Saturday, September 22, 2012
FOOD FOR THE SOUL
From the Large Catechism (Luther's comments on the Lord's Supper):
+ "It is most necessary to grasp what the power and benefit of the Sacrament are in order to know what to look for and what to get out of the Sacrament. This is clearly evident from the words of Jesus: 'This is My body and blood given and poured out FOR YOU for the forgiveness of sins.' In other words, we go to the Sacrament because there we receive a great treasure through which we obtain the forgiveness of sins. Why is that? Because there are the words, and it is they that give us this forgiveness. This is why Christ bids me to eat and to drink: He wants the Sacrament to be mine and to be a blessing to me as a sure pledge and sign of the treasure -- yes, to be the very treasure itself which is my security against sin, death, and all evils. Therefore it is fitting to call it the food of the soul that nourishes and strengthens the new man."
+ "The devil is a furious adversary; when he sees that we resist him and are on the offensive against our old self, and when he realizes that he cannot overrun us by force, he slithers and sneaks in from every side, testing out all his tricks on us, and he does not give up until he has worn us down to the point where we either discard faith or surrender hand and foot to apathy or impatience. It is for such times when we are disheartened and under heavy pressure that this comfort of the Lord's Supper is given. There we are to find refreshment and renew our strength."
+ "In the Lord's Supper Christ offers to every one of us the treasure He brought from heaven, a treasure to which He invites us most winsomely also in other passages, as when He says in Matthew 11:28, 'Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' How truly and tenderly He summons and encourages us for our own highest and greatest good."
+ "Never regard the Sacrament as something harmful from which to flee, but rather as purely wholesome and soothing therapy that is helpful and life-giving both the soul and for the body. For if the soul is healed, the body is helped as well."
+ "If you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness, go joyfully to the Lord's Table and let it refresh, comfort, and strengthen you."
