Tag: elements

Lamb of God / Agnus Dei

August 15th, 2023

Martin Luther (1483-1546), a former Augustinian monk, was the tinder that ignited the Reformation in the 16^th century, splitting the 1,000-year-old church into two – what later became known as Protestant and Catholic. However, he was not the first reformer – there were others who preceded him, such as Arnold of Brescia, Jan Hus, John Wycliffe and Peter Waldo. Luther’s ideas also benefited from a brand-new invention, called the Gutenberg press, which allowed the dissemination of Luther’s ideas across Germany, and further across Europe. Many other reformers joined the “reformation revolution”, such as Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531), Hugh Latimer (1487–1555), Martin Bucer (1491–1551), William Tyndale (ca. 1494–1536), Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560), John Rogers (1500–1555), Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575), and John Calvin (1509–1564).

However, Luther did not alter the style of Catholic worship to any large degree – he believed that whatever elements of worship that had been introduced by the church over the centuries could be kept as long as they did not directly violate Scriptural commands. Calvin, on the other hand, believed that human traditions needed to be stripped away and worship needed to be re-formed according to Scripture. Thus, worship should only include that which Scripture commands or sets as an example. Other reformers had other, sometimes much more radical ideas, about how worship should be conducted.

All of this preamble is to say that we still retain the five main mass parts of the old church – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo (Creed), Sanctus and Agnus Dei–in our modern Holy Communion service. I’ve written about the first four in previous blogs. We no longer chant or sing the Creed, but the other mass parts are still sung in a wide variety of settings. And today, I want to talk about the Agnus Dei, which is translated as “Lamb of God.”

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; grant us peace.

While the congregation files up to receive Holy Communion, the congregation and choir sing the “Lamb of God”, as well as other hymns that have a communion theme, until all the members of the congregation have received the elements.

The phrase “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world” comes from John the Baptist in the Gospel of John (John 1:29). By identifying Christ as the Lamb of God, John declared him to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrifices as the all-sufficient offering for our sin. Our sins are forgiven due to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross on our behalf. The congregation sings this song and remembers Christ’s redemptive work while we take communion. The Lamb of God ends with a petition for mercy and peace. This three-fold petition reminds me of Luther’s reported last words – “We are beggars. This is true.” According to Joshua Janke, http://www.risensaviorlutheran.org/sermon-blog/2021/10/24/mark-1046-52-we-are-all-beggars-october-24-2021:

“’We are all beggars.’ Beggars who can do nothing but cry for mercy; who must do nothing but receive what he wants to give; and beggars who joyfully want to follow Jesus to eternal life. Thank God that Jesus has time and mercy in abundance for beggars like us. Amen.”

I love that despite our lowliness, there is joy in our redemption, and we can depend on the love and steadfastness of our Lord.

Back to the pragmatics of Holy Communion, one of the reasons the Agnus Dei occurs at this point in the service, is that it allows the pastor to receive Holy Communion before distributing the elements to the congregation. In our church, our pastor prefers to commune the congregation first, and then receive their elements at the end. Everybody, even the pastor, receives Holy Communion from outside of the person receiving it.

After communion, the leftover elements are gathered up and placed back on the altar, covered with the chalice cloth, and our communion part of the service ends with a prayer.

May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love. Amen.
Holy Communion

August 8th, 2023

I am a member of my congregation’s altar guild. We are the people who tend to the “front” of the church. We change the paraments (for us it’s the altar and lectern coverings) according to the season). We make sure the eternal flame, which is typically a candle hanging in a candle holder from the wall, is replaced weekly so the flame is always lit. We place the fresh flowers on the altar. We replenish the water in the baptismal font. We make a special effort to decorate the sanctuary on festival days such as Easter and Christmas. And, most Sundays, we prepare the elements of bread and wine to be distributed to the congregation during Holy Communion.

Different churches have different variations of the bread that is used. Some use communion wafers, the plain, tasteless discs that are purchased through church supply distributors. Others use actual bread – and in my somewhat limited experience, they range from pita bread cut up into smaller pieces (my current church) all the way to King’s Hawaiian bread in a church close to the bakery’s home in Torrance, CA! Some churches prefer to stick to unleavened bread of some kind. It is not dictated anywhere in scripture what sort of bread we are to use for Holy Communion. And, thanks to COVID, we have inherited what is affectionately known as the “communable” – an all-in-one sealed plastic container which contains a small, non-gluten wafer and a bit of grape juice, which the communicant can self-administer.

For the wine, there is generally a choice of actual wine and grape juice. At my church, we take the wine and the bread via “intinction”, which involves the communicant dipping their own piece of bread into either the chalice of wine or grape juice. In former times, my church had trays of small, individual glass cups which needed to be filled in advance of the service, and afterwards, washed. That was a lot of “dishes”! My other congregation used disposable plastic cups years ago, but being ever more ecologically sensitive, I’m not sure how many congregations continue to use them.

The altar guild is responsible for making sure the elements are on the altar before the service starts. Sometimes we do most of the preparations on the Saturday before the service. There is a set of linens we use to place the elements on, we cover the goblets of wine/juice with covers called “palls”, and place a chalice cloth covering all the elements to be blessed and used during communion.

When I first moved to California and was attending St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, we had a communion rail that separated the chancel from the sanctuary. This had padding so that communicants could kneel to receive the elements. Some Lutheran churches have a communion rail; others do not. My church used to have a communion rail (you can see the vestiges of it in the floor near the chancel steps), but it was removed. We receive communion while standing.

The elements of bread and wine are blessed by the pastor during the Words of Institution (see my blog post on 7/25/2023). If the pastor is away, and we do not have an ordained substitute pastor – often we have lay preachers who fill in when our pastor is away – we do not have a full communion service, but instead we observe the Service of the Word. It is much like the communion service, but without the communion part!

Because the elements have been blessed, they are, in our eyes they are made holy and are to be treated with respect and reverence. Wine or grape juice which has not been consumed during communion is either drunk by the pastor and/or assisting minister, or it is disposed of directly into the ground. It is never put into a regular sink, which is connected to a sewer system. Some churches have a piscina, a basin that drains directly to the ground. Extra bread leftover is saved and given to a congregation member or pastor to be eaten later – again, it is not thrown in the trash.

Holy Communion is one of the two sacraments Lutherans observe, the other being Holy Baptism. I am always grateful to be able to receive communion in community with my fellow believers!

May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love. Amen.
The Words of Institution

July 24th, 2023
Following the Sanctus, the next part of the communion service are the Words of Institution. We Lutherans have adopted the format included in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism in 1529:

On the night in which he was betrayed,

Our Lord Jesus took bread,

And gave thanks; broke it,

And gave it to his disciples, saying:

Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper,

He took the cup, gave thanks,

And gave it for all to drink,

Saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood,

Shed for you and for all people

For the forgiveness of sin.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

Lutherans do not ask for the Holy Spirit to come down to consecrate the elements of bread and wine; there is nothing in Scripture that speaks of such an invocation as causing the elements to become Christ’s body and blood. Instead, Jesus simply gives the words of institution.

That being said, we do not use the words in the Gospels and Paul’s writing verbatim. Let’s take a look at what Scripture offers:

Matthew 26:26-28: “²⁶Now 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.” ²⁷And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, ²⁸for this is my blood of the^[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Mark 14:22- 24: “²²While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” ²³Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shedfor many.”

Luke 22:14-20: “¹⁴And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶For I tell you I will not eat ituntil it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. ¹⁸For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.^”

1 Corinthians 11:23-25: ²³For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, ²⁴and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Luther’s version is a combination of all of these Scriptural references; it strikes me as being beautifully poetic. All of the versions, despite their slight differences, contain the same information: Christ identifies the Sacrament with his own body and blood, given for the forgiveness of sins. And we know from Scripture that when the same information or phrase is repeated several times, it truly is central to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Even if other Christian traditions include prayers before the Words of Institution, these words are mandatory; in the case of Lutheran worship, they stand alone.

While speaking the Words of Institution, the pastor makes the sign of the cross over the elements which are going to be consumed during the service of Holy Communion. These blessed elements are the vehicles by which the members of the congregation receive Christ. Additionally, the pastor may lift up the cup(s) and the host – this practice of elevation is not an ancient one, but was developed in the later Middle Ages. Whether the elevation is done or not, the consecration of the elements is a holy moment, and the lifting up of the elements demonstrates to the congregation that we believe the true presence of Christ is among us.

Now, I am not a theologian, and I am ill-equipped to weigh in on the controversies amongst various traditions of the Christian church regarding transubstantiation (from Dictionary.com: [Theology] the changing of the elements of the bread and wine, when they are consecrated in the Eucharist, into the body and blood of Christ (a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church)), consubstantiation and the like. If you are interested, I encourage you to dive into these hotly debated topics on your own!

Next week – the Lord’s Prayer! May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love. Amen.

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Tag: elements

Lamb of God / Agnus Dei

Holy Communion

The Words of Institution