that may be observed without sin. Also, ceremonies and other practices that are profitable for tranquility and good order in the Church (in particular, holy days, festivals, and the like) ought to be observed” (Article XV, 1).
There were some traditions that they considered to be idolatrous, and there were many that the Roman Church had taught to be meritorious. That is, by practicing certain traditions, a person could earn favor with God. The reformers were very much opposed to such a notion, so they reformed what they could and removed what could not be reformed. And they especially kept anything that was instituted in Scripture, such as Baptism, Confession, and the Lord’s Supper.
Concerning traditions that are not commanded by Scripture, but are nevertheless beneficial, they encouraged Christians to keep them and understand them rightly. For example, holy days and festivals. There is no command in Scripture that we must have an annual Easter service or Christmas service. But they are very helpful for teaching those events and doctrines. Likewise for Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the Ascension, Pentecost, the Baptism of Jesus, his Transfiguration, etc. Scripture does not require such observances, but they are helpful, because they teach us the biblical story, and they draw our hearts to fear, love, and trust in the God we worship at these observances.
We should not think of any of our traditions as something we do in order to merit God’s favor. Instead, they teach us about the God who is gracious to us for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ. So let us keep these traditions and soak up everything they teach us about our gracious Triune God.
The peace of Christ be with you all,
Pastor Dan Antal