April 9, 2020

I’ve been looking forward to this Holy Week since last Holy Week. I love the services that take us from the Mount of Olives through the Upper Room to Gethsemane and the betrayal and arrest of our Lord. I look forward to hearing of his sham of a trial and his bloody execution at the hands of sinful men, the very sinners he came to save. I remember fondly watching the men of a congregation we attended sit perfectly still through the Maundy Thursday service, a living depiction of Da Vinci’s famous Last Supper. This, not Christmas, is, in my opinion, the most wonderful time of the year. It doesn’t get any better than this. Here is where God delivers the on His first promise, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between her offspring and yours; you shall bruise his heal, but he shall crush your head.” The Savior’s hour has finally come. He Sacrifice must be made ready, and he will be ready to willingly give his life in exchange for yours.

On this holy night, we return with our Lord to the Upper Room. It’s a familiar place for those who grew up in the church. This is where the climax of the story begins. “When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” (Matthew 26:20-21) Jesus knew full well that Judas had already arranged to hand him over and had collected the payment of thirty pieces of silver for his treachery. Jesus knew, just as the Father knew of Adam’s sin when he cried out, “Adam, where are you?” in the freshly fallen Garden. He knew Adam’s sin. He knew Judas’s sin, and he knows your sin, too. He sees the things that you hide so well from the rest of the world—not only things done and left undone, but also every thought that crosses your mind. He knows, but he’s provided the payment for each and every sinful thought, word, and deed.

As the evening progressed through the usual remembrances of the God’s mighty deliverance of His people from bondage in Egypt, nothing else happened out of the ordinary. At least until the meal was nearly over when Jesus took bread and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take; eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, “Drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.” (Matthew 26:22-24) By these very words, Jesus gave us the gift of the Sacrament of the Altar, The Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist. And, we’ve grown accustomed to receiving his forgiveness, life, and salvation anew very often—more often than we deserve, and more often than almost any other time and place in the long history of the Church. We know the familiar motions of gathering at the rail with family and friends-brothers and sisters in Christ. I look forward to Maundy Thursday when we see most clearly the unity of the congregation and the communion of saints as we share from the same common cup of our Lord’s blood in, with, and under the wine. But this year, very few people are here physically in the sanctuary of St. Matthew Lutheran Church. Most of the congregation is at home watching the service on a screen! We mourn the loss of in-person fellowship and physical togetherness, and we cry out for a quick end to this separation. We hoped it would be over by now, but God has other plans.

In times of tragedy, novel and uncertain ideas have a way of sneaking into the Church. The Devil and his demons are hard at work trying to destroy what God has built. They want nothing more than to keep us apart for all of our celebrations of Easter. They want the Church to fall apart in trying times, but the Bridegroom who died for His Bride protects her still today. Our Synod is dealing with a familiarly unfamiliar problem. What do we do about communion in times of crisis? Usually it’s easy, we wait for the crisis to pass and it passes quickly. This time it’s different. We have not received our Lord’s body and blood in nearly a month. What are we to do? Many well-meaning, faithful men have dealt with the issue in questionable ways. As we have in the past, the Synod works quickly and in the spirit of brotherly affection to correct error in doctrine and practice where it arises in the hopes of restoring the penitent. The more specific problem we are facing together is this, “Is the Sacrament of the Altar truly the Sacrament of the Altar if the words instituted by Christ are spoken at the altar of the congregation while the congregation watches from afar with unleavened bread and wine on hand to consume as the Lord’s body and blood? Some say, “Yes.” Others say, “No.” Still others say, “We can’t be sure.” Herein lies the problem. 

The words of institution are truly God’s words and they will do what he wants them to do. We Pastors are charged with assuring the congregation of the certainty of God’s promise of forgiveness, life, and salvation, especially in times of tragedy and uncertainty. We strive to give you, the congregation, God’s Word and Sacrament free of any doubts.  This present debate leads us to examine what we, as Confessional Lutherans, believe about not only the Lord’s Supper, but also the Office of the Holy Ministry instituted by God. We are bound as God’s people to do things God’s way, not straying after any and every fanciful idea that comes along. Throughout the history of the church, there are countless times when gathering together for the Lord’s Supper was not possible due to pestilence and plague in times of war and peace. The Church on Earth of old survived, and we the Church on Earth of today will too. We hold, as Lutherans who subscribe to the Book of Concord as a true exposition of scripture, that in the Lord’s Supper, we receive into our mouths the real body and blood of Jesus, the Final Passover Lamb. How it gets there is a great mystery, but we simply trust that Jesus’ words “given for you” and “shed for the forgiveness of sins” are true. God’s Holy Word instructs on the proper use of the Sacrament and gives a warning to any who would use it improperly, as St. Paul says, “Whoever eats the body and blood of the Lord in an unworthy manner is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:27) The proper use and reception of the Sacrament is truly an important manner; get it wrong and we’re in big trouble. 

So, back to the question, “Can we have confidence in the Lord’s Supper delivered via Facebook live?” It is good that you desire to receive this gift, especially on this Holy Thursday. We long to celebrate with the saints around the world this night in this wonderful gift, but this year, it is not possible. We should not, and we will not. We know that in this blessed gift, we are united with our Lord in heaven, as well as the saints of God, both at the rail beside us and those who are already partaking in the heavenly banquet with Christ. The Sacrament is given to us as a community. It was never intended for individual, private use. It’s not to be celebrated across vast distances, but together as the body gathered in one place. There is not a reason for “emergency” communion. If we cannot be physically present together, we wait and we pray that God would bring us back together quickly. But don’t lose heart, we are not cut off from the mercy of God. In his divine wisdom, goodness, and mercy, our Lord set it up so that there are multiple ways that we receive the gift of divine pardon and peace. The Lord’s Supper is not the only means by which God gives you the gift of forgiveness. By his mighty Word, our Triune God offers you his forgiveness on Christ’s behalf. Nothing has changed in regards to the proclamation of the Word. Your ears pick up the sound of God’s holy word, and he tells us that faith comes by hearing the very word of God. Remember your baptisms each and every day as you begin it in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the very name by which you were baptized into Christ Jesus. Remember the baptism that brought to you new life and drowned the Old Adam that lives within you. 

Now is not the time to rush headlong into new practices in regard to the Lord’s Supper. God’s forgiveness is for you. This isn’t the first time that God’s people have been cut off from his gifts due to circumstance. The Exiles provide us with the best model for dealing with the present suffering. Like them, we are unable to gather together in the House of the Lord. So, we look to men like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who faced the fiery furnace because of their faithfulness and devotion to the one true God. We look to Daniel who likewise faced the lions trusting in God’s goodness and grace all while cut off from the Temple in Jerusalem many miles away. Continue to pray to the One True God. Ask for his deliverance from the present evil that has befallen us and from all of you sins of thought, word, and deed. Cry out like Exiles and wait for the Lord, in His time we will return to receive this wonderful, precious gift of His Son’s body and blood. We at St. Matthew will not be celebrating the gift of the Sacrament of the Altar until such time as our Lord provides the way back to in person services as we once knew them and as we long to return to worship here together. It is good that we should desire the Supper and grieve over our absence from the altar. Perhaps that is what God’s will is for us during this time. Still, it is best to refrain from participation in online communion services should you come across one. We, too, are exiled, not to some far away foreign land but to our homes. We are exiled but not abandoned. Even in this time of being apart we are united as members of the body of Christ and so we plead for mercy based on that fact. We have the claim of coheirs with Christ only by sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, who willingly left the safety of the Upper Room to walk with His betrayer to the Garden of Gethsemane. There he is betrayed by a kiss and handed over for the slaughter. Jesus is tried and sentenced to death for claiming what was true, that he is the Son of God. He died and spent three days resting in the tomb. He rose from the grave having conquered death and hell on your behalf. He came to you by the Spirit at your Baptism claiming you as his own, and when the pandemic is over and the danger lessened, He will invite you once again to feast on His body and blood at this altar, as you gather here kneeling beside your brothers and sisters in Christ, in the foretaste of the feast to come. So now, go to dark Gethsemane, gaze upon the Lord of All as he hangs on the tree with pierced hands and feet. Mourn the death of the Innocent One. He died because of your sin, and finally rejoice in His victory as the empty tomb awaits. Amen

April 5, 2020

It’s here! Holy Week is upon us! Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be lifted up and glorified. Like the people gathered to celebrate the Passover Feast so long ago, we, too, look forward to Palm Sunday each and every year. Year after year, the children process down the aisle of churches around the world shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Year after year we sing songs of praise together in preparation for the week to come.

The celebration this year is vastly different. The pews are empty. There are no children waiving branches, and you are watching service from afar. The shut-in list has grown from three to everyone overnight. The future is uncertain. Years of economic growth have not only come to a halt, in many cases they’ve gone over a cliff. I don’t feel like celebrating much of anything most days. But, here we are, gathered together miles apart to take the final few steps that lead us to the cross and the empty tomb. The reality of this season remains the same as it always has been. This week the sorrowful, penitent reflection of the season of Lent will give way to the joyous celebration of our Lord’s resurrection, but we’ll have to do things a little differently than what we call normal. The important things of the season don’t depend on us; we depend on Him. Everything we do as a congregation and in life through our many and various vocations, is all about Jesus. Whether we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation or we’re isolated during Holy Week because of a pandemic, it’s all about Jesus. Listen to Him.

While they were in the city making preparations for what would be the final Passover sacrifice, Jesus and the Twelve were going about their day when some Gentiles approached Philip asking to see Jesus. Philip went and got Andrew and the two went together to Jesus. It’s easy to pass over this little detail, but don’t. Philip should have been concerned with his own cleanliness. No self-respecting Jew would have been caught in the presence of a potentially unclean Gentile during this time, but Philip knows where true purity comes from—Jesus, who gives the answer, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23-24) The hour has come. The Son of Man will be lifted up upon the cross and all the world will see it. The only pure, blameless Lamb is about to be led to the slaughter. The Light will overtake the darkness. The Son’s heel will be struck and the serpent’s head crushed.

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” Isn’t it funny how the people gathered in Jerusalem, waiving branches and singing praises had no clue who they were welcoming. We often don’t know the power and truth of our words. Many times in Scripture (and in life) we see people get what they ask for in unexpected ways. Just before we hear of Jesus’ entry into the Holy City, we’re told the Jewish officials are plotting and planning to do away with him. Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for one man to die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” (John 11:49-50) What a wonderful prophecy given to the High Priest by God Himself. They planned to arrest Jesus and offered a reward to any who would turn Him in. They plotted even to murder newly resurrected Lazarus to halt the news that a man dead for four days was again making the trek to Jerusalem for the Passover.

Be careful what you pray for, you just might get it. Have you prayed for more time together with your family? This stay-at-home order is an answer to your prayer. Have you asked God to rekindle to a fading flame in your marriage? Safely at home you are reminded of why you fell in love in the first place. Have you asked God to help you understand Common Core math? We’ve prayed as a congregation that God would return those who have wandered from the fellowship of the saints on earth. Could He use this time to fan an ember of faith into a blazing flame? He might be.

Holy Week is going to look drastically different. Much of the pomp and circumstance is not possible this year, but the reality is that nothing has changed about this week. Jesus was welcomed as asking, pursued by the priests and the Pharisees, and he will share a final Passover Seder with the Twelve after which one there present will betray Him. He’ll be tried by the Sanhedrin and handed over to the executioners. He’ll be stripped, beaten and paraded through the streets on the way of suffering that leads to a place called “Skull”. His hands and feet will have nails hammered through. He will be lifted up. The crowd that welcomed him will call for his death. He will be mocked and bloodied on the cross for all to see until he cries out with his last breath, “It is finished.”

Our celebration will be different, but the truth of the gospel story remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. Previous plagues have disrupted the life of the saints on earth before. What got them through will do the same for you. Remember your baptism each and every day. Pray for a quick end to covid-19, for protection from the disease if it is God’s will. Remember the promise Jesus gave to the disciples as they began the final journey to Jerusalem, “We must go to Jerusalem in order that I may die and be raised again on the third day.” Amen.