Thoughts on the Divine Service
20. The Proper Preface
Dear friends,
One of the great themes of Epiphany is that the kingdom of heaven is at hand; as I’ve said often in sermons, the kingdom of heaven is at hand wherever the King is at hand. When Jesus is preaching in Capernaum, the kingdom of heaven is in Capernaum. Not only is the King there, but He’s doing kingdom things: there’s no sickness in the kingdom of heaven, so He’s getting rid of sickness. There are no demons in heaven, so He’s casting out demons. There’s no death in heaven, so He’s raising the dead.
It’s a one-Man invasion! The forces of darkness have long held onto the territory of the entire world, then Jesus invades. But instead of storming the beaches with rifles and RPGs, His weapon is His powerful, life-giving Word. Whenever He departs for the next town but leaves a few folks who believe in His promises, He leaves behind a beachhead, an outpost of heaven. We call such a gathering a “congregation.” We call it the Church.
Likewise, if in 2026 the Lord has gathered people together in Boise who believe in His promises, we call that congregation the Church, too. As long as we have the King’s Word proclaimed among us, the King is at hand. That means that Good Shepherd isn’t just a gathering of people, but an outpost of heaven.
Hold onto that thought, and let me come from a different angle: where is Jesus? He is certainly enthroned in heaven; but as we say that He sits at the right hand of the Father, what we mean is that He continues to go about His work of salvation in His means of grace. So even as Jesus is enthroned in heaven, He is present at the same time at Good Shepherd; and He’s present at the same time with His people wherever His Word is found.
If we are with Christ and they are with Christ, then we are together with them in Christ. This is an incredible comfort for those who mourn the death of a believer: though they are no longer with us here, we are with them in Christ Jesus as they stand before the throne.
But it’s not just those saints around the throne, right? There are angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, too.
The responses at the start of the Service of the Sacrament conclude with the congregation saying that it is meet [good] and right to give God thanks and praise. The pastor then agrees: “It is indeed meet, right and salutary that in all times and in all places …;” and then he recites the Proper Preface. I’ve written about these before: they’re “proper” (instead of “ordinary”) because they’re specific to each season, sometimes to a certain day; and they summarize the season to give reasons to thank and praise God. (For instance, here’s the preface for Epiphany: “For what had been hidden from before the foundation of the world, You made known to the nations in Your Son. In Him, being found in the substance of our mortal nature, You have manifested the fullness of Your glory.” There are plenty of reasons to praise God there!)
The end of the Proper Preface leads us into the Sanctus with these words: “Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praise You and saying…”
Those are astounding words: as we sing the praises of God, we are singing with angels and archangels. We’re not just rehearsing for future heavenly choirs, but we are singing with the whole company of heaven. Those who sat in the pews of Good Shepherd, but have since died, are still singing with us in Christ. Why? Because they stand before the throne of the King, and the same King is with us in His means of grace. But we don’t just sing this because the King is present: we sing it at this point in the service because He’s about to serve us the most miraculous of meals—His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins, preparing us to join the saints in heaven, too. What joy!
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There is less joy on earth than in heaven. One never knows when to bother the congregation with troubles in the greater church, but it is a difficult week in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Pastor Weedon made reference at the start of the conference that the district president of the Central Illinois District was arrested by the FBI on a charge of producing child pornography. The allegations are horrifying in themselves; and as law enforcement and the synod have appealed to other victims to step forward, both for the sake of justice and to receive care, the potential for more charges remains. It is heartbreaking. Sexual crime against children is revolting in itself. When the crime is committed by a pastor, it is exponentially worse because it so evilly misrepresents Christ and His church, often leading the victim to turn away from the One who can truly heal them. When the perpetrator is a high-ranking church official, this latter damage is magnified and scandalizes people far and wide. It is not what Jesus referred to when He said, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep are scattered,” but the words still painfully apply.
President Harrison has written a pastoral letter regarding the situation, which I encourage you to read here. Rather than duplicate his words, I’d like to add a few more thoughts.
The first is that it is always tempting to believe that a church’s theology is wrong because of the sins of its people: e.g., if we truly had the gospel right, would such things happen among us? I would encourage you first to consider that the gospel of Jesus Christ is an article of faith. As I have said before, faith trusts in what it does not see, often in spite of what it does see. Wickedness like this tragically confirms what Scripture says about the sinful nature of mankind, but it in no way contradicts or defeats the gospel; and it is Christ alone who can heal the wounds inflicted upon body, mind and soul by sinners and the evil one. In a few words, a church body can be a mess, but the gospel remains true.
The second is that, unless utter negligence or a cover-up is exposed in the ensuing investigation, it is better to measure the synod by how it responds than by the crime that has been committed. Secret sins are not known until they are revealed. There is, and will continue to be, plenty of noise, anger, accusations and hindsight-expertise to be found on the internet. Even in such a time as this, the Christian response is to keep the Ten Commandments: along with those who have suffered harm, we pray for the leaders of our church body and we put the best construction on their response.
The third is more of a visceral response: I’m not thrilled to be a pastor in the LCMS this week because I despise the guilt by association. As this plays out in news cycles and perpetuates on social media, I don’t want to bear the stink and the shame of another’s sin, especially this one. This does, however, remind me how our Lord willingly associates with sinners. He has done more than that! He gladly bore our stink, sin, shame and guilt to the cross for our redemption.
Last week’s gospel reading included our Lord saying, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”(Matthew 5:11-12) This is a time to bear the shame of another, so that we might speak all the more of Christ.
One more thought, as long as I’m on this difficult subject: I know of some in the congregation who have suffered at the hands of sexual predators, and I know that there will doubtless be others. One definition of the distinction between guilt and shame is that we suffer guilt for what we do, and we suffer shame for what others have done to us. It’s a most disturbing evil that shame—what others have done—can separate us from God if we believe that we are too defiled for a righteous Savior. If this is something you struggle with, I’m more than happy to speak with you. The Lord is full of abundant mercy and grace for you.