Service of the Sacrament
Fellowship in the Lord’s Supper is the basis for the practice
of “close” or “closed communion.” (The phrases “close communion “and “closed communion “refer to one and the same practice).
What does God teach in His Word?
“Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body. ’Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them,saying,‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’ ”(cf.Matt. 26:26–28;Mark 14:22–25;Luke 22:14–20;1 Cor.11:17–29).
“They devoted themselves to the apostles ‘teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).
“Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore, 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. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself”(1 Cor.11:26–29).
What does the Lutheran church believe about the Lord’s Supper?
The Lutheran church believes, teaches and confesses that
the Lord’s Supper is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ, under the bread and wine, given to us Christians to eat
and to drink. We hold that the bread and the wine in the
Supper are the true body and blood of Christ and that these are
given and received into the mouths of all who commune.
Those who believe the promise: “Given and shed for you for
the forgiveness of sins, “receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.
This promise, along with the bodily eating and drinking,
is the main thing in the Sacrament. The Lutheran church rejects and condemns incorrect understandings of the Lord’s Supper, such as the view that the
sacrifice of the Mass delivers man from his sins, or that the
substance of the consecrated bread and wine is actually
changed into the body and blood of Christ. We also reject and
condemn the view that in the Lord’s Supper the true body and
blood of Christ is not received by the mouth of the communicants,
under the bread and wine, but is received only spiritually
in the heart by faith, or that the bread and wine are only symbols
of the far-distant body and blood of our Lord.