Parish Blog

This post is part of a new “Why We Do What We Do” series, explaining the biblical and historic practices of the Church.

THE CHURCH HAS RECEIVED THE USE OF INCENSE as part of her worship from the beginning of her life. Long before denominational divisions, long before the modern suspicion of ceremony, the Church prayed, sang, and offered her worship with incense, according to the pattern given in Holy Scripture and received in faithful continuity from generation to generation.

The Church that confesses the Book of Concord stands within this same inheritance. She does not imagine herself a new church, nor as a departure from the ancient Church, but as the catholic Church reformed and restored by the Word of God—teaching nothing new and retaining everything that serves the proclamation of Christ and the faithful administration of His gifts. For this reason, Lutheran worship has always been marked by reverence, continuity, and catholic fullness.

Incense, then, is not an innovation, nor a borrowed custom, nor a matter of taste. It is a visible confession of what the Church believes about prayer, sacrifice, and the presence of Christ among His people. To understand its use, we begin where the Church must always begin: with the Holy Scriptures.

Incense in Holy Scripture

The Scriptures themselves give clear testimony to the meaning and use of incense in the worship of God.

The psalmist prays:

“Let my prayer rise before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (Psalm 141:2)

Here incense is explicitly connected with prayer—visible, tangible, and rising heavenward toward God.

The Book of Revelation reveals the same heavenly reality:

“Another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God.” (Revelation 8:3–4)

When the Church uses incense, she does not invent a symbol; she participates in the worship of heaven itself. Incense proclaims that the prayers of the saints are heard, received, and presented before God through Christ.

Incense and the Atonement

Incense is also bound to the atoning work of God. On the Day of Atonement, the Lord commanded Aaron the high priest:

“He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it inside the veil… that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat.” (Leviticus 16:12–13)

The cloud of incense covered the mercy seat—the place where blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins. In this way, incense points to Christ Himself, who is our mercy seat, whose sacrifice is a sweet-smelling aroma before the Father, covering our sin and reconciling us to God.

The prophet Malachi looks forward to the Church’s worship extending throughout the world:

“From the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering.” (Malachi 1:11)

This is not a prophecy of the old temple cult, but of the Church’s universal worship—Christ-centered, sacramental, and offered among all nations.

Even at our Lord’s Epiphany, incense appears:

“They offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11)

Frankincense is a priestly gift, confessing that the Child is not only King, but God in the flesh, worthy of worship.

The Church’s Practice

For these reasons, the Church has always understood incense as a confession of faith, not an ornament or aesthetic flourish. It confesses that Christ is present among His people, that prayers are truly offered and heard, that worship is not merely earthly but heavenly, and that the Church stands in continuity with the saints who have gone before.

When the Church uses incense, she is not becoming something new. She is being what she has always been.

And when Lutheran congregations use incense, they are not borrowing from Rome. They are simply living as what they confess themselves to be: catholic Christians, gathered around Christ, receiving His gifts, and worshiping according to the Scriptures and the historic faith of the Church.

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