I am a Confessional Lutheran.

Today, a Lutheran pastor colleague asked me, with some timidity, if I would have joined her at a Holy Week Eucharist put on by the Methodist Church. Originally, she had been asked to offer one of the readings, but at the last minute, was pulled into the celebration of Holy Communion. She “had fun,” but wasn’t so sure about the theology behind it—or at least, what I would think.

One of these things is not like the other…

We teach and believe, along with our Lutheran forebears, that, “to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments.”1 But we certainly know that there are many, many things regarding which we disagree with the Methodists. Clearly, the church does not have real, true unity between the two groups.

And yet we are also told that “both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men.”2 I’m not sure it would be fair to call our Methodist brothers and sisters “evil men.” But if sharing the Sacrament with even truly evil people—or even an evil presider—does not reduce its efficacy, certainly a Methodist wouldn’t ruin it either. Thinking this is an ancient heresy called Donatism.

Now, some would say that Holy Communion is a symbol of Christian unity, and since we are not united, we should not come to the table together. But notice the word “effectual” in the previous quote. The Sacrament of Holy communion is not just a symbol. It has effect. If it is involved in Christian unity, as has been suggested since time immemorial3, it cannot be only a sign of unity. It is instead a means by which God brings us into unity.

But should we do it? “Now the body of Christ can never be an unfruitful, vain thing, that effects or profits nothing.”4 When we join in Holy Communion with Methodists or others, we affirm that while there are many things still dividing us, we desire unity. This desire is rooted in that of St. Paul, “Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment,”5 and especially of Jesus, “Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.”6 If Christ himself has that desire, and we do anything to work toward it, surely he will delight in us.

Not, of course, that joining with non-Lutherans in Holy Communion is a work that we do in order to promote unity. But rather, it is what God does in and through us; in, with, and under the Sacrament, to bring us together according to his promise. Unless we believe that the sacraments have no actual effect, but are only signs and symbols, then it is not only acceptable to share Communion with others—it is imperative. And when we do so, when we are able to come to sufficient agreements with other types of believers so that we can join at table, we are celebrating the work, not of ourselves, but of the Holy Spirit active in our world, opposing violence and injustice, and bringing peace.

I confess, with five centuries of God’s people, a faith that is rooted not in policing rules or creating divisions, but in God’s grace and love. And although Fundamentalist Lutherans have tried to steal the word “confessional,” it is no less true. They are welcome to confess their piles of words, but I am a Confessional Lutheran. I confess the living Jesus Christ, and I cannot be stopped.

  1. Augsburg Confession, Section VII, paragraphs 2–3.
  2. Augsburg Confession, Section VIII, paragraph 2.
  3. Didache, Section IX, paragraph 4. To the unfamiliar, the Didache is not a Lutheran confessional writing. Rather, it is a Christian text dating from the time the New Testament was written down, but which didn’t make it into the Bible. It is not an authoritative source for our theology, but it is an authentic witness to what Christians in the first century were thinking.
  4. The Large Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar, paragraph 30.
  5. 1 Corinthians 1:10.
  6. John 17:11.

Quotes from the Lutheran Confessions are taken from the 1917 Triglott Concordia edition. Bible quotations are modernized from the American Standard Version. I’ve chosen these, mainly, because they are in the public domain.