October
It's nothing new.
Luther talked about it in the introduction to the Small Catechism.
The
deplorable, miserable condition which I discovered lately when I, too,
was a visitor, has forced and urged me to prepare this Catechism, or
Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form. Mercy! Good God!
what manifold misery I beheld! The common people, especially in the
villages, have no knowledge whatever of Christian doctrine, and, alas!
many pastors are altogether incapable and incompetent to teach so much
so, that one is ashamed to speak of it. Nevertheless, all maintain
that they are Christians, have been baptized and receive the holy
Sacraments. Yet they do not understand and cannot recite either the
Lord's Prayer, or the Creed, or the Ten Commandments; they live like
dumb brutes and irrational hogs; and yet, now that the Gospel has come,
they have nicely learned to abuse all liberty like experts.
October
is the Month of Reformation Day, and it is the Reformation which
brought us the Catechism and all clear Lutheran teaching. One might
find Luther's language a little sharp, but one cannot say his meaning
was not clear. The freedom of the Gospel often sets people free to
ignore the faith.
Now, the
people in Luther's time were ignorant largely because their former
church held worship in Latin and taught that just being present in the
building while the service happened gave one all the benefits the
worship service supplied, whether or not one understood what was going
on or what it meant. So, when Lutheranism began, the priests and the
lay-people were sadly, but understandably, ignorant. The freedom of the
Gospel was also taken to mean that the people no longer needed to
attend worship regularly or take the Lord's Supper when it was offered.
Thankfully,
our worship services are in our native tongue, and almost everyone can
recite the Ten Commandments after a fashion, the Apostles' Creed, and
the Lord's Prayer. We still fall short of knowing or understanding our
doctrine (the teachings of the Bible) or comprehending what they have to
do with how we live our lives and how we deal with other teachings at
large in our society. Some also struggle with the Lord's Supper: what
it is, why we need it, and when it is right to withhold ourselves from
receiving it.
**** WAIT! ISN'T MY PARTICIPATION IN THE SACRAMENT A PERSONAL THING?? ****
Yes
and no. It is personal in the sense that you personally receive the
body and blood of the Lord, individually. If you are wrestling with
repentance, unwilling or unable to repent of a sin or anger or hatred,
then you personally should withhold yourself from receiving the
sacrament while you wrestle with that sin. If you don't think you need
forgiveness for anything, you should also abstain. In either case, you
need to talk to your pastor, or another respected spiritual counselor
(like another pastor), to find a resolution to your trouble, for it will
stand between you and salvation if you do not resolve the issue.
But
NO, the very name "communion" indicates that it is a sharing together
in something holy. It is a group activity, a profound and sacred family
event in the family of Christ gathered at the altar. It brings
forgiveness and life to those who partake and it entails a confession of
shared faith and doctrine with those with whom you share in this
"koinonia." We should have great and profound reasons to reject the
fellowship of the Supper when the body of Christ that gathers at our
altar is joining in receiving the gifts of God in the Sacrament and
jointly confessing our faith before one another and the Lord. That
shared confession is why we limit access to the Holy Supper to those who
share our faith, our doctrine, and our confession. We do not want to
facilitate a false confession by the unwary nor share the judgement of
the Lord spoken of in 1 Cor.11:27-29 with those who do not know what we
are doing.
For those same
reasons, we should not commune anywhere but our home congregation or at
any altar where they do not share our faith or where we are not certain
that they confess the same faith as we do.
Luther's
concern for the ignorance of the people about what the Bible teaches
and what we confess should also remind us that we are never too old to
learn or to forget. Anyone under the age of 120 should understand that
they need more time in the study of God's Word than the twenty-or-so
minutes of the sermon each week. Some of you may be so disciplined as
to undertake regular individual study of the Word of God. While I am
sure that there are those among you who do, I am confident that there
are also those who do not and would benefit from joining one of our
parish's weekly Bible studies.
In
our studies we fellowship in the Word, and we discuss what it means in
our daily lives at different times and how God's Word and our faith
might inform our thinking on the issues of life and society. There are
times when someone will bring cookies, cake or bars to share as well.
The edibles are not an integral part of Bible Study, but are a welcome
addition nonetheless.
The
urgent part is the shared study of God's Word and the conversation of
the saints around the Word. This is also a family event; personal and
yet corporate – that is, of the body. Romans 12:4-5, For just as we
have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same
function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members one of another. Nothing a Christian does is
"personal" or "individual," except, perhaps, for sin. Even that touches
the body of Christ and injures the body of Christ. 1 Cor.12:25-27
that there should be no division in the body, but that the members
should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member
suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all
the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ's body, and
individually members of it. Let us not take the freedom of the Gospel
as license to sin or to other injury, but as our liberty from
condemnation.
Yours in the Lord,
Pastor Fish
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