I was twelve years old the first time I
received the Lord’s Supper. We lined up
at the altar railing and waited for Pastor to welcome us, his hands spread and
head slightly bowed. We knelt as an
assistant (it was often the principal of our Lutheran day school) walked down
the line placing the wafer on our tongues – no hands held out to receive the Host
from his hands. An elder brought the
individual cups, and Pastor came last with the chalice and the words, “Take and
drink the blood of Christ, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” I distinctly remember the warm sensation of
the wine going down my throat and into my stomach.
The Lord’s Supper is a great gift which
God has given us by which he delivers Jesus’ body and blood into our mouths in
with and under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins. It is a new covenant with God, one where our
sins are atoned for by Jesus, and not be the sacrifice of an animal. It is a covenant in which we live by grace.
This gift is a great treasure, and
should be treated as such. Since the Reformation
many sincere and well-meaning Christians – pastors and laity – have argued that
this sacred act is merely a symbol by which we remember Jesus, perhaps even that
He died and rose for us. “It is
impossible for the finite bread and wine to contain the infinite body and blood
of Christ,” they reason, “therefore there is no real presence of Jesus here.” Yet even reason, when properly humbled, must
bow to the clear Word of God: “This is
my body.” “This is my blood.”
It is good and proper to think, wonder,
and seek to understand God’s mysteries.
God has blessed with our reason and senses so we may understand His Word
and what He teaches us. But, in our sin,
our reason and senses are limited, and there are mysteries that they cannot
crack. It is here, where God’s promises
and our understanding collide that we bow our heads and confess, “I don’t
understand!” God’s answer to our
complaint is this, “That’s okay. Take
and eat. Take and drink. I feed you with My salvation,” and faith
receives His gift.
Father, help me learn to trust Your Word and
promises, and submit my reason to You, not as a cloak for ignorance or my own preconceived
notions, but as one who simply receives the mysteries of Your salvation through
faith in Jesus. Amen.
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