Faith Lutheran Rogue River

Who Receives It Worthily?

2026-05-14

A Catechism Sermon on Luke 17:10 for The Sacrament of the Altar, Question 5

Transcribed by TURBOSCRIBE.AI --- In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Dear Christians, we have heard what this sacrament is. It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, given under bread and wine for us Christians to eat and to drink. We have heard what it gives, the forgiveness of sins, and therefore life and salvation. And now today we ask, who is to receive it? "Who receives this sacrament worthily? Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training, but that person is truly worthy and well-prepared who has faith in these words, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words for you require all hearts to believe" (The Small Catechism, The Sacrament of the Altar, Question 5). In Luther's day, there was little said about the forgiveness of sins, repentance, and the like. These important Christian doctrines were neglected, even when it came to this most holy sacrament. Instead, what was taught and emphasized was the enumeration of sins, that is, the exhaustive listing of your sins in confession. Fasting and bodily preparation were touted as the way that you prepared to receive the Lord's supper. The common people understood one worthy to receive the Lord's supper if they had fasted the night before and went to confession. And if you didn't do those things, well, then you were a unworthy eater. Now, Luther does not reject fasting if you pay close attention to what he says there in the small catechism. He says fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. Notice there, he says it is a good custom for the disciplining of the body. Through fasting, we learn especially how weak we are and how much we need God to provide everything, both our daily bread, what we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and our eternal bread, the Lord's supper, Christ himself. However, while fasting is a good custom for those whose health permits it, it is not the proper preparation for the Lord's supper. That is to say, fasting alone does not prepare you for the Supper, nor does it earn you the benefit of the forgiveness of sins. It is not our work of fasting that prepares us for the Lord's Supper. What does Luther say? It is faith in our Lord's word which prepares us to receive the Supper for our benefit. Last week, we heard it is not just eating and drinking, but these words along with eating and drinking, which do these great things. We kind of heard a hint of this in our Old Testament reading this morning, and that odd story about the quail (Numbers 11). The people of Israel have been grumbling against God for days and weeks and months: "This is not good enough. I am tired of all this stinking manna, God. It has been forever since I have seen a cucumber, or a steak, or anything other than this stinking bread." The Lord had been providing for them for quite a long time at that point, and He was going to provide for them for 40 years, wandering around the desert, around modern-day Saudi Arabia, wandering around the desert there until the Lord brought them to the Promised Land, and they were grumbling. God was providing for them every single day. Daily bread, boom, right there. Every morning, they grumbled. And God sent them quail. They ate it, and immediately he struck some of them down. They did not trust his promises. They did not believe his word that, "I will bring you through this. I will provide for you everything you need." So too here in the Lord's Supper. See, if we come before him with the attitude that we have deserved all these things, it's our right because of how good of a person I am. This God is such a mean and cruel master. If we approach God like that, we will not receive it for our benefit. Consider also the word of Christ that we heard in our New Testament lesson today from Luke 17:10. Jesus said that the servant, after he has done all that he has been commanded, he does not come to the table and go, "Master, I deserve a seat at the table." No. He proclaims himself an unworthy servant who has only done what he was commanded. That's how we approach the Lord's Supper, dear Christians. In the Lutheran Church, we do not commune those who do not know what they receive, why they come here, or those who want to approach and demand to have it because of their own worth and their own merits and worthiness. See, closed communion and who is a worthy recipient isn't about being a member of the LCMS club. When I ask in that 10-15 seconds before Divine Service starts, are you a member of a congregation we're in fellowship with, or some question along those lines, it's shorthand because I've got maybe 30 seconds to have a conversation with this person. And if they're not, I hope to be able to have a conversation with them after to understand and explain what we believe and see what they believe. Because the real question about admission to the Lord's Supper is whether or not the person believes and trusts God's word. The teaching of most denominations, especially on the Lord's Supper, rejects God's clear word. When our Lord says, this is my body, this is my blood, many Christians reject that. They think it represents his body, it represents his blood. Some Christians, when he says, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, some people even reject that. And those who reject our Lord's teaching are not to be admitted to the Supper. Every Christian is called by our Lord to "beware of false teachers," as He says in Matthew 7, to "test everything," as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5. And even St. Paul says that we are to recognize that, "There must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized" (Rom 16:17). That is to say, there will always be divisions in teaching. Teachers and congregations that want to believe one thing and others that want to cling to the truth. When we practice closed communion as a Lutheran congregation, what we mean by that is we do not admit those to the altar who have not been instructed in the catechism and do not confess this teaching as God's truth and do not recognize that they are unworthy sinners who have been justified by the worthy God. When we don't admit members of other denominations to the Lord's Supper, we're not saying that those Christians are therefore damned. We are, however, recognizing that there is a rift in doctrine, that not all churches believe, teach, and confess all of Christ's word. We continue to pray for Christian unity in His teaching, in our Lord's teaching and word, because His word alone works salvation, gives repentance, and gives faith. We also, we recognize, according to God's word, that those who reject or deny Christ's teaching, that is dangerous to do. We regularly pray that we may not err in doctrine, in teaching, or in our life as we pray the first petition, Hallowed be thy name. And the Lord's Supper is the capstone of our Lord's teaching. You will note that in the Gospels, the Lord's Supper is instituted after He has been teaching for three years. The disciples have sat at His feet and received His teaching. They had learned to confess their sins and unworthiness, and Christ received them as His students and taught them. So it is, too, with you, dear Christians. From the Ten Commandments, you have learned to confess your sins, and you have learned the true good works that God demands. In the Apostles' Creed, you have learned that you are a creature made by God, redeemed by the Son, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. You have learned to pray from our Lord Jesus Himself, who gives to you the very petitions that God is so eager to answer in the Lord's Prayer. In Holy Baptism, you have been adopted into God's family, forgiven, and given the Holy Spirit. And you are learning to use that Holy Baptism that God has given you in confession and absolution. And now we finally reach the capstone of the Catechism, the Lord's Supper. And simply put, you do not come to the Lord's Supper because you are worthy. If you think you are, if you think that you have received all these things and deserve it, well, we need to go back a few steps to earlier parts of the Catechism before you're ready to receive it. You see, you receive this worthily if you come to Jesus because you are unworthy. You see, from the Ten Commandments, we have learned our sin, and how far we have rebelled against God, and all the things that we must do to be right in God's sight. And in the Creed, we have learned what God has done for us, that Jesus has forgiven our sins by His death, and that Jesus has been our righteousness through His holy life. He institutes this Supper on the night when He is betrayed to deliver to you the forgiveness of sins. And to sustain you in your Christian life now and forevermore. So the final question to ask is, do you know you have sin and have sinned (cf. 1 John 1:8, 10)? Do you believe He died for you, and that here, in this Supper, He gives you His body and blood to forgive you all your sins? If the answer to those questions is yes, you receive this Sacrament worthily. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Filetype: MP3 - Size: 8 MB - Duration: 12:08m (960 kbps 44100 Hz)