Adiaphora or Not?

 

See that little red pop top in the photo?  That's ME.  I'm not kidding!  It might be you too.

Have you ever seen the little Δ in front of the last verse of a song in The Lutheran Service Book?  I wonder if most people not knowing what it means just skim on by it.  I've seen it happen on many occasions.  Personally, I notice every little thing so the first time I saw it I had to find out what it meant.  Regardless, I love to sing in Church.

Anyone who knows me also knows that I have a habit of going into gory detail when I tell stories - to the point of boredom on the listener's part.  (I really hope not, but I'm not so vain I that I wouldn't say it's possible!)  So you will forgive me if I go off on a "rabbit track".

Our Congregation practices weekly Communion.  I know what you may be thinking:  "That sounds a little Roman Catholic, doesn't it?"  NO!  Not at all!  Weekly Communion is actually something practiced by the Early Christian Church.  And not only weekly, but daily!   Wow.  That's a lot of the Sacrament of The Altar.  But it's For You.  Upper case F and Y -- For You for the strenghtening of faith.  That being the case, why wouldn't anyone want it as often as possible?  I personally would have it every day if I could.

Some pastors who advocate closed Communion say "never serve Communion on Easter Sunday because there are just too many visitors".  Our congregation practices closed Communion so in a  way I can see where that idea comes from.  We normally have one Sunday morning Worship service, but on Easter we have two.  That's a lot of visitors!  And it's a lot to "screen" if you want to call it that.  My husband knows 99% of our members so he'd find out at The Rail anyway and he's not shy about speaking to them at The Communion Rail.

Keep in mind that I'm a former Baptist and fairly new to Lutheranism.  Meaning, I'm not one of those lifelong Lutherans who don't really know why they're Lutheran at all.  I had never heard the word "adiaphora" until we went to CTSFW (Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne) in 2002.  Sure, I'd sit in Kramer Chapel, usually somewhere near the back, and watch people "Crossing" themselves and "reverencing" the Processional Cross (a Crucifix) and Altar.  Sometimes, the Sacristan would come out before the service and "incense" the Altar.  At first, I thought "Is this what Lutherans do?  It seems a little Roman Catholic".  And there was weekly Communion.  I tend to be an analytical person so I wanted to know what exactly was going on in Kramer Chapel.  I learned that these things are called "adiaphora".  I have to admit though, that after some time I fell in love with these things.  Incensing the Altar is a tricky one, as nice as it may be, because my husband and I have fragrance and chemical allergies. 

Every religion on the planet has adiaphoric expression. Including Christianity. There's an adiaphoristic controversy in Lutheranism, specifically in The Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod.

I like Wikipedia (most of the time). Here's what Wikipedia says about Adiaphora:  "Adiaphoron (plural: adiaphora from the Greek ἀδιάφορα "indifferent things") is a concept of Stoic philosophy that indicates things outside of moral law—that is, actions that morality neither mandates nor forbids.  Adiaphora in Christianity refers to matters not regarded as essential to faith, but nevertheless as permissible for Christians or allowed in church. What is specifically considered adiaphora depends on the specific theology in view."  Meaning that the goings on in Kramer Chapel are not mandated or necessary to the Lutheran faith.  However, I believe that adiaphora brings a reverent element into Lutheran Worship.  And I love it!

The little Δ before the last verse of a song in The Lutheran Service Book is actually adiaphoric.  It's an indication that it is appropriate to stand while singing that particular verse.  Not necessary, but entirely appropriate.  For me, it's second nature to stand when I see the symbol.  It expresses an attitutde of reverence.

I have been at The Communion Rail when one of these verses happened in song and because of my own love for adiaphora I felt sad that no one seated stood.  Thus the thought that people may not understand the meaning of it. 

Sometimes I wonder what thoughts people must have about my practice of adiaphora.  Our Congregation is a casual one so my imagination runs wild on occasion (as my husband would testify) with questions to myself like, "do they think I'm too Roman Catholic?"  But the truth is that many of our Congregants were indeed Roman Catholic at one time and converted to Lutheranism at marriage.  So shouldn't they be used to all the adiaphora? 

On Easter Sunday during Communion one of the distribution hymns had a Δ before the last verse so without thinking I stood up.  And my good friend Amy  stood with me.  Then as I looked around from the corner of my eye, I saw that we were the only persons standing.  I was horrified!  And suddenly embarrassed.  Another friend of mine was sitting directly in front of Amy and I.  She turned her head and looked up at us but did not stand.  I was further horrified!  But, half way through the verse I was able to let those feelings go.  I was thankful that Amy stood with me.  After all, I'm the pastor's wife, shouldn't I know what I'm doing?  Yeah.  Too funny.

I have to admit that I spent the following week beating myself up for seemingly making a "spectacle?" of myself that day.  But then I came to my senses and decided that my standing was not about them and their sitting was not about me.  

A final thought:  Maybe some of the visitors that day thought they were in a non-denom penticostal type church where it is perfectly acceptable for anyone to stand any time during any portion of the service, so maybe no one really thought anything of it.  Maybe it's just my own vanity that caused the worries.