In the time of the Old Testament, this canticle functioned to announce the presence of God who was seated on his throne. In the time of the New Testament, this canticle functions much the same way, however, God’s location is not restricted to his Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 8:10-11), enthroned upon the Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant (Isa 37:16), but rather he is present and enthroned on Christian altars around the world. There the Lamb who was slain and yet lives reigns from his throne (Rev 5:6). There, around the altar, the “liturgists” of God (Heb 1:7), the “angels and archangels”, cherubim and seraphim, are present and sing with us, blessing and praising God. 

The essence of their claim is that far from abolishing the Supper, the Supper is observed more frequently and with higher reverence among the churches of the Augsburg Confession than among the Papal churches. The chief way that the Lutheran churches demonstrated and exercised themselves in this “highest reverence” was by thoroughly instructing the faithful in what the Supper was, why it was instituted, and who received it worthily.

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the sermon of Christ Jesus as St. Paul says. In the Divine Service up to this point, the Christian has heard the sermon of Christ read in the daily lessons, sung in the psalmody and hymnody, and preached in the pastor’s sermon. Through this bodily and external word, the Holy Spirit works justifying faith which clings to the Gospel of Christ crucified and raised for the ungodly. Much like the natural pattern of breathing in and breathing out, the Holy Spirit inspires the supernatural pattern of faith and prayer. The Spirit breathes into us his word, life, and faith, and we breathe out words of thanksgiving, prayer, and praise. Thus, the church of Christ as the congregation of believers is at its core a praying church. A church without prayer is like a body without breath.

From these passages we can deduce that preaching comes both by the example and mandate of Christ to his chosen apostles, that it is a proclamation of God’s two words of command and promise or Law and Gospel, for the purpose of working repentance and faith. As a proclamation of the word of God, it carries the full power of the very word of God which is living and active (Hb 4:12), which creates out of nothing (Ps 33:6, 9), which kills, brings low, and humbles (1 Sm 1:6-8), which quickens, exalts, and glorifies (Rm 4:17; 8:30), which instructs, encourages, and gives hope (Rm 15:3), which reproves, corrects, and trains in righteousness (2 Tm 3:16), and which finally saves (1 Pt 1:23)

Following the reading of the Lessons, what typically follows is the congregation joining together to confess their common Christian faith using the words of one of the three ecumenical creeds, namely, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creed. These are called “ecumenical” because they are used by all those in the “oikumene”, that is, the “household” of faith. While the use of these creeds is an historic practice of the church, confessing the faith is not merely a matter of tradition. It comes from Christ himself.

Similar to the Introit and Offertory, the Gradual supplies another use of psalmody within the Divine Service. Unlike the Introit and the Offertory, however, the Gradual does not merely function as travelling music to cover the movement or preparation of the presiding minister. The psalmody of the Gradual is intended to biblically complement the Lesson that it accompanies, expressing similar language and themes, and thus functions much like a Lesson. It keys the audience into the grammar of the psalter and thus also how the church has historically prayed and sung the theological content of the Lessons at hand.

Because the words that Christ speaks to us are true food and true drink which give us life, there is no more important activity for Christians to be devoted to than the hearing of God’s word. As Christians we can’t quit the word of God anymore than we could quit breathing or eating or drinking.

The Salutation is both the most ancient recorded part of the service and the most consistently used in the history of the Western mass. First appearing in the Apostolic Tradition in the late second/early third century, this greeting between the pastor and congregation has persisted for nearly two millennia and is preserved in Lutheran Service Book (V: “The Lord be with you.” R: “And with thy spirit”). However, though the text has been preserved, its meaning and function has often been forgotten or lost upon those who recite it. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the liturgical reforms of the late 20th century.

In view of this biblical background, the function of these words in the Divine Service is to proclaim the incarnation of God once more in the present. By these words we confess that Jesus is our Savior, God, and King, and that he is born among us this day. As then, so now, Jesus does not come in strength, glory, or majesty, but in humility, meekness, and lowliness. He comes hidden behind the swaddling cloths of the man in the Office of the Holy Ministry who proclaims Christ’s own words. He comes hidden under water and the triune name as it is splashed and sprinkled on the ungodly. He comes hidden in the manger of bread and wine with his true Body and Blood which is present, distributed, and received here. And yet despite the weakness and humility of his means of grace, here is Christ giving his peace to those with whom he is well pleased just as the angels promised. 

 In the famous last words of Luther, “We are beggars! This is true!” With these words we recognize that we are beggars who rely on the goodness of God for every need of body and soul, for “peace from above and for our salvation,” “peace of the whole world, for the wellbeing of the church of God,” “for this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise,” and for God to “help, save, comfort, and defend us…” With the biblical background of our plea, we can understand our Kyrie as a confession of sin, a confession of the misery that presses upon us, and a plea to a present God and Lord to act on our behalf.