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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen.)
What do you first think of when you hear the word “participation”? When you hear the word “participation”, do you first think of trying to get people—including members of minority groups, such as those with different physical or intellectual abilities—to participate, or to be included in or engaged with something, such as social decisions or elections? Do you think of labor force participation, the percentage of the total working-age population that either is working or is actively looking for work? Or, do you maybe think of “participation trophies”, such as the participation trophy that a comedian tried to give to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just before the Iowa caucuses, or the participation trophies that North Carolina lawmakers last year proposed banning from children’s recreational sports? Whatever else you might first think of when you hear the word “participation”, the “participation” in tonight’s Epistle Reading is a “communion” (KJV, ASV, NKJV) or “sharing” (NASB; confer AAT, NEB) in the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so a way to receive the benefits of His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. That participation in the Body and Blood of Christ is “good” participation, obviously, but, as the Divinely‑inspired St. Paul makes clear in the surrounding context of tonight’s Epistle Reading, and as the rest of Holy Scripture makes clear, there is also such a thing as “bad” participation, perhaps in some ways similar to either the secular logical fallacy known as “guilt by association” or the secular legal concept of felony murder.
In the surrounding context of tonight’s Epistle Reading, St. Paul is warning the Corinthians and us about “bad” participation with false gods. St. Paul started chapter 10 speaking about the people of Israel’s in a sense being baptized and eating spiritual food, yet, he said, some of them nevertheless desired evil, were idolaters, engaged in sexual immorality, put God to the test, and grumbled (1 Corinthians 10:1-13). And, focusing especially on idolatry, St. Paul tells the Corinthians and us to flee from idolatry, expecting that we can reason, from our practice of participating in the Body and Blood of Christ, that we should not participate in the sacred meals of those who believe differently (1 Corinthians 10:14-22). Later, in writing to Timothy, St. Paul similarly commands against participating in the sins of others (1 Timothy 5:22), something St. John also writes about, giving as an example simply greeting a false teacher (2 John 11; confer Proverbs 28:24; Isaiah 1:23). Participating in the sins of others entangles one in the guilt and judgment of those committing the sins (Matthew 23:30; confer 27:25). As light has no participation in darkness, righteousness has no partnership with lawlessness (2 Corinthians 6:14), St. Paul writes elsewhere, but demands separation and exposes the works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11; see Hauck, TDNT 3:804). For as inclusive as society wants to be, for all even the Biblical desire for unity, there nevertheless needs to be factions over true and false teaching, St. Paul writes elsewhere, so that those who are genuine may be recognized (1 Corinthians 11:18).
What about us? What are our idols or false gods? Do we participate in the worship of false gods? What about our participation with churches that do not faithfully confess the Gospel in all of its articles (TLSB, ad loc 1 Co 10:1-22, 1961)? Do we admit that there can be “bad” participation? Do we recognize where the line is between true teaching and practice and false teaching and practice? Are we willing to do what is necessary in order to not participate in the sins of others? If we do not sin in these ways, then we sin in other ways, for we are sinful by nature. On account of our sinful nature and all of our actual sin, we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, unless, enabled by God, we turn in sorrow from our sin and trust God to forgive us. When we so repent, then God does forgive us. God forgives us for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Since we partake of flesh and blood, the Son of God likewise partook of the same things, the Divinely-inspired author of Hebrews says, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:14-15). That is us who repent—we are delivered! In the man Jesus, the Son of God participated in our human nature, and, as we are in Him, St. Peter writes, we participate in His Divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire (2 Peter 1:4). Out of God’s great love for even the fallen world, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, including your sins and my sins. Jesus died for us, in our place, as our substitute, and then He rose from the dead. Now, the benefits of His Body given for us and His Blood shed for us on the cross He gives to us in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine in the Holy Supper.
In the surrounding context of tonight’s Epistle Reading, St. Paul had referred to the people of Israel’s in a sense being baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all eating the same spiritual food and all drinking the same spiritual drink, which was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:2-4). What happened to them prophetically pointed forward to what happens to us. God calls us into the participation of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9), and in one Spirit we all are baptized into one body and made to drink of one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13; confer Marquart, CLD IX:42; Stephenson, CLD XII:83; Scaer, CLD VIII:131). As the bread that Christ broke and the cup that He blessed were a participation in His Body and Blood, and as the bread that St. Paul broke and the cup that he blessed were a participation in Christ’s Body and Blood, so the bread that we break and the cup that we bless is a participation in Christ’s Body and Blood, so that all who eat this bread and drink this cup truly participate in Christ’s true Body and Blood (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration VII:54). And, eating and drinking in contrition and faith, we receive the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
We receive the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, and so we are transformed. We do not participate in the worship of false gods, nor do we participate with churches that do not faithfully confess the Gospel in all of its articles. We admit that there can be “bad” participation; we recognize where the line is between true teaching and practice and false teaching and practice; we are willing to do what is necessary in order to not participate in the sins of others. And, when we fail to do so, as we will fail and will sin in other ways, then, with daily contrition and faith, we live in God’s forgiveness of sins. In this lifetime, we remain those who are at the same time justified and sinful, but the forgiveness that we receive does not give us license to sin.
We might first think of any number of things when we hear the word “participation”, but we should first and foremost be concerned about both not wrongly participating in the sins of others and rightly participating in the Body and Blood of Christ. That is what this Holy (“Maundy” or “mandate”) Thursday is all about: our Lord’s instituting His Holy Supper for our good. On Holy (Maundy) Thursday for decades of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther’s life, the pope each year read a decree of excommunication that included the Lutherans, but on one occasion Luther reportedly said that he was quite hearty in spite of being consigned to hell by the Roman Catholics, with whom he did not participate, and Luther said that on Maundy Thursday people instead should be thanking God for His great goodness in both the Lord’s Supper and His suffering and death (Reed, The Lutheran Liturgy, 502, citing Horn, The Christian Year, 122, citing Alt, Das Kirchenjahr, 357-358; confer Table Talk #3504, AE 54:216). And, so we do thank God for His great goodness in both the Lord’s Supper and His suffering and death. We thank God now, and we will thank God for eternity.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +