For I am not aware of anything against myself,

but I am not thereby acquitted.

It is the Lord who judges me.

–1 Corinthians 4.4–

A few years ago, I read the testimony of a pastor and theologian, who, for the record, I am at odds with when it comes to her Biblical interpretation and practical theology. However, the one thing that struck me from this person’s testimony was how she found herself believing in Jesus Christ as her Savior.

The individual, now testifying to God’s grace and mercy, had a background of addiction and abuse. One Sunday, a friend invited her to attend the weekly service at a Lutheran church. After participating in the events of a regular church service (i.e. singing, confession, absolution, listening to a sermon, communion, etc.), she asked the friend who invited her, “If I come back next week, will I do those same things, say those same things, have those same things said to me?” When her friend responded, “Yes!” the newly believing woman proclaimed, “Great! Because I need to say and hear those same things every day!”

Throughout my many years of ministry, I have heard a wide range of comments pertaining to the liturgy used during the divine weekly Sunday morning service.

Some have said, “If we serve communion too often, it will just become a dead ritual and won’t mean anything anymore.”

While others have chimed in, “Confessing our sins together with the same words every week makes our confession dull and meaningless.”

Pastors are not some superhuman creation. So, I often find myself in the same place as those making such comments. I can end up doing and saying things week after week without having my heart fully involved in God’s gracious speaking and acting in both my life and the life of the congregation I serve.

Statements and thoughts such as these, that show a disdain for doing the same things over and over throughout a life of faith, also show us clearly the filth of the human heart. When we find ourselves producing such sentiments whether internally or externally, we are denying some of the means of grace that God has put in place in order to do His work in our lives and in the world.

The means of grace are the ways God offers, bestows, and seals to people forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The means of grace are God’s Word and the Sacraments, namely, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Concordia Publishing House. Lutheranism 101: Second Edition, Kindle Locations 2082-2086).

When we think that communion can be done too often and that confession is useless when the same words are used to recognize sin and ask for forgiveness, we are tempted to replace truth with entertainment and gratitude with judgment.

It is the sinful heart that says there is such a thing as too much communion, too much of Jesus’ blood and body, or too much forgiveness. It is a sinful heart that puts us in a place of saying I don’t need this prayer anymore or I don’t need to confess again.

A heart that says I don’t want to do the same things week after week is a heart that is saying, “I no longer need Jesus.”

The moment when your heart becomes hard and you no longer recognize your need to be united to the body and blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins is actually the same exact moment you need to come to the table of communion and are be met by God’s amazing saving grace.

The moment when your heart has gone numb to your disobedience to God and you no longer recognize your need for confession is actually the same exact moment that you need to confess your sin of lying to and about God (1 John 1.8).

Communion and confession always have meaning. Our always-changing feelings about communion and confession cannot negate God’s unchangeable promises.

Jesus commands us to confess our sins and come to the table of communion (Luke 22.14-23; Mark 1.15) with God promising to actively work in the lives of those who obey Christ’s words (Matthew 11.28; 1 John 1.9).

I am a saint in God’s eyes because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that covers me and has become mine through faith.

But, I am still a sinner in the flesh and bones of this body here on earth.

That being said, confessing my sins, having my sins absolved in the name of Jesus, and receiving the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of my sins, week after week after week, is an integral part of my Christian life.

There never comes a point in the body that you currently inhabit at which you are no longer a sinner/saint. Because of that, you need to continually confess your sins publicly, as God’s church, and privately, in prayer, to God. You also need to continually hear of the promised forgiveness that is yours through faith in Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

The apostle Paul addresses all of this when he writes to the Christians in Rome saying,

“I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:21-24).”

Amen.

Pastor Fred.

August 11, 2017