Much discussion of devotional practices in Lutheran circles is usually in the context of whether a practice from another Christian tradition, such as Lectio Divina, or the Ignatian Examen would be permissible within our own. It is such a shame that because we Lutherans do have a rich devotional heritage of our own, and it is rarely talked about due to the inaccessibility of a lot of these works.
When it comes to spiritual exercises within our tradition, we usually think of Luther’s traditional directive, Oratio, Meditatio, and Tentatio. I was reading G.H. Gerberding’s The Lutheran Pastor, and he cited Loehe citing an interesting way this is applied in the devotional use of God’s Word.
The Lutheran theologian Caspar Calvör (1650-1725), devised a method in his Heavenly Ladder of Devotion, to handle Divine Truth as found in Holy Scripture, the Catechism, or even hymns in a fruitful manner. This consists of 3 parts:
- Meditation
- Examination
- Prayer
1. Meditation
This part concerns the study of the text:
- Take a familiar text, such as a passage of Scripture, a stanza of a hymn, a prayer, or a Catechism part. Ponder every single word in your heart, with slow and reverent contemplation.
- Divide the text into definite questions concerning the circumstances (i.e. the Who, What, Where, Why)
- Draw parallels; recall other corresponding passages of the Bible, hymns or catechism parts and ponder them also.
- Consider what doctrine, admonition, or comfort you can derive from them.
2. Examination
This part involves self-examination and applying the text to your own life.
- Ask yourself if the text applies to you. Consider the groups of people the text speaks to or speaks about. If you belong to any of them, it pertains to you. If so, apply it to yourself, as if it was spoken to you directly.
- Answer the questions raised in the meditation, but with reference to yourself (if it applies to you)
- If it is a word of consolation and it does not apply to you, pray to God for mercy and conversion
- If it is a word of rebuke and it does not apply to you, thank God for preserving you from the sin that is rebuked, and also pray that He may continue to preserve you and graciously forgive your other sins also.
3. Prayer
This is the part where you bring your findings from meditation and examination together and take it to God in prayer.
The virtues and graces brought to mind from the text are contemplated and applied to what Calvör calls the ‘devotion of the heart’, the blessed works of your ‘interior Sabbath’. The sins and vices revealed are cursed and rejected as you turn your heart to God in worship, praying that you will do what is good more heartily, that being filled with love and joy, there would be no more place for these sins.
Finally, being strengthened by this exercise of the soul, go joyfully to the day’s work, striving to be kept free from sin and do what is right and pleasing to God.
