A Subtle Error Which Denies Our Lord's Words

I've heard something similar to these words come from the mouth of many self-identified Lutheran pastors.

"It's not that when I say the words of Jesus that it 'magically' then is the body and blood of Christ. It is when you receive the Bread and the Wine that he is truly present for you."

From what I've seen, this seems to be the understanding taught in the WELS churches. At one time, I discussed this with a pastor on the WELS Q&A site, and he deleted my post for my reference to "black robe Lutheranism." But anyways, back to the point...

Lutherans seem to be reluctant to say the "when and where" of the presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper, other than that old adage of Luther, "we receive it in the mouth." This fear of peering too much into the mystery is very understandable, considering the overly-speculative nature of the scholastic doctrine. Yet, although Luther's words here are a helpful confession, we should not understand this as some doctrinal lowest common denominator. Christ says through the tongue and vocal cords of the Pastor, "This is My Body," not, "This will be my body when you receive it." As Augustine said, "The Word comes to the element; and so there is a sacrament." Luther said he had never said anything better (of course, he says this concerning a few of his statements). So then it is when the Word of God comes to the element that the bread and wine become sacramentally united with the body and blood of Christ. This belief is evident in our traditional liturgical forms when we sing the "Agnus Dei" after the words of institution. The "Agnus Dei" is a hymn of Eucharistic adoration, which is why we never sing it before the words of institution/the consecration, or after the reception of the Lord's body and blood.

The Word of God, which is the chief thing in the sacrament of holy communion, declares the bread and wine is the body and blood of Christ. It's ontological and not "essential" or "substantial," y'all; It just is! Is cannot be a "will be" without resorting to some Aristotelian notion of "essence" or some other bit of "specious reasoning." When you hear the words: "This is my body" and "This is my blood," know that Christ does not lie. Adore him... no matter what the explanations attached to your little blue LCMS Small Catechism or the "progressive" liturgists tell you.

"If any one says that the flesh of our Lord as that of a man is inadorable, and is not to be worshiped as the flesh of the Lord and God, him the Holy Catholic Church anathematizes." -Cyril of Alexandria as quoted in the "Catalog of Testimonies"

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"Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, 'Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.'" -Numbers 11:4-6

This is from today's TLH lectionary reading. While meditating on this, a contemporary relevance occurred to me. So many "Christian" congregations treat the Lord's Supper with such disdain. It is as if they are crying, "Lord, when we were in bondage we had multimedia presentations, entertaining music, and such uplifting 'practical sermons', but instead of giving us all of these niceties you have left us this message of your cross, which is such a downer and this dreadful supper of mere bread and wine." So the word of salvation, the message of the cross of Jesus Christ, and our Lord's Supper, where he gives his church his true body and blood, is replaced by "contemporary praise medleys" and revivalist-styled altar calls. It seems that the church visible will forever have dissenters in its midst, a "stubborn and stiff-necked people" who reject the very means of grace which God has appointed for humanity's salvation, longing for the days when action-adventure movies, self-help messages, and "energetic" music satisfied their fleshly appetites.

And just to be fair, there are some of us on the other end of the spectrum who are entertained by incense, chant, beautiful vestments, and altar choreography. Whenever these things become more important than the message of the cross in Word and Sacrament, it is of no better a consequence.

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"...a congregation of soldiers in the mud or a rural congregation with a celebrant in coveralls celebrating Eucharist is ultimately more liturgical than Solemn Vespers beautifully sung in the most elegant gothic church with the finest vestments!" -Arthur Carl Piepkorn

The (Sometimes Hilarious) Love Between Lutherans and Their Hymnals

I've not been posting much lately since I'm now back in school, attempting to finish up a BA in Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, but this sturck me as hilarious. Who other than the Lutheran Church treats a change in hymnals like a funeral. I Present to you, directly from the LCMS Central Illinois District's Web Site:

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ORDER OF SERVICE FOR

THE DISPOSITION OF

LUTHERAN WORSHIP AND

THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL


Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Let us be grateful for the many years of service that these hymnals,
Lutheran Worship and The Lutheran Hymnal, have given us. These
hymnals were set apart and dedicated to the glory, honor, and worship
of God and for the ministry of God's Word and Sacrament, even
though they will no longer be used for this purpose.

P: Let us pray.
Lord God, we give thanks for revealing your presence in Word and Sacrament and for the blessings bestowed on your people through the use of these hymnals. As we resign these hymnals from their service, continue to bless us, that we may ever be conscious of your unchanging love, grow in faith and hope, and finally be united with Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

These hymnals are dear to our hearts and are cherished among us because they have been our guide in receiving God's gifts and directing our worship and praise toward the only true God in a most appropriate manner. We will certainly feel some loss with their departure from our sanctuary.

However, we can be comforted that God will use our new hymnals, which include much guidance from these hymnals, for the proclamation of his Word and the administration of his holy sacraments.

So that we may be comforted, Let us hear the Word of the Lord:

David said in Psalm 96 (1, 2, 4, 6-9 (ESV))
"Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to
the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. ...For
great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all
gods. ...Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are
in his sanctuary. ...Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory
due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship
the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!"

Jesus said in Matthew 18 (20 (ESV))
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

And in Matthew 28 (19, 20 (ESV))
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am
with you always, to the end of the age.”

P: Let us go forth in peace in the name of the Lord.
C: Amen

Order of Service for the Disposition of Lutheran Book of Worship
by Rev. Michael Poynter

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I love the, "So that we may be comforted, Let us hear the Word of the Lord" part. I can just imagine the sobbing of a particular congregation member in my parish in Birmingham, who also would never let go of his trusty KJV bible.

"If it ain't TLH, it ain't hymnal."

Against a Merely Spiritual Understanding of Christ's Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar

"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." -John 20:27-29 KJV

It seems strange to me that Thomas expresses his faith in Christ's divinity at this moment. No, he doesn't make the acclamation, "My Lord and My God" at the transfiguration nor at our savior's baptism where the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove and the Father's voice is heard. He doesn't make this exclamation after a blinding vision of Christ such as Saint Paul's or when he saw him ascend to the right hand of the Father.

"Doubting" Thomas returns to faith when he touches Christ's flesh.

Not enough can be said about this, but let us remember that this same flesh and blood which Thomas touches we are given, take, and receive in the Lord's Supper. Christ does not say, "This is my spirit." He does not say to us, "Now go up to heaven through faith so that you may imagine my body." He says,

THIS IS MY BODY... THIS IS MY BLOOD... Take eat... Drink ye all of it...

When we hold Christ's body in our hand, or it lays on our tongue, when our teeth press upon it, and when we drink of his blood we too with Thomas may declare, "My Lord and my God." In doing this we are those blessed who have faith without seeing, but let us not fall into the error of ascribing something we cannot see to the merely "spiritual" sphere.

"There exists both a bond of love and an attraction of love between God and us. It is true that God is the Self-sufficient and Self-blessed, needing none other for His happiness and perfection; but it is His love which so draws Him down to us, that He inclines towards us, and imparts Himself to us. He whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, has chosen us for the habitation in which His love is to dwell. And in proportion as we departed from Him by sin, did His grace follow and draw near to us, till it sunk into our very flesh and blood." -Christoph Luthardt's Apologetic Lectures on the Saving Truths of Christianity, page 25

It is through our faith in God's humanity that we are saved. Nothing is more divine in Christ than his flesh and blood. He has not redeemed us by the sacrifice of his spirit, or at least this is not the focal point of God's revelation of our redemption. By the stripes on his flesh we are healed. By the shedding of his blood we are saved. By the eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood we have life within us, yet these words are Spirit and Truth and not of the flesh. Christ Jesus was not of the flesh, yet he has became flesh for us.

"But how are we to conceive of the reality of the God-man? And shall we ever attain the power of forming a conception thereof? It is a necessity to faith to strive after knowledge; but let us not forget that it is not our knowledge which believes, but our faith which knows. Who has ever really known God ? Would we wait to believe in Him until we comprehend Him ? Are we not, without this, directly conscious of His existence ? Our convictions do not arise solely from the reasonings of our minds; and this is the case here also. No one has ever fully understood the nature of God; no one has ever fully known the nature of man. What then ? If, when we think of God and man, much as we may reflect, there still remain enigmas, shall we be surprised if, when we think of the God-man, all enigmas are not solved ? He would not be as He is, the most wondrous phenomenon on earth, if there were nothing mysterious to us in Him." -Luthardt

Let us not be shy with our speech to others regarding his true body and blood in the Holy Supper. We should proclaim this boldly and without hesitation or ambiguity. Christ himself did not shrink from this proclamation, but let us remember that even when these things were spoken by the incarnate word himself, "many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."

Standing in the Baptismal Font

"Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." -Romans 6:3-8

"Thus it appears what a great, excellent thing Baptism is, which delivers us from the jaws of the devil and makes us God's own, suppresses and takes away sin, and then daily strengthens the new man; and is and remains ever efficacious until we pass from this estate of misery to eternal glory.

For this reason let every one esteem his Baptism as a daily dress in which he is to walk constantly, that he may ever be found in the faith and its fruits" -Large Catechism

"...we do not forget that justifying faith is not the matter of a single moment, but the substance of our whole lives. Such faith is not some act of our commitment to God that is particularly perceived and experienced in some isolated moments of our life. Rather, it is the constant though always clouded reliance on the Gospel's promise of grace. Repentance also, according to the Gospel, is not just a single act but goes on our whole life long. So also our Baptism is not an isolated act, but something that goes on in all our life. Being a Christian does not just mean that we were once baptized but that we live in the strength of our Baptism and again and again return to it" (Herman Sasse's We Confess: The Sacraments, pp. 45-46).

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand" -1 Corinthians 15:1 KJV (emphasis mine)

How is it that we return to our Baptism? In what place do we find such consolation and assurance that we still stand in our baptism and in the true faith?

In this regard, is anything more precious than that God has given to ordinary sinful men the ability to forgive sins in his name and stead? Confession and absolution is truly a return to our Baptism. If we believe with sincerity that when our Pastor says "I forgive you of all your sins" that it is not his words which are pronounced but the very words of God then we know what it is to return to our baptism.

Now, this is not the only place we experience this. What about those times when your perception tells you that you are alone, and it feels like the guilt of your sin is eating you alive? Your wounds stink and the smell of them is nauseous to you. You think to yourself, "Who would want to come near me?" Remember him who did not shrink from the leper but healed him. You are not alone. He is always with you.

Look to the cross. Meditate on our Lord Jesus Christ and his passion. Say...

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner."

Then remember those words which most of us were taught to memorize as children,

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

Jesus Christ has given himself for you. The Lamb of God was not sent into the world for your condemnation but because he has literally loved you to death. He alone has paid the cost of your salvation. You must know that you are poor and have nothing of worth to offer before an infinitely righteous God, but remember this: to be a beggar at the foot of the Cross is better than to be adorned with fine linen and to be lavished with an abundance of earthly gifts.

You have been baptized into his death; therefore hope in his resurrection, but until then take up your cross and follow him.

Scripture Reading and excerpts from the Book of Concord, Quenstedt's The Church, and Loehe's Aphorisms on the offices of the New Testament

All emphasis mine:

"Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you." -1 Timothy 4:14 NIV

"But if ordination be understood as applying to the ministry of the Word, we are not unwilling to call ordination a sacrament. For the ministry of the Word has God's command and glorious promises, Rom. 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Likewise, Is. 55:11: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. 12] If ordination be understood in this way, neither will we refuse to call the imposition of hands a sacrament. For the Church has the command to appoint ministers, which should be most pleasing to us, because we know that God approves this ministry, and is present in the ministry [that God will preach and work through men and those who have been chosen by men]." -Defense of The Augsburg Confession

"This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question." -Acts 15:2

"...there is in the New Testament only one office for the governance and feeding of the congregation, the presbyterate" -Loehe

"The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain." -Titus 1:5-7 (New International Version)

"If this passage does not prove the matter [That there is but one office for the governance and feeding of the congregation], then I don't know what in all the world will..." -Loehe. Aphorisms.., page 45, Repristination Press"

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up..." -Ephesians 4:11-12

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." -2 Corinthians 5:20

"The ministerial cause that God uses in gathering and preserving the church are the ministers of the word" -Quenstedt's _The Church_ "Thesis XV" page 11 Repistination Press

"Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.'" -Mark 16:14-16

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" -Mathew 28:16-20

"The efficiant principle cause of the synthetic church is the Holy Trinity..." -Quenstedt Thesis XIII

"The definition of the synthetic church is this: The synthetic church is the mixed assembly of people called and gathered, by the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments..." -Quenstedt's The Church Thesis XXI (Emphasis mine)

"That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ's sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake." -Augsburg Confession

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" -Romans 10:14

"Everywhere in the New Testament we see that the holy office begets the congregations, never that the office is simply a transferal of congregational rights and authority where the congregation gives the office. The office stands in the midst of the congregations as a fruitful tree that contains its own seed." -Loehe page 55

The Body and Blood of Christ as protection against the evil one

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." [John 6:54 NIV]

"Christ says, 'My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him.' Concerning the truth of His Flesh and Blood there is no room for doubt, for now by the Lord's own declaration and by our faith it is true Flesh and true Blood. And as we are receiving these, we are made to be in Christ, and Christ in us." [St. Eligius. "Homily 8 on the Lord's Supper." 7th Century]

"As one points at the bread, it is entirely correct to say, 'this is Christ's Body!' and whoever sees this bread sees Christ's body. John has said the same thing, as we heard, that he saw the Holy Spirit when he saw the dove. So we also rightly say, 'Whoever attacks this bread attacks Christ's body, and whoever eats this bread eats Christ's body, and whoever presses this bread with his teeth or tongue presses the body of Christ with his teeth or tongue. And yet, it remains true in every respect that no one sees, grasps, eats, or crushes Christ's body like other, visible flesh is seen and crushed. For what we do to the bread is correctly and properly attributed to the body of Christ because of their sacramental union." [Luther. "The Lord's Supper." 1528]

"Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.'" [John 6:53 NIV]

"And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." [Luke 22:19-20]

"Those whom we urge and encourage to fight, let us not leave them unarmed, but arm them with the protection of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Eucharist is meant to be a guard for those who receive it. If we want to make them safe against the enemy, let us arm them with the fullness of the Lord." [St. Cyprian. "Epistle 54 to Cornelius." 3rd Century]

How is the Lord's supper a guard and protection for the Christian against the evil one? It's simple; so simple that modern man with all of his complexities and empirical and rational "wisdom" cannot fathom it. It is simply Christ. There is no protection from the enemy outside of Jesus Christ and the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper is that very Christ. The Word become flesh has revealed to us that he has not only condescended to our mortal nature for our salvation, but now he shows us that he has gone further. He has hidden his great glory in plain bread and wine except to those who have faith. The eyes of faith see his body and blood in the supper. The eyes of faith also know that his body and blood are not separated from his divinity. To partake of his body and blood is to feed on Jesus Christ wholly. We know that he is one Christ and is not divisible because God is one and he is God; therefore, what better protection do we have than his Holy Supper? Whenever we are attacked by doubt and Satan's accusations, when the serpent tells us that God does not love us and has not forgiven us because our sins are just beyond his grace and loving-kindness, faith in the Lord's Supper shuts him up. We say, "That is a lie Satan because he gave me his Body to eat which was broken for me, and he gave me his blood to drink which was shed for the remission of my sins. One crumb of the bread of heaven and one drop of his precious blood leaves me forgiven and you utterly defeated. Go away in the name of Jesus!"

A prayer to be said in remembrance of your last reception of Holy Communion (partly taken from St. Basil's post-communion prayers):

O you who willingly give your flesh to me as food and your blood as drink, You who are a Fire, consuming the unworthy, Do not consume me, O my Creator; But rather pass through all my body parts, Into all my joints, my veins, my heart. Burn the thorns of all my transgressions, Cleanse my soul, and sanctify my thoughts. Make firm my knees and my bones; Enlighten my faith, Establish me wholly in Godly fear; Shelter me always, and guard and keep me from every soul-destroying action and word. Chasten me, purify me, and control me; Adorn me and teach me by your Holy Spirit. Make me a Tabernacle of this same Spirit only, And not the dwelling-place of sin, that from me, your habitation, through the entrance of your Holy Communion, Every evil action and every evil thought may flee as from fire. For you alone, Good Lord, are the justification and sanctification of our souls and bodies. Lord Jesus Christ, God and Master, we the whole body of your Church give thanksgiving and glorify your name forever and ever. Amen