Whenever someone is baptized, we gather in community (or at least a subset of our local community and the universal Church) to remember. We recall promises our Triune God makes to each of us every day, not only to the newly baptized, and we give thanks for the spiritual gifts we are all given for free. During the ritual, we proclaim a list of sorts for all to hear enumerating when God has used ordinary people and ordinary things like water to do miracles.
As ordinary people baptized and set free, we are then sent out in hope – an expectant, miraculous, mysterious body connected through the Holy Spirit – to separate places and spaces where God needs us to be. Wherever this road takes us, alone or with others, we are invited to reflect God’s light in what can prove a dark land. We find ourselves on a sacred journey, not necessarily and easy one.
Under persecution like the early Church or during times of pandemic, famine, economic crisis, or war as with any of the saints before us, our loving God remains the same, and we remain God’s beloved. As uncertain or hard as it might be to answer God’s call today, it is our time and place to be and remember that we are the Church. No one and nothing can ultimately stand against us with God on our side.
Much as God swore to Joshua after the death of Moses, God speaks to us. “I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous…” (Joshua 1). It is our time to remember and trust. It is we who are now asked to help lead others to hope and light in the Lord. With God’s boundless love and help, we can give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) in both word and deed. And what if we struggle to see the light ourselves? Jesus promises to somehow come to us. With all the Church throughout time, we can watch and wait, for deliverance – our joy is at hand and will be made complete. I know that such trust can be hard, but trust is the start of any thanksgiving journey.
This week, I challenge all of us to remember who God is. Scripture proclaims God is only love and that God loves and delights in us. We are never defined by our circumstances or our failures. We are defined by God who spoke us into being and calls us to this time and place. All is well with us. As hard or lonely or unusual as this year’s Thanksgiving holiday might prove, we remain God’s people. We can choose to give thanks. Wherever we are, however we find ourselves, God will never cast us aside. Indeed, Jesus and the Spirit have reached out to us to gather us in and lead us home. In that alone, we can begin to discover joy and peace.
Originally published in The Hub, a weekly email of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this article are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.
For those that might still be wondering what all the recent Facebook hubbub about Parler is about, here’s a pretty reasonable article. I’ve seen plenty of old friends announcing their migration to this newer social media platform. As for me? I don’t often use Facebook for political stuff. I prefer to talk in person about weighty issues. On Twitter, I share more news articles but from multiple sources and usually little or no commentary.
I know there’s a lot of junk on these sites. (To be honest, let’s admit it’s from both the left and right.) I recognize attempts at curtailing bad or untrue comments by the social media powers that be has been sloppy at best and often seemingly lopsided. And yes, these platforms seek to manipulate us and limit competition. So, I try to ignore the junk and educate myself from multiple news sources with varied perspectives off of Facebook. I actually talk to live people which includes a lot of listening.
If on social media, I much prefer looking at funny memes, or pictures from my friends garden in Africa, seeing a morning walk of a congregant, and sharing joyful events like births or even sad or troubling events like surgeries or deaths. These can help us feel connected and cared for. Heck, I even enjoy my friend’s post who shares his photos of small, rural post offices. Simple joys can matter. Through social media, I’ve found weightier things such as positive resources for prayer and meditation and even some resources to consider future travel when the pandemic ends (or at least dream about it).
That’s the better side of social media, and to make that my focus helps improve my attitude for the day as well as shape what I say or post. I don’t need to personalize or catastrophize everything. I can choose to be happy. I can try to be patient, kind and understanding. I don’t have to be compelled to comment on everything. Those are powers we all have with some intentionality and God’s help.
And in reality, I doubt Facebook will last forever. Younger folks have already tended to move on. It will likely go the way of Six Degrees or MySpace unless it changes drastically. Whatever the platform we choose, I’ve seen too many relationships broken needlessly, and I don’t need that in my life. The world can be hard enough on its own. We don’t have to let that happen or play along with those less healthy than we might be. At the same time, that doesn’t mean we should cut off from everyone who thinks different than us.
Instead, we can turn the other cheek and scroll or click away without total cut-off, or cancelling, or condemning anyone to the fires of hell. We are free not to feel obliged to answer in haste or perhaps at all. We can wish others well even as we disagree or are offended, pray for them, and perhaps model a better way forward if we are right. If we discover we are wrong, we might learn something from them as well.
As I’ve said elsewhere, a new “thing” will certainly come along, but I’m just not sure I need another or new social media platform of any type in my life right now. In fact, I’ve been using social media less. That’s certainly helped make this election cycle and my life better. There’s plenty of research indicating that too much social media has led to social isolation, depression and other concerns.
Paul wrote (Phil. 4:8): “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” If that doesn’t sound like our Facebook or other social media feeds, maybe it’s we who are doing it wrong and not just the platform. Changes can be made for good based on our desires, resilience and love for others. For all those migrating, or staying, or totally turning things off, go with God wherever you digitally find yourself. You can always contact me in the real world to share your news. I’d be happy to hear it.
Photo by Valiphotos on Pixaby. Used by Permission.
With the excitement of our seven CLC youth confirmed on Reformation Sunday and our return to worship in the sanctuary on All Saints Day, we have many reasons to thank and honor God. But, as Martin Luther reminds us, works cannot on their own do this – “only faith of the heart can.”
As the year gets darker around us, let us look to the light which is Christ and welcome him by the warm hearth of our heart with joy. How? Perhaps we can better cooperate with the grace reaching out to us. Take some time to meditate on the scripture of the day. Participate in book studies and group discussions about faith. Integrate a discipline of prayer into your daily life. Seek to learn more about Jesus, not just as an historical oddity or mythic figure, but as he is. All that he has done, he has done in love for you.
If we don’t know the one who loves us, how can we welcome him well? How can we be sure that we aren’t worshipping an image of Jesus (one of our own making) rather than the resurrected Son of the Living God? Jesus wants to be known in our lives in an intimate way. He wants to reveal himself as much as he did for the disciples over a meal on the road to Emmaus. As with Paul, only Jesus can remove the scales from our eyes.
Like any relationship, spending time with the one we love and who loves us matters. Getting to know them and our taking the risk to become vulnerable opens us up to one another. There is so much more to learn about God’s great love for us, but it isn’t possible just through doing or thinking. We are asked to abide in Jesus. Take some time to be still this season – intentionally waiting for Jesus to speak – so that you will know all the more that he is truly your God.
This pastoral letter was originally published in Christ Lutheran Church’s October 2020 newsletter.
It was another innocent post run amok. A friend was considering migrating to Parler over concerns for alleged Facebook errors regarding policing of its site and allegations of outright censorship. A mutual acquaintance, a pastor, decried the use of Facebook in general for anything political. They found it best used for family connections and photos, not for “spouting off about politics.” He might not have meant to offend anyone, but it took only moments for someone to insult him. By not using Facebook for more important issues, someone implied, he must find Facebook’s practices expedient (politically?) or he is just a coward. I think there’s a wide variety of reasons to use or not use Facebook, not solely expediency or cowardice. And in this very exchange, I found a perfect example of how quickly the blessings of social media can go wrong.
I’ve never found Facebook or social media in general a great place to talk about politics. People seem prone to get angry and personalize things too quickly. People are easily misunderstood and talk at people rather than with people. Anonymous attacks are often the truly expedient and cowardly thing here, and attacking someone you barely know (if at all) from miles away, proves too easy. I suspect social media has a lot to do with our growing cultural and political divide these days, as well as the easy spread of half truths if not total falsehoods.
Yet, how can we influence anyone with what we understand as truth if we never interact due to our preferred social media bubbles? How can we humbly be sure that what we think is correct if fully so? Life isn’t as dualistic as social media can make things seem. I find there are other, better ways to talk about and address important issues. Face to face has a lot of benefits. If over a beer or other beverage, that certainly doesn’t hurt. People tend to listen better and be more respectful when together in person. We also communicate a great deal through our facial expressions and body language which gets missed in social media.
In person, I find I have a greater chance to have some form of lasting impact on someone, and I often feel I’ve come to a better understanding of things as well (either in affirming what I’ve come to believe or stretching my understanding in new directions). Preaching, teaching and (this day and age) blog posts or videos might prove more helpful and a more intentional way to share ideas – especially if a pastor/priest. Truth can get quickly muddled during social media’s pithy commentary, memes and jibes.
Facebook has a boatload of issues, perceptions of or very real censorship being one, but as for me, I don’t care what platform one uses. I just encourage people to remember their chosen platform’s limits and strive to use social media and interact in a way worthy of the name Christian. If it isn’t what one hopes, use it less or leave for hopefully greener passages.
With such limitations, I, like my fellow pastor-friend, find Facebook is perhaps best left to pictures/memes, family connections, and hearing about community events – not weighty discussions. It is demonstrably ineffective for that time and again. If one wants to migrate other places to discuss politics electronically (as many of my friends are), that’s fine with me too. Hopefully, it will prove better, but one never knows. I think it likely there will be limitations in any of these mediums at this point.
Will I migrate to another platform? Will I do several? I’m not sure yet or that Parler is a good fit for me or anyone. There are concerns over hate groups using it and other issues. I’ve not really looked into it. Again, I’m not a big fan of any social media even as I recognize it has some benefits. Plus, statistically, something new is always coming down the electronic pike. I anticipate Facebook will eventually go the way of Six Degrees, Myspace and others. I don’t feel a rush to change, but I won’t make fun of someone who does. I also won’t make fun of someone who wants to use Facebook or other social media for the weightiest of matters of all – to nurture loving connections with family and friends.
“Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled.” Hebrews 12:14-15
As I write this, it seems a bitter time. Some suggest the fall will see a spike in pandemic cases. Others fear or argue over the nomination process for the Supreme Court. There’s concern about the vitality of the economy, protests, violence, corruption and crime. The list could go on, but will listing out all that is wrong with our fallen world help us? In my experience no, and I think scripture agrees.
If we look at the world, ourselves, or others and only see the bad, we are making a mistake. I have done that in my past, and it led me into a dark and lonely place. It fractured my relationships. It might be human, but sin is very human too. Even in Martin Luther’s time, it was a “common evil plague that every one prefers hearing evil to hearing good of his neighbor; and although we ourselves are so bad that we cannot suffer that any one should say anything bad about us, but everyone would much rather that all the world should speak of him in terms of gold, yet we cannot bear that the best is spoken about others.” He challenged believers to: think the best of people (show them compassion and grace); to consider why in their woundedness they might be acting or speaking as they are (practice empathy); to not rush in judging (where we might fall into sin that is greater, acting as if we are God). Simply put, if we see the world in simple terms of clear good and evil, our vision is impaired. We are the one’s who choose to wound ourselves. Then like a sickness, anger, cynicism and sin can and will most certainly spread to others.
Sometimes, I find it hard not to get angry at others. Yet, when I struggle, I try to remember the warnings and encouragement of scripture and our Lutheran confessions. “We love because God loved us first.” If Jesus had not risen from the dead, if he did not promise to return, if he hadn’t said that there would be times of trial, fear and even persecution, but we would be and are ok, perhaps then scorn might be justified. Instead, we are asked to remember that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. He’s the anchor we can trust in during any storm. Jesus has already made us victors over sin, death and the devil, and we can choose to love – love even those that don’t deserve it or love us back – no matter what happens because he loves us.
Now, I’m not saying consequences or tough actions are never needed. I’m asking, as I ask myself, “Why are we doing what we are doing? How does it reflect Christ’s own love for us?” We need not act like “everyone else.” We are to be in this world but not of it, and that’s a tough spot to be in. Yet it remains true, that we are baptized. We are forgiven and loved. We are empowered by the Spirit to be ambassadors for Christ’s kingdom no matter what political winds blow. Just as evil can spread person to person, so can the justice, peace and love of God. What will we choose to be part of in this world – a root of bitterness or blessing?
Yes, people can prove difficult, ignorant, or worse. I can’t deny it. Yet, they are only human after all. And the world can be unfair, but so is God’s grace. Despite all the storms raging around us, we have been chosen to be like the first bow God put down in the sky declaring a beautiful and everlasting peace.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this article are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.
This pastoral letter was originally published in Christ Lutheran Church’s October 2020 newsletter.
“To preach Christ is to feed the soul, to justify it, to set it free, and to save it, if it believes the preaching.” – Martin Luther
This fall, the ELCA marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s early important work, The Freedom of a Christian (also known as On Christian Liberty and other similar names), and we will remember it as well at Christ Lutheran. Why? Well, through this early work, Martin Luther decisively influenced the entire Protestant movement in all its forms. As the theologian Dietrich Oppen noted, “As such, it is one of the great documents of world history, a work which opened doors to the future, first in Luther’s time and still in our own.”
Starting on Thursday, September 10, at 10:00 am, join me as we journey through this important work anew or for the first time. Our sessions will help us better understand the mystery of Christ, especially Christ’s work in and through our daily lives. Participants will be provided a pdf copy of the text (which can be printed out or read electronically), but the text is also widely available for purchase if you prefer. A special anniversary study guide will also be provided. Recognizing both the importance of this work and busy schedules, sessions will be recorded and posted on our private Facebook group, but the sessions’ quality and impact will improve if you make an effort to attend together live – willing to share both your faith and questions about faith with others. Don’t worry if you can’t make every session, as always, just come as you can.
In these challenging times amidst much fear for the future, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to trust in Christ’s saving, active love for each of us and our world. Like the earliest disciples, we are called to certainly watch and pray, but we are also asked to be Christ in the world. God has a purpose for you and I to fulfill in this time and this place as unlikely as that might seem to us. Doubts may grow strong, but they are never stronger than Christ’s love for us or his purpose.
My hope remains that – whether you find yourself out in the world or find yourself restricted to serving Christ’s Church from home – these sessions bless you to be a blessing. I also pray that they nurture a joyful, certain hope to be found in our shared future as children of God. You and I have been set free for a purpose, and so as my friend and spiritual mentor Br. Roger of Taizé once wrote, “Set out, forward, one step at a time, from doubt toward faith, not worrying about the impossible ahead.” The door has been opened by Christ alone. Let us walk through it together.
I remain in communion with you and love you,
Pastor Lou
For the ELCA’s curriculum and/or a free copy of Martin Luther’s “The Freedom of a Christian”visit elca500.org.
If you have interest in our congregation’s class, please contact me.
O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually. Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of his servant Israel, children of Jacob, his chosen ones. – 1 Chronicles 16:8-13 (NRSV)
After the followers of David defeated their enemies and settled in Jerusalem, David wanted a place for the Lord to live among God’s chosen people. At first, the Ark of the Covenant was brought to a specially prepared tent pitched centrally among them. David’s instructions echoed the formation the Israelites had used under Moses as directed by God to travel through the wilderness. The central placement of the Tent of Meeting was to symbolically remind them that God’s ways must remain central in their individual, familial and communal life.
The Israelites had been through a precarious time, but God had led them this far. More difficulties certainly lay ahead, but they trusted God would continue to lead them. Their vision remained clouded and eclipsed by challenges of many kinds including their own sinfulness. Yet as has always been true for those who trust in God, “for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Malachai 4:2a). No matter the time or place, we are to seek God, give thanks, and try our best to share the light of God’s grace and love as called and able, because God continues to know, claim and love us.
As our own way forward seems currently clouded by pandemic fears, social injustice or unrest, and perhaps other doubts galore, remembering the past faithfulness of God’s love at work in our lives, our family, and within the history of our family of faith can prove helpful. As we have talked about before, among the many words God offers us through scripture, we find the word “remember” to be among those most often used. The same God who loved us and our forebearers of the past, loves us now, and God promises to love us for eternity. The proof? We can find it in God’s steadfast love for us throughout the ages.
Life will be hard, and our way forward remain uncertain at times, but God is with us and at work. We are chosen and claimed, placed in this time and context, to reflect God’s own light while being used to help fulfill God’s plans for all people. Through our faith and baptism, God has forgone a tent or building located in the heart of a community and desires to reside in and work through our hearts instead. God has prepared a place in us because God always remembers us and longs to be with us. More wonderful works, miracles and judgments are surely yet to come.
Originally published in the July/August 2020 newsletter of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.
I wouldn’t post this if it weren’t for the fact I see too many friends on Facebook expressing the same opinion in not so many words. “Sacrifice the weak. Reopen the economy.” A simple, utilitarian approach is antithetical to Christian faith.
No, we need not unnecessarily “martyr” the economy nor “sacrifice the weak.” Yes, I understand that sacrifices will need to be made, among all, and these sacrifices won’t always be perceived as fair. Life isn’t fair. Yet, we do need to remember the “least of these” and the most vulnerable of our society as we seek a way forward. They must remain an important part of our “equation.”
Out of love for our neighbors, some freedoms and prosperity might need to be given up freely; not out of obligation but in love, at least for a time. There is no other way forward if we want to walk with Christ. Loving your neighbor cannot be based solely on death counts or the perceived liabilities of “others.” Who rightly judges who is “weak” and without worth? That’s the way of that past in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
Tough economic decisions can’t be based solely on fear of the virus nor fear about where our daily bread will come from. We can and must do better. Jesus said, “…But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:13-14). If you hope to someday celebrate an economic recovery, you might just want to invite these folks as well.
The following is my Ash Wednesday sermon (2020) reflecting upon the findings of the investigation of Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche, in relationship to our Lenten and life’s journey. It was preached at Christ Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg.
As last week ended, I learned of some horrifying, disappointing, maddening news. A man, Jean Vanier, who had earned enormous, international respect for starting a non-profit centered around those with intellectual disabilities…who was deemed a living saint by many and inspired a worldwide movement…whose books were often assigned reading in seminaries and among social workers…who was known to be friends with Mother Teresa, Br. Roger of Taizé, Popes and Archbishops of Canterbury as well as international political figures…was discovered after his death to have misused his place of authority to abuse at least six female coworkers or volunteers who had come to him for spiritual care. He had used his position of trust not only to do good over many years – and there was and still remains much good being done in those communities called L’Arche – but ultimately, he also greatly harmed others who were extremely vulnerable. His actions still negatively impact those victims’ lives and likely will for years to come. The sin perpetrated, as sin always does, had a ripple effect. Many of those who looked up to him or were inspired by him suddenly felt violated themselves. Their volunteering or vocation, perhaps even their personhood, felt threatened. Their faith itself often came under assault. If this supposedly great man couldn’t be trusted, then who can be? People are rightly grieving openly at their sense of betrayal, disappointment, anger, and loss.
I didn’t personally know Jean Vanier, but I have known throughout my later adult years many who served in L’Arche…who are L’Arche. I worked very closely with those who formed L’Arche Metro-Richmond as they sought to successfully create a community where people with and without intellectual disabilities can be found living, working, praying, and playing together. That’s a good thing, the work of many loving people and not just one person. Ultimately, I believe the love and joy found there is evidence of the Holy Spirit at work. The Ark (L’Arche means “ark” in French) might be badly scorched, but it hasn’t been consumed. It is a work that must remain ongoing no matter who might sin and fail among us or in whatever new form the future might bring. God intends to make good come from even the ash heaps of our lives.
I remain glad that my faith is in Jesus and not in humanity. I learned as a police officer long ago that people can always let you down, sometimes in shocking ways, as they struggle with their own darkness….or perhaps start perpetuating wounds they themselves have received. Knowing this doesn’t make it easier when we are hurt by sin, but it might help us accept that bad things can happen to good people in a fallen world. In time, it might even help us forgive or move forward.
The failures of others to love need not stop us from looking to Jesus who asked us to serve as light among the darkness. This is a real darkness at work in the world often through ordinary people. Yet over those years, I also came to recognize that sin and death were also always at work in me. That’s why I came back to the Church. I needed more than just comfort or correction, some plan for doing better. I needed grace, forgiveness and salvation. I needed it not just once, but time after time each day. The darkness that we face or struggle with as Church should never keep us from striving toward the Light which is Jesus. You see, God desires to help us. Its why Jesus came to us.
That human condition reflects a bit about why we gather here tonight. No matter who we are, we as Lutheran-Christians understand that we are at our best sinner-saints. We tend to be bent inward on ourselves, Luther argued, always struggling with sin and never proving quite enough on our own to be the people we hope we can be…the people God desires us to become. Whether large sins or small sins, they come with a cost. We separate ourselves from God and neighbor. We hurt others, sometimes unintentionally, but its real hurt none the less. We experience the heavy reality of sin through bullies in school and negative, condemning self-talk in our heads, in addiction, misuse of what God has given us (even friendships and family relationships meant to be a gift from God are abused) and so much more.
This is largely unavoidable as humans, but it isn’t because we are a total mess or unredeemable…it is because we are human. Still as much as we humbly accept this fallen reality, we are asked by God to accept even more. We are fallen yet loved humans. Each year as we enter Lent, we are asked to contemplate how Jesus suffered and died for us (“for our sin” some say) in order to free us from the power of sin, death and the Devil. We are invited, not forced, to practice the disciplines of Lent: to cooperate with the grace offered us through prayer (justice towards God); fasting (justice towards self); and almsgiving (justice towards neighbors). We are called to repentance, to serve others, to offer ourselves up before God and ask God to transform our lives and community. God does so through his Spirit; making us holy.
In the early days of Christianity, the ancient practices of mourning in sackcloth and ashes became a new symbol of this season called Lent. It is a word meaning springtime, and it is meant for renewed life through loving God and neighbor as ourselves. Its not that we are asked to literally sit in ashes and dress in sackcloth like the prophets of old, but we are invited to receive a small cross made of oil and ash on our foreheads. Much like those who had been excommunicated in the early church for grave sin, we wear ashes as a sign of our modern regrets and hope for restoration. We remember the promises of our baptism where, yes, we made promises to God…promises we often fail in…but also where God made lasting, perfect promises to us. The Holy Spirit has claimed us. We have become by God’s power and proclamation beloved children of God, and God will never let us go.
I will never condemn anyone for crying over sin in the world or in ourselves. We have much to regret, and life often hurts. There’s much evil to contemplate, fear and cope with. Still, all is not lost. Jesus suffered and rose for our sake. The cross he bore…the life we live with all its problems and our fears…leads us to one certain end… Resurrection Day with a new and eternal life shared with Jesus.
As Paul so powerfully argues, we are as the dying, and see, we are alive. We might seem to have nothing, and yet we have everything. Yes, we have the love of Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer, our God. We can open wide our hearts to God and neighbor with courage, even as we might grieve sin and death. For with God, all things are possible including new starts and our salvation as gift. No matter what we see, feel, or fear, we can trust that God is making all things new. We can trust in Jesus even when we cannot trust ourselves. Amen.
For those who attend our theology on tap meetings, Three Priests Walk in a Bar, you might recall that we originally created a special Facebook group so conversations could continue. Our producer and facilitator, Nick2, similarly invited folks to “pick apart” our gatherings conversation at a later date. Here’s a few more items I wish to share after listening to the recent podcast of the live event held on “Can Christians Worship Together or Not?,” Episode 3.
Source: Pixaby. Used by Permission
During our recent discussions, I told a story of a young man in high school who came forward to the altar in order to commune. As I provided him the body of Christ, he said, “Amen,” consumed it, and added excitedly, “This was my first time!” I did not know this young man or his mother kneeling beside him at the time, but she appeared visibly dismayed. Traditionally, Lutherans prepare young people and new adult members for sharing in the Lord’s Supper. Her body language and facial expression indicated she and her son had done something wrong. In response, I simply said, “Welcome to the Lord’s Table.” Then, I continued to commune others and preside over the closing of our worship together.
Normally, I try to be in the narthex (the entrance area of the church building) to greet both visitors and returning church members to our Sunday service. This mother and son were visitors, but they came in as the service began. In our bulletin, we had an invitation to commune which outlined not only how to commune but also who can commune. (It specifically invited all baptized, communing members of any Christian church to do so.) I approached the mother and son after the service, not only to greet them formally, but to invite the mother and son into deeper relationship with our congregation. I didn’t overtly accuse or correct. I didn’t lecture. I just met them where they were in order that we could walk forward together with Jesus Christ.
It turned out that the family had fallen away from church attendance after moving to our area, but they desired to be one with the church again. How wonderful! Why would I put additional stumbling blocks before them to hinder them from coming to Jesus? Instead, I conversed with them, properly instructed them (especially the son regarding the Lord’s Supper), and we welcomed them into our congregation. The previously baptized young man went on to not only commune regularly but also to become a young adult leader in the congregation – one who continued in relationship with the Church through the rite of confirmation and beyond.
If he had not been baptized, it might have been a mistake or a shame, certainly improper by our polity, but I argue it would not necessarily be a sin for him to commune. A sin and a human mistake are not always the same thing. No evil or affront was intended. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul does indeed argue against receiving the sacrament unworthily (as Fr. Nik noted), but it seems Paul is primarily addressing disunity in the community and not baptism or knowledge of the Sacrament. He never indicates how often the community should commune, but he expresses concern that some have privatized a communal act. Paul appears most concerned with how our lives relate to Jesus’ own and how love ties us in one body together.
As a result, he encourages self-reflection and examination more than present some theological argument over the form and substance of the elements or whom should be admitted to the supper. (Although some of that might have been assumed by Paul, it isn’t his main point nor preserved in writing.) The good news is that we can repent and be renewed even when facing judgement for our lack of discernment regarding love and unity. “Paul’s counsels are driven not by a veneration of the supper properly observed, but by the Corinthians’ failure to have the supper function among them as it should, namely as a beacon by which to keep their lives on the proper path of faith” (The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Abingdon Press, 2002, p. 938). In Paul’s mind the illness and death in the community is a sign of eschatological judgement for disunity, not some sudden, wrath of God, superstitious punishment for lack of understanding while consuming the Eucharist. He seems to believe it is better not to participate in the meal than to dishonor it with disunity. To receive it improperly (in disunity) profanes the life and death of our Lord (Harper Collins Bible Commentary, Harper San Francisco, 2000, p. 1088).
Perhaps this is why “the kiss of peace” and confession were deemed critical to the Lord’s Supper and reserved only for the baptized in some early communities according to some Roman Catholic sources I’ve read in the past. Yet, this particular passage might not prove a great argument against who should commune or changes in practice. It isn’t really about that. Indeed, Christian communities including the Orthodox have changed some practices regarding the Lord’s Supper over time. For example, even when catechumens are dismissed in certain Orthodox liturgies, they actually don’t leave any more. (Listen to our podcast for more on this.) Reserving reception of the Lord’s Supper to those whom are baptized is primarily based upon the earliest known church practices as observed in and interpreted from scripture. It is a tradition handed down to us. Yet just as the “kiss of peace” (now “the sign of peace”) is now open to all, and catechumens are not actually dismissed any longer, perhaps other changes might be discerned by the Church in who should receive the Eucharist. (I’m not saying we should change, as I value the voices of the past, but people aren’t necessarily evil for raising the question.)
In rebuttal to my personal example above, our Orthodox friend, Fr. Adam, spoke about the necessity of knowing whom you commune and protecting the sanctity of the eucharist by overseeing (if not controlling) who participates. In ordination, the Orthodox priest promises “unto death” to protect the Sacrament. They are thought stewards of this mighty, miraculous gift. Those outside of the Orthodox Church, the only true expression of Church in their understanding, cannot and must not commune. He argued this is not exclusionary but a sign of hope that in the future we may all commune. To have someone unprepared or unworthy to commune is anathema, a grave sin in his tradition. Therefore, he must seek to welcome unfamiliar persons, and it is the responsibility of visiting Orthodox to present themselves to him. The expectation remains that only those properly baptized, confirmed and confessed, free of grave sin, participate. Thus, he inferred that the error in this case was not ultimately the young man’s but the priest’s (mine). In the Orthodox view, I should have stopped him from communing. In fact, he never should have even had the opportunity.
Meanwhile the Evangelical Church in America (ELCA), our pastors when ordained or installed promise to love, serve, and pray for God’s people, nourishing them with the word and sacraments. While respecting the sanctity of the Sacrament and the need to preside in a meet and right way, there is no explicitly, strong guardian language as with the Orthodox, although we understand that we are stewards. We recognize that the Sacraments are a means of grace, not an end in themselves. We understand that we share this responsibility with the congregational council and the people of the congregation as well. The sacrament belongs ultimately to Jesus and is our gift and honor to share.
Among those who commune, Martin Luther and our confessions condemn any requirement for preparatory acts such as confessing or fasting in order to do so. We can perform such practices as a personal spiritual discipline, but they aren’t required, and we receive no merit for salvation with any of our efforts. No one is worthy on their own or by their own efforts of receiving the Lord’s Supper – ever. No one can properly prepare to receive what is this pure gift of grace. At some level the sacrament as a means of grace always remains a mystery. It doesn’t truly belong to any bishop’s office or any pastor, but it remains a gift from Christ left in the care of the priesthood of all believers, administered in accordance with scripture, our confessions and polity. In that sense, we all are stewards of it.
Again, following Apostolic tradition, only those baptized commune. (Although, this is now being debated by some.) We instruct those baptized about to commune for the first time in scripture, our confessional beliefs, and our practices, so that they might better participate and value what they are receiving. The methodology and scope of this training varies widely by community. Hopefully, faith will increase through the training and education (by cooperating with the grace being offered), but no specific training is explicitly mandated or outlined by scripture. Though, it appears to have been a practice to educate new members of the community. Our modern model for it based on early Christian communities, early writings and traditions, but again, they vary widely within our denomination and the wider Church.
Traditionally, many if not most Lutherans appear to have communed upon confirmation. Yet with changes in the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Pius X in the 1920s regarding the age for communing and growing ecumenism, it appears discernment over these issues continued. A pan-Lutheran meeting in the 1960s settled on fifth grade as an appropriate age to commune, or nearly settled, for this wasn’t a mandate. Lutherans began to commune youth members at earlier ages as time passed, fifth grade, and still at confirmation. Today, you still find a wide variety of practices with children communing even younger than second grade at times. Even in some Confessional Lutheran bodies, it is left up to pastoral discretion. As for my practice, I enter conversations with parents to discern what might be best for the Church and the individual child. We remember that the age requirement isn’t scriptural but a practice discerned, developed even changed over time. Through our baptism, we are “qualified” in a sense or made worthy by the Holy Spirit’s presence and claim upon us (received through baptism) to be welcomed at the table. We are saved in Baptism and receiving the Eucharist through grace by faith alone. These Sacraments are deemed special means of grace.
Although requiring preparation and sacrifice for communing is condemned, I have actually heard of some American Lutheran pastors (especially in the 1940/50s) requiring confession before communing. This appears contrary to our common understanding of our confessions, the Book of Concord. We do have a rite to offer private confession, and we most often include confession as part of our Sunday liturgy or other times we share in the Lord’s Supper, but it isn’t required. Like the Orthodox, some Lutherans do require visitors present themselves before communing, and I have even been told of congregations expecting some form or written confirmation of denominational participation before one can commune. Still other Lutheran bodies will not let anyone outside of their denomination participate and refuse altar fellowship between Christian bodies if they don’t accept our Confessions fully. These more restrictive measures prove often to be taken by Confessional Lutheran congregations in my experience and the testimonies I have heard, not members of the Lutheran World Federation and ELCA (90+% of all Lutherans globally.)
In contrast, most congregations seem to just include requirements for communing in the Sunday bulletin or make announcements, and we hope and trust visitors will comply. Some of the common wording will invite any baptized communing Christians to participate. Others add that participants must also affirm the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament. We often explicitly explain our understanding of the Sacrament and mention our expectations for communing before weddings, funerals and community worship services where we sometimes celebrate the Eucharist and know many from other traditions might be present. Like the Orthodox, offering the Lord’s Supper at weddings and funerals remains rare, but it is allowed.
Whatever our policy, the majority of Lutherans do not usually challenge people at the altar rail from what I have seen and heard, although perhaps some Confessional Lutherans might. In practical terms, we do not always have the capacity (especially in a 200+ person church) to engage everyone before the service. So, again, trust might be required that people will accept our training, requests and guidance. Ushers, greeters and people in the pews are also asked to help with the welcome and orientation to the service. If people come to the rail, we usually commune them. If they did so in error and we come to know this, pastors tend to meet them later to offer future guidance and instruction. It might be deemed sloppy if not wrong by Fr. Adam and our Orthodox brothers and sisters, but I suspect God has a way of “protecting” the Eucharist better than we do. Here, my supposed “error” providentially led the young man and his family into deeper faith and rootedness in the Church likely because I responded pastorally; taking our theological and scriptural stances seriously while seeking to meet people where they are.
As much as I hear our Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Confessional Lutheran friends framing the need for theological, denominational compliance prior to communing as a hopeful thing, I struggle to accept that. It focuses on division more than welcome. It puts into question the power of our shared baptism. I accept the historic teaching and guidance that only baptized, believing Christians should commune, but if we worship the same Lord and share in baptism, why not commune together? No one properly and fully understands this mystery. I agree with John XXIII that there is more that unites us than divides us. I have witnessed grace in the way pastors and communities welcomed outsiders to the table – sometimes making pastoral exceptions to the common rules. Some communities such as Taizé seem particularly creative in their welcome. Therefore, I accept the benefit of communal standards while arguing for sensitivity and grace.
It brings to mind a story shared by Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche:
“A young girl with a mental disability made her First Communion during a beautiful celebration of the Eucharist. After the ceremony her uncle said to her mother: ‘What a beautiful liturgy! The sad thing is that she did not understand anything.’ The young girl overheard this remark and said to her mother: ‘Don’t worry, Mommy, Jesus loves me as I am.’”
Perhaps, just perhaps, we self-assured bishops, pastors and lay leaders could learn something about the Eucharist from her?
Husband, Pastor, Law Enforcement Chaplain, and member of the Clerical Errors (aka "The Three Priests"), I'm sharing my two cents with anyone who cares...
You can also find me on social media as Loudluthrn (Lou-d-Luthrn or Lou the Lutheran). It is a moniker given me while attending a Presbyterian Seminary, but I'm a loud and proud Lutheran too (just not too loud and proud, mind you).
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