Mid-Lent 4
Who
receives this
Sacrament
worthily?
4/2/25
“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or
drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord.” This is
what the apostle Paul says about the reception of the Sacrament of the Altar as
he writes to the Corinthians. Paul says
that the Sacrament must be received “worthily” – it must be received in a way
that is fitting and proper. To fail to do so is to become guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord.
Paul is addressing this topic because
there were problems at the Corinthian celebration of the Sacrament. The Corinthians were acting in a way that did
not recognize the significance of Christ’s true body and blood. We will speak
about those specific circumstances next week as we consider how the Sacrament
unites us as the Body of Christ.
Tonight we focus on what Paul says
about receiving the Sacrament. We
confess that the Sacrament is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, under
the bread and wine. Jesus gives us his
body and blood, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins. We receive into our body, the true body and
blood of Christ.
This is no minor thing. It is the body and blood of the incarnate Son of God. And so Paul says, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” Paul says that a person must examine himself. The reason for this is that a person eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not discern that it is the body of Christ.
The apostle describes the nature of
the way this was taking place at Corinth.
He says, “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have
died.” In the Sacrament, the true body
and blood of Christ is received into the individual, and Paul says that this
has bodily consequences. This is
no mere bread and wine. It is not just a symbol that that makes us think about
something.
Paul’s words lead us to ask the fourth
question in the Small Catechism: “Who receives this sacrament worthily?”
The answer given to this question begins by saying, “Fasting and bodily
preparation are certainly fine outward training.”
In the history of the Church, people have engaged in several
practices as they prepared to receive the Sacrament. The most common has been fasting, as the
reception of the Sacrament was the way in which the fast was ended. Another has been sexual abstinence in
preparation to receive the Sacrament.
The Small Catechism says that fasting and bodily preparation
are fine outward training. God created
us as body and soul in a unity, and bodily preparation such as this focuses the
individual on what he or she is going to receive. However, the Small Catechism goes on
to say, “But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in
these words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” But anyone
who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for
the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.”
After the initial definition of what the Sacrament is, all three
subsequent questions return to the same words: “Given and shed for you
for the forgiveness of sins.” Martin
Luther focuses on these words because they summarize the Sacrament. It is the true body of Christ that was given in
death on the cross. It is the true blood of Christ shed as he died on the
cross. This was done to win the
forgiveness of sins. This was done for
you, and now it is given to you in the Sacrament.
Luther said, “This Sacrament is the Gospel.” The Gospel is the good
news that God sent his Son into the world. Paul told the Galatians, “But when
the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman,
born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we
might receive adoption as sons.” In the Sacrament, the incarnate Son of
God is present in his true body and blood.
He gives it to us to eat and drink.
Before he entered Jerusalem, Jesus told the apostles, “the Son of
Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many.” In this season of Lent we are preparing to remember what
happened when Jesus went to the Jerusalem for the final time. Jesus redeemed us from sin – he freed us – as
he gave his life in death on the cross. His body was nailed to the cross and
his blood was shed as he received the judgment against our sin.
Yet Holy Week leads us to Easter, when Jesus Christ rose from the
dead. On that first day of the week the
angels said to the women at the empty tomb, “Why do you seek the living among
the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”
Jesus demonstrated that he had won victory over death as he was seen by
the apostles.
The crucified and risen Lord has given us the Sacrament. We must eat and drink the Sacrament worthily,
so that we do not become guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. In order receive it worthily the apostle
says, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of
the cup.”
About what are we to examine ourselves? We find this in the words,
“Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” First, we recognize that we receive the body
and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. In order to receive forgiveness, we must
repent. We must confess our sin. As
David says in Psalm 32, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover
my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” Our examination leads us to consider how sin
is present in our life, and to confess this sin to God.
Second, we examine ourselves to see that we recognize and believe
what the Sacrament is, and what it does.
Paul told the Corinthians, “For anyone who eats and drinks without
discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” We discern the body
as we believe that the Sacrament is the true body and blood of Jesus
Christ. We receive worthily when we
believe it is the true body and blood of Christ through which we receive
forgiveness.
The Sacrament of the Altar is the precious gift of the Lord. It is a central blessing in the life of the
Church. But Scripture teaches us that it
is possible to receive the Sacrament unworthily. One can become guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord. A person can eat and drink
to judgment.
The Church does not want this to happen. And so we as the Church,
and specifically pastors in the Office of the Ministry, must take
responsibility for who is admitted to the Sacrament of the Altar. This practice
is called closed communion. It has been
the practice of the Church throughout her history.
Those who do not repent of sin cannot receive the Sacrament, since
it is only for repentant sinners who want forgiveness. Individuals who live in unrepentant sin – who
refuse to turn away from their sin – cannot receive the Sacrament until they do
repent.
Those who do not believe that the Sacrament of the Altar is the
true body and blood of Christ cannot receive the Sacrament. We recall that it is Christ’s word
that causes the bread and wine to be his body and blood. Christ says it is, and this is true no matter
whether a person believes it or not. To
receive the Sacrament while not believing it is the body and blood of Christ is
to be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
It is to eat and drink to judgment. And so those who deny the body and
blood of Christ cannot receive the Sacrament – and this for their own
good. At the same time, this does not
yet exhaust what needs to be said about the practice of closed communion. And so there will be more to say next week as
we consider the corporate nature of the Sacrament of the Altar.
Who receives this sacrament worthily? That person is truly worthy and well prepared
who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of
sins.” We examine ourselves as we repent
and confess our sin for which we need forgiveness. We examine ourselves as we discern – as we
recognize and confess – that the Sacrament is the true body and blood of Christ
given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sin. For in this way we receive
the Sacrament as the blessing from Christ that gives forgiveness, life, and
salvation.
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