Mid-Lent 5
The
Sacrament of Unity
1
Cor 10:16-17
4/9/25
“Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” During the last three weeks we have heard
those words in the explanations of the Small Catechism about the
Sacrament of the Altar. It is the
central truth that we are being taught.
Again and again, we have returned to the fact that the Sacrament is
the true body of Christ which was given into death on the cross. It is the true blood of Christ which was shed
on the cross. In the Sacrament, Christ
gives to you the very price that he paid to win the forgiveness of sins.
We have emphasized that Christ deals with you as an individual
as he applies the forgiveness that he won by his death on the cross of Good
Friday, and his resurrection on Easter.
He places his true body and blood into your mouth and leaves no
doubt that this is forgiveness for you.
This important emphasis could lead us to conclude that the
Sacrament of the Altar is solely an individual matter – that is only a vertical
matter as God deals with each person.
One could determine that the Sacrament of the Altar is only “about Jesus
and me.”
However, such a conclusion is entirely mistaken. For the full biblical teaching about the
Sacrament leads us to understand that Sacrament is also a corporate matter
– it is also a horizontal matter that involves all who receive Christ’s body
and blood. The Sacrament unites us
together as the Body of Christ. This
fact has important implications for the way we administer and receive it.
We mentioned last week that Paul’s warning about receiving the
Sacrament “worthily” was prompted by problems that had arisen at the Corinthian
celebration of the Sacrament. Paul
begins by saying, “But in the following instructions I do not commend you,
because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For,
in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there
are divisions among you.” Paul had learned that the celebration of the
Sacrament had become an occasion for divisions – a setting where divisions were
present.
The apostle describes what was happening as he said, “When you come
together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one goes
ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you
not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God
and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I
commend you in this? No, I will not.”
We learn that the Corinthians were celebrating the Sacrament of the
Altar in a way that was similar to the setting in which it was instituted –
that of a meal. They received the true
body of the Lord. Then there was the eating of normal food. Later, “after supper,” they received the true
blood of Christ.
This practice would have seemed very natural, since it looked much
like the ordering that was found in Greco-Roman meals. Yet this sense of
familiarity was causing a problem at Corinth, because they were behaving at the
meal that accompanied the Sacrament in the same manner that they did at other
meals.
In the Greco-Roman setting it was assumed that the host of the meal
would have his friends in the dining room that probably held about twelve
people. Less important guests would sit
in other parts of the house. The host and his friends would get their food
first. They would get the best food. They would get the most food. The rest of the guests would get whatever was
still available.
Not surprisingly, a member of the Corinthian congregation who owned
a home where the church could gather was more wealthy. The problem was that these members were
treating the meal that accompanied the Sacrament in the same way they would any
other meal. The richer members were
getting their food first, and were getting the best food. They were acting in a
way that shamed and mistreated the poor members of the church. They were acting in a way that was creating
divisions in the setting where the Sacrament of the Altar was celebrated.
Paul’s response to this seems, at first, to be a little
surprising. He quotes the Words of
Institution that he had delivered to the Corinthians. He brings them back to what the Sacrament is
– the body and blood of Christ.
Paul does this because he has already prepared the way for
discussing this situation. He did so in
the previous chapter when he was talking about yet another problem at
Corinth - that of eating at the temple of idols and of eating meat sacrificed
to idols.
There, Paul said that Christians who participate in the body and
blood of Christ in the Sacrament can’t participate in the cup and table of
demons at a pagan temple. He says about
the Sacrament, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in
the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in
the body of Christ?” Next, he adds, “Because there is one bread, we who are
many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
Paul teaches us in this verse that reception of the Sacrament
unites us as the Body of Christ. Each
person communing receives the body and blood of Christ, and in so doing they
are united as the Body of Christ. It is
the Sacrament of unity as we are joined together. This characteristic of the Sacrament has
nothing to do with what the apostle is discussing in chapter ten. But it establishes the truth that will be the
basis for what he says in chapter eleven.
There, Paul addresses the divisions at the Corinthian celebration
of the Sacrament by returning them to the Words of Institution. He returns them
to the nature of the Sacrament. It is the body and blood of Christ that makes
us one Body – the Body of Christ. It is
the Sacrament of unity, and divisions are contrary to the very nature of the
Sacrament.
The Sacrament is an individual and vertical gift as Jesus gives his
true body and blood to each person for the forgiveness of sins. But the Sacrament is also a corporate and
horizontal gift as it unites those communing together as the Body of
Christ. It is the Sacrament of unity.
This has great importance for the way in which we administer and
receive the Sacrament. Divisions are contrary to the nature of the Sacrament,
and have no place there. This is true
first of interpersonal divisions such as those addressed by Paul in 1
Corinthians 11. Where personal divisions
exist, there must be forgiveness and reconciliation before people can receive
the Sacrament.
The Pax Domini in the liturgy of the Divine Service is a reminder
of this fact. After the consecration,
the pastor holds up the host over the chalice – he holds up the body and blood
of Christ – and says, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” This is a
declaration that the body and blood of Christ gives us peace with God. It also is a reminder that if we are
to receive the body and blood of Christ, we must be at peace with each other.
At the same time, what is true of interpersonal divisions is also
true of confessional divisions. Where
Christians are divided about doctrine, they need first to resolve their
differences and arrive at agreement before they come to the Sacrament of the
Altar together. Divisions are contrary
to the nature of the Sacrament. When we
commune together, we are saying that we are united and believe the same
thing. This has been the practice since
the early Church.
In order to receive the Sacrament worthily we must examine
ourselves to see that three things are true.
First, as we mentioned last week, must confess our sin and repent. Second, we must recognize what the Sacrament
is. It is the true body and blood of Christ. Third, we must recognize what it
does. It gives the forgiveness of sins
and unites us as one body – the Body of Christ.
This means that in our practice of closed communion we will not
permit division at the Sacrament of the Altar.
This is true of congregation members who must first reconcile. It is also true of other Christian groups with
whom there are doctrinal divisions.
When we commune at an altar, we are saying that we are united with
those who are communing. We are saying
that there are no divisions, and that we believe the same thing. We use the word Church Fellowship to describe
this unity between groups of Christians.
Our congregation is part of the fellowship of the Lutheran Church –
Missouri Synod. You can go anywhere in
the United States and commune at any LCMS congregation because we are united in
believing the same thing. And that fellowship extends around the world. The LCMS is in fellowship with other Lutheran
churches who also believe the same thing.
So when I am in South Sudan, I will commune at altars of the Ev.
Lutheran Church of South Sudan/Sudan because we are in fellowship with
them. We believe the same thing, and so
can share in the Sacrament of unity together.
Paul told the Corinthians, ““The cup of blessing that we bless, is
it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is
it not a participation in the body of Christ?
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we
all partake of the one bread.” In the
Sacrament, Jesus gives each one of us his true body and blood for the
forgiveness of sins. And at the same
time, he unites those who receive the sacrament as one Body – the Body of
Christ. The Sacrament of the Altar, is the Sacrament of unity.
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