The Mysterious Life

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV)

Back in 1899, Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech in Chicago extolling what he called “the strenuous life.”  The strenuous life, he said, was the “life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.” For personal, and even national, success, Roosevelt said, individuals must embrace this strenuous life, not taking the easy way, but eschewing all sloth and laziness for a life of purposeful difficulty.  To truly thrive, Roosevelt believed that one had to take life by the horns, forge one’s own path, and follow the strenuous ethos.

Life in the church is different.  It is a strenuous life, because we continually fight against sin on a daily basis.  But more than that, it is a life marked by the mysteries of the faith as they are expressed in Word and Sacrament.  To successfully fight against sin and temptation, we need to constantly be engaging with the mysteries of the faith.

How do we do this?  Well, we do what the Christians in the early church did, as described in Acts 2:42, and what the Church has always done: We observe the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.  We go to church to hear the Word of God spoken to us in the readings and preached to us from the pulpit (that’s right–your pastor’s sermon is God speaking to you!).  And we confess our sins and hear God’s absolution–that’s God’s life-giving word that takes away our sins, spoken to us.  And we receive forgiveness and life and strength in the Lord’s Supper, that wonderful “medicine of immortality” that Christ gives to us.  These things are the means of grace, through which the mystery of the Gospel frees us from our sins and helps us live and grow as Christians.  We need these means of grace, we need these mysteries, to aid us in the struggle, to keep us engaged strenuously in our fight against sin.  But they are not derived from our own willpower or our own strength.  Their strength is God’s strength, and he imparts it to us.

Therefore, if we want to fight the good fight, we “[devote ourselves] to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”  We need these things, and we need each other to encourage us to receive them.  Luther says in his Large Catechism concerning the Lord’s Supper, “If you could see how many knives, darts and arrows are every moment aimed at you, you would be glad to come to the sacrament as often as possible” (LC 5.81-82).^[1]  So let it be with every means of grace God grants to us, so that we can indeed live a mysterious life.

Examine before Eating

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11:27-29, ESV)

In the last couple of years, we’ve begun preparing our children for the Lord’s supper in the fifth grade in my congregation. Part of the reason for this comes from the fact that there really is no age requirement for receiving the Lord’s Supper, and we wanted to get the kids in the habit of receiving the Lord’s Supper regularly at a younger age (and thus building a habit they’ll hopefully continue in). But the other reason is that, at that age, kids are better able to learn and understand exactly what is going on in the Lord’s Supper. They are now at an age where they are better able to discern that the Lord’s Supper is indeed Jesus’ body and blood, given and shed for them. And if they can discern the body and blood of Christ, they ought to receive it as soon as they are able.

But it occurred to me that, while talking to our kids about beginning the class to learn about the Lord’s Supper, of the Sacraments we receive in church, the Lord’s Supper does have something of an age requirement to it. Being old enough to understand what the Sacrament is and why it is necessary is important because not understanding what the Sacrament is or why it’s necessary has consequences. Like medicines that can become dangerous when taken improperly, when we receive the Lord’s Supper without understanding that it is Jesus’ body and blood given and shed for repentant sinners, we can find ourselves under God’s judgment. Therefore, understanding what the sacrament “is” is of utmost importance for us when we receive it.

This is why pastors examine us before we come to the Lord’s table. As called stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1), they want us to understand the mystery of the Lord’s Supper before we partake of it so that we do not eat or drink judgment on ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:29). So we are taught to study Jesus’ words, “This is My body, which is given for you….This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:19-20, ESV) and to examine ourselves and know our sinfulness (Psalm 38:18) and desire to live a redeemed life (Ephesians 4:22-24). When we consider these things and believe them, even if we are weak in faith, we will receive Jesus in a worthy manner for our good, and our faith will be strengthened and our sins forgiven.

So, when you go up to receive the Lord’s Supper, examine yourself and remember these things. Ponder the mystery of Christ’s body and blood. Know that they are given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Christ feeds you with the very medicine of immortality!

A Mysterious Gospel – For Everyone!

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:22-24, ESV)

What is a “mystery?”  In our popular understanding of the word, a mystery is something to be solved–a cold case, an unsolved crime, an occurrence for which there is no easy or apparent cause or answer.  It’s a job for special investigators – for Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes or Father Brown.  But that wasn’t always what the word “mystery” referred to.  To the ancient Greeks and Romans, a “mystery” was a certain kind of religious cult that was secret in nature and had teachings that only initiates were allowed to know.

For centuries, people across the Mediterranean sought acceptance into these religions, undergoing rites and ordeals in order to join the mystery cults and be let in on their secrets.  Some included strange requirements for initiation–the famous Eleusinian Mysteries of the cult of Demeter in Greece, for example, required that initiates raise piglets and take them for a bath in the sea before offering them up for sacrifice in the rites.^[1]  But the major feature of the ancient mystery cults was that they harbored secret knowledge to be shared with only a select few.

But Christianity is different.  The mysteries here aren’t only for initiates, and they are not to be kept secret; the mysteries are for all people though certainly, they may require explanation.  Indeed, the mystery at the heart of the Christian faith can present a difficulty to those who don’t understand it–it is a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Greeks (1 Corinthians 1:23).  The mystery, for Christians, is the Gospel, and while its meaning had previously been hidden from the world (1 Corinthians 2:8-9), with Christ’s coming, the meaning of the Gospel has been revealed and made known.^[2]

Unlike the mysteries of old, the meaning of the Gospel isn’t revealed through complex rituals or through the required study of arcane lore.  Instead, its fullness is revealed in Christ’s work on the cross.  For as Paul says, “[A]nd I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2, ESV).  The mystery of the Gospel is found in its simple proclamation of Christ and Him crucified, and its meaning is illuminated by the Holy Spirit working through those who proclaim it, for “we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

The Holy Spirit prepares those who hear the Gospel to understand its mystery.  The Spirit works through the words of Scripture and through the words of the preacher to make the Gospel known.  And the amazing thing is that the words of the Gospel, the very Word of God, through the work of the Spirit, can bring about faith and understanding in the people who hear and read it.  The Word of God illuminates and reveals itself.  The mystery is self-revealing.  Those who hear it don’t need to go through trials or go swimming with a piglet.  They need only to hear, and the Holy Spirit will do His work.  God himself will reveal the mystery, and He will reveal it to everyone who hears.