For All the Baptized

"To begin with, we must repeat the prefatory statement that we do not abolish the Mass but religiously keep and defend it. In our church, Mass is celebrated every Sunday and on other festivals, when the Sacrament is offered." (Article XXIV, the Mass, Apology to the Augsburg Confession, 1531)

At the National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (Edmonton, 1991), after years of study at all levels of the church, this church in convention voted to return to the confessions to which we subscribe and once again commune "regularly."

This "regular communing" on all "Sundays and other festivals" was to begin again to include infants, as the early church did, as Luther affirmed, as the Orthodox Churches have never ceased to do. Holy Communion, variously called the Mass, Eucharist, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Feast of Love and the Lord's Supper, is for all the baptized.

Communion, from the Greek koinos, which means "common," best expresses the community life within the early Jesus movement, what Troeltsch called the "religious communism of love," when all was shared in common.

From this root comes the word expressing the communion of Christian community, koinonia. This describes a unity of shared call, purpose and vision, brought about by a bond of inner relationship; a common life and understanding in union with God and one another.

The divine power within the moment of shared bread and wine--body and blood--was the definitive "communion" binding Christians together as a covenant community.

Luther's explanation of the Sacrament of Holy Communion in his Large Catechism is broken into three parts: "what it is," "what its benefits are," and "who receives it."

We know already "what it is." Holy Communion is truly Christ's real presence in, with and under the elements of bread and wine. We also know "who receives it," affirming it to be a meal for all the baptized disciple community. We will now address the "benefits derived" from regular communing.

Inclusion

All of the baptized, without exception, are welcomed and included in the meal. Luther writes that any who wait to be worthy will never come. All that is needful is to recognize our need, to be truly contrite for our sins, and to believe God's promise. Any concerned about their relationship with God need and ought to come. It is those who do not see or feel any need who have need to ponder their relationship.

Forgiveness

Luther called Holy Communion the "soothing medicine" which "heals body and soul" and protects against "poisons" in the life around us and within us. One such poison is to believe ourselves unaccepted or unacceptable.

All of us have felt, at times, alone, unled, useless and loose-ended. Each of us has experienced our sinful selves. In Holy Communion, we are given God's unconditional promise of love, affirmation and forgiveness.

Strengthening

With God's inclusion, forgiveness and affirmation, our inner selves are nourished, our belief strengthened, and our consciences made secure. With the strength we receive from God and one another, we are able to go out and live as God's faithful people, God's presence in the world.

Unity

Just as we are baptized into community, so are we nourished and embraced by God within community. Around the altar we affirm our common life and need for one another. We, together, are the Body of Christ. In concentric circles, moving out from the altar to embrace those gathered around other altars throughout Christendom, we recognize our unity in, and through, Christ Jesus.

Peace of God

Only within the services of the Mass do we share the peace of God. This shalom peace is not just a warm and fuzzy well-wishing. Rather, it expresses a desire for the radical justice of God and commits each to work to ensure this for one another and others.

Daily Bread

Luther describes the Sacrament of Holy Communion as daily sustenance "so that our faith may refresh and strengthen itself and not weaken in the struggle but grow continually stronger" (Large Catechism). This daily bread of our Lord's body and blood was always to be served together with the preached Word. Together, these are food for the Christian journey; apart, they leave God's people hungering for more.

Love

If all come to our Lord's Supper to experience, and sustain, a common life in Christ, then the much vaunted, but not always real, Christian love can and will happen. Only through Word and Sacrament shared in community is such love possible.

Feasting

Each Sunday is a "little Easter"; therefore, a festival. Around the altar together, receiving the Sacrament of the Altar, we are fed by Jesus who is the host and receive a foretaste of all that is to come. We hear again the promise of eternal life with Christ after our death, and echoes of the time when Christ will come again in glory. This is cause for celebration! This is cause for thanksgiving!

Thankfulness

With God, and one another, we give thanks for what Jesus did for us and does again for, and with, us around this altar. We give thanks for barriers broken in and among us, for the promise given and kept, for forgiveness offered and granted, and for unity restored.

These "benefits" happen in and with community. Individually and collectively, we are touched by God to go out and joyfully serve our Lord. Thanks be to God!

For All the Baptized

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