Weekly C mmunion: the Gift that Keeps On Giving By Taylor Schmidt
The pastor
anxiously watched as the small congregation gathered into the fellowship hall and took their seats. Greeting the people, he slowly began his exhortation. “So,” he spoke, “I will now open the floor to you all. What are your concerns regarding every Sunday communion?” Immediately, an opinionated man shot his hand into the air. The young pastor gestured toward him, encouraging him to speak. “First and foremost, if we participate in communion every Sunday, it will no longer be special. It will lose all meaning.”
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Christians today are easily mislead into forgetting what a gift we have been given in the Supper of Christ’s Body and Blood. The devil has already worked his lies into congregations that believe the bread and wine represent the Body and Blood of Christ when Christ clearly states, “This is my body…this is my blood.” Satan doesn’t stop there. He tries his lies in the hearts and minds of the those who do confess the Lord’s Supper rightly. Instead of telling
them it represents Christ’s Body and Blood, the devil is telling believers they don’t need to receive it often, that it’s not that big of a deal, not that important a gift, often using the argument above, ironically. In many Lutheran Churches, pastors are attempting to bring back the weekly (or even more often!) gift of Christ’s Body and Blood. We shouldn’t object but rejoice! Here’s why: According to Luther’s Small Catechism, the Sacrament of the Altar “is the true body