The Divine Service – Service of the Sacrament
The Divine
Service reaches its highpoint in the Service of the Sacrament. We join the heavenly host in giving thanks
and glory to God as Jesus Christ comes to us in His body and blood in the
Sacrament of the Altar to give us the forgiveness of sins and strengthen us in
the faith.
Preface
2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
Colossians 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
1 Corinthians 11:23-25 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the
Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had
given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this
in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
The
Preface is made up of three exchanges between the pastor and congregation. Just
as when it occurs before the Collect and Scripture readings, the Salutation
introduces a new part of the service and renews the attention of the
congregation as the Divine Service moves forward. The congregation once again recognizes the
pastor as the called servant in their midst and indicates that he should proceed
with administering the Lord’s Supper as Christ’s authorized
representative. The statement, “The Lord
be with you” is once again a blessing and proclamation of the Lord’s gracious
presence.
In the words “Lift up your hearts” the pastor invites the congregation
to rejoice in welcoming our Lord Jesus who will come into our presence in His
body and blood. These words encourage us
to turn to our Lord for forgiveness as He comes into our presence in the Lord’s
Supper and remind us to focus on Christ and the miracle He is about to carry
out in our midst rather than being distracted by worldly things. In the response, the congregation states that
as it prepares to receive the Lord’s Supper, it is doing just this.
When our Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper He gave thanks over bread
and wine. Another name for the Lord’s
Supper that comes from the early Church is “Eucharist.” The term “Eucharist” is based on the Greek
verb that means “to give thanks.” The
pastor invites the congregation to give thanks to God for the salvation that
Jesus Christ has won for us and for Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament
through which Jesus delivers the benefits of His cross to us. In its reply to the pastor, the congregation
agrees that giving thanks to the Lord our God is the only right and fitting
thing to do when Christ comes among us in his body and blood in order to
deliver forgiveness to us.
Proper Preface
In the Proper Preface we give thanks to God for the salvation He was
won for us through Jesus Christ. This
portion of the liturgy is the called the Proper
Preface
because there is a prayer for each season of the Church year and for some
individual festivals. Each of these
prayers focuses on a particular part of God’s saving action that we meet in
that season. All of the Proper Prefaces
end with the words, “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the
company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You
and saying….” These words introduce the
Sanctus and remind us that in the liturgy of the Divine Service we join in the
heavenly liturgy as we are united with the angels and the saints who have gone
before us in praising God. In the Divine
Service we experience “heaven on earth” as we receive a foretaste of the feast
to come.
Sanctus
Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six
wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with
two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the
Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
Psalm 118:25-26 O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send
prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; we have
blessed you from the house of the Lord.
Matthew 21:8-9 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting
branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who
followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes
in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!”
The Sanctus takes its name from the cry of
the angels, “Holy, holy, holy,” that Isaiah heard in God’s presence. The Latin word for “holy” is “sanctus.” The Sanctus is the Hymn of Praise in the
Service of the Sacrament, just as the Gloria in Excelsis and “This is the Feast”
are the Hymn of Praise in the Service of the Word. As Christ comes into our presence and
delivers the salvation He won for us, we break forth in praise. In the Sanctus we acknowledge that we stand
in the presence of the holy God who comes into our midst in His body and blood. We join the song of the angels and all the
saints, just as the words that conclude the Proper Preface indicate. As we prepare to encounter God in a way that
does not occur at any other time, we confess that in the Divine Service we
experience “heaven on earth” – God in our midst.
The phrase “Hosanna” is Hebrew for “save us!”
and comes from Ps. 118. The crowds in
the Jerusalem used the words of Ps. 118 and said
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” as Jesus arrived and entered Jerusalem. We use these same words to greet Jesus Christ
as He comes to us in His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Isaiah 25:6 The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all
peoples on this mountain.
Matthew 8:11 I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
This prayer continues the theme of thanksgiving for Christ’s work of
salvation and the gift of His body and blood by which he delivers the
forgiveness of sins won on the cross. As
we gather in the remembrance of Jesus we pray that God would strengthen us
through the work of the Spirit. We pray
that we would be gathered together on the Last Day with all the faithful at the
great feast of salvation, of which we receive a foretaste in the Lord’s Supper.
Lord’s Prayer
Very early in her history, the Church
recognized that the Lord’s Prayer was a natural choice for use at the
celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The
Lord was the source of both and therefore it was fitting that the prayer the
Lord gave should be used at the Supper the Lord had given. As we have learned, the Second Petition (“Thy
kingdom come”), Fourth Petition (“Give us this day our daily bread”) and Fifth
Petition (“And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass
against us”) are closely linked with the Lord’s Supper.
The Words of our Lord (Words of Institution)
The Words of Institution as spoken in the liturgy of the Divine Service draw upon the various biblical accounts from Matthew, Mark, Luke and 1 Corinthians. They take in the whole biblical witness. The Words of Institution are a word of Gospel. As Gospel, they are meant to be proclaimed to Christ's people. For this reason, the Words of Institution are addressed to the congregation during the Lord's Supper. Jesus' words do what they say. After Christ's called servant speaks these words over bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ are present on the altar. For this reason, the pastor then bows in adoration of Christ who is present in His body and blood.
Pax Domini
“Pax Domini” is Latin for “Peace of the
Lord. The Pax Domini is a declaration of
the peace that comes from the Lord. As
the pastor speaks the Pax Domini, he directs the congregation toward the source
of this peace – the body and blood of the crucified and risen Lord.
The Pax Domini also reminds the congregation
of the need for peace among those receiving the Lord’s Supper. It is a reminder of the need for forgiveness
and reconciliation as we avoid bringing our divisions to the Lord’s Supper,
which is the sacrament of unity.
Agnus Dei
John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world!”
Agnus Dei is Latin for “Lamb of God” and is
based on John the Baptist’s statement about Jesus Christ. It is a hymn of adoration directed toward
Christ as we greet the One who is present for us in His body and blood on the
altar. It confesses the presence of Christ’s
true body and blood in the Lord’s Supper and the benefits it brings.
Distribution
We kneel at the communion rail out of
reverence for Christ who is present in His body and blood. When we kneel we involve our whole person,
body and soul, in worship. The pastor
distributes the Lord’s body, because he bears responsibility for those who are
admitted to receive the Sacrament. The
words used in the distribution emphasize that the body and blood of Christ are
being given to each person. Communicants
may have the Lord’s body placed in their mouth or they may lay one hand on top
of the other and receive it in their hand.
Communicants say “Amen” after receiving the body and blood in order to
confess their faith in the gift Christ gives.
Dismissal
John 6:53-54 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
The Large
Catechism states regarding the Lord’s Supper, “Therefore, it is appropriately
called food for the soul, for it nourishes and strengthens the new creature”
(5.23). Later it states, “We must never
regard the sacrament as a harmful thing from which we should flee, but as a
pure, wholesome, soothing medicine that aids you and gives life in both soul
and body. For where the soul is healed,
the body is helped as well” (5.68). This
truth is confessed when the pastor states that the body and blood Christ
strengthens and preserves the whole person, body and soul. As we have seen, the reception of the body
and blood of Christ assures us that we will share in Christ’s resurrection on
the Last Day and will enjoy life everlasting.
The pastor tells us we can depart in peace because in the Lord’s Supper
we have received the forgiveness of our sins.
Post-Communion Canticle
Luke 2:27-32 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in
the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed
God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have
prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of Your people Israel.”
Nunc Dimittis is Latin for “now you let depart,” which were the words
spoken by Simeon when he held the infant Jesus.
Simeon’s words are appropriate for us to sing after the Lord’s Supper
because having received the forgiveness of sins from Christ, we are able to
depart in peace. Just as Simeon could say his eyes had seen the Lord’s
salvation when he held the infant Christ, we can sing these words because in
the Sacrament we have seen the Lord’s salvation – the body and blood of Christ.
Post-Communion Collect
After receiving the Lord’s Supper, we give thanks in prayer for the gift of
Christ’s body and blood that we have received.
We pray that as a result of receiving the Lord’s Supper, God would
strengthen us in the faith and in holy living.
We thank Him for giving us a foretaste of the feast of salvation and ask
him to keep and preserve us until Christ’s return.
Benediction
Numbers 6:23-27 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of
Israel.
You shall say to them: The Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face
shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you,
and give you peace.’ So they shall
invoke My name on the sons of Israel,
and I then will bless them.”
The liturgy
of the Divine Service begins with God’s Name (the Invocation) and ends with
God’s Name (the Benediction). In the
Benediction, God acts through His called servant to impart His Name upon His
people as they prepare to go out into the world. In doing so, He gives them the assurance that
they are His own and that the blessings of His Name – forgiveness, peace and
salvation – are theirs.
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