Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for today’s meditation is the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 26:26-29

²⁶ "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." ²⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, ²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

Today is a very special day for two reasons, we are celebrating the birth of the reformation through the posting of the 95 theses by Martin Luther and we are celebrating the first communion of David and Jessica. At a first glance you may not think these two events have anything to do with each other but as you look closer you will see they are connected in many ways. What Martin Luther started in 1517 has shaped our belief, practice, and doctrine of the Sacrament of the Altar or by other names the Lord’s Supper, Communion, or the Eucharist.

On October 31, 1517 Dr. Martin Luther, professor of theology at Wittenberg University posted the Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, more commonly known as the 95 theses, on the door of the Castle church at Wittenberg where theological, or relieous, debates were commonly placed. The more common name came about because the document contained 95 theses supporting his challenge of the practice of indulgences. The practice of the Roman Catholic Church was to sell an indulgence to parishioners which eliminated any and all unperformed penance, which is an action to show remorse, given by the priest during confession. At that time many people were given more things to do as penance than what they could physically perform in a lifetime. The pope authorized selling a piece of paper (an indulgence) to forgive the penance of distraught parishioners as a way to raise funds to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica. They also sold them to remove deceased relatives from purgatory. Luther opposed the selling of indulgences because it was a mechanical way through repentance rather than the spiritual and true repentance which included a change of mind and heart, a true remorse. He also was heard saying "if the Pope has the power to free people from purgatory why wouldn’t he do it out of love instead of money." They believed that you went to an intermediate place called purgatory to carry out any un performed penance after you died.

The events of October 31, 1517 could be compared to the perfect storm which propelled Martin into the spotlight of the pope and all levels in between. Martin Luther was doing his job as a theology professor by initiating a local debate; the printing press was recently invented which Martin did not fully understand its implications, and he was politically naïve. The 95 theses were copied, distributed, and became a firestorm of controversy. Politically, Martin did not know that the Archbishop of Mainz received half the proceeds from the sale of indulgences in his area to repay a debt to the pope. Martin’s theses against indulgences affected all levels above him where he thought he had an ally in the archbishop.

Through several other disputations and debates Luther challenges the scriptural authority of the pope and stands trial for heresy where the outcome could be a death sentence. During the process of the trial Luther emerges fully and formally as a reformer and continues to write reformatory treatises. At his trial before the diet of Worms, which is a counsel of the area rulers, Luther declared "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." With this statement he sealed his fate and almost seven months later Emperor Charles V signed the edict that excommunicated

Martin and branded him a heretic which carried a death sentence. Luther lived protected by the elector of Saxony in Wartburg Castle during which he translated the New Testament into German and wrote about reform. The reformation in Wittenberg continued in Luther’s absence by his colleagues. Luther and the other reformers used the power of the printed word and took their message and the scripture to the people. One of the topics of reform was communion. The reformers saw several things about the Sacrament of the Altar to reform. They wanted to halt the practice where the Sacrament was celebrated by priests privately for a price on behalf of others either alive or dead. In the private mass the priest served himself the bread and wine. The reformers saw this as a good work being offered for God instead of a gift of forgiveness from God. It became a sacrifice because it was performed for another and there is no other sacrifice other than Christ and therefore this practice was not scriptural.

Another aspect they sought to reform was the practice of the laity receiving only the bread and the clergy received both bread and wine known as receiving both kinds of elements. There were two reasons for this practice; first fear of spilling, they believed that the elements became the body and blood of Jesus Christ when consecrated and they were no longer bread and wine; this process is call transubstantiation. They believed it was an offence to Christ to spill His blood. The other reason was to make a difference between the clergy and the laity. The reformers tackled both the practice of the laity receiving both kinds and the definition of the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the elements. Matthew 26 clearly states that Jesus gave them both the body and blood in the bread and wine in the form of a command, take eat, take drink. They also argued the church cannot place itself above Christ and declaring that the laity should only receive the bread was a rule made by man and it countered Christ’s command. The churches in Wittenberg began serving both kinds to the congregations but of course change is always hard to manage and this was a rocky transition led by coercion instead of education by Luther’s fellow reformers who were very zealous for reform.

The presence of Christ in the elements was argued from both extremes. There were reformers that argued that the bread and wine represent the body and blood and the Roman Catholic Church was on the other extreme where there was no bread or wine left, just the body and blood. Luther goes back to the scripture and points out that "is" means "is" in any language. Christ said, "this is my body, this is my blood" yet they still ate bread and drank wine. Luther argued that the body and blood are in the elements just like wine is in a bottle and when someone points to it they say this is wine the bottle is still there containing the wine. Luther took a good defensive position on the mountain high road with the other extremes in the valleys on either side and saw that the body and blood were in the bread and wine in a miraculous way that we will never fully understand and we should not try.

As you can see, our practice and belief of communion was shaped by Luther and the other reformers who turned to the scripture to define practice and belief. Turning to scripture was not a common practice back then. Most of the priests could not read Latin and therefore couldn’t read the bible. Luther and the reformers not only reformed the Sacrament of the Alter but also how we settle theological disputes by turning to scripture. By reading and studying the scripture Martin found the practices of the church had wandered away from a scriptural basis and it was his desire until the day he died not to create Lutheranism but to change the things he found in error according to scripture. Be confident that you receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ as you receive both kinds of elements every time you eat the bread and drink the wine and that through this sacrament you receive the benefit of forgiveness of sins. You did not earn the forgiveness of sins but instead it is a gift freely given by Jesus and his death on the cross. Today David and Jessica receive this sacrament for the first time and we can rejoice with them that our practice is scriptural.

Amen