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Looking up content for: Lord's Day 30 (posted on 02/13/2006)
Comments, Observations, and Questions to Consider
Lord’s Day 30 begins with Q&A 80 and its condemnation of the Roman Catholic mass. This is hardly the most edifying part of the Catechism—and it was itself a late addition to this confession—and it is being closely scrutinized today for accuracy. So for these sermon-starter ideas, we will restrict ourselves to Q&A 81 and 82 as these pose questions that are relevant for every one of us.
Who may come to the Lord’s table? It’s a vital question and one that has been asked many times in history, often through great tears and travails. Pastors everywhere know the anguish that some people have over the question as to whether or not they are “worthy” to come to the table. Paul’s words about not eating and drinking judgment unto ourselves loom large in the minds of people who wonder if their current level of faith—and the doubts, struggles, and questions they may have about faith at any given moment—disqualify them from the Lord’s table.
Then again, the church has in the past sometimes fostered an atmosphere of fear where the Lord’s Supper is concerned. At one time in the history of some Reformed congregations, celebrating the Lord’s Supper was a very infrequent event, perhaps no more often than 4 times per year. When the sacrament was celebrated, the Elders of the church took seriously their need to “guard the table” and the practice of “close communion” was designed to keep the unworthy well away from the sacrament. Only members in good standing could take the meal, and even they were given an entire week’s worth of time to examine themselves to make sure they were not persisting in willful sins—sin that, if left unchecked and unrepented of, would turn the bread and wine of the Supper into pure spiritual poison. On the Sunday before the Supper was to be celebrated, a lengthy “Preparatory Form” would be read, telling people that the sacrament was coming up the following week and so sternly urging them to spend the week in serious prayer and self-examination lest they not be ready to come to the Table.
All of this was done with the highest and best of intentions. But it did sometimes put the focus more on our own efforts to get ourselves ready and less on the prior grace of Christ Jesus that calls all people to the table. At times a person’s repentance (as generated through self-examination in the week gone by) became almost like an entrance ticket to the table. But can we ever get ourselves ready? Is it up to us to lay the groundwork for admission to the sacrament?
In truth, and as Q&A 81-82 make clear, the table exists for sinners. The presence of sin, even sin with which a person struggles on a regular basis, does not DISqualify a person’s participation but is exactly the reason WHY such a person needs the grace, love, forgiveness, and renewing power of God as on display at the Table. The more displeased a person is with him- or herself, the more reason there is to come to the sacrament. Indeed, we come because we realize there is no other place anywhere to which to turn to have our sins put away and forgiven.
The only people who should not come are also those who, one presumes, WOULD not come; viz., those who believe they don’t have a problem with sin in any event. The only reason to come to the Lord’s Table is because you believe that ONLY the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross can solve this world’s thrall to sin and evil. There is no other way to have sin forgiven or to roll back evil. So perhaps instead of warning the flagrant and flippant away from the Table (since they seem unlikely to be interested to come in the first place), perhaps the better warning is against any thought we may have that our own goodness contributes to our salvation. The presence of sin in our lives does not nullify our participation in the Supper. However, the presence of pride, of thinking that our salvation is partly up to us, may count as a disqualifying factor. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross either accomplishes it all for us or it does not. If we think we need to chip in a bit to get saved (or to keep ourselves saved), then we are subtly suggesting that the cross was not necessary (or that the cross didn’t seal the deal). There were alternatives. It is that kind of attitude that is likewise wrong. The Son of God would not be on display before our eyes chopped up and spilled out unless this horrific sacrifice were the only way for salvation to come.
In other words, a sermon on L.D. 30 may be an occasion for pastoral care for those who are so guilt-ridden that they wonder whether it’s even “safe” for them to take communion. At the same time, it’s an occasion for gentle challenging for any who pay more attention to (and give more weight to) their own merits than the surpassing grace of Christ Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross for us.
Possible Biblical Texts
I Corinthians 11: This is the most obvious passage to which to turn when pondering who may, or may not, come to the Lord’s table. However, it’s important not to lose sight of the original context. It’s too easy to take Paul’s words about discerning the body and eating and drinking judgment unto oneself out of context as though they are a one-size-fits-all admonition. There are timeless truths to draw out of this passage but the original setting of these words must be kept in mind.
The Last Supper: If you pick any one of the synoptic accounts of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper—or if you look at John 13-14 and John’s own unique presentation of that final evening before Jesus’ crucifixion—it is instructive to note that at even the very first-ever celebration of what we now call Holy Communion, there were a lot of needy sinners gathered at Jesus’ table. Judas was plotting. Peter was teetering on the verge of denial. All of the disciples would soon flee and leave Jesus in the lurch. None truly understood what was going on. Perhaps a sermon on one of these stories could become an occasion to remind us that at any given moment, none of us gathers at Jesus’ table as perfect people. Sin and misunderstanding clings to also our minds. But that’s why we come. Jesus invites us as we are so that he can forgive us and infuse us with ever-greater amounts of his divine life.
Illustration Idea
Paul makes clear that it is not a person's discovering sin that should prohibit taking communion, rather it is a person's denial of sin that does so! The problem with some of the Corinthians is that they had gotten full of themselves, they lost sight of the fact that what the Lord's Supper is all about is Jesus' offering forgiveness to sinful folks. The point of self-examination is not that if you find some sin, you may not eat. Quite the opposite! If you find some sin, then that is precisely why you must come!
The only people warned to stay away are the ones who think that sin is only someone else's problem. If you think sin is not really that big of a deal, if you think you're just fine the way you are and that even if you do have a few little wrinkles in your character, you can take care of them on your own--if, in other words, you trivialize sin such that you think you don't really need a Savior dying in your place, then you have no business eating this bread or drinking this cup.
Because the fractured body and spilled blood of Jesus that we see depicted in this bread and wine mean sin is so serious that God absolutely had to go to these lengths to root it out. But if you think you can wave away sin by your own efforts, then how dare you take Jesus' body and blood into your mouth!?
So if you make too little of sin, you ought not partake. Then again, making too much of your sin can be just as bad. Indeed, here's a jarring thought: if you think a certain sin must keep you away from the sacrament but that some day, once you've cleared it up, you'll be back, then isn't it possible that what you're really saying is that you do not trust the grace of this meal to forgive you? Might that not be a subtle way of saying that what you bring to God at this table is more important than what God brings to you? But isn't that exactly the kind of attitude Paul wants to get rid of?
Sin is what brings us to this table, not what keeps us away! Jesus knows this is so. After all, recall the very first time the Lord's Supper was celebrated. It was in the Upper Room the night of Jesus' betrayal. That evening Jesus handed the bread to one man who was on the verge of betraying him, to another man on the cusp of denying him, and to ten other people each of whom would, within hours, abandon Jesus. They were a sinful, doubting, betraying, denying, confused, messed-up group of disciples and yet that did not prevent Jesus from saying, "This is my body, this is my blood which is for you!" And it's been no different ever since.