Brief Instruction on Holy Communion

Why do you intend to go to Holy Communion?

This question each communicant should put to himself, before he approaches the Table of the Lord. For there are not a few who go to the Lord's Supper either quite thoughtlessly and stupidly, or with quite the wrong intention. Some go from mere force of habit; others, only because they are held to it by their parents; others again, because they consider it a meritorious deed to go to the Lord's Supper; still others, because they wish to acquire or retain before men the appearance and name of a pious Christian. It is no wonder, if such communicants derive no blessing from the Holy Supper, but grow worse as time goes on.

A communicant who wishes to receive the Lord's Supper to his salvation, must, in first place, fully realize what the Lord's Supper is, and for what purpose it was instituted by Christ; and, in second place, he must have a heart worthy and well prepared.

Those have an entirely wrong conception of the Holy Sacrament who consider it merely an empty memorial, instituted only for the purpose of remembering the sufferings and death of Christ. No indeed, Holy Communion is that exalted, blessed mystery, by means of which Christ gives us, in the consecrated bread, his body to eat, and in the consecrated wine, his blood to drink—the very body he assumed from the Virgin Mary, and gave into death on the cross for our sins; and the very blood he shed on the cross for the remission of our sin. True, we cannot see this with our eyes, taste it with our mouth, or grasp it with our mind, but we are to believe it, because our Lord and Savior says: Take and eat, this is my body; drink ye all of it, this is my blood. This same Savior of ours is true, who will certainly bring to pass what He has promised in the words of His testament; He is of infinite wisdom and knows of ways and means to fulfill his promises, even when beyond our understanding; He too is almighty, with Him nothing is impossible; He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. If we earnestly believe that we receive the true body and blood of our Savior—true God and man in one person—in Holy Communion, and not mere bread and wine, we shall then approach the Table of the Lord, not thoughtlessly and lightly, but in deepest reverence and humility of heart, saying in the words of the centurion, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof.

The benefit derived from Holy Communion is of a threefold nature.

In the first place, by a worthy communion we receive forgiveness of sin and the assurance thereof. God, rich in love, has provided a great diversity of means to render poor sinners certain of the forgiveness of their sins. These means are the preaching of the Gospel, Holy Baptism, Absolution, and also Holy Communion. Do not be too inquisitive in asking why God has instituted four means instead of one, for the purpose of conveying to us the forgiveness of our sin and making us sure and certain of this, but rather thank him for these rich provisions. Whoever knows from personal experience how hard it is for a soul under conviction of sin to believe that his sins are forgiven, will realize the greatness of God's grace and providing care in giving us not merely one, but several means of becoming certain of the forgiveness of sin. As surely, therefore, as you, with your mouth, partake of your Lord's body, given into death for the remission of your sins, and partake of your Lord's blood, shed for the remission of your sins, so certain you are to be of having the forgiveness of sin for your own.

The second benefit of Holy Communion is life—not our natural life received at birth and sustained by food and drink, but the new spiritual life that begins in regeneration through Holy Baptism, and consists in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the love of God and our neighbor. But since this new life is weak and imperfect as yet, hence in need of constant growth, our Lord has designated his Holy Supper as a spiritual nourishment for the strengthening of this spiritual life. Of this Luther writes: “Holy Communion is well called a food for the soul, as it nourishes and strengthens the new man; for while we are born again by Baptism, man retains his old nature in his flesh and blood, and there are so many obstacles and temptations on the part of the devil and the world, that we often grow faint and weary and at times even falter. So the Lord's Supper is given for a daily food and nourishment, that faith may be refreshed and strengthened and not repulsed in this battle, but even grow stronger and stronger; for the new life is of such a nature, that it must constantly grow and progress. Again, this new life has a great deal to endure, for the devil is an enemy of great wrath; when he finds that he cannot take us by a bold stroke, we resisting him and attacking our old Adam, he tries all his wiles, presents all his allurements, and does not desist until he has tired us out, so that we either abandon our faith, or turn listless or impatient. But when our heart is in this condition, being about to succumb, we have the comfort that it can, in this Sacrament be again strengthened and refreshed.”

The third benefit is eternal salvation; because even as sin, unforgiven, bars us from salvation, so forgiveness of sin opens the door to eternal salvation, “For where there is forgiveness of sin, there is also life and salvation.” Now, all depends on communing worthily and well prepared, if we would receive this threefold, salutary benefit. This, however, is not a worthiness according to the law, but according to the gospel. It does not consist in absolute freedom from sin and perfection of life, but rather in fully realizing our unworthiness and sinfulness, in having a contrite heart that is spiritually poor, in earnestly desiring the forgiveness of sins, also taking comfort in this forgiveness, or at least trying to, in considering our sins great indeed, but relying and depending solely on our Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, those are unworthy and ill prepared who either, in the conceit of self-righteousness, fancy they need no forgiveness of sin—like the Pharisee who prayed thus with himself, “Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are,”—or who wholly despair of the forgiveness of sin, as did Cain—who said, “My punishment is greater than I can bear,”—and who will not let you relieve them of their thoughts of despair. There is another class of unworthy communicants, who persist in their wicked purposes and continue to serve sin knowingly, or who live in a state of relentless enmity with their neighbors. When such unworthy communicants receive the Lord's Supper, they too receive the body and blood of Christ, but they receive it to judgment, and to their greater damnation. For this very purpose St. Paul adds the earnest warning, “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” And whoever recognizes in himself these marks of an unworthy communicant should not presume to go to the Lord's Table in such condition. We do not mean that he should stay away permanently, but he should forthwith come to himself, and turn penitent from being impenitent.

But are those of weak faith to be classed with the unworthy communicants? Not at all; for such are very welcome guests at Christ's Table, as are indeed weak in faith and frail in walk, but keenly feel their weakness, and yearn to become stronger. Such the Lord will in no wise cast out; He rather invites them, inasmuch as He instituted this Holy Supper, especially for the weak and the frail, that they might gather strength from this spiritual food. To them He says: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” and again, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

The above article was first (?) published in Der Kleine Gebets-Schatz: Auszug aus dem zu St. Louis, Mo., erschienenen größeren ev.-luth. Gebets-Schatz, nebst neuen Anhängen (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, c. 1890), and republished shortly thereafter in English in The Abridged Treasury of Prayers: An Epitome from the Larger Gebets-Schatz (St. Louis: CPH, c. 1906). It seems to have been written by the Rev. Th. Brohm (1808-1881), one of the pastors who took part in the Stephanite immigration. An updated version was recently published in the Lutheran Book of Prayer (St. Louis: CPH, 2005), albeit with one major revision: the number of means of forgiveness was reduced, from four to three, with Absolution receiving the cut—due, no doubt, to Reformed influences on the LCMS. In a separate article, I will copy the original German, the 1906 translation, and the 2005 translation of that section for the purposes of comparison.

Edit, 10/24/2015: The alteration mentioned in the above paragraph did not, it turns out, originate with the Lutheran Book of Prayer. Instead, the change appears to have been made in 1956, when CPH "slightly revised" and republished the Treasury of Prayer: Abridged (St. Louis: CPH, 1956). The other, linked article will be updated to include the 1956 revision.