Q: After having been a reformed baptist for 10 years I have recently decided to baptize my children age 2 weeks and 2.5 years based on a more or less Lutheran view of baptism. I am now looking into when to give these children communion and I am considering letting the 2.5 year old take it yet not practice intinction with my infant. I understand the Presbyterian view of the supper and am not convinced. I understand the Federal Vision view and am somewhat convinced. My question for you is what is the Lutheran view on communion for young children and what books, resources should I read before deciding how to proceed. I appreciate your time and feedback. Thanks. Blessings to you and your ministry.

A: Congratulations on the baptism of your children. God indeed attaches His promises to the waters of Baptism, making these a water of blessing indeed. My answer here will not deal the Presbyterian view of the supper nor with the Federal Vision, both of which you mentioned as you lead up to your question. Those are questions for another time. I wish only to comment on the Lutheran view on communion for young children and what resources are available to you.

You are right to ask questions about the Lord’s Supper before you proceed, for it is not our supper to do with what we want. It is the Lord’s Supper and our right administration of the Supper must correspond to what the Lord would want us to do (and not what we feel we like doing.) Neither is the Lord’s Supper a private meal that we ‘celebrate’ at home or that brides and grooms ‘celebrate’ privately at weddings. It is the Lord’s Supper to be celebrated in the context of a believing congregation and in the presence of the rest of the body of Christ - so some of what you want to do will depend on the practice of your local congregation. (Of course, one could argue that where 2 or 3 are gathered together, there is Christ in their midst and that is true enough. Christ gave us those words, however, to give us hope and confidence in His holy presence and not so that we could legalistically compute the minimum number of communing participants. Usually, however, the church consists of more than 2 or 3 and believing and doing something other than what your local church is doing will, in a sense, put you out of fellowship with that congregation. Then, either the congregation needs to reconsider it’s practices, or you do, or you need to find an orthodox [meaning right thinking, not Eastern Orthodox] Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod congregation to associate with.)

Very often when it comes to the issue of when to administer the Lord’s Supper to children, the question of age comes up. This tends to muddy things. Here at Faith, instead of tying the administration of the Lord’s Supper to a particular age, we talk about it using the words “Worthy Communing.” When we talk this way, we take questions of age out of the equation. (We have taken the word ‘worthy’ from Luther’s Small Catechism when Luther asks the question, Who receives this sacrament worthily? Answer: Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words “for you” require all hearts to believe.

We have also taken it from it’s opposite, ‘unworthy’ as it is used in 1 Corinthians 11:27.) Whereas Holy Baptism ties to the Hebrew practice of circumcision which occurred for the Hebrew boy at the age of eight days (Leviticus 12:3; Colossians 2:11 and following), participation in the Passover seems to be tied to when a child is asking appropriate questions. (What do you mean by this service? Exodus 12:26) Because God has created us all differently, children ask their questions at different ages. When parents ask us, Is my child ‘ready’(?) we tell parents to think about what’s going on with their child. What is the child’s interest in the Lord’s Supper? What have you been teaching them about the Lord’s Supper already? What have they been saying about worship and the Lord’s Supper? What questions do they have? Do they have a concept of their own sin and grace and forgiveness? What do they say about Christ their Lord? What are they doing and how are they acting when they come with you to receive a blessing from the Pastor at the Lord’s Table - are they goofing off and being silly or are they observing what’s going on and reverently asking theological questions at their developmental level?

If the parent determines that the child is asking the questions, we have developed a program we’ve put together based on our worship service books put out by our churches publishing house (Concordia Publishing House). In this program the Pastor gathers with the family three times. The first time to re-teach the theology of the Lord’s Supper to the parents, the second time to model for the parents, the teaching of the Lord’s Supper to their child(ren), and finally, when the head of the household believes the child “is ready,” the Pastor will come again to the house, often with an Elder of the congregation, and follow an order in our Pastoral Care Companion to the Lutheran Service Book titled, A Resource for Pastoral Examination of Catechumens. After that ‘examination’ of the child (and we tailor that examination to the developmental age of the child), we invite the child to participate in The Rite of First Communion Prior To Confirmation before they receive their first communion. Resources for teaching the faith are abundant. All that we use is based on Luther’s Small Catechism. Attached is a PDF of what we give to families to teach their children. FAMILY CATECHESIS BOOKLET

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Resources: One resource is an out of print book titled: Communion and First Communion by Frank W. Klos. I can’t recommend everything in this book, however it was one of the first resources our church body came up with as it started to reflect on the issue of worthy communing. A thorough study of 1 Corinthians 10 and 1 Corinthians 11 using the Concordia Commentary on First Corinthians by Gregory Lockwood would be in order. Read both Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms on the Lord’s Supper. I hope this is of help. Sorry for my late reply. A blessed Advent to you. In Christ, Pastor Ron Hodel

Q: Dear Pastor Rhode,

I am not yet a member of an LCMS congregation. I listen to Issues Etc daily though. Will you please explain this, "Lutherans reject both Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation." Your segment on Issues about "in remembrance of Me" was so good. I had been taught in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church that Consubstantiation is a Lutheran doctrine. Bless you for your help!

A: Thanks for your question!  You're certainly not alone.  There are several ex-OPC families here at Faith that report being taught the same thing.  As far as I know, the term "Consubstantiation" was first used, not by Lutherans, but by the Reformed.  That's telling.  It's always easier to dismiss someone once you've labeled them.  As to why the Reformed continue to say we teach Consubstantiation when    we've demonstrated otherwise, I really don't know.  After dialoguing directly with an OPC pastor myself, I have my suspicions.  It's quite convenient to dismiss the Roman position as "Transubstantiation," dismiss the Lutheran position as "Consubstantiation," and then explain the Reformed position as if it were true.  Only problem is: Lutherans don't teach Consubstantiation. ... Of course there's another problem too: the violence that must be done to our Lord's words in order to make the Reformed doctrine of the Supper "work".

Lutherans do not hold to consubstantiation or transubstantiation.  We reject both as unhelpful and inaccurate philosophical constructs, which get laid over the top of Scripture, and do little more than obscure Christ's plain and simple words.  Consubstantiation and transubstantiation are theories that come from men and not from Christ.  They both involve philosophical definitions of "substance" that come from medieval scholasticism and Aristotelian philosophy, and not from Christ.  We therefore reject these teachings of men and simply cling to Christ's words, "This is My body."  We actually believe that "this" means "this," that "is" means "is," that "My body" means "My body."  Kind of refreshing, isn't it?  No theories.  No spiritualizing.  No floating into heaven.  No weaseling.  Just Christ's words and simple faith.

Because Jesus takes bread and says, "Take, eat. This is My body," we confess that we are eating "bread that is His body".  We would prefer to leave it right there.  If pressed, the only thing we might do is point to Jesus Himself.  In the person of Jesus, true Man and true God are brought into union.  In the Sacrament, true bread and true body are brought into union.  If by "consubstantiation" one envisions the bread and the body somehow "glued together" like two boards, then consubstantiation is to the Lord's Supper what Nestorianism is to Christ.

Jesus' words themselves also deny consubstantiation.  When He says, "This is My body," we usually spend most of our time on the word "is".  But the word "this" is equally important.  Again, if by "consubstantiation" one envisions the bread and the body somehow "glued together" like two boards, then when Jesus says, "This is My body," the word "This" would have to refer to His body hidden in the bread and not to the bread itself.  This is not what the Scriptures say.  They plainly say that "He took bread" and said, "This [the bread] is My body."  If the Scriptures reject consubstantiation, Lutherans do to.

You may have also come to the realization that when our Lord says, "This is My body," the word "This" happens to overturn the Reformed understanding of the Supper.  His body and blood are not to be sought in heaven.  "This" is His body - He says - the bread, right here on earth.  "This" is His blood - He says - the cup right here on earth.  At a Lutheran altar both "the bread that is His body" and "the cup that is His blood" are given and shed into your mouth, for you, for the forgiveness of sins.  This is nothing less than very Gospel itself.