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Weekly Devotional

January 12, 2009

God’s Peace be with you all.

Exodus 34:1-8  The LORD said to Moses, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.  ² Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain.  ³ No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain."  ⁴ So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.  ⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.  ⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,  ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."  ⁸ Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.

    Every Sunday we begin our liturgy with the singing of the Kyrie.  Someone (Usually Norm) chants the words “Kyrie eleison” and “Christe eleison”.  These mean “Lord, have mercy” and “Christ, have mercy.”  The theme of God’s mercy is one that is woven through the Bible, and is a major part of Salvation History as we look at it.  The Kyrie has been around for a long time, but many people don’t know about its history.  So I did some research and found some history about the Kyrie.  Many of the Catholic resources that I found were hard to understand, and you need to be able to understand Latin, Greek, and Italian.  Many of the Lutheran resources I found referenced J.S. Bach and the work he did on the service of Mass that he wrote.  But I did find one Lutheran resource that seems to be pretty easy to understand.  Although we don’t always talk about the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, their website has some history lessons on it that are valuable to everyone.  Below is from their website:

    “For centuries, Kyrie eleison (Greek for “Lord, have mercy”) has been used in the Church's liturgy. Though there have been occasions when these words have been used as a plea for forgiveness, the primary use of Kyrie eleison has been from the biblical perspective described above. Confident of God's mercy, we call on him and hold him to his promise to show mercy.

    The history of the Kyrie in the liturgy is a complicated one. In the fourth century, the Eastern Church used the Kyrie as the people's response to a series of petitions. Later, the Kyrie became separated from the prayers and was used alone. During the Middle Ages, the Kyrie was troped. (A trope is an insertion of words.) For example, the following was a popular trope of the Kyrie:

Kyrie, God Father in heav'n above,
You abound in gracious love,
Of all things the maker and preserver.
Eleison, eleison!

    More recently, the Lutheran liturgy has seen a return of the Eastern form of the Kyrie, sometimes referred to as an Eketene Kyrie. Here we plead for God's mercy, not just for ourselves, but on behalf of others as well. We pray, indeed, for our salvation. But we also pray that God would grant peace to our troubled world. We pray for the Church and for all who come to God's house to receive his good gifts and to thank and praise him. Throughout, the refrain is the same: Lord, have mercy.

    Through its continued use, the Kyrie reminds us that our God is merciful, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, etc. Though the world would love to tempt us to take this mercy for granted and to rely on ourselves, this ancient voice of the liturgy gives us a truly biblical perspective as we come into God's presence. We stand before him only by his grace; yet, on the basis of that grace, we are bold to say: “Lord, have mercy!”

In our prayers this week: 

Marjorie, Ann, Alma, Doris and her mom, St. John’s Lutheran, Tara

God’s Peace,

Pastor Judson