Part III Article XI

Today's article can be found here.

This article is one that says that clergy should be allowed to be married. Which was probably written at a time before clergy actually got married. Ok. Ok. I am only kidding. But maybe you are sitting there and reading this and wondering, why would the marriage of clergy be such a big deal, unless of course you were clergy.

So why make it something that is so important? Well I think there are a couple ways that you can look at this that will be blessing whether you are clergy or not. One thing to note is that this says something about marriage. All joking aside, marriage is a wonderful and beautiful thing. It is a gift from God. Marriage is something that the Scriptures treat as very important. There we find the image of marriage as a picture for the relationship between Jesus (bridegroom) and the people of God (the bride). Just that alone says many important things about not just marriage, but who God is, and how God relates to God's people.

OK. So that seems pretty good. I guess. But what if you are neither clergy, nor married? Does this say anything to you? Sure. Because this affirms that the gifts that God gives are indeed good. Now who is to say to God how those gifts should be distributed or to whom they belong? God works in ways and with an understanding that is far above our own. So we can give thanks and celebrate the gifts that God gives. And when we see our neighbor have different gifts, we give thanks and celebrate with our neighbor. God is indeed good. None of us deserve the blessings that we have. But we have them because of how great and awesome and loving and merciful our God is. And so we give thanks. I pray that God's presence and gifts in your lives would be a blessing to you this week and always.

Sincerely,

Pastor CJ

Response to Previous Post Comments

This comment was attached to the previous post:

We believe that Christ is truly present in with and under the bread and the wine. Most reformed church members just feel the bread and grape juice are a "memorial" and they are only the bread and the juice.

My question is this. Do they get the same forgiveness of sins from this observance of the Lord's Supper as Catholics, Lutherans, Orthodox, etc. who discern the true body and blood?

Allow me to ask the question from a slightly different perspective. What is it that makes communion work? Is it the belief of the one who distributes or receives the bread and wine, or is it the words of Jesus (given for you...shed for you for the forgiveness of sins)? 

It is quite simply the words of Jesus. For in the sacraments, God is the one who is at work. God is the main actor and the effectiveness of the sacraments are not dependant upon those who receive it. Nor is the effectiveness of the sacrament dependant upon the one who distributes it. 

In other words, it is the word of Jesus together with the eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine which are the essential thing. In fact, Luther points out in the Small Catechism, that the one who believes these words of Jesus, has what they promise. 

It is really a cool kind of a thing. We see here yet another way that our God so lavishly pours out his grace into our lives. We really do not earn it or deserve it, but we have it because of who God is and the wonderful ways that he works in our lives. It is a blessings that we should hold near and dear. Because in this simple meal, God works in some pretty profound ways. 

Blessings to you this week. 

Sincerely,

Pastor CJ

Whoops!

Whoops! For some reason, I had the wrong setting set up on my blog and it was not letting me know when comments were posted. That really defeats the purpose of what I want to accomplish here, so rest assured, that this has been corrected.

My hope for this blog is that it be a place of discussion and not just a one way street. So please leave comments and they will be responded to. Unless my dad leaves some of his “typical” comments. Those will be ignored. Sorry, Dad. I love you. But you know what I’m talking about. So here we go. This comment was left on a post that we had a few weeks back on communion.

How did the doctrine of transubstantiation come about in the first place?

I am not 100% sure where it came from. I think it is more of a how. That is, I think this is something that developed over time. One of the big issues that the reformers had with the communion practices is that communion was seen as being the sacrifice of Jesus offered over and over and over again. And the priest yielded its power. The reformers said, “no way.” Christ died once for all and when he said “it is finished,” that was it. It was finished. So that is one piece.

I also believe that as Christianity met up with metaphysics, and philosophy and interacted with those things that mysteries received explanations. But how does one explain a mystery? How do you explain the presence of Christ in, with and under the bread and the wine? You can’t. But that doesn’t stop people from trying.

When it comes to communion, here is what is most important; this is a gift from God. However Christ comes to us, he comes to us. And through this gift we receive forgiveness, life and salvation. It is really an awesome thing.

That’s my two cents for this week; I look forward to seeing yours. Blessings and peace.

Sincerely,

Pastor CJ