“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16). I recently traveled to a German city to conduct a Divine Service in German and Farsi. This congregation only has a vacancy pastor and I fill in for him occasionally. For this reason, there are parishioners that I don’t know well. After the service, we all had coffee in the narthex. I stepped up to one individual sipping java and said, “Good morning! Say, did you take Communion? I don’t recall seeing you at the altar rail…” The person looked at me rather sheepishly and said, “I never take Communion.” “Really?” I asked incredulously. “No. I don’t believe in Jesus anymore. I just go to church to please my family. “Oh, I had no idea,” I replied. “You know, I just fill in here occasionally, but if I were your pastor, I think you and I would be having an ongoing conversation about this. I’m sorry to say that you are not in a good place spiritually…But Holy Communion is not something that you ‘earn’ by being super strong in your faith. In a way, it’s the exact opposite. The most intimate way our Lord comes to us is in His true body and blood, which we receive in the consecrated bread and wine. Did you know that Holy Communion is also effective if we are weak in our faith? Remember that Jesus said, ‘Man does not live by bread alone…’” The person looked at me with wide eyes and said, “No one has ever told me that before…” “That may be,” I replied, “but I hope you would reflect on your spiritual state and once again start receiving the Lord’s gifts of His true body and blood that He wants you to have. After all, in Holy Communion you are not taking just bread and wine, you are actually *participating* in the blood and the body of Christ. We all need that…” I pray that the next time I am there, this person will have repented and will once again receive the Lord’s life-giving gift of the Sacrament, which strengthens and sustains the faith of all believers.
The Tiews in Germany 