An American guest, a close friend, politely asked to be exempted from going with us yesterday to one of the small, historical village churches in the neighborhood.  His reluctance had to do with the fact that that the Lord´s Supper (or the breaking of bread) in a Lutheran church is open for all kinds of people, including the unsaved.

How is his “breaking of bread” position? How is the position of those church goers? And how is my own position?

Well, his and my position would be identical.  We practice 1 Cor. 11:23-26 as an act of worship and thanksgiving.  We don´t do that to get anything, but to give the Lord something, i.e. our heart´s thanks for His great, great salvation.

To most church goers in our Lutheran state church the Lord´s Supper is about getting (or getting anew) the forgiveness of sins.  I remember one of my childhood´s pals saying once:  ”I´ve just had my sins´ forgiveness!”  To him it was just a churchy game.

”I felt the need of the communion today”, an elderly neighbor said to me.  To him it was more than a game, it was a longing for something religious or emotional – something to do with the forgiveness of sins.

Born again believers don´t participate, however, to obtain the remission of sins.  We go because this gift is already a reality with Christ in our hearts as the absolutely only Savior of our lost souls.  Has no repentance and a new birth taken place, all the rituals of the whole religious world will be of no avail whatsoever.

In a way the Lutheran ritual on paper is okay:  It talks about the Lord´s Supper as being for ”Thy remembrance and for the affirmation of the forgiveness of sins”, for it will never be more than a meal of remembrance for true believers who have trusted Christ.  It´s not for religious, unconverted people.

To those people the Lord´s words to Nicodemus are still solemnly valid more than ever:  ”Ye must be born again!” (John 3:7).

Sept. 10, 2012 – jn