What Is the Liturgy and the Divine Service?

The Divine Service has a rich history that dates back centuries, molded by Church Fathers throughout the years. What is the Divine Service though? And what is the liturgy? Both of these terms come up in Sunday service a lot, but they’re rarely explained. Find out what these two terms mean, and where they come from, in this excerpt adapted from Lutheran Music and Meaning by Daniel Zager. 

Where to Find Music in the Service

Music in Lutheran worship resides within—finds its meaning within—the liturgical contexts, or framework, of the Divine Service, as well as three daily Office, or prayer, hours: Matins (Morning Prayer), Vespers (Evening Prayer), and Compline (Prayer at the Close of the Day). Our focus here is on the Divine Service, or the Mass. [Martin Luther conservatively revised the Latin Mass in his 1523 Formula Missae.] There Luther acknowledged that the liturgy of the Mass, as it had developed gradually from antiquity through the medieval period, was worthy of retention—with the exception of any elements that made the Mass into a sacrifice:

We therefore first assert: It is not now nor ever has been our intention to abolish the liturgical service of God completely, but rather to purify the one that is now in use from the wretched accretions which corrupt it and to point out an evangelical use. … But in this book we are not going to prove again that the mass is neither a sacrifice nor a good work—we have amply demonstrated that elsewhere. We do accept it as a sacrament, a testament, the blessing (as in Latin), the eucharist (as in Greek), the Table of the Lord, the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Memorial, communion, or by whatever evangelical name you please, so long as it is not polluted by the name of sacrifice or work. (Luther’s Works: American Edition 53:20, 22).

Adding Elements to the Divine Service

Luther goes on to praise the Early Fathers of the Church who participated in the gradual process of adding elements to the liturgy of the Mass. Indeed, the history of the Mass is in part a history of additions to a basic liturgical pattern dating back at least to the middle of the second century.

Justin Martyr (ca. 100–ca. 165), in his Apology, described a Sunday service with the Lord’s Supper, identifying the following components:

• Readings (from the Prophets and the Apostles)
• Sermon
• Prayers
• Lord’s Supper (Bread and wine brought, prayers and thanksgiving over the elements, people speak “Amen,” distribution of bread and wine to the people)

Thus, according to Justin’s account, a gathering of Christians in the mid-second century would have been based around Word and Sacrament. Additions to this basic pattern took place over centuries, with the fourth-century Edict of Milan (313), which paved the way for Christians to engage in their distinctive patterns of worship without fear of persecution, providing a new level of freedom for development of the Christian Church, including its ritual patterns.

The Mass as it developed from the fourth through approximately the seventh century was fully defined long before Luther would have encountered it. He took great care in the Formula Missae to identify those parts of the Mass that met with his approval:

Moving Through History to the Modern-Day Liturgy

There is a wonderful continuity in the liturgy of the Mass from the second century to our present day. Were Justin Martyr able to observe our Divine Service, he would see that its large-scale structure continues to be defined by Word and Sacrament, as was the Christian gathering that he documented circa 150. Were Luther able to observe our Divine Service, he would recognize the close parallels to the fully developed Latin Mass of the late Middle Ages, as well as the conservative reforms of his Formula Missae (1523).

Lutheran Service Book (2006) provides five settings of the Divine Service, all of which are structured identically around three major components: Confession and Absolution, Service of the Word, and Service of the Sacrament. This large-scale structure recognizes that Christ comes to us with His gifts of forgiveness of sins, His Word, and His very body and blood in the Sacrament of His Holy Supper. The Divine Service is quite literally where the Divine “serves us” with His gifts, which subsequently elicits our praise and thanks. God’s gifts to us are primary; our praise is secondary and prompted by receiving His good gifts. See, for example, the Offertory text on page 159 of LSB (Setting One):

What shall I render to the Lord

for all His benefits to me?

I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving

and will call on the name of the Lord. [Ps. 116:12–13]

God’s gifts (“His benefits”) come first; our response follows (“I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving”).

Music Variety in the Divine Service

If one compares the five settings of the Divine Service in LSB, one sees immediately that there is (intentionally) a good deal of musical variety among these settings. There is some textual variety as well. Setting Four, for example, employs hymn-based paraphrases of the Gloria in Excelsis, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei. But the overall framework is consistent. Not only do all settings of the Divine Service share the three major components—Confession and Absolution, Word, Sacrament—but even within those components, there are consistent overall patterns, including (1) texts that are the same every time we gather (Ordinary texts) and (2) texts that are different each time (proper texts, meaning “proper” to a particular Sunday or festival). Again, with reference to LSB Setting One: the Kyrie (pp. 152–53), the Hymn of Praise—Gloria in Excelsis (p. 154) or “This Is the Feast” (p. 155)—the Sanctus (p. 161), and the Agnus Dei (p. 163) are the sung Ordinary texts of the LSB Divine Service (the Hymn of Praise being omitted in Advent and Lent). Proper texts in the Divine Service include the following:

• Introit, Psalm, or Entrance Hymn (p. 152)
• Old Testament or First Reading (p. 156)
• Psalm or Gradual (p. 156)
• Epistle or Second Reading (p. 156)
• Alleluia and Appointed Verse (p. 156)
• Holy Gospel (p. 157)

The Ordinary portions of the Divine Service (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) are sung by the congregation. The musical propers of Introit, Gradual, and appointed Alleluia Verse are sung by the choir or cantor. Additionally, hymns—notably an Entrance Hymn and the Hymn of the Day (pp. 152, 158)—are sung by the congregation.

Thus, music is built into the liturgy of the Divine Service, at times for the congregation, at times for a choir or cantor. Moreover, additional musical elements are sometimes introduced into this overall framework: for example, a prelude, perhaps based on one of the hymns; a vocal/choral motet or anthem, perhaps sung during the offering; additional hymns, organ music, or vocal/choral music sung during distribution of the Lord’s Supper; a closing or recessional hymn. Whether musical ordinary or proper text, hymn, or additional instrumental or vocal/choral music, all music should find its place carefully integrated within the liturgy of the Divine Service. Two further contextual factors—Church Year and lectionary—also play defining roles in integrating music within the overall structure of the Divine Service.

Quotations marked LSB are from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Want to know more about music in the liturgy and Divine Service? Read Lutheran Music and Meaning to dig into the history and understand more about your Sunday worship.