When I ask God to forgive my sins - with a sincere and contrite heart - I know I am forgiven, right then and right there. God's amazing grace and love for me - through Jesus Christ - has made this possible. Why is it still important that I partake of Holy Communion?
Questions Listed Under Lord's Supper
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We receive the Lord's Supper for precisely the same reasons that we listen to or read the Gospel when the Word of God is made available to us. You are correct when you describe that you have the free and full forgiveness of sins as you confess your sins to God and seek his forgiveness on account of Christ's perfect and completed work for you. Why do you enjoy this magnificent reality? Not because of your asking or being sorry for your sins (although these are certainly a part of your thinking and feeling since the Holy Spirit leads you to express this). Rather, it is because of Christ's work for you, his giving himself, including his body and blood into death in your place -- and the Holy Spirit has brought you to trust or rely on Christ as your Savior and Substitute. How did you receive and now enjoy this saving faith? Through the Gospel. And when you receive the Lord's Supper you are receiving the very same Good News about Christ's work for you -- along with the body and blood to affirm and intensify the message for your spiritual health. And your saving faith is being nourished.
The Lord's Supper has been called a "visible Gospel" since it comes to us visibly in a way that the spoken or written Word does not. But it's the same Gospel, essentially the same message. The Holy Spirit uses the Lord's Supper the same way he uses the Word of God to maintain and strengthen our faith in Christ. No wonder we delight in both Word and sacrament. You are not really receiving anything different, but you are receiving it in a different way -- the forgiveness of sins and affirmation of Christ's work for you.
When asked, "Why the Lord's Supper in addition to the Bible reading or sermons we already receive?" we may reply, "For the same reason we enjoy and want lunch and supper in addition to breakfast." All are designed to nourish and strengthen us. All feed us physically. Word and sacrament feed us spiritually. The more the better!
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Why isn't the Lord's Supper celebrated every Sunday (especially during Lent, Advent, etc.)?" It seems that as a sinner, I need that grace and forgiveness as much as possible.
Our Lord Jesus, in instituting this sacrament, did not address the issue of how often we should offer or receive it. His words merely indicate it is to be done repeatedly and until he returns again in glory. In short, the frequency is and will remain a matter of Christian freedom and the frequency of offering and receiving the Lord's Supper will remain a decision to be made by the local congregation and the individual child of God in consultation with the pastor. In the Small Catechism Martin Luther emphasized this aspect of the freedom that we have and then said the right way that the frequency is increased is when the people of God ask for it and insist on it from among themselves.
Your words might indicate unnecessary concern about the forgiveness of sins. You possess this continuously through faith in your Savior Jesus Christ and this faith with full forgiveness is conveyed and strengthened through the Gospel that you read in your home, hear in sermons and Bible readings, and ponder throughout life. So even when you do not receive the Sacrament on a given day or week, for example, your possession and enjoyment of pardon and peace need not be considered diminished. This is by no means said to downplay the value of the Lord's Supper -- which is pure Gospel -- but to avoid allowing the written and spoken Word to be considered lacking whenever the sacrament is absent.
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How can we say that in communion we receive Christ's real body and blood?
The clear promise that Christ gives to his church is, "Take and eat, this is my body," and "This is my blood" (Matthew 26:26-28). Together with the bread and wine that we receive, Jesus, the Son of God, says he gives us his body and his blood that were given into death and poured out on our behalf.
The real presence of Christ's body and blood is a special, sacramental presence that is beyond our full understanding. We say this to avoid crass, cannibalistic ideas that have no place here. This eating is real, but it is supernatural. We do not see or taste the body and blood. It cannot be detected by our senses. We do not digest it like ordinary food.
In summary, we believe that Christ's body and blood are present in the Sacrament and received because of the promise of Christ and because Christ’s body is the body of the Son of God.
A more thorough study of this is available by reading Articles VII and VIII of the Formula of Concord, which deals with the connected subjects of the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper and the person of Christ, the God-man. -
The other day after church a non-member asked me why everyone looked so sad and serious after just having their sins washed away through communion. I said that even though my sins are forgiven I realize the cost of that through Christ's death for me is very serious and that I will sin again. What are your thoughts on this?
What an important question you have asked! I hope many people read this and find greater joy in the sacrament.
The cost of forgiveness through Christ's death for me does indeed make Holy Communion a serious matter, but not a somber event.
For various cultural and historic reasons, some Lutherans may focus too much on their guilt or feeling "sorry enough" rather than focusing on the main point: that a loving and gracious God pours his love, forgiveness, and power for Christian living into our lives through this sacrament.What is the dominant mood of Holy Communion? I have asked this question in several adult Bible classes. Many participants say "serious" or "repentance," but the dominant mood really is joy—granted, a serious and not giddy joy—but still joy.
The sacrament is pure gospel. That's why joy is the dominant mood.
We can learn something from our hymns, especially the text of Johann Franck's great communion hymn:
Soul, adorn yourself with gladness; Leave behind all gloom and sadness.
Come into the daylight's splendor; There with joy your praises render.
Now I kneel before you lowly, Filled with joy most deep and holy,
As with trembling awe and wonder On your mighty work I ponder.
(Christian Worship, 311:1,4)
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