1.
In the name of Jesus. Amen. The
sun came through the window and fell on her shoulders. It gave a sparkle to
Ruth’s hair that matched her personality. But, today she had come with a
serious concern to discuss. Ruth’s first
husband had died. Some years later, she’d married a member of a Lutheran church
and attended adult instruction to learn about the Lutheran Church, but this woman,
an eager Bible student, hadn’t been able to bring herself to join. Her grandpa
had been a pastor in another denomination. As a small girl, Ruth had been close
to her grandfather. Loyal to his memory, she couldn’t leave his denomination.
But, she’d grown to love the Lutheran Church. In her heart she knew it was time
to join the congregation where she’d been worshiping for more than a few years.
She asked again about the differences between the Lutheran church and her
grandpa’s denomination. The conversation turned to the Lord’s Supper.
2.
The
Pastor explained that Jesus said, “This
is my body. This is my blood,” and that Lutherans believe he meant what he
said. Lutherans believe that his body and blood are truly present in, with, and
under the bread and the wine. Ruth
looked at the Pastor and exclaimed, “This
is what I’ve always believed!” Ruth
simply believed the Word of God that she’d read in the Bible.
3.
Unfortunately,
there are many who hear Jesus’ words and refuse to believe them. Their human
reason asks, “How can bread and wine be
Christ’s body and blood?” (LC V 12). Ruth and Martin Luther knew what these
people can’t bring themselves to believe. The bread and wine in the Sacrament
aren’t just bread and wine, such as are served at our dinner table, “but this is bread and wine included in, and
connected with, God’s Word” (LC V 9). Jesus says, “This is my body. This is my blood.” And we know that he can never
lie (Titus 1:2). In the Large
Catechism, Luther says, “Everyone
who desires to be a Christian and go to this Sacrament should know” these three
points: “What is it? What are its benefits? and Who is to receive it?” (LC
V 1, 2).
4.
Understanding
and believing Jesus’ words enables us to answer the second question concerning
the benefits of the Sacrament. When Jesus says, “This is my body. This is my blood,” he also says, “for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt
26:26–28). Because there is forgiveness
of sins in the Sacrament, it can be called food for the soul. In it we receive
nourishment to refresh and strengthen our faith. I’m sure your Christian life is a struggle.
When the way is difficult, Jesus gives you his Holy Supper to strengthen you
for the struggle. Jesus defeated sin,
death, and the devil by the sacrifice of his body and blood on the cross. His
work is done. Forgiveness of sins is secured. He gives you this treasure
through his Holy Word. You receive it by faith. He makes it personal for you by
connecting his forgiving Word to the bread and wine, his body and blood, that you eat and you
drink. This is the benefit of the Sacrament.
5.
With
Luther, we ask, “Who is the person that
receives this treasure and benefit in the Sacrament?” Does this question
sound silly? It does to many people who believe there’s no benefit in the
Sacrament. It implies that not everyone who comes to the Supper receives a
benefit. In the Large Catechism we’re
reminded, “Whoever now accepts these
words and believes that what they declare is true has forgiveness. But whoever
does not believe it has nothing” (LC V 35). Some may come to the Holy Supper but
refuse to see what God has offered there. Jesus has placed a treasure on the
Table, but some ignore it and walk away without any benefit from the Supper at
all. In fact, they eat and drink God’s
judgment on themselves.
6.
As
the Apostle Paul was instructing the Church at Corinth about the Lord’s Supper
he writes these words in 1 Corinthians 11:27–32, “27Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of
the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood
of the Lord. 28Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the
bread and drink of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without
discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is
why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31But if we
judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32But when we are
judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along
with the world.
7.
This
is why our Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod practices close communion. Close
communion is the practice of admitting to the Lord’s Supper only those who have
been instructed in Lutheran doctrine and are baptized and confirmed members of
an LCMS congregation, who also confess that in the Lord’s Supper they receive
the true body and blood of Christ in their mouths for the forgiveness of their
sins. The pastor, as the steward of the mysteries of God in this place, is
responsible for admitting to the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 4:1). Other Christian church bodies also practice
close communion, such as the Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and
Reformed congregations, to name a few, on the basis of their understanding of
the differences in Christian doctrine.
8.
But why is that? Because we need to
be honest with ourselves about our differences in belief in matters of
Christian doctrine, specifically our differences over our understanding of the
Lord’s Supper. It’s not as though we
don’t consider other Christian denominations to be Christian, or that we don’t think
they’ll go to heaven. It’s rather that fellowship in the Lord’s Supper is the
ultimate expression of unity in Biblical doctrine. Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics,
Lutherans, Methodists and other Christian denominations don’t believe the same
thing when it comes to the Sacrament of Holy Communion. How can we commune
together as if there’s no division in our understanding of the Sacrament of the
Lord’s Supper? Our Lord wouldn’t have us sweep our differences under the rug as
if they didn’t matter.
9.
We don’t exclude other Christians
out of meanness or arrogance, but out of love.
We practice close communion for the
protection and instruction of our neighbor. St. Paul writes, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or
drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning
the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27; ESV). Those who eat and
drink “without discerning the body,”
those who don’t recognize our Lord’s true body and blood under the bread and
wine in the Supper, eat and drink judgment on themselves (v. 29). God spare us
from this! Those who eat and drink without examining themselves, what they
believe, if they know they are sinful and are sorry for their sins, eat and
drink in an unworthy manner (cf. v. 28). The unrepentant eat and drink, not for
their forgiveness, life, and salvation, but to their judgment. Apparently some
in the Corinthian congregation got sick and even died from eating in an
unworthy manner (v. 30). There are spiritual consequences (judgment) and
physical consequences (sickness, death) to eating and drinking unworthily. We
practice close communion so as to spare our brothers and sisters from these
consequences, and to teach them so that they may join us at the altar in the
future. The goal of close communion is
always to invite the person excluded, through instruction and confession of
faith, to join us at the altar. But, close communion also says that we take
this Sacrament seriously. We regard it as holy and powerful, the very body and
blood of Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead, and not to be taken lightly.
You wouldn’t jump out of an airplane without skydiving instruction first,
right? How much more should we not come to the altar without instruction,
without being assured that we’re using this Sacrament rightly? The Sacrament of
the Altar is for repentant sinners who’ve been baptized and instructed in the
Christian faith, especially about the Lord’s Supper, and who’ve confessed their
agreement with that instruction.
10.
On the other hand, whoever believes the words has
what they declare. Jesus says, “This is
my body. This is my blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Here
Jesus offers and promises forgiveness of sins. It is received by faith. The
benefits and blessings of Baptism cannot be seized with a fist, but this
treasure is received and made yours with the heart (LC V 36).
11.
Many
years ago, a Lutheran pastor spoke this way about the Sacrament of the Altar. He
said that at the beginning of each service he would pronounce the forgiveness
of sins and from the pulpit he would proclaim Jesus’ life, death, and
resurrection for the salvation of souls. But, at times people may feel that
their sins are so great or that their faith is so weak that this forgiveness
must be only for the other people around them. Like those people, you, too may
believe that the salvation won by Christ on the cross is for everyone else, but
the pastor really never meant it for you.
12. But, when you
come to the Sacrament and you take and eat the true body of your Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ given for you for the forgiveness of sins, and when you
take and drink the true blood of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shed for you
for the forgiveness of sins, then there can be no doubt that this treasure is
yours. It’s meant for you. At that very moment there’s no uncertainty that you
are the one eating and drinking and that the blessings and benefits of the Holy
Supper are meant directly and absolutely for you. Amen.
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