Just take it

Do you know what's great about the Sacrament of Holy Communion? That it's the body and blood of Jesus, shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins. That it's a means of grace simply because of what it is.

I have  long lived with a foot in both evangelicalism and Lutheranism, living in the tension that such a position engenders. One of the things I  have noticed about (non-Lutheran) evangelical celebrations of the Lord's Supper is that there is such a contemplative air about it. People take the bread and wine, meditate and pray, and then eat and drink. 

Now, to itself, this is all well and good. In fact, it's biblical: "Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup." (1 Corinthians 11:28, ESV) We should take some time to remember what it is we're doing, why we need it because of our sin, and thank God for the gift he's given us in Jesus.

But this goes too far when we make our contemplation the make-or-break element of our receiving the Lord's Supper. "If I don't remember, if I don't take it in appropriately, then I haven't done it." How could you ever be sure you "remembered" enough? Will God, who supposedly wants to give us a "means of grace", withhold that grace if our contemplation isn't up to snuff?

No. It's a means of grace for those who have faith in Jesus because it is what it is, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus. If I eat the bread and drink the cup, believing that I need what Jesus gives for the forgiveness of sins, I will receive it. That's it. It's not conditioned on the quality of my rememberance. 

So go receive the Supper. Hear the words "shed for you" and "broken for you". Take and eat. Take and drink. And be forgiven.