January Newsletter Page Three

Should Children be Permitted
at the Lord’s Table?

Why should covenant children be excluded from the Lord’s supper? The pain of excluding children became more pronounced as many congregations moved from quarterly to monthly celebrations. Increased frequency magnified the place of the table, making exclusion of children all the more obvious.

Renewed attention to the one sacrament inevitably drew attention to the other. A review of the Reformed doctrine of baptism placed even more question marks over the exclusion of covenant children from the Lord’s Table. Clearly underlining the parallel between circumcision and baptism, the Belgic Confession (Article 34) speaks of the children of believers whom “we believe ought to be baptized and sealed with the sign of the covenant, as little children were circumcised in Israel on the basis of the same promises made to our children.” To the question should infants, too, be baptized? (Q&A 74) of the Heidelberg Catechism responds: Yes. Infants as well as adults are in God’s covenant and are his people.

The truth in these doctrinal statements led naturally to a liturgical declaration such as the following, used in many congregations: “In the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, the only king and head of His church I declare that this child is now received into the visible membership of the Holy Catholic Church.

To many this language suggested inclusion, not exclusion and moved the discussion to issues of theological consistency. Was it theologically consistent to offer the sacrament of initiation (baptism) to children while reserving the sacrament of nourishment and growth (communion) for adults? As John Calvin concluded, “infants are baptized into future repentance and faith, and even though these have not yet been found in them, the seed of both lies hidden within them by the secret working of the Holy Spirit, it is difficult to avoid the same conclusion about children at the Lord’s Table.

The behavioral sciences have taught us that Christian learning begins at birth. In the first year of a child’s life loving care, freely received, elicits a response of trust and instills a sense of the reality of grace. Recipients of such nurture readily sense the ring of reality in the gospel, since it resonates with the deepest experience and understanding.

At the age of four, children demonstrate remarkable understanding of the stories of Scripture and of symbols in worship and sacrament. The awareness of love for Jesus, the feeling of belonging to the Christian family, and the desire to participate in the Lord’s Supper are likely to emerge at this time. So it makes sense that this is also the age at which we should introduce the Lord’s Supper. The goal of the supper is precisely that of the Word and baptism, to move baptized children toward a personal affirmation of the baptismal covenant and a joyful participation in the full faith and life of the people of the church of God.

The following are Q&A from Heidelberg Catechism and Luther’s Confession.

THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR – from Luther Confession

What is the Sacrament of the Altar?

Instituted by Jesus Christ himself, it 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.

Where is this written?

The holy evangelists Matthew, Mark and Luke, and also St. Paul, write thus: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

What is the benefit of such eating and drinking?

We are told in the words "for you" and "for the forgiveness of sins." By these words the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given to us in the sacrament, for where there is forgiveness of sins, there are also life and salvation.

How can bodily eating and drinking produce such great effects?

The eating and drinking do not in themselves produce them, but the words "for you" and "for the forgiveness of sins." These words, when accompanied by the bodily eating and drinking, are the chief thing in the sacrament, and he who believes these words has what they say and declare: the forgiveness of sins.

Who, then, receives this sacrament worthily?

Fasting and bodily preparation are a good external discipline, but he is truly worthy and well prepared who believes these words: "for you" and "for the forgiveness of sins." On the other hand, he who does not believe these words, or doubts them, is unworthy and unprepared, for the words "for you" require truly believing hearts.

The Holy Supper – The Heidelberg Catechism

How does the Lord's Supper remind you and assure you
that you share in Christ's one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts?

In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup. With this command he gave this promise:

First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely his body was offered and broken for me and his blood poured out for me on the cross.

Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the one who serves, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, given me as sure signs of Christ's body and blood, so surely he nourishes and refreshes my soul for eternal life with his crucified body and poured-out blood.

What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ
and to drink his poured-out blood?

It means to accept with a believing heart the entire suffering and death of Christ and by believing to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

But it means more. Through the Holy Spirit, who lives both in Christ and in us, we are united more and more to Christ's blessed body. And so, although he is in heaven and we are on earth, we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And we forever live on and are governed by one Spirit, as members of our body are by one soul.

Where does Christ promise to nourish and refresh believers with his body
and blood as surely as they eat this broken bread and drink this cup?

In the institution of the Lord's Supper: "The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. 'In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

This promise is repeated by Paul in these words:
"Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf."

Are the bread and wine changed into the real body and blood of Christ?

No.
Just as the water of baptism is not changed into Christ's blood and does not itself wash away sins but is simply God's sign and assurance, so too the bread of the Lord's Supper is not changed into the actual body of Christ even though it is called the body of Christ in keeping with the nature and language of sacraments.

Why then does Christ call the bread his body and the cup his blood, or the new covenant in his blood? (Paul uses the words, "a participation in Christ's body and blood.")

Christ has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that as bread and wine nourish our temporal life, so too his crucified body and poured-out blood truly nourish our souls for eternal life.

But more important, he wants to assure us, by this visible sign and pledge, that we, through the Holy Spirit's work, share in his true body and blood as surely as our mouths receive these holy signs in his remembrance, and that all of his suffering and obedience are as definitely ours as if we personally had suffered and paid for our sins.

How does the Lord's Supper differ from the Roman Catholic Mass?

The Lord's Supper declares to us that our sins have been completely forgiven through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ which he himself finished on the cross once for all. It also declares to us that the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ, who with his very body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father where he wants us to worship him.

But the Mass teaches that the living and the dead do not have their sins forgiven through the suffering of Christ unless Christ is still offered for them daily by the priests. It also teaches that Christ is bodily present in the form of bread and wine where Christ is therefore to be worshiped. Thus the Mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry.

Who are to come to the Lord's Table?

Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins, but who nevertheless trust that their sins are pardoned and that their continuing weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ, and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and to lead a better life.

Hypocrites and those who are unrepentant, however, eat and drink judgment on themselves.

Are those to be admitted to the Lord's Supper who show by what they say
and do that they are unbelieving and ungodly?

No, that would dishonor God's covenant and bring down God's anger upon the entire congregation. Therefore, according to the instruction of Christ and his apostles, the Christian church is duty-bound to exclude such people, by the official use of the keys of the kingdom, until they reform their lives.

Jan. 5	Jan. 12	Jan. 19	Jan. 26
*Diana Malyshko*	Christina Lowe Robby Petry	Chuck & Joanie Lynn	Garret Conger

Jan. 5	Jan. 12	Jan. 19	Jan. 26
Rob Ramsen Communion	Jack Perry	Fran Christ	Maryanne Stout