What Are You Giving Up for Lent?

A sermon for the Transfiguration of our Lord from Luke 9:28-36

I saw this yesterday and had to add it!

Well, in case you missed the announcement this morning or have failed to check your calendar, this is your friendly reminder that Ash Wednesday is this week- February 13^th.  Ash Wednesday, of course, marks the beginning of the season of Lent in the church year. So my question for you today is: What are you giving up this year for Lent?

Some of you might be wondering what in the world I am talking about. Why would I give something up for Lent? And that’s ok. Perhaps you do not come from a background where giving something up for Lent was ever mentioned or practiced. This could be a foreign concept to you. And again, that’s ok. Don’t worry, you’ll learn all about it today.

In my family growing up, my parents encouraged us children to give something up for the season of Lent. Of course, right away they would shoot down our brilliantly conceived ideas of giving up school, or homework, or piano lessons. No, no, we were supposed to give up something that we liked or enjoyed for the 40 days of Lent. So our self-denial usually came down to giving up some sort of food- ice cream, chocolate, desserts in general, potato chips, soda. Something like that. Giving up vegetables never worked either.

And for those of you who have at some point given something up for Lent, I am willing to bet that your sacrifice almost always is some sort of food as well. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with that. Giving up a certain food that you enjoy is like a mini-fast, and fasting is a practice often talked about in the Bible.

So should you fast? Some of you might raise an objection that fasting is a Roman Catholic thing. We don’t do that. We’re Lutherans. We don’t want to be associated with those Catholics. And it is true that the Roman Catholic Church has a long history of fasting, especially during Lent. Roman Catholics are told that they should fast during Lent, specifically that they should give up meat on Fridays- except for fish of course. You can eat all the fish you want. Captain D must have been a smart Roman Catholic. But the Catholics are not the only ones who have a long history of fasting.

Another objection to fasting might be: Well, that’s just an Old Testament thing. Certainly, fasting is a topic well-covered in the Old Testament. God gave his people Israel very detailed instructions on when they were to fast, for how long, what they were allowed to eat at certain times, and what the consequences were if you broke your fast. On the Sabbath Day, you were not supposed to eat from sunup to sundown. It was commanded. But fasting doesn’t go away with the New Testament and the arrival of Jesus. Rather, it seems that Jesus almost assumes that his disciples will fast.  He says in Matthew 6: “And when you pray, don’t do it like the Pharisees…and when you fast, don’t do it like them either.” Jesus doesn’t say, “If you pray…” or “If you fast…” When you pray and when you fast.

So the Catholics don’t hold a monopoly on fasting and Jesus didn’t do away with it either. So let’s ask another important question: What is fasting? Fasting is an ancient Christian discipline that has always been used as part and parcel of a life of prayer and meditation of God’s Word. Fasting is denying your body food for a certain period of time. Why would you want to do this? It is to train and subdue yourself with bodily restraints or bodily exercises.  Fasting is a discipline meant to help you reflect on your own sinfulness and on Christ’s sacrifice for you.

So even in the Lutheran Church, fasting is a commendable practice. However, and this is the key, we must reject and condemn any attempt to make laws, regulations and rules about it. In other words, while fasting is a good practice, it is not required or commanded. Fasting is a good practice, but it does not earn you any special favor with God or make you a better Christian than everybody else. That’s what Jesus was getting at in Matthew 6:

Hey everyone! Come and see how good I look!

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.” The Pharisees, when they fasted, made a show of it. “Look at me! Come and see how good I am! God surely loves me!” That isn’t the point. Fasting doesn’t earn you extra points with God.

But now you might be thinking to yourself, “Pastor Schmidt, if fasting is not required or commanded and if it doesn’t earn me any special favor with God, what is the point? Why are you then wasting an entire sermon on this subject?” A fair question- but stick with me. I promise that I am going somewhere with this.

Let’s go back to what fasting is good for. It is a practice which helps you to reflect on your own sinfulness and on Christ’s sacrifice for you. That is why fasting is typically connected with the season of Lent and that is why I asked what you are giving up for Lent. Lent is the season of the church year where we especially focus on our own sinfulness and on Jesus’ journey to the cross. Lent is a time of repentance and is well summed up by Joel 2: 14: Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Lent is not primarily about fasting or giving something up. Denying ourselves something during Lent is a way to help us concentrate on the  true purpose of Lent: to fix our eyes on Jesus and to ponder the purpose, reasons, and necessity of our Lord’s suffering and death for us.

That brings us to our Gospel reading for today which is Luke’s account of the Transfiguration of our Lord. Now when Jesus is transfigured and glorified on the mountain, it certainly does not bring up images of Jesus’ suffering and death for us. Rather, it tends to do just the opposite. On the mount of Transfiguration, the 3 disciples with Jesus finally see his true glory and power. Moses and Elijah are talking to him. God the Father actually speaks: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” It is an amazing and frightening experience for them. There is no hint of suffering or shame or sacrifice. There is no hint of Lent.

Yet, the story of the Transfiguration is always the Gospel reading for the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. Maybe you didn’t know that, but it is true. Every year, we read about the Transfiguration right before Lent starts.  Why is that? On the mountain of Transfiguration, we get a glimpse of Jesus’ glory, a glory that will not be revealed again until Jesus rises from the dead and ascends into heaven. But before we get to the glory of the resurrection, we have to go to the cross.

You see, Luke continues his Gospel right after the Transfiguration in this way: On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. The key words in that verse are: when they had come down from the mountain. Jesus didn’t stay on the mountain in all his power and glory. That’s what Peter wanted to do. He thought it was great up there. Let’s set up some tents for you and Moses and Elijah and just stay up here. But Jesus couldn’t stay. He had work to do. Even when he was with Moses and Elijah, they were talking about his future in Jerusalem. They weren’t just catching up on the latest heavenly gossip. God affirmed His Son Jesus and his mission on the mountain, but he had to come down. Later again in chapter 9, Luke says this about Jesus: When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. What was waiting for him in Jerusalem? The cross. He was to be taken up and crucified. Jesus was getting ready for what he came to do. He was heading to the cross.

And he invites you to go with him. In Luke 9, before the Transfiguration, Jesus tells his disciples: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” That’s what the season of Lent is all about. It is a time for the church to journey with Jesus to the cross. It is a time of self-denial because, let’s face it, in our consumer culture, we are not used to denying ourselves anything. We are selfish and self-centered. We are used to getting whatever we want. And if we don’t get it, we covet it or whine about it. But Jesus has a different idea for our lives. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow him. Now Jesus’ call to deny ourselves certainly isn’t limited to Lent- it’s a 24-7 proposition. But we do tend to concentrate on it especially during Lent.

You see, the 40 days of Lent help prepare us for the Holiest of Holies of the church year: Holy Week.

Stations of the Cross

During Holy Week, we walk the steps of Jesus: from his entrance into Jerusalem, to his clearing out of the temple, to his teaching about the Last Days, to his Last Supper in the upper room, to his anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, to his betrayal and arrest, his trial, his floggings, his crown of thorns, his walk through Jerusalem carrying his own cross, to his crucifixion and death and burial. We journey that whole way with Jesus every year so that we can truly appreciate the miracle and wonder of Easter where Jesus is glorified once again as he rises from the dead and declares victory over sin, death and Satan.

Giving up something for Lent is a way for you to reflect even more upon your own sinfulness and upon the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice for you. When you fast or simply cut back on the food you eat, and you feel that twinge, or even sharp stab of hunger, you can be reminded: Oh yes, hunger. Yes, Lent. Yes, Jesus suffered for me. He felt the deep sharp stab of thorn and nail, for me. When you give up something you enjoy like chocolate or potato chips, and you find yourself craving those things, you can be reminded: Jesus gave up his life for me, a poor, miserable, and selfish sinner. When you discipline yourself, you can be reminded of Jesus’ discipline for you. As he was suffering and being accused falsely or being mocked on the cross, he could have used his glory and power to come down from the cross. But he didn’t. He stayed on the cross, enduring its shame, for you.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

These words from Isaiah 53 describe the sacrifice and self-denial that Jesus made for you. The words of Isaiah 53 are also the theme of our Wednesday Lenten series this year. The series is entitled “Behold, my Servant,” and each week we will focus on another aspect of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant whom we know to be Jesus Christ.  So I have a suggestion for you as a response to the question “What are you giving up for Lent?” Now this is just a suggestion, not a command. You can give up a certain food. You could give up eating until a certain time of the day. But I encourage you to give up an hour. I want you to give up an hour of your time every Wednesday either from 1:00-2:00 in the afternoon or 7:30-8:30 at night to come to our Lenten worship services here at St. John. This really would be self-denial. There are probably a hundred other things you would rather do with that hour on Wednesday.

Remember, giving something up for Lent isn’t something that you do for God to earn his favor. It’s something that you do for yourself so that you can better focus on your own sin and fix your eyes on Jesus and his journey to the cross to earn God’s favor for you. It is a way to read and reflect on God’s Word and be filled up with the Bread of Life. It is a way to return to the Lord in repentance for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. So what better way to observe Lent and deny yourself than to give up your time and come to God’s house and hear once again of his great love for you? Come and hear about how Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem, toward the cross, knowing the suffering he would face, yet going anyway for you for your sin and selfishness.  Come and hear God the Father say to you “This is my son or daughter; my chosen one!” What an opportunity to be blessed by God and by His Word of Good News for your life!

What are you giving up for Lent? That’s up to you. But I do hope and pray that every day you will listen to Jesus calling for you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him. For He will lead you to glory everlasting. Amen.

Let us pray: On my heart imprint your image, Blessed Jesus, king of grace, That life’s riches, cares, and pleasures Never may your work erase; Let the clear inscription be: Jesus, crucified for me, Is my life, my hope’s foundation, And my glory and salvation!

HT to Paul McCain of CPH for much of the information on fasting and on a good summary of the Lenten season.

Sunday School Stories: Samson

This is the next sermon in my series on Old Testament stories. Come back next week for Noah’s Ark!

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Once again, I am continuing my sermon series on Sunday School stories- those Old Testament stories that you probably learned about in Sunday School or from children’s books, but we don’t discuss them too much anymore. You might not think that these stories are especially meaningful for your life. It’s just history after all. But Paul teaches us in 2 Timothy 3:16- All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

Jesus appears to His disciples

So let’s review again the rule for interpreting the Bible that comes from Jesus Himself. I’m going to keep hammering home this principle for you so that you remember it in your personal Bible reading time. Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection and says, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.

So as we look at the story of Samson, let’s remember that ultimately this story points us to Jesus- his life, death and resurrection. And because everything Jesus did, he did for you, this story will meaningfully impact you on a personal level as well.

Now in order to understand the story of Samson, we need to look at the book of Judges as a whole to give us some context. The book of Judges follows the book of Joshua. The book of Joshua is the account of how the Israelites entered into the Promised Land and conquered it and settled in it. The book of Judges starts with the continuing conquest of Canaan. However, the Israelites failed to completely drive out all the Canaanites like God commanded them. This is a key point because very soon the Israelites would begin to worship the Canaanite gods and marry Canaanite women which was forbidden by God. The beginning of Judges also records the death of Joshua and also the passing of his generation. And it says in Judges 2:10-12: There arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them.

The Book of Judges

This begins a pattern for the book of Judges. This pattern begins with disobedience and sin by the Israelites. Over and over again in Judges it says, The people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They rejected the true God and worshipped false gods instead and provoked the Lord to anger. The next step in the pattern is punishment. God would hand them over to their enemies. He would allow Israel to be conquered and serve those who ruled over them.

Eventually, the Israelites would cry out to the Lord in their distress. The next step in the pattern is repentance. They would realize that they were wrong and turn back to God and beg him for mercy and deliverance. God would always hear their cry of repentance, and he would raise up a judge to deliver them. Judges 2:18- Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. So the last step in the pattern was salvation through a judge that God raised up.

But this is a repeating pattern! Judges 2:19 says: But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. It would start over.Sin- punishment- repentance- salvation. That’s the book of Judges.

So let’s look at one of the judges that God raised up- Samson. Right away in chapter 13, we see the pattern starting up. And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. We’ve already got sin and punishment. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, who was barren, and told her that she was going to conceive a son. There were special instructions for this child for he was to be set apart for God’s purposes. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. This son was to be the next judge of Israel. God’s people had begun to cry out to the Lord, and the Lord heard their cry of repentance. And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him.  And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him.

Did you know that Samson was married and that it wasn’t to Delilah? Samson’s marriage, recorded in chapter 14, is actually the catalyst for the conflict that would eventually end with Samson defeating the Philistines. You see, Samson’s wife was actually a Philistine. Samson saw her and said to his father: Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. This was usually frowned upon. Israelites were supposed to marry Israelites, but this was actually God’s plan so that Samson could deliver Israel.

Chapter 14 also records Samson’s first feat of strength. He tears apart a lion with his bare hands. How did he do it? It specifically says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. His strength was not his own. It came from God.

For Samson’s marriage, he was given 30 Philistine companions or groomsmen. Traditionally, the groom would give them gifts. But Samson gave them a riddle and told them they had 4 days to solve it. If they solved it, he would give them new clothes. His groomsmen pressured Samson’s wife to get the answer out of Samson. So she manipulates Samson into giving her the answer which she then passes on to the groomsmen. When they tell him the answer, Samson gets angry, and again the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Samson and he kills 30 men and gives his groomsmen their clothes.

Samson goes back to his father’s house, and so his father in law gives his daughter to Samson’s best man as a wife instead. When Samson finds this out, he seeks revenge.  So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain. When the Philistines find out who did it, they kill Samson’s wife and her father. When Samson finds this out, he kills many more Philistines and goes into hiding.

In response to this, the Philistines begin raiding the Israelites. When the Israelites ask why they are doing this, the Philistines tell them it’s because of Samson. So the Israelites find Samson and ask, “Dude, what gives? Why are you bringing all this trouble on us? We’re gonna give you over to the Philistines.” Samson says, “Fine, just don’t hurt me yourselves.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.

And in this way, Samson delivered Israel from the Philistines. And he judged Israel for twenty years. That’s actually the story of Israel’s deliverance. Usually, the stories about these judges end right then with how they saved Israel. But Samson’s story continues. It continues with Delilah.

After this, Samson loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. Now the Philistines no longer ruled over Israel, but they wanted revenge on Samson. They bribed Delilah to find out the secret of Samson’ strength. So she continually begs Samson to tell her. Samson toys with Delilah for a while. He tells her that he must be bound with 7 fresh bowstrings. Then he tells her that if he is tied up with new ropes that have never been used, he will lose his strength. Then he says she would have to weave his hair in a web and fasten it with a pin. All of these were lies of course which Delilah found out when she tried them out on Samson.So she says to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.”  And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” Samson was fooled by his passion for Delilah and his own sense of invincibility. But remember, his strength was not his own, it came from God.

Delilah knew that Samson had told her the truth, so she let the Philistines know. Then she cut his hair while he slept, and the Lord left him because he had broken his vow as a Nazirite. The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to their own country and bound him. Later on they celebrated the fact that they had captured their enemy and even brought Samson out so that they could mock him and laugh at him.

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”  And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. And that’s the end of the story of Samson.

Alright, now that we have reviewed this story, let’s start to draw some connections to our own lives and, of course, to Jesus.

You might be able to guess by now where I am headed first if you heard the other two sermons in this series. We need to start by admitting our own failures. We can best identify ourselves in this story with the people of Israel because we fall into the same pattern that they do throughout the book of Judges.

You are one of God’s chosen people. He has freed you from slavery to sin and bondage to Satan just like he brought the Israelites out of slavery to Egypt and gave them the Promised Land. You have been given God’s grace and forgiveness and mercy through Jesus.So to quote Paul in Romans 6: Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

And yet, you continue to sin daily. You continue to do evil in the sight of the Lord. You continue to reject God and turn to other gods instead. You turn to entertainment, to money, to status and power, to family, to work, and to yourself and trust in these things to give you everything that you need. All sin is a 1^st Commandment issue. You do not fear, love and trust in God above all things. You are like Paul in Romans 7 who talks about his daily inner struggle. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

You are a saint of God, and yet you continue to be a sinner. And your sin leads to punishment, just like it did for the people of Israel. Now, we can’t always know for sure that God is punishing us for specific sins. But sins do have natural consequences. If you lie or gossip about someone, your relationship with that person will be broken. If you cheat on your spouse, either physically or simply in your mind, you will reap the consequences. Sometimes overwhelming guilt is punishment enough for the sins we have committed. When you sin, God allows you to face the consequences of it. Do not be deceived: Paul says in Galatians 6:7 God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

So what’s the next step in the pattern? Repentance. Recognize your sin and idolatry and cry out to the Lord for mercy and deliverance. Confess your wickedness. Turn away from your evil ways. Beg for God’s forgiveness.

And just like He did for the people of Israel, God will do for you. He will raise up for you a judge, a deliverer for your salvation. In fact, He has already done so. He does not need to raise up a new judge. For God’s Son, Jesus, is the true and greater Judge of Israel. He is the true and greater Samson. All of the judges recorded in the book of Judges point forward to Jesus and his act of deliverance. And Samson, one of those judges that God raised up, has some unique parallels to Jesus’ life.

Like Samson, an angel announced Jesus’ birth. The angel said to Samson’ mother: He shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. An angel told Mary and Joseph that their child will be special as well. You shall call Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Like Samson, Jesus demonstrated great strength during his earthly life. Samson had the Spirit of God come upon him to give him strength. Jesus is God and demonstrated his power by healing the sick and casting out demons and raising the dead.

Like Samson, Jesus also had a moment of great weakness. In Samson’s case, he sinned against God, and the Spirit of God left him. He was captured and mocked and tortured by his enemies. In Jesus’ case, He never sinned, and yet he willingly gave himself up to his enemies. He became weak and powerless by His own choice. He was also mocked and tortured. They didn’t gouge out his eyes, but they put a crown of thorns upon his head.

But the greatest parallel between Samson and Jesus is that by their death, they defeated their enemies. Samson prayed to God for strength just one more time so that he could kill the Philistines. And he gave himself up unto death as well as he said: Let me die with the Philistines.  Then he stretched out his arms and brought the whole house down and killed himself and his enemies. Jesus prayed to God: Into your hands, I commit my spirit. And with his arms stretched out, he breathed his last. And in that moment, Jesus defeated your sin. He defeated the devil. And he defeated death itself 3 days later by rising from the dead. That’s why Jesus is the true and greater Samson. His death and resurrection destroyed your enemies for all eternity. God does not need to raise up another judge because Jesus is the only judge and deliverer that you need. He has achieved the last step in the pattern: salvation for you and for all who believe.

Jesus is the true and greater Samson!

The story of Samson and his death points you to Jesus and his death which has become your victory. The pattern in the book of Judges follows the same pattern that you live every day. Sin- Punishment- Repentance- Salvation. As you struggle with your sin, know that God has raised up a deliverer for you who has forgiven every single one of your sins through His death on a cross. As Paul says in Romans 7: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.

Worthiness Pt. 1

A member asked me a great question some time ago that I said I would eventually address in this blog. However, I had just started my “Heaven” series, so I did not have the opportunity to answer it. But I no longer have any excuses! So here goes!

The question was about the worthiness to receive the Lord’s Supper. Specifically, this individual had a question about the communion statement that we publish in our bulletin on Communion Sundays. The statement is as follows:

Here at St. John Lutheran Church, we believe, teach and confess that the bread and wine we eat and drink at Holy Communion is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus. Jesus is truly present in this meal giving us the benefits He won for us on the cross: forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Holy Communion is also a meal that expresses unity in faith and belief among those who partake in it. Because of this, and because those who eat and drink unworthily do so to their great harm, we ask those of you with us who are guests and visitors to this church to please speak to one of the pastors or elders before communing. Thank you and may God bless you in worship today!

The question this member had, as I understood it, was: What does it mean to eat and drink the Lord’s Supper unworthily? Who is really worthy? What makes us worthy or unworthy? This certainly deserves some clarification.

In order to clarify, I think it is best to jump right to the passage in the Bible from which our communion statement is drawn. Paul is chastising the Corinthian church for their communion practices which had gotten completely out of control. The Corinthians were getting drunk on the wine, and they were causing divisions among themselves, especially between the rich and the poor. Paul asks, “Shall I commend you for this? No, I shall not!” He then goes on to say this:

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

So there it is. Paul talks about receiving the Sacrament unworthily. But we are still left wondering what he means by “an unworthy manner.” What makes a communicant (one who receives the bread/body and wine/blood at the altar) worthy?

For the simplest answer, we can turn to Martin Luther’s Small Catechism when he asks “Who receives this sacrament worthily?” His answer:

Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.’

So faith in Jesus’ words is what makes a communicant worthy. Faith that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine, and faith that in this eating and drinking, the forgiveness of sins is given to you. So then, one who does not believe in Jesus’ words receives the Sacrament unworthily and to their harm. Why would it be to their harm? Because even if you don’t believe Jesus’ words, you still receive the Sacrament in its fullness. Jesus is present whether you believe it or not. The effectiveness of the Lord’s Supper does not depend on the faith of the individual. And so, the one who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment upon themselves. In the case of the Corinthian Church, in fact, Paul notes that God’s judgment was coming in the form of people getting sick and even dying! The Lord’s Supper is not something to be taken lightly.

So can a Christian commune unworthily? Yes, they can. Now, I do not say this to cast doubt over whether or not in the past you have communed unworthily. The requirement of faith does not exclude those with weak faith. We have all experienced moments of weak faith, and in fact, Jesus instituted the Sacrament for the very purpose of strengthening and increasing our faith. However, one outcome of faith, or a fruit of faith, is the willingness to “amend one’s sinful life.” Paul tells us to examine ourselves before receiving the Sacrament. Martin Luther provides a list of 20 questions for a Christian to ask him/herself before going up to communion. You can also find those questions in Luther’s Small Catechism. Since an outcome of faith is repentance, those who are unwilling to repent and turn away from a particular sin or sinful lifestyle should exclude themselves from the Lord’s Supper. If you do not repent, then there is no forgiveness for you. Let’s take what may seem to be an extreme example: you are cheating on your spouse. If you are unwilling to confess that sin and stop doing it, then you are unworthy to receive the Lord’s Supper. In the Lord’s Supper, the forgiveness of sins is given. But to an unrepentant sinner, forgiveness is to be withheld. So if an adulterer goes to the altar and receives the Sacrament, they would falsely assume that they have been forgiven. Rather, they have eaten and drunk judgment upon themselves and have become secure in their sin. Also, I should mention, that if a pastor knows of a member’s unrepentant lifestyle, then the pastor, as the shepherd of the sheep and steward of God’s sacraments, should speak individually with that person, sharing with them God’s Word. If they remain unrepentant, the pastor has the responsibility to withhold the Lord’s Supper from them. This is not mean or judgmental. This is done out of care and love for that person because the pastor does not want that person to receive the Sacrament unworthily and eat and drink judgment upon themselves.

O.K. I have spent a lot of time talking about individual worthiness to receive the Lord’s Supper. I hope that it makes sense and that I have not created doubt in your minds about your own worthiness. I hope that I have caused you to think more deeply about the significance of this wonderful event that takes place in our church on Sunday morning. The Lord’s Supper is a great blessing to a Christian as our Lord Jesus Christ comes into our very presence through these very humble means: bread and wine. The Lord’s Supper is for sinners who are sorry for their sins and desire the mercy and grace that God gives to us through Jesus. This meal is truly for you. Receive it gladly in the confidence that your sins are forgiven, and that you are promised a seat at the table of the Lord for the great feast that is yet to come!

I actually have more to say on this subject, but this post has gotten long. I have talked in this post about receiving the Lord’s Supper worthily as an individual. However, the Lord’s Supper is never done as an individual, as in “It’s just between me and God.” Rather, the Lord’s Supper is a communal meal. This is what Paul first letter to the Corinthians is all about: maintaining the unity in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, much of that unity is now broken, especially concerning the teaching of the Lord’s Supper. So in part two, I am going to talk about worthiness as it pertains to the whole body of Christ. I hope to have this up soon. Also, if you have any questions, please let me know. I really hope to be clear on this subject and do not want to cause you to have any doubts. Last word on individual worthiness. There are only two kinds of individual communicants: those who, through faith in these words, participate worthily to their great blessing and benefit, and those who, through lack of such faith, participate unworthily and to their judgment.