The Tail of the Dragon is a popular stretch of road for tourists near the Tennessee-North Carolina border. It boasts 318 curves in 11 miles. It is especially iconic among motorcyclists. I ride with a good group of guys who get together a couple times a year. For the past two years, the Tail of the Dragon didn’t work out for me because of weather issues - though one brave soul from our band of brothers rode it in the rain this year.

Luther used the term (Drachenschwanz, draconis cauda) in reference to “the Mass” in the Smalcald Articles in our Book of Concord. As anyone who has ever used language in his life knows, context matters in determining the meaning of a word. There is a huge difference between a road in Tennessee and a set of papal liturgical prayers rejected by 16th century reformers. Somehow, confessional Lutheran motorcyclists manage to keep these terms straight.

A similar contextual matter is the word “catholic.” It can be used in modern English as shorthand to refer to the papal church, but it is also used in the ecumenical creeds to mean the very opposite of a specific denomination. We LCMS Lutherans compromise by translating “catholic” from the Apostles and Nicene Creeds as “Christian” (following the pre-Luther German translation), while retaining the word “catholic” in the Athanasian Creed (see LSB 319-320). The hue and cry against using “catholic” in our creeds as “confusing” is drowned out by millions of Methodists and Presbyterians and Anglicans who aren’t confused at all. Maybe Lutherans are not as smart as they are. Maybe we are just more easily confused.

Although we somehow aren’t confused by our retention of the sign of the cross. But that’s another story for another day.

At any rate, theology is an -ology, a realm of the Logos, of words and logic. And theology, like other intellectual endeavors, uses words in multiple contexts. There are often “broad” and “narrow” uses of specific terminology. Admittedly, this takes a certain degree of sophistication and literacy, one that may well be at odds with our current generational use of language as captured by the movie Idiocracy:

But the English language had deteriorated into a hybrid of hillbilly, valley girl, inner city slang, and various grunts.

And this brings me to my point.

A pastor, who was arguing for “contemporary worship,” scolded me for using the word “Mass” (as in the quote from Article 24 above that describes authentic Lutheran worship to mean the traditional Mass with “traditional liturgical forms” and the traditional “lessons, prayers, vestments, etc.” ). You know, the kind of things that his ilk thinks that should be ”abolished” instead of “retained” and “celebrated with the highest reverence.”

He said:

Luther called the Mass the tail of Satan [sic], so maybe stop using that word, kk?

Kk? When middle-aged people try to sound youthful and hip, it reminds me of the powerful and pathetic scene from Sunset Boulevard when Gloria Swanson’s character, desperately clinging to her lost youth, utters the iconic line: “All right, Mr. DeMille. I’m ready for my close-up.” For some reason, a lot of Peter Pan pastors try to delude themselves into thinking they are still the 20-something vicar taking a group of high schoolers mini-golfing and trying to fit in with the kiddos. Maybe that’s part of our Idiocracy degradation of language.

But at any rate, the word Mass is not only the title of Article 24 in both the Augsburg Confession and the Apology - describing the Lutheran Divine Service (the latter being the longest and most detailed treatment of worship in the Book of Concord), it is by far the single most common word used to describe our services of the Lord’s Supper in our confessions. Moreover, Dr. Luther, whose remark about the tail of the dragon is part of our Book of Concord, published his first two evangelical revisions of the liturgy using the word Mass (in Latin in 1523 and in German in 1526).

In just the Augsburg Confession, the liturgy (not the “tail of the dragon” that is, the canon of the Mass) is called “Mass” about 31 times (depending on whether one is counting it in the Latin or the German as rendered into English). The Apology has 73 such uses. Math majors will note that this exceeds 100 such uses. Article 2 of the Smalcald Articles frequently refers to the Mass, but right off the bat explicitly qualifies the context as “The Mass of the papacy” - to distinguish this context from the evangelical Mass.

Apology 27 speaks of the “abuses of the Mass” - which we reject, not the Mass itself. Abusus not tollit usum, as the kids say.

If you’ve ever been around a random group of pastors, you’ll note that it really is a Tale of Two Synods. We speak two different languages. And this is no surprise. For what we imbibe spiritually and intellectually eventually makes it way out of our mouths linguistically. If we are immersed in the Bible, the Confessions, and the hymnody of the Church, we will naturally speak that way - in the same way that guys who ride motorcycles have certain turns of phrase that we pick up along the way. But if our Bibles and Books of Concord are collecting cobwebs, if the Psalms do not shape our daily piety of prayer and worship, if we are listening to neo-Evangelical pop music stations, reading neo-Evangelical books about Christianity, and adopting neo-Evangelical worship styles and gestures (in which raised hands replaces the sign of the cross), it should shock nobody that we will start talking, acting, worshiping, and believing like neo-Evangelicals.

This is the reason that a congregation that retains the Mass is much more likely to have the sacrament at every Sunday service, and those with the praise band are more likely to celebrate it infrequently. This is why liturgical parishes and pastors are much more likely to offer and incorporate private confession and absolution into their Christian life and piety than a congregation that is more interested in cupholders and casual attire. This is also why you are more likely to find solid cruciform preaching in liturgical parishes instead of fluff in non-liturgical parishes.

As a convert to Lutheranism, I’m utterly appalled by how many cradle-Lutherans, laity and clergy alike, are so quick to barter away their birthright for a bowl of slop. Our Lord offers us meat, while many of our pastors grow pudgy and weak stuffing themselves on Twinkies.

The first step toward becoming authentically Lutheran again is to once more immerse ourselves in the Bible and Confessions, to let the Word of God shape our prayers and worship, and to confess, that is, to repeat the language of the inspired Scriptures and its correct exposition bequeathed to us by the blood of the martyrs.

In the 16th century, the dragon’s tail appeared among us in the form of the canon of the Mass, which led our people away from the grace of Christ to focus on themselves. Today, the dragon’s tail comes among us yet again in the form of a blend of self-centered entertainment and emotion, replacing the Mass, which leads our people away from the grace of Christ to yet again focus on themselves.

Let us get back to where this language not only describes us, but shapes our piety:

Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved, save that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed here and there with German hymns, which have been added to teach the people. For ceremonies are needed to this end alone that the unlearned be taught [what they need to know of Christ]. And not only has Paul commanded to use in the church a language understood by the people but it has also been so ordained by man’s law.

The people are accustomed to partake of the Sacrament together, if any be fit for it, and this also increases the reverence and devotion of public worship. For none are admitted except they be first examined. The people are also advised concerning the dignity and use of the Sacrament, how great consolation it brings anxious consciences, that they may learn to believe God, and to expect and ask of Him all that is good.

[In this connection they are also instructed regarding other and false teachings on the Sacrament.] This worship pleases God; such use of the Sacrament nourishes true devotion toward God. It does not, therefore, appear that the Mass is more devoutly celebrated among our adversaries than among us.

~ AC 24:1-9

Amen.