WHY EARLY COMMUNION?

When our dear Lord instituted the Sacrament of the Altar, he made it clear that by eating the bread that is his body and drinking the wine that is his blood, the communicant receives the forgiveness of sins. The Small Catechism articulates that where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

Thus, it should be clear, that all who are sinners are in need of the Sacrament of the Altar. Luther remarked in a sermon,

“The sublime sacrament must be regarded by us not as a poison, but as a medicine for the soul. Christ himself declares in Matthew 9, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” The only question is whether you thoroughly recognize and feel your labor and your burden and that you yourself fervently desire to be relieved of these. Then you are indeed worthy of the sacrament. If you believe, the sacrament gives you everything you need.”

With this in mind, our desire is to bring people not only to the saving confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, but to bring them also into the fellowship of Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.

While Holy Scripture presents great promises about the Sacrament of the Altar, it also gives stern warning to those who commune improperly when it states, “he who eats and drinks the body and blood of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27).

Therefore, those who are considered worthy are those who have faith in these words, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Those who are fit to commune are those who recognize in the bread and the wine the bodily presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ. They are those who recognize their sin, their need for salvation, and that salvation is found in no one else than Christ Jesus.

The reception of the Sacrament of the Altar is also a confession concerning the whole of the body of doctrine taught by a specific church. Thus, whosoever communes at the altar of Bethany Lutheran Church in Naperville, confesses the doctrinal agreement and unity with the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Hence, only those who confess such unity are fit to commune at Bethany’s altar.

What is not to be found in Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, or the official documents of the LC-MS is an age requirement for reception of the Sacrament nor a requirement that one undertake the extra-Biblical rite of Confirmation. To the contrary, the LSB Agenda (approved worship material for usage in the LCMS) contains a rite for admission to the altar prior to Confirmation.

Bethany Lutheran Church is blessed by the presence of many parishioners under the age of 14. These parishioners likely have many things in common. What they certainly have in common is that they all are sinners in need of salvation. They are all assaulted by the devil, the unbelieving world, and their own flesh and conscience. They are those who are in need of the gifts the Lord gives in the Sacrament of the Altar.

It should, therefore, be our aim not to exclude these children from the altar until they reach 8th grade and go through the rite of confirmation, and by so doing leave them to be attacked by the enemies of Christ’s church for the better part of a decade without the aid of the Holy Sacrament. We should rather make it our goal to bring these children to the altar just as soon as they can take this meal for their benefit.