The Idolatry of the Lord’s Supper

A Message from Pastor Hale

The Lord’s Supper – Christ’s holy body and blood – is good. That is a great understatement – it is holy and divine. But if some is good – or great – is more better? The push for every week Communion seems to be in the air in Lutheran circles. While good in itself, we must not think any practice will make one a better Christian, let alone be a guarantee of salvation or orthodox doctrine. But who could argue with more of the body and blood of Christ? Not the what, but the why – is the matter of concern.

First, it must be established that other churches have communion frequently and are not orthodox. If the frequency of Communion is all that matters, then the Roman church is a very good church. But they teach that the Supper is a representation of the sacrifice of Christ. It is not just a gift, but a sacrifice to God. That turns the Gospel of the Supper into Law. In a way, their frequency is dictated by their theology, since they don’t teach the full freedom of the Gospel. More sacrifices are needed in their view. In other words, Communion, for them, is a “have to,” not a “want to.” That is backwards and not Lutheran.

The Law emphasis is easy to fall into. For all the many reasons for every week Communion, there is no “should,” without demanding what God did not. Christ left it a free gift, without a specific prescription for how often we should take it: “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:25). It is easy to make rules and coerce to the altar, but it is another matter entirely to cause people to gladly desire the forgiveness it offers. That is done not by talking about frequency, but about what it is and gives. This requires preaching the Gospel – the real work of pastors – not scheduling.

It is always good and godly to desire Communion, but we do not lack Christ if we are not consuming Christ at the present moment. It is not like filling up a gas tank with fuel. Grace is not a finite substance, as Rome teaches, but the favor of God. Christ is wholly present for us in faith which trusts in the Word. Baptism is not incomplete without the Supper (as the Eastern Orthodox show by communing infants). Children who have not been taught and cannot confess the doctrine of their church’s confession of God’s Word are not missing out. If they desire the Supper – good. But we do not have to eat every time we are hungry. The promises of the Word sustain faith, not our doing of church rituals.

If you cannot Commune, be content with the Word and the promise of unlimited forgiveness in Jesus you do possess. After all, there is no Communion without Christ’s Word, which always gives rise to and demands faith. Forgiveness is never piecemeal. There is not a different type of forgiveness in the Supper, though it comes in a unique way. There is one Gospel and one Christ, so to believe is to have all of Him and His righteousness. There is no extra boost of holiness in Communion – the holy meal is also a Word of promise – instituted by our Lord.

There are some who act like a service without Communion is not a real service, as if it were less divine. But Christ is fully present where two or three are gathered in His name. Communion is not a sudden magic appearing act for Jesus – so that He leaves us destitute without the Supper. He gives Himself, body and blood, in Communion, but He has not confined Himself to bread and wine. We dare not be Roman and pit Communion against His sacrificial death, putting them on the same level. Communion is good, but if all you trust in is your consuming Jesus’ body and blood – you are damned. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). That does not mean Communion is less than divine, or somehow optional for the church – but the act of Communing alone cannot save you from your sins. It is never to be apart from faith and the Word which preaches Christ’s death for sinners. The Supper is an external act, commanded by Christ (“do this”), but it is also a Gospel promise offering forgiveness, to be received in faith.

While Communion gives Christ’s most precious body and blood – it is not necessarily for the recipient’s blessing. It is not a cure-all for lousy preaching and poor doctrine: “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (1 Cor. 11:29-30). It should only be given to those who can discern the body and are aware of their need for the forgiveness it offers. It is also a public, communal act – not a private one. To have the Supper together with other sinners is also to show unity in Christ and His teaching. The biblical practice of closed Communion shows that the Supper is not generically good – what is holy is not always beneficial for sinners. “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).

We must ever emphasize that our act of Communing is not identical to being clothed with Christ’s righteousness and being declared holy before God – just as touching Christ’s flesh on earth did not grant life and healing to all: “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well,” Jesus said to the woman with the issue of blood who touched Him in faith. A run-away dog can easily lap up wine and eat a wafer—that does not make a dog a great Christian.

We can wax eloquently about the holiness of the Supper and its great gifts, but without faith created by the Word, our act of communing can be idolatry – most literally. We can think we are justified by the bare act, thinking Christ will be satisfied with my sin if I just eat a small wafer and chug a bit of mediocre wine. This is an unworthy reception – and not all eating and drinking, the outward act – is to one’s benefit. A sinner might think it is a small trade to eat and drink once a week to buy off God’s justice – but this is idolatry, no matter how often one does it.

The Supper, for all its divine significance and blessings, is not a substitute for the applied Gospel – and for the entire Christ who fills all things. It may even be shocking to find out that all the Old Testament saints were saved without even communing one time. The Supper does not replace faith or make righteousness less necessary. This is why traditionally Lutherans did not get all emotional and preachy about the frequency of the Supper – and had no emergency (or virtual) Communion. Our external reception of it does not determine our righteousness before God – it matters more what we teach and believe about the Supper – and the Christ who offers His body and blood in it. Our physical reception of it is the least important aspect. “These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament.” The words are to be proclaimed and preserved by preaching and teaching – not eating.

The gift is not just Christ – it is also His forgiveness for us in the Word, without which no one can be holy to God and know Him. “Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: ‘forgiveness of sins’.” He seals the promise of full forgiveness with the same body and blood offered unto death for your sins. That faith is counted as righteousness. But doing is not believing. The Supper is not just a ritual man does, it is a divine promise for faith. Doing the act, by itself, will not automatically create faith, but faith certainly desires to do the act – but it cannot always be done.

We must not abandon our families and vocations to commune 24/7 – thinking that is the essence of Christianity. Yet this meal must be taught to be done and received the right way, according to Christ’s own will, since it is His Supper. Christianity, after all, is not an intellectual philosophy. Our enfleshed Lord instituted a real action – for us to eat and drink in faith. 

The Apology to the Augsburg Confession speaks in the German version of the Roman mass as “Baal Gottesdienst” or “Baal Worship” (XXIV, 98). But Rome had (and still does) Christ’s true body and blood on the altar – even every week! Having the consecrated elements and even consuming buckets of them does not make one holy, by itself. This was the very Roman teaching that was condemned by the first Lutherans: simply doing the act was said to be enough – it didn’t matter in Roman teaching if one believed, repented, or knew what they were receiving from the living Christ in the Supper. True worship the Father desires is not only external, though it will entail doing things. It is ever worship in the Spirit and truth of God. “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:23-24).

Today, we must again preach against robotically doing the bare act of Communion without being repentant or believing what the Words of Christ say and deliver: the forgiveness of our sins. Truth be told, we have too many pastors “teaching” the frequency of Communion, but not the doctrine, right reception, public fellowship implications, and the true spiritual blessings of the Supper. Scripture does not command just the act, but the whole will of Christ who comes to forgive sinners in this meal. To preach Christ is to preach the Supper, since He Himself is in it for sinners! Only the pure Gospel can preserve the gift of Communion. The act alone cannot, and repeating it more frequently, cannot sustain and uplift the promise it truly offers. Words do it – not actions. Idolatry is always about our works – not obeying and believing God’s Word.

My flippant retort to every week Communion is why stop there? Isn’t every day Communion better than every week? Surely if I take it every hour or half-hour, my holiness will increase? No, more is not always better, if we are talking about our actions. Every instance of the Supper gives full forgiveness for every sin. There is no expiration date on this forgiveness. It is not only for past sins. The Word is eternal and lives beyond the human act of consuming the elements. And faith by the Word which grants the Spirit to us is not a human act – like going to an altar to eat and drink. Sure, we should desire to commune frequently, if we believe we are sinners and know what the Supper offers. But we dare not put the act of receiving the Supper in the place of faith in the risen Christ, lest we find a Baal idol in what we exclaim should happen more often. 

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Published: 09 December 2020 09 December 2020

Last Updated: 09 December 2020 09 December 2020

Failure to Cope with Mortality: "Bringing kids and teachers back to school is murder"

A Message from Pastor Hale

Reactions like these from pagans (an actual statement by a concerned citizen concerning OPS), by those unmoored from divine morality and guilt, made frantic by pandemics, are unthinking and rash. But they are religious. Whether it be masks, singing in church, or having in-person school – murder is the charge of guilt leveled by some of those opposing these activities. But guilt is a religious term. Christians define it by the Bible, not emotion and wild speculation.

The spread of disease is unavoidable for the living. The only way to not be a potential “murderer” by spreading the virus is to not be alive. We are simply the hosts for undesirable germs and viruses. This is not self-chosen and willing, except indirectly by being sinners. When Adam fell, we all fell. This curse still haunts us: “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17) But the divine curse of human mortality is precisely the issue that is not being addressed – making death completely another person’s fault – instead of owning up to the personal guilt before God which makes death a just sentence of condemnation. 

Guilt is accountable to God, as David says: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment” (Ps. 51:4) The author of justice is the One to whom guilt is owed. Feelings of guilt are not god, nor always correct. We are good at judging others in obvious ways, but fail to condemn ourselves for our in-born rebellion against God’s holiness.

Am I guilty for passing on my hereditary diseases, weaknesses, and imperfect eyesight to my children? Perhaps medically and genetically, but not before God. But my sin I have and will commit from my evil heart I must actively repent of. Participating indirectly in the wages of death and the sinful conditions common to sinners is not the real problem. Every child born must die – if Christ continues to allow this blind world to continue for long enough. We all share in death – death is not avoidable, the modern unbeliever must be reminded. But without a doctrine of original sin, only other people are left to blame, since we cannot try and execute a virus in the public square.

Death is everywhere and it comes in all sorts of forms and means, not just by contagious disease. But the root of all mortality is sin. Death as divine punishment is unavoidable. The only way not to be subject to it is to cease living. But Christians learn to embrace dying to sin, by being joined to Christ who died for our sins: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Rom. 6:3). Christians see death as a door to paradise, because its sting has been removed – the guilt of sin. Our lives are not about avoiding death, but dying the right kind of death – one that is God-pleasing and acceptable in Christ.

Jesus was the guilt offering made for the world – the perfect sacrifice for our guilt. He satisfied not human justice, but divine justice. Whoever turns from his sin is forgiven by the power of Christ’s name. This is a better victory than a completely effective coronavirus vaccine. It defeats all death and removes the eternal torments we deserve, not just the possibility of death from communicable infection.

While a cold can turn into pneumonia, and sadly, will eventually lead someone weak to die, that does not make a little child picking it up at a school playground and giving it to a doting grandfather eligible for death row. Earthly justice must be based on controllable actions – not uncontrollable infections – but alas, people helpless in this pandemic cannot punish a virus, so those at its mercy are being attacked.

But mortality – the fact that we do not deserve to and cannot live on earth very long – and have no say in the matter – is not being addressed. God breathed into us the breath of life, but now our sin has made death a certain punishment, since we are separated from God and His holiness: “Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” (Ps 39:5).

The world wants to get rid of judging tangible actions, real motives, and willful intentions, conflating the potential result with every action that does not possibly prevent the transmission of a virus. This is not just illogical, it is a bad theology of guilt – a false justice. But closing down schools or wearing non-medical masks is not guaranteed to stop an invisible virus, nor will it – or anything you attempt – stop death from knocking on your door. Neither will blame stop you from sin’s death sentence.

Today, it is as if every single person actually engineered the virus in his basement, and is purposely spreading it. To equate not wearing a mask, or wanting to be around people, with intentional murder is not just sloppy logic, it is an attack on Christian virtue. It causes people to live in fear, motivating them not to love their neighbor. And love is not simply inaction or avoidance.

Only a dead person, safely tucked in a grave, can be truly loving in this pandemic, it seems. Our God defines love as interacting with others, even when our lives are put in mortal danger: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13). Our holy Lord Jesus took on our divine curse, the possibility of disease, our just judgment, and our mortality – in order to die for us. He did not separate Himself from sinners facing eternal death. He came to give life by joining us in the flesh of man and now shows us divine love in taking away the fear of death, which we are privileged to show forth in good works to those around us. Do not apologize for this privilege, but use it for others!

Interacting with others to help them in a Christian way is not murder, even if death is the tragic result. God judges the heart, but we cannot. Death is always the result of sinners breathing in this world. We want to blame someone, but not ourselves. We want to control and guilt others, but go easy on ourselves. Only when sin is personal and deadly, does Christ the Lord over death and sin offer full release.

Human guilt is easy to throw on others. Yes, we are murderers, but not for failing to social distance, or going to church to hear of Christ’s victory for us over death. In our hearts and minds we fail to honor God’s justice and law. We think in human terms, thinking we deserve to live and prosper, but we do not as sinners. Only the Gospel of Christ can give confidence in the face of impending mortality: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Heb. 2:13-14). Jesus, the righteous Son, faced death for us, so we can face it without fear. Our hope does not stop at viruses or the possibility of death. We die to sin, in order to live in righteousness with Christ – to be resurrected to glory in this very body of death.

Only free from guilt and the slavery of death can we live in this world as Christians, putting others before ourselves and mortal fears. Do not live in the blame-game mentality of the world. We have Jesus’ death in us, the solution to the problems that actually cause all death. The resurrection is our hope, not avoiding possible dangerous interactions. Christians have conquered death by faith in Christ. They need not live in fear, casting guilt like a net around everyone they see. We have true life, enough to share with the dying and hopeless.

Mask guilt, white guilt, wealth guilt, and every man-made idea of guilt, are all too shallow and limiting. Real guilt before God must be hammered home to damn us fully, so it can be removed by the forgiving Word of Christ. Hatred is murder. Looking down on any neighbor, and blaming him for your sin and mortality, is murder before God. And we answer to Him alone. He alone can forgive, and He does. Christ did not social distance Himself from us and our death. Amen. --ed

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Published: 09 December 2020 09 December 2020

Last Updated: 09 December 2020 09 December 2020

Thanks for God’s Work through the Saints of Zion

A Message from Pastor Hale

We have every reason to be thankful that the Lord has preserved us, so far, in body, but also in unity. This pandemic has been a trying time of heightened emotions and stress. The world has fought over small things and made mountains out of molehills – dividing and fighting over the silliest of items. The world has seemingly forgotten how to act civil to one another. But that has not been the case at Zion.

This steadfastness is a statement to the character of Zion. Even when not all came to services, you supported Zion by honoring the Word in your heart, by your faithfulness and charity, and your generosity in giving to support the proclamation of the Gospel here. That speaks well of what Zion stands for – this pandemic did not rattle you. Zion, the people, have been tested, and also approved during this great test of suffering.

We are also thankful for the ability to hold public worship of the true God. It is not something to take for granted we have learned, hopefully, anew. While we do not minimize the health risks in this cursed world, Christ’s victory over death does not leave us quaking in fear.

We do not know if there will ever be a “normal” as we once took for granted. So, we cannot relax and pretend Satan will not try to divide us and cause us to bicker over non-essential things. But we have adjusted the best we can to difficult circumstances. We trust Christ to sustain us no matter what happens. Thanks be to God for what we have endured.

Church, the Word itself, is important. It prepares us for all trials – even death. We have the call to give out eternal life – and that is the real antidote to fear, anxiety, guilt, and division. Zion was prepared by the Word of God – and has stepped up in a big way. It has been a real encouragement to hear and observe how the Word has preserved your hearts and sustained your hope during this trying time. It has revealed what is truly the one thing needful. And, above all, we give thanks that we were able to work together, not dividing over external things, for the sake of Christ. The Word of God is to continue to be our focus, since it alone keeps us together in Christ, united in our heavenly goal.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Hale

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