GOD’S WORD TO YOU
Study Six: FELLOWSHIP UNDER GOD'S FORGIVING LOVE
1. The Power of the Keys of the Kingdom
Our being the Body of Christ is fully expressed as we represent Jesus to one another and to our world. Authority to do this was given by Jesus to all who know him as Savior and follow him as Lord. Peter quoted Old Testament phrases in which God originally described Israel as his chosen people to tell Christians: "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) As a result, we speak of the Holy Christian Church as a universal priesthood of believers.
Jesus called this authority to speak for him "The Keys of the Kingdom."
Jesus gave the Keys of the Kingdom to Peter after Peter's great confession of faith in him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. He told Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)
Later, Jesus gave this same authority in the same words to all twelve disciples. (Matthew 18:18) Then on Easter Sunday the risen Jesus repeated it again to the believers in the Upper Room as part of his blessing them with the Holy Spirit.: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:22-23)
Martin Luther summarized this in his Small Catechism: "The Office of the Keys is that authority which Christ gave to his Church to forgive the sins of those who repent and to declare to those who do not repent that their sins are not forgiven."
It is helpful to think of these Keys of the Kingdom as a "right-hand key" and a "left-hand key."
The Church loves to use the "right-hand key" as we tell repentant sinners that their sins are forgiven in Jesus' name. This is the proper function of the Church and is a very pointed application of the Gospel.
Sometimes, however, the Church must also use the "left-hand key" to "lock heaven" as the sins of unrepentant sinners are declared to be not forgiven. This is an adjunct function of the Church, but its use is also a very pointed application of the Gospel. It is not to be applied to the world in general, for that would have little impact. It is intended for use within the life of a church as a source of blessing for the church.
The left-hand key does not equip us to judge thoughts and attitudes. It must direct itself only to situations that are obvious and evident. It is aimed at helping church members who have been snared by willful, persistent sin to recognize what this has done to their relationship with Christ – and to lead them, hopefully, to repentance. Willful sin repeats the original sin. It deadens and breaks relationship with God. It says a stubborn NO to Jesus. When a member of a church is seen to be persisting in obvious, willful sin – either a sin of commission like adultery or sexual immorality or a sin of omission like willful neglect of worship and communing with the congregation – it becomes the responsibility of fellow members of the Body of Christ to represent Jesus and reach out with loving admonition. In Jesus' name they warn those involved in persistent, willful sin of the consequences of their sin, and urge their repentance and return to relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Church, the fellowship of repentant sinners. The left-hand key is a strong emphasis of Jesus as the only Way to the Father.
The left-hand key is never to be used arbitrarily in careless or legalistic ways. It is a most serious and solemn authority. So Jesus gave guidelines to be followed in its use:
1. "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
2. "But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
3. "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.
4. "If he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." (Matthew 18:15-18)
Applied to a church of today, such as our congregation, it would mean:
1. Personal, private admonition by a fellow member or by the pastor.
2. Involvement of other church leaders, probably members of a Board of Elders.
3. Report to the congregation in meeting so its formal admonition and encouragement can be expressed through the officers of the congregation.
4. Excommunication – formal recognition that the individual is no longer a member of the church. The individual is informed that the excommunication will be in effect until the offense, the willful sin, has been removed through repentance and absolution.
The Power of the Keys of the Kingdom is given to the Body. Every member has authority and responsibility to represent Jesus Christ in everyday living. Every member is to bring the word of admonition and the word of forgiveness to others in the Church, as appropriate, in the personal interaction of daily life. This is a key factor in the Church's being an organism, a Body in which we are concerned for each other's true welfare.
There is an evangelical compulsion involved in a Christian individual's responsibility to forgive those who offend him and apologize – and even those who refuse to apologize. Jesus said, "If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. If you refuse to forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-15) A persistent refusal to forgive indicates that a person doesn't see himself standing before God purely on the basis of his undeserved love in Jesus – but somehow feels that he deserves God's forgiveness more than the one who has sinned against him deserves his forgiveness.
So Jesus urged: "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,' forgive him." (Luke 17:3-4) And in Mark he said, "When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you." (Mark 11:25) Our own spiritual health and our personal response to Jesus are at stake here!
In its public functioning, a church, guided by Holy
Scripture, delegates the Power of the Keys of the Kingdom to called ministers.
On behalf of the church and for the benefit of the church they preach and teach
the Word, they administer the Holy Sacraments, they pronounce forgiveness of
sins (or they announce excommunication). All of these functions are part of the
Power of the Keys and are made the responsibility of the Office of the Pastoral
Ministry. As they function publicly, Lutheran ministers wear clergy vestments.
This is intended to de-emphasize their persons as individuals and to emphasize
instead their office as called ministers of the church.
This authorized use of the Power of the Keys by a minister is readily seen in the Lutheran Order of the Holy Communion. When the congregation has joined in confessing their sins to God, the minister responds, "As a called and ordained servant of the Word, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Other Scripture-based wording may be used, but it is important that God's people recognize that their minister is acting by the command of Jesus, and through the authorization of the congregation's call to serve as its Pastor.
Lutherans recognize the spiritual value also of voluntary private confession to a pastor or to some other Christian in whom we have confidence. James encouraged us to confess our sins to one another. (James 5:16) However, the Bible never makes private confession a requirement of discipleship. But when one’s conscience is especially burdened by a particular sin, confessing that sin to a pastor or a fellow Christian and hearing the application of God’s Word in personal assurance of the forgiveness of sins will have their own healing dynamic.
2. Nourishment in the Lord's Supper
Jesus instituted the New Testament meal we call "The Lord's Supper" while he was eating the Passover Supper with his disciples. The Passover memorialized God's freeing his people from slavery in Egypt. It involved recounting the history of that significant event. Participants joined in eating a meal of roasted lamb served with unleavened bread and bitter herbs – and at four points during the meal drank from a cup of wine.
The eating of the lamb reminded participants that the first Passover included putting the blood of the lamb on the lintel and doorposts of the house in which the meal was being eaten. When God's angel brought death to the firstborn throughout the land of Egypt, the homes of the faithful, marked with the lambs' blood, were passed over. The unleavened bread reminded the participants that the first Passover was prepared and eaten in haste, with no time available to allow yeast dough to rise. The Israelites stood while eating, with their traveling clothes on, trusting that the Lord was at the point of freeing them from slavery. The bitter herbs reminded participants of the bitterness of the centuries of slavery endured by Israel in Egypt.
When the Passover Supper is viewed through the window of the New Testament we may see many parts that pointed ahead to the coming of the Promised Christ. It is significant, then, that when the Christ came he used some of this Old Testament meal to institute the New Testament meal that points us to him and his completed saving work. The Lamb of God, whose blood cleanses us from sin and causes death to pass over us, uses the bread and the cup of wine of the Lord's Supper as vehicles for his continual coming to his disciples in his Body and Blood.
As scholars analyze and compare the Gospel accounts of the institution of the Lord's Supper, some feel that it occurred at the time of the passing of the "cup of blessing". (First Corinthians 10:16) Jesus took the bread of the Passover, blessed it, and said, "Take and eat, this is my body." Then he gave them the cup, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:26-28) In the Jews' observance of the Passover, after the cup of blessing was shared, a psalm of praise, the Hallel, was sung. Then sharing the fourth cup ended the Passover Meal.
Matthew's Gospel tells of Jesus and his disciples singing the psalm, but then moves immediately to his leading them to the Mount of Olives. There is no mention of completing the Passover with the final cup. Some interpreters feel that in the Lord's Supper Jesus is inviting Christians to join him in an unfinished Passover Supper. Its meaning was fulfilled in the suffering and death of Jesus, but Christians of every time and place in effect still share in that Upper Room event every time we come to his table. We will enjoy the final cup of the Supper with him in heaven. (Matthew 26:29-30)
Ecclesiastical Interpretations
As is true of
Holy Baptism, also the Lord's Supper has occasioned some disagreement among
Christians. The differences center in the question: What did Jesus mean
when he said, "This is my body. This is my blood of the covenant."?
Three interpretations contribute their own distinctiveness to the worship and
faith of various churches. These historical ecclesiastical ways of describing
what is happening in the celebration of the Lord's Supper have themselves
contributed to the division of the Church into various Christian communions or
fellowships.
Through the centuries the Roman Catholic Church developed the doctrines by which it sought to explain the presence of Christ in the Sacrament. In time, the church emphasized consecration by the priest. A philosophical term was used to explain that in the act of consecration the bread is changed by God into the body of Christ; the wine is changed by God into the blood of Christ. Medieval philosophy considered all things to be composed of outward appearance (accidental qualities) and inner essence (substance). In this view it is the inner substance that determines what a thing is, not its outward appearance. Applied to the Sacrament, "transubstantiation" described the change at consecration of the substance of the bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood. While they still looked and felt and tasted like bread and wine, that was just a matter of outward appearance, or accidental qualities. The inner essence or substance, "breadness" and "wineness," had changed into the "bodyness" and "bloodness" of Christ..
This led to what other Christians came to see as abuses in the practice of the Mass:
Concern that "the body and blood of Christ" not be desecrated by being dropped accidentally on the floor led to communing under one kind. The laity received only the bread and the priest drank the wine on behalf of all.
The teaching that the bread had become Christ's body led also to the worship of the "host" (consecrated bread) at the Mass and in Corpus Christi celebrations, and of the left-over host that is kept in receptacles near the altars in the churches.
Of greatest concern is the idea of the Mass as an "unbloody sacrifice" of Christ's body and blood. According to this concept, in the Mass Jesus' body and blood are offered again to God for the sins of the people – instead of the Mass being a proclamation of the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. As a result, the thrust moved to the action of the priest or the church in celebrating the Mass, offering an unbloody sacrifice of Jesus' body and blood to God to benefit the people. Out of this grew the practice of the church "saying Masses" to benefit people who are not present to participate themselves – and even "saying Masses" for the dead.
Protestant Christians protest against such teachings. Some reformers, like John Calvin, reacted so strongly against the abuses related to transubstantiation that they said the Lord’s Supper is a memorial meal eaten by Christians to remind themselves that Christ died for them. They saw the bread and wine only as symbols, not as vehicles for the body and blood of Christ to come to them. Christians who celebrate the Lord’s Supper with that view of it believe that Christ is present with them, but spiritually, as he is always with his people. In their view, the bread and wine of the Sacrament represent the body and blood of Christ.
An abuse related to this view is that Christians tend to celebrate the Lord’s Supper less frequently when it is seen as something that they are doing, instead of it being an action of Christ himself.
Lutheran Christians have maintained the emphasis of the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament while moving to eliminate abuses that come from trying to explain just how this happens. We set bread and wine apart for this Sacramental Meal, consecrating them with the Words of Institution from the Bible. We believe that Jesus meant it when he said, "This is my body. This is my blood of the covenant." Martin Luther used three prepositions to say that Jesus gives us his body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins in, with, and under the bread and wine as we eat and drink at this meal. We can provide the bread and wine for the Lord's Supper, but Jesus himself, in his own way, must give us his body and blood as we eat the bread and drink the wine. In this view, we see Jesus himself coming to state his loving forgiveness personally to each one of us as we receive his body and his blood, which were given and shed for us – God's Atoning Sacrifice for sin.
Apostolic Instruction
Ecclesiastical views of the Sacrament are interesting and informative, but it is vital that we deal with Scripture itself to understand the apostolic view of what Jesus meant and of what happens when Christians celebrate the Lord's Supper.
Paul's instruction about the Lord's Supper makes it clear that he saw it as a meal of bread and wine through which Jesus gives his body and blood to those who eat and drink. Writing about the wine he said, "Is not the cup of blessing for which we give thanks a participation (communion) in the blood of Christ?" And of the bread he wrote, "Is not the bread that we break a participation (communion) in the body of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16) Later, he warned that "whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:27) Clearly, Paul saw this as a meal in which there are four elements: the two visible elements that we provide, and the two invisible elements that Jesus supplies.
Paul stressed that the Sacrament is intimately connected with the Gospel message: "Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death." (1 Corinthians 11:26) Because Jesus commanded us to eat this meal and because the Gospel of forgiveness is proclaimed through it, the Lord's Supper is one of the Holy Sacraments – a means of grace by which the Holy Spirit works to nourish and deepen our faith.
The Lord's Supper is a Holy Communion. Participants are
united with Jesus and with each other as they share the Holy Supper. After
stating that the cup and the bread provide communion with Christ in his body and
blood, Paul wrote, "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one
body, for we all partake of the one loaf." (1 Corinthians 10:17)
It is not our faith that makes bread and wine a Lord's Supper of his body and blood. Jesus is sacramentally present in his body and blood in this meal because he said he would be. Our believing has no power to place him into the meal – and disbelieving on our part will not remove him from the meal. Faith is important. It receives Christ's gifts and enjoys the blessings they bring. But unbelief does not remove the body and blood from the meal. Also an unbeliever participating in the Lord's Supper receives the body and blood of Jesus – but in a way that does not bring him a blessing. Paul warned that meaningless participation will only move a person farther away from a meaningful relationship with Christ: "Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself." (1 Corinthians 11:29)
Because the presence of Jesus in the Lord's Supper brings an intimate contact with him to all who participate, Paul urged careful self-examination as a necessary preparation. He wrote, "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup." (1 Corinthians 11:27-28)
Our English word "worthy" seems to imply that a person needs to be "good enough" to qualify for this meal. The meal is for sinners, however. It assures forgiveness through Jesus. When Paul used the words "an unworthy manner" he was not saying that somehow we need to make ourselves worthy enough to receive Christ's body and blood. What was he saying? It helps to know that the Greek word axios, which we translate "worthy", carried the idea of "being equal" to someone or something. In the context of the Lord's Supper it says that we are "worthy", equal to what we receive in this meal, the body and blood of our Lord, only when we bring Jesus with us by faith. Then "Jesus in us" makes us equal to "Jesus in the Lord's Supper". All of which says that this meal is for Christians, not for unbelievers, nor for the unrepentant.
An unbelieving heart has no relationship with Jesus, so such a person is "unequal" and sins against the body and blood of Jesus when for some reason he goes ahead and communes even though does not believe. Willful sin and unrepentance break relationship with Jesus, so a church member living in unrepentant sin is "unequal" and sins against the body and blood of Jesus when he goes ahead and communes in spite of his unwillingness to repent. In either case, when he communes carelessly Jesus becomes less important, not more important, to him.
Self-examination focuses, then, on relationships – in two directions. Two basic questions help a Christian check on his spiritual health as he prepares to meet Jesus in the Sacrament.
1. Is anything disrupting my communion (relationship)
with Christ? If so, I need to set it right through sincere repentance –
turning from my willful sin to walk again in his grace. Only then will I be
able to bring Jesus with me to the Holy Communion and be "equal" to Jesus coming
to me in his body and blood. Private confession and absolution may be helpful
in dealing with this.
2. Is anything disrupting my communion (relationship)
with a brother or sister in Christ? If so, I need to do my best to set
it right through personal contact with that person. Only then will I be able to
bring Jesus with me to the Holy Communion and be "equal" to Jesus coming to me
in his body and blood.
This is not overstating the case. Jesus gave this high priority in his Sermon on the Mount: "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."(Matthew 5:23-24) When self-examination reveals that we are guilty in this way, going personally to apologize to the one we have offended and to ask for forgiveness must be given first priority.
If the problem is a matter of our carrying a grudge against someone we feel has hurt us, Jesus wants us to know that a refusal to forgive that person blocks God's forgiving love from us. "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-15) When our self-examination reveals that we are harboring animosity or hatred, our consciously forgiving the one who offended us must be given first priority, lest our relationship with Christ be jeopardized. People don't have to deserve or earn our forgiveness – just as we don't deserve or earn our Lord's forgiveness. The Bible urges us to let it go, to turn the matter over to God. "Do not take revenge, but leave room for God's wrath. … Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:19,21)
Careful Administration of Word and Sacrament
St. Paul called the leaders of the church "servants of Christ, those entrusted with the secret things of God." He said, "It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful." (1 Corinthians 4:1-2) The apostolic commission and Christ's gift of the Power of the Keys of the Kingdom place responsibility on the Church, the corporate community of believers, for proper management and administration of everything connected with the Gospel of Jesus – also the Lord's Supper.
The Bible stresses the need for understanding what is happening in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. It calls for responsible self-examination by participants before they commune. The local congregation, then, is to do all it can to manage the celebration of the Lord's Supper in such a pastoral way that those communing will receive full blessing, and will not be receiving it to their spiritual harm by approaching it casually, or without a commitment to faith and discipleship.
Lutheran congregations traditionally practice what is called "close communion" or fellowship communion. A general invitation is not offered to any and all to decide for themselves whether they are eligible to commune. Members of the congregation or of sister congregations who have studied Lutheran doctrine and have publicly confessed their faith in Christ and their agreement in doctrine are welcomed to the Holy Communion. Also Christians who are members of other churches and who wish to commune with the congregation in special circumstances may be made "pastoral exceptions" when they give evidence of their understanding of the sacramental nature of the Lord's Supper and give assurance of proper self-examination.
It is important for a church and its ministers to take seriously our responsibility to be faithful servants who are entrusted with the secret things of God.
BEFORE THE NEXT CLASS –
1. Read through this Study and complete the Review for Study Six (goldenrod page) for use at the beginning of the next class session.
2. In The Small Catechism read Dr. Martin Luther's explanations regarding Confession and the Office of the Keys and The Sacrament of the Altar.
3. Read the Gospel according to John, chapters 11-21, and Paul's Letter to the Galatians.
