Gracious Jesus, through Thy grace I have prepared myself and am about to
seek the forgiveness of my sins in private confession; but I remember,
that Thou hast said and earnestly commanded: if thou bring thy gift
before the altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught
against thee: leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way, first
be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. Now I have
unfortunately fallen into misunderstanding and variance with my neighbor,
hence do Thou so bestow upon me Thy grace and so overrule my heart, that
I may be willing to be reconciled with him. I acknowledge the hardness of
my heart and confess that it is hard for me to subdue my flesh and blood
and to banish all anger and revenge. But it is my hope, yea, my prayer,
that Thou, Lord, wilt take away my stony heart and grant unto me a heart
of flesh, that is: a loving, reconciled heart, and cause me to love my
enemy, to bless him that curses me, to do good unto those, that hate me,
and to pray for those who despitefully abuse and persecute me. O! may I
meditate upon that judgment and that terrible account which I must give
unto Thee, that I may renounce that enmity which designs death and
destruction, and according to Thy commandment become reconciled with my
adversary whilst I am in the way with him, and never more permit the sun
to go down upon my wrath. And as I, in Thy name, pardon and forgive all
those, who have offended me, so let me find all those, whom I have
grieved and irritated, ready with a willing heart, to pardon and forgive
my offences against them. O, Jesus! forgive all our sins, and govern our
hearts, that we may live with each other in a christian and peaceful
manner and that we may praise Thy name here in time, until in heaven we
shall glorify Thee forever. Amen.
Brief Instruction concerning the Holy Supper.
Why do you desire to go to the Holy Supper? This question each one should
lay before his conscience before he approaches the Lord's table. For
there are not a few who are either altogether obtuse and thoughtless, or
they come to the Holy Supper with an entirely wrong intention. Some will
go from mere custom, others because they are admonished to do so by their
parents, others because they consider the partaking of the Lord's Supper
a work of merit, and still others because they wish to acquire and
preserve the appearance and name of pious Christians before men. It is no
wonder that such partakers of the Holy Supper receive no blessings from
it, and that they become the more wicked, the longer they so continue.
A communicant who desires to receive the Holy Supper unto his salvation,
must, in the first place, clearly understand what the Holy Supper is and
for what Christ has instituted it, and, in the second place, he must have
a penitent heart.
Such have an altogether false conception of the Holy Supper, who regard
it as a mere feast at which a person does but commemorate Christ's
sufferings and death. No, the Holy Supper is the exalted and holy
mystery, in which Christ with the consecrated bread gives us his body to
eat, and with the consecrated wine gives us his blood to drink, even the
same body which he took on himself from the virgin Mary and gave in death
for our sins, and the same blood which he shed upon the cross for the
remission of our sins. True, we cannot see this with our eyes, we cannot
taste it with our mouth, nor can we understand it with our reason, but
must believe it, for our Lord and Saviour says: "Take, eat, this _is_ my
body; take, drink, this _is_ my blood." Our Lord and Saviour is true, and
certainly he will fulfill what he says in the words of his testament; he
is of infinite wisdom, and knows of ways and means for the fulfillment of
his promises, even though it be beyond our comprehension; he is almighty,
with whom nothing is impossible, who can do infinitely more than we are
able to ask or think. If we believe with all earnestness, that it is not
mere bread and wine, but also the true body and blood of our Saviour, who
is God and man in one person, which we receive in the Holy Supper, then
we will not be thoughtless and indifferent, but we will approach the
table of the Lord with devotional and humble hearts and with the
centurion exclaim: Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my
roof!
The benefits derived from the Holy Supper are threefold: first, by a
worthy partaking of the Holy Supper we receive the forgiveness of sin and
are assured of the same. Our gracious God has given many and manifold
means to assure the poor sinner of the forgiveness of his sins; such
means are, the preaching of the Gospel, Holy Baptism, Absolution and the
Holy Supper. We should not ask the impertinent question, why God has
given us _four_ means of grace, instead of _one_, but rather thank him,
that he has so richly blessed us in making us partakers of the
forgiveness of our sins, and that he, through these means, gives unto us
a joyful heart and a certain assurance that we are acceptable unto him.
Whoever knows from own experience, how important it is for one whose
heart is terrified on account of his sins, to believe in the forgiveness
of such sins, will readily conceive the greatness of divine mercy and
care, in not providing only one, but many means, through which we have
the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore, just as certain
as with your mouth you eat the body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
which was given for you in death for the forgiveness of your sins, and
drink that blood which was shed for the remission of your sins, just so
certain also should you be that such forgiveness is your portion and
inheritance. Second, the Holy Supper also confers life. This is not a
temporal, natural life, which we have received through birth and which is
nourished through the ordinary food and drink, but it is that new,
spiritual life, which has been regenerated through the new birth in Holy
Baptism, and which subsists by virtue of faith in the Lord Jesus and in
love to God and our neighbor. But inasmuch as this life is yet weak and
imperfect and constant growth is necessary, the Lord has instituted the
Holy Supper as a spiritual means of nourishment, in order to strengthen
the new spiritual life. Luther says concerning this: The Holy Supper is
rightly regarded as food for the soul which nourishes and strengthens the
new man; for through Baptism we are first born again, but there still
remains the old Adam in our flesh and blood; there are so many
temptations and impediments thrown in the way by the world and the devil,
that we often grow weary and languid and sometimes fall. Hence the Holy
Supper is given us as a daily nourishment and food that our faith may
grow and be strengthened, and that in such contest it may not fall back,
but ever grow stronger and stronger; for the new life must be such as
always to increase and progress; it has on the other hand, to suffer
much; for the devil is such a wrathful enemy, when he sees that one
opposes him and assails the old man, and he is unable to prevail with his
power, then he will sneak and creep around on all sides, making use of
all kinds of artifice and keeps on until he finally has made us weary,
that a person either falls from the faith altogether, or gives way to
disgust and impatience. Thereto then this comfort is given, that the
heart, when it feels the temptations too great to bear, receives new
strength and solace from the Holy Supper. But, thirdly, the Holy Supper
also confers eternal salvation. Just as sin, as long as it is not
forgiven, deprives us of salvation, so sin which is forgiven opens unto
us the door of eternal salvation. Where there is forgiveness of sin,
there is also life and salvation.
But if we would obtain this threefold blessed benefit from the Holy
Supper, we must receive it worthily and well prepared. This is however
not a worthiness brought about by the law, but by the Gospel, and does
not consist in a perfect life and entire purity of the soul from sin; but
much more in this, that we are conscious of our unworthiness and
sinfulness; that we have a heart poor in spirit and mournful, and long
heartily after the forgiveness of sin, that we also comfort ourselves
with it or wish to comfort; that we regard our sins to be very great, but
that we rejoice in the help which is found in none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ. On the other hand, all those communicants are unworthy and
unfit, who in their self-righteous conceit think it unnecessary to have
the forgiveness of sin, as was the case with the Pharisee, who stood and
prayed thus with himself: God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men
are,--or who entirely doubt the forgiveness of sin, as did Cain, who said
unto the Lord: My punishment is greater than I can bear, and who will not
permit himself to be delivered from his despondent thoughts, or those who
continue in evil purpose and who knowingly go on and serve sin, or who
live in malicious hatred against their neighbor. When such unworthy
communicants receive the Holy Supper, it is true, they also receive the
body and blood of Christ, but they receive it unto judgment and unto the
increase of their own damnation. Hence, too, St. Paul gives the earnest
admonition: Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup, for whoso eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
and drinketh damnation to himself. Now, whoever recognizes in himself the
above named characteristics of an unworthy communicant, should not dare
to approach the table of the Lord in this condition; not that he should
remain away, but in the meanwhile he should examine himself, and instead
of being an impenitent, become a penitent sinner.
But are not also weak believers to be numbered among the unworthy
communicants? By no means. But much more those who are both weak in faith
and defective in godly life, and who are overtaken in this or that sin,
and who painfully feel their weakness and long to become stronger, are
Christ's right welcome guests at his table; such the Lord does not cast
away, but much more invites to come; for he instituted the Holy Supper
especially for the weak and infirm, that through this spiritual
nourishment they might become stronger. He extends unto all such the
gracious call: Come unto me all ye that are weary and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest, and whosoever comes, I will in no wise cast
out.