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Lord's Supper 3 God has placed great benefits in the Lord's Supper and He wants us to received these gifts. We are ready to come, and we are welcome at our Lord's Table when we believe His words "given and shed for you." Yet many stay away from the Supper. This should not be. Luther in his day tried to deal with this same problem. Under the papacy, Christians were compelled to come. Luther lamented that now that people were free from human regulations and no longer compelled to come they were staying away. It is certainly Jesus intention that we go to the Lord's Supper frequently. He said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." No Christian would pray only once a year or hear God's word only once a year. We remember God's mercy frequently by reading His word, hearing it preached and praying. In the same way we should come to the Lord's Supper frequently. When Jesus established the Lord's Supper, He did it while celebrating the Passover. He was giving to His followers a new celebration. The old celebration was once a year on a particular day set by God. But the new celebration was not bound to a particular day, but was instead to be done "as often as you drink it." Certainly we should not force Christians to come to the Lord's Table. God always wants us to act willingly. Yet our freedom in the Gospel should not lead us to presume upon God's grace. He has chosen to give us the grace we need in a particular way, namely, through the word and the sacraments. If we stay away from these tools God has chosen to use, then our faith is in danger. The devil, the world and our flesh are formidable enemies. We should not think that we will survive their attacks if we cut ourselves off from the tools that God uses to strengthen His people. Sometimes people do not come to the Lord's Supper because they do not feel that they need it. Luther has this to say to them: "To those of you whose state of mind is such that you do not feel your need, I can give no better counsel than to tell you to pinch yourselves and see if you still are flesh and blood. If you find that you are, then for your own good, turn to St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (5:19, 20) and hear of what sort are the fruits of the flesh&ldots;. So, if you cannot feel your need, at least believe the Scripture. Scripture will not lie to you. It knows you better than you do yourself. Yes, Saint Paul also concludes in Romans 7:18: 'I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is in my flesh.' If Saint Paul can say that about his flesh, let us not make ourselves out to be any better or holier than he. But the fact that we do not feel our sinfulness shows that our condition is much worse than his." When we do see our need, then we should go to the Supper joyfully and receive the great treasure given there. Yet sometimes Christians are afraid to come because they feel unworthy. Luther responds, "No one will ever reach a level where he no longer has the many common defects in his blood and flesh. People who are troubled about this should learn that the highest wisdom is the realization that this sacrament does not depend on our worthiness&ldots;. He who really wants grace and consolation should push himself into going and should let no one make him shy away. What he should say is, 'I would really like to be worthy, but I come not on the basis of any worthiness in me but on account of Your Word, because You commanded it, and, no matter what the state of my worthiness, I want to be a follower of Yours.' This is a difficult thing to say and do, for there is always this obstacle and hindrance, that we focus more on our own selves than on the words from the lips of Christ." |
