LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 367

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 367

Two Kinds of “Christians as Individual” Communicants

We may at this point summarize the teaching of the Lutheran
Confessions regarding those who commune “‘worthily” and those
who commune “unworthily.” Those who commune worthily are
Christians with “genuine faith,” understood as encompassing both
saving faith in Christ Jesus as well as faith in and proper under-
standing of the nature and benefits of the Lord’s Supper itself. Such
faith, it must quickly be added, is no human achievement and no
mere intellectual assent. It is heartfelt trust and is the gift of God
the Holy Spirit who works through the Word. Such faith recognizes
the Supper for the gift that it is and eagerly acknowledges and re-
ceives the benefits of forgiveness, life, and salvation offered in the
Eucharist.

At the same time, the Confessions also acknowledge that such
faith (a faith that renders “worthy” reception of the Lord’s Supper
possible) also has effects in the realm of one’s response to God’s
commandments and one’s relationship to other people. Luther
writes in the Large Catechism:

Those who are shameless and unruly must be told to slay away, for they

are not fit to receive the forgiveness of sins since they do not desire it

and do not want to be good. . . .The only exception [to the truth that

“we come... .because we are unworthy”] is the person who desires no

grace and absolution and has no intention to amend his life. (LC V, 58,

61; Tappert, 453)

The willingness to “amend one’s sinful life” is a necessary and
inevitable outcome of genuine faith. This statement about repen-
tance shows that the Confessions agree with the Pauline emphases
on the corporate nature of the Sacrament that were underscored and
described in the first part of this study (cf. AC XXIV; Apology
XXIV; SA II, ii, 9).

Pastoral Oversight and “Christians as Individuals”

Just as Paul exercised oversight as “pastor” in the situation at
Corinth, so also Christian pastors exercise oversight in the admin-
istration of the Lord’s Supper in the worship life of the congrega-
tion. In the context of the Lutheran Confessions, the disputed issue
is often the relationship of the pope and/or the bishops to local
priests/pastors. But the following quotations make it clear that the
pastors have the responsibility of oversight:

Thus the Mass is preserved among us in its proper use, the use which
was formerly observed in the church and which can be proved by St.
Paul’s statement in I Cor. 11:20ff. and by many statements of the Fa-
thers. For Chrysostom reports how the priest stood every day, inviting
some to Communion and forbidding others to approach. The ancient
canons also indicate that one man officiated and communicated the
other priests and deacons, for the words of the Nicene canon read,
“After the priests the deacons shall receive the sacrament in order from
the bishop or priest.” (AC XXIV, 35-38; Tappert, 60)

The custom has been retained among us of not administering the sacra-
ment to those who have not previously been examined and absolved.
(AC XXV, |; Tappert, 61)

Our teachers assert thal according to the Gospel the power of keys or
the power of bishops is a power and command of God to preach the
Gospel, to forgive and retain sins, and to administer and distribute the
sacraments. . . .This power of keys or of bishops is used and exercised
only by teaching and preaching the Word of God and by administering
ihe sacraments (to many persons or 1o individuals, depending on one’s
calling). (AC XXVIII, 5, 8; Tappert, 81-82)

According to divine right, therefore, il is the office of the bishop to
preach the Gospel, forgive sins, judge doctrine and condemn doctrine
that is contrary to the Gospel, and exclude from the Christian commu-
nity the ungodly whose wicked conduct is manifest. (AC XXVIII, 21;
Tappert, 84)

However, the lesser (that is, the truly Christian) excommunication ex-
cludes those who are manifest and impenitent sinners from the Sacra-
ment and other fellowship of the church until they mend their ways and
avoid sin. Preachers should not mingle civil punishments with this spir-
itual penally or excommunication. (SA IIT, ix; Tappert, 314)

The Gospel requires of those who preside over the churches that they
preach the Gospel, remit sins, administer the sacraments, and, in addi-
tion, exercise jurisdiction, that is, excommunicate those who are guilty
of notorious crimes and absolve those who repent. By the confession of
all, even of our adversaries, it is evident that this power belongs by di-
vine right to all who preside over the churches [and not just to bishops
or popes], whether they are called pastors, presbyters, or bishops. (Trea-
tise, 60-61; Tappert. 330)

Begin by teaching them the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s
Prayer, etc., following the text word for word so that the young may re-
peat these things after you and retain them in their memory.

If any refuse to receive your instructions, tell them that they deny Christ
and are no Christians. They should nol be admitted to the sacrament,
be accepted as sponsors in Baptism, or be allowed to par-ticipate in any
Christian privileges. (SC, Preface, 10-11; Tappert, 339)
But let us talk about the term “liturgy.” It does not really mean a saeri-
fice but a public service. Thus il squares with our posilion that a minis-
ter who consecrates shows forth the body and blood of the Lord to the
people, just as a minister who preaches shows forth the gospel to the
people, as Paul says (J Cor. 4:1), “This is how one should regard us, as
ministers of Christ and dispensers of the sacraments of God,” that is, of
the Word and sacraments; and If Cor. 5:20, “We are ambassadors for
Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of
Christ, be reconciled to God.” (Ap XXIV, 79-80; Tappert, 263-64)
The active role of the pastor is assumed in these confessional
statements: “inviting some. . .and forbidding others,” “forgive. . .
judge. . condemn. . .exclude,” “preside over the church.” The Con-
fessions teach that it is the pastor's privilege and responsibility to
administer the sacraments according to the call that he has re-
ceived.”’ This is not to be done in a high-handed manner, nor
should the pastor think that he can see into the hearts of those who
commune. Rather, he is to instruct, admonish, and invite to (or bar
from) the Sacrament in accordance with biblical and confessional
teaching about the Sacrament. And as God gives him wisdom he
is to administer the Sacrament faithfully to his congregation. Un-
less there is compelling reason to think otherwise, the pastor will
assume that his members’ confession of faith, made when they
joined his congregation, was sincere. He will deal with them as in-
dividuals who commune worthily by virtue of genuine faith in
these words, “Given and shed for you for the remission of sins.”
When he learns that a member has a mistaken or uninformed un-
derstanding of some aspect of Christian truth, the pastor will follow
the example of Paul and not arbitrarily bar this person from the
Sacrament. Rather, he will teach, encourage, correct, and admonish
with great patience. For there are only two kinds of individual com-
municants: those who, through faith in these words, participate
worthily to their great blessing and benefit, and those who, through
lack of such faith, participate unworthily and to their judgment.

C. Communicants as “Confessors”

Since there are two kinds of individual communicants and only
two, an important observation follows. The teaching of our Synod,
which is consistent with historic Christianity, is to refrain from
communing Christians who have joined themselves to churches
whose public confession differs in important ways from the scrip-
tural and confessional teaching (and thus is heterodox). This has
been the case even when those church bodies (e.g., the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America [ELCA]) officially espouse the bibli-
cal and confessional teaching regarding the Sacrament of the Altar.
Our practice of not communing those who belong to such church
bodies does not mean that we fear that such individual Christians
would necessarily commune in an unworthy manner. There is an-
other important consideration besides genuine faith and personal
worthiness. We ask at times that those who may have genuine faith
and who, if they were to commune in our churches might do so in a
worthy manner, still not commune at our altars because of other
doctrinal disagreements between their church bodies and our own
Synod. There is a need for more precision when we enunciate this

2001 Convention Workbook