6th Chief Part: The Sacrament of the Altar

Sermons on the Small Catechism: The Lord’s Supper

Jeremiah 31:31-34  +  1 Corinthians 11:23-32

The Sixth and final Chief Part of the Small Catechism is the Sacrament of the Altar. As you know, Lutherans have a unique position on this teaching, neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant. But it’s the only position that agrees with Holy Scripture, and so we hold to it gladly and give thanks to God for the precious gift of this Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ.

There are two main questions concerning the Sacrament of the Altar. What is it? And, What is it for?

First, what is it? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself, for us Christians to eat and to drink. The Roman Catholic Church agrees with us about the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ, but they reject the part about bread and wine still being present. Instead, they believe in Transubstantiation, that the substance of the bread and wine is converted into something else, so that the bread and wine are gone, replaced by Christ’s body and blood that now just look like bread and wine. Meanwhile, the Protestants (modern Evangelicals, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, etc.) agree with us about bread and wine being present but reject the part about the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ. Instead, they believe in Representationism, that the bread and wine (or grape juice in many cases) merely symbolize or represent the absent body and blood of Christ.

But we believe, according to Holy Scripture, that bread and wine, and Christ’s body and blood, are truly present in the Sacrament, received, eaten, and drunk by everyone who participates in the Sacrament. Jesus is not using figurative language here, as He institutes this Sacrament. He isn’t speaking in riddles or using any symbols. “This is My body. This is My blood,” He said. Or in some passages, “This is the New Testament in My blood” or “This is My blood of the New Covenant.” As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. You see? We partake of the bread that is the communion of the body of Christ. If we just stick with Scripture and with the plain words of Jesus, it isn’t that hard.

It’s also what the Christian Church has always taught and believed. It wasn’t until the year 1215, at the Fourth Lateran Council, when the doctrine of transubstantiation became official. And it wasn’t until the 16^th century that anyone in the Church started denying the Real Presence of Jesus body and blood in the Sacrament, as the Reformed theologians broke away from Rome and felt free to change whichever teachings didn’t mesh with their human reason.

And so we stick with the plain and simple words of Jesus about what the Sacrament of the Altar is. Because to play around with the words of Jesus is to dishonor Him greatly. But to take Him at His Word, to believe this unbelievable thing that He said, is the highest form of worship. It gives Him all the glory for us to submit our fallen reason to His Word, and to cling to His Word above all things.

The second main question concerning the Sacrament is, What is it for? What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?

The Roman Catholic Church says it’s for offering up to God a sacrifice of atonement for the living and the dead. Every time the Eucharist is celebrated, the priest is said to be offering the body and blood of Jesus to God the Father as a sacrifice for sin, as if the sacrifice Jesus made once on the cross needed to be re-offered over and over again. Even if no one else eats or drinks except for the priest, they say that the mere act of the priest offering up this sacrifice to God benefits all those for whom the Mass is being celebrated, whether they’re alive or dead.

Meanwhile, the Protestants say that the benefit of observing the Lord’s Supper is that Christians are obeying the command of Christ to “do this,” making a public testimony that they believe Jesus suffered and died for our sins. It’s their act of obedience toward God.

The Romanists are dead wrong about it being a repeated sacrifice offered up to the Father, because Christ gave Himself once on the cross for all sin. He was the one and only High Priest who offered up that sacrifice to God the Father. No human being dare try to offer it up again. And the Protestants get this part wrong, too, as they entirely miss the main purpose of the Sacrament.

So, What is the benefit of this eating and drinking? That is shown us by these words: “Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins,” namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. In other words, by eating and drinking the very body and blood of Christ that were once given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins, we are made partakers of Christ’s sacrifice, and we are given the gifts that He earned by His sacrifice, even the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. So the main purpose of the meal isn’t to give something to God, but to receive from God the best gifts He has to give.

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? Just as in Baptism, it isn’t the water that does such great things, but the word of God that’s spoken in connection with the water, so in this Sacrament it isn’t the eating and drinking that does it, but the words that are there: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words accompany the bodily eating and drinking as the chief part in the Sacrament, and whoever believes these words has what they say and as they declare, namely, forgiveness of sins. Faith doesn’t have to be there to receive Christ’s body and blood. Even an unbeliever would receive that, if he were to somehow participate with us in the Sacrament, because what the Sacrament is doesn’t depend on faith, but solely on the Word of Christ. So an unbeliever would receive the body and blood of Christ, but he would receive it for his judgment, as something harmful to him, whereas the believer receives it for the forgiveness of sins. Because the forgiveness of sins is a promise, and faith is always required to receive a promise.

What else is required for a person to receive the Sacrament worthily? The Roman Church used to teach that you had to be fasting, or that you had to go to confession in order to be worthy to receive the Lord’s Supper. But we say in the Catechism, He is truly worthy and well-prepared who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.” But whoever does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared. For the words “for you” require nothing but believing hearts.

So, faith. Believing hearts. That’s what makes a person “worthy,” that is, “well-prepared” to receive the Sacrament. Some people get the idea that they have to be practically sinless to go to the Sacrament. But that’s not true at all. Not sinless, but penitent. Sorry for your sins. Trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. And believing what He says about the Sacrament, both that it is His true body and blood, and that He’s giving it to you, once again, for the forgiveness of your sins, so that when you eat His body and drink His blood, you can be certain that He is including you in His sacrifice, that He still accepts you as a member of His body, and that He still includes you in the eternal inheritance of all who have been redeemed and reconciled to God through His body and blood, given and shed on the cross, and now given to Christians to eat and to drink in the Sacrament of the Altar.

How often should you use the Sacrament? As often as you realize you still live in the sinful and unbelieving world, which seeks to drag you away from faith in Christ Jesus. As often as you realize the devil is targeting you for destruction. As often as you realize that one of your most deadly enemies is the very sinful flesh you carry around with you all the time, which will gain the upper hand over you, unless the Lord Himself helps you. So, how often should you use the Sacrament? As often as possible! May God lead you to see it as an indispensable treasure. And may the true body and blood of Jesus strengthen you and preserve you in the true faith unto life everlasting. Depart in peace. Amen.