Right Administration of the Sacrament?

What the Lutheran Confessions really say

The Holy Eucharist is one of the chief doctrines in the Lutheran Church. For centuries, the Church twisted the meaning and nature of the Sacraments, teaching that they are outward acts of reconciliation rather than a means of grace given and institution by God. This perverted understanding of the Sacrament led to other abuses in the Church, including masses for the dead, adoration of the Sacrament without reception (the idea that atonement can be made by the mere adoration of the host, not the reception as Christ commanded), and many others. 

One of the major tenants of the Reformation was the rediscovery of a proper, biblical understanding of the Sacraments as a means of grace. Luther wrote several works against the Church’s teaching, and also against Reformed theologians like Ulrich Zwingli, who held that the Lord’s Supper was merely an outward symbol in which Christ’s Body and Blood are not truly present. He also wrote against German academic Andreas Karlstadt, who taught that the Lord’s Supper was a memorial, placing the emphasis on our remembrance of the Supper and not the actual reception of our Lord’s true Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins.

This multi-front Eucharistic war in which Luther was embattled solidified the Lutheran Church’s sacramental theology. The Lutheran Confessions are clear that the Sacraments are God’s means of grace, the reception of which brings life, forgiveness, and salvation to all who believe. In the Sacrament, Christ’s Body and Blood are truly present, hidden under the bread and wine.

Yet the Lutheran Confessions not only define what the Sacraments are, but how they should be administered. Article XIV states that “nobody should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments without a regular call.” Arthur Carl Piepkorn, professor at Concordia St. Louis from 1951-1973, clarifies that a “regular call” includes the entire call process, from the initial selection of a pastor to his ordination and installation. “Public teaching,” likewise, is a medieval dialect for “official” or “responsible” teaching, not merely teaching “in public.” This denotes that the “public teaching” is the specific and functional duty of the pastor and his office. 

In short, the language of the Augsburg Confession makes clear that only called and ordained pastors may administer the Sacraments. 

Article XXIV of the Augsburg Confession, On the Mass, is also particularly helpful. Melanchthon notes that, from the times of the early Church, the pastor is responsible for guarding the Communion rail, that is, discerning who is and is not worthy of receiving the Holy Eucharist. This implies that administration of the Sacraments goes beyond the mere giving of the Sacrament. In fact, “right administration” of the Sacrament often involves withholding it from certain individuals.

Even so, the Confessions clearly teach that nobody is permitted to administer (or withhold) the Sacraments unless he be regularly called, which means he must be ordained and act in his official office. A theological conflation between administration and distribution has altered the confessional Lutheran understanding of the Sacrament of the Altar. 

The administration of the Sacrament includes the preparation, consecration, and distribution of the Holy Eucharist. The administration of the Sacraments as a function of the pastoral office includes the entire process of giving the Sacrament to the flock. From the preparation of the elements, to the consecration, to the distribution, this entire process constitutes the administration of God’s means of grace for the forgiveness of sins. As one who is called to care for his congregation’s spiritual life and safeguard his flock from spiritual infirmity, it is the pastor alone who is called to distribute the primary means by which life and salvation are offered.

One of the primary debates regarding administration of the Sacrament today is whether elders may distribute the Sacrament after the pastor has consecrated it. The answer, according to the Confessions, is no. No layperson, whether they are elders or commissioned school teachers, may administer the Sacrament alongside the pastor. It is the pastor’s duty alone. 

This understanding of the Sacrament honors Scripture and the teaching of the Confessions. It is an acknowledgement of the pastoral office and the duties given to every ordained pastor to publicly teach and administer the Sacraments.

With regard to withholding the Sacrament, this highlights yet another important duty of the pastoral office: to know the spiritual state and welfare of his parish. Elders may be active members of the congregation, but it is not their duty to keep watch over the flock and care for the souls of the congregation in the same way it is for the pastor. He knows (or at least, he should know) who should come to the rail to receive the Sacrament and who should not.

A few notable complaints are lodged against the limitation of Eucharistic administration to ordained clergy. Chief among them is practicality. For congregations with only one ordained minister (which constitutes a majority of LCMS congregations), the distribution of the Sacrament would take an unnecessarily lengthy amount of time. Against this argument I posit the following: convenience should not trump sound biblical doctrine. A slightly increased period of Eucharistic distribution allows the congregation to ponder on the holy mystery of the Sacrament. It allows for the congregation to sing more hymns, increase prayer and devotion, and contemplate the divine majesty of the Holy Eucharist.

Another common complaint is the revocation of the assisting role from elders in the mass, as modern convention allots the assistant role in Communion to congregational elders, or deacons. The Augsburg Confession, however, reminds us that whatever roles we may have, they must conform to Scripture and its teachings. This sometimes means that we reform or change the way we do things, especially as they are opposed to Scripture. 

One final point of interest is what a congregation should do in the absence of a “regularly called” pastor. In this circumstance, it is still expected that the Sacrament be administered by an ordained minister, whether it is a pastor from a neighboring parish or a vacancy pastor. Though he would not have a “regular call” to the congregation he is serving, it would be, in this circumstance, his job to administer the Sacraments while the congregation searches for another “regularly called” minister.

The pastoral office is given that the Word may be preached and the Sacraments be administered to God’s people. The Sacrament is not merely about the outward ceremony, but about the spiritual nourishment of the congregation. For this reason the Sacrament is given, and for this reason the pastoral office is given to administer the Sacrament according to God’s Word and provide the spiritual nourishment we all desperately need.