LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 174

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174

Theology and Church Relations

pastor in their respective districts in order to determine whether those
congregations and pastors are actually practicing our Synod-approved
position on closed Communion, which is founded on the Scriptures
and the Lutheran Confessions. (Note: The district president always
has the right to direct his vice-presidents and circuit counselors to
assist him in the endeavor.)
Southern Illinois District
3-23

To Affirm Biblical Practice of Admission
to the Lord’s Table
Whereas, The new testament in Jesus’ blood instituted by Christ
Himself is most holy, whereby we are brought, as it were, into the
very Holy of Holies of God, as God gives us the true body and blood
of our Savior; and
Whereas, This new covenant takes the place of and is the fulfillment of the old covenant given by God at Mt. Sinai; and
Whereas, God has entrusted pastors with the proper administration of this blessed mystery in a way similar to the way Old Testament
priests were charged to oversee the sacrifices of the Lord, so that pastors should heed the warnings of Scripture, as when faithful Abijah
speaks to rebellious Jeroboam,

But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken Him;
and the sons of Aaron are ministering to the LORD as priests, and the
Levites attend to their work. And every morning and evening they burn
to the LORD burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and the showbread
is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is
ready to light every evening; for we keep the charge [literally, “guard
the things to be guarded”] of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken
Him. (2 Chron. 13:10–11)

Which these words hearken back to an earlier scene during the
days of Aaron, when Korah and his sons and with them 250 others
had brought great trouble on young Israel, so that the Lord said to
Aaron,

So you shall attend to the obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar [literally, “you shall guard the things to be guarded of
the sanctuary and the things to be guarded of the altar”], that there may
no longer be wrath on the sons of Israe1. (Num. 18:5);
and

Whereas, The proper administration of the new covenant is certainly as important as the proper administration of the old covenant,
for it involves “the blood of sprinkling” (Heb. 12:24); and
Whereas, That proper administration involves limiting who
should “be invited or allowed to commune at the altar of our Lord”
to those who

1. are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit; and
2. say the same thing—are of the same mind, bring with them the
same teaching, that is, the apostles’ doctrine: “Now by this we know
that we have known Him, if we guard His commandments. He who
says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not guard His commandments, is a liar,
and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4); “teaching them to observe
all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20); “and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42); “that you may
with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ” (Rom.15:6); “holding fast the faithful word as he has been
taught” (Titus 1:9); and
3. live an outwardly godly life (1 Cor. 5:11, 13; 10:20–21)

which teaching is nothing new but was espoused in the second century by Justin Martyr, “First Apology” (c. 150):

(66) And this food is called among us Eucharistia [the Eucharist],
of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that
the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the
washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration and who
is so living as Christ has enjoined;

and

Whereas, Throughout the history of the LCMS, its members have
guarded the things to be guarded of the altar ” by taking seriously the
question of who should be invited or allowed to commune at the altar
of our Lord in LCMS congregations so that it was stated unequivocally in 1967 (Res. 2-19) that its pastors, “except in situations of
emergency and in special cases of pastoral care, commune individuals of only those Lutheran Synods which are now in fellowship with
us,” which was restated again in 1986 and 1995; and
Whereas, In recent decades that holy practice has been neglected
among us, so that pastors find “special cases of pastoral care” or
“extraordinary situations” and “situations of emergency” around
every corner (i.e., when relatives, friends, or visitors who are members of congregations/denominations outside our fellowship attend
the Divine Service in our congregations on any given Sunday morning, when they attend at Christmas, for the Baptism of a relative, at
Easter, or following a wedding); and
Whereas, Our Synod’s President writes in his June 2009 Letter
to Pastors:
Having said the above in my convention report about our doctrinal
unity, I do take note of areas in which we in the LCMS are not in agreement, citing four of them [the first only cited here ]: ‘The administration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, mainly the question of who
should be invited or allowed to commune at the altar of our Lord in
LCMS congregations’;
and

Whereas, In the above-cited Letter to Pastors, President
Kieschnick speaks of a lack of agreement among us in practice as to
“who should be invited or allowed to commune” and then goes on to
write about the matter as follows,
Where Scripture speaks plainly and clearly to the question at hand,
the matter is resolved. Where Scripture does not speak plainly, clearly,
or at all to the question at hand, it behooves us as a group of rational,
reasonable, Christian people to come to a godly and common-sense conclusion regarding how to proceed with mutual respect and non-offensive
conduct;
and

Whereas, The Scriptures are clear and do not change, and yet
throughout the Synod it seems that “everyone does what is right in his
own eyes ” (Judges 17:6) regarding who is eligible to commune; and
Whereas, The postmodern world politically, socially, and religiously is one of doublespeak in which clear statements of truth are
regularly ignored or interpreted away; therefore be it
Resolved, That the 2010 LCMS convention confess Christ boldly
by affirming the clear teaching of Scripture regarding participation
in the Lord’s Supper as stated in the fifth “whereas” above; and be
it further
Resolved, That the 2010 LCMS convention declare that the matter regarding who is eligible to commune at the altar of the Lord is
resolved; and be it further
Resolved, That the 2010 LCMS convention admonish all who
oversee doctrine and practice among us to enforce the proper
administration of the Sacrament of the Altar in all of the member congregations of the LCMS; and be it further
Resolved, That the 2010 LCMS convention thank and praise
God for those faithful pastors who are guarding that which has been
entrusted to them, the mystery of the blessed Sacrament, but warn
those who trifle with the holy things and profane the name of Christ
by practicing open communion, for they treat as common the holy
blood by which they were redeemed; and be it finally
Resolved, That the 2010 LCMS convention recognize that open
communion includes communing those whose confession is only
“close” to our own, and that it is time once more to guard against the
“i” of the “like/same” debate at the time of Arius (Council of Nicaea;

2010 Convention Workbook

2010 Convention.indb 174

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