The Lutheran Difference: Sacrament Wrap-Up

  1. The Lutheran Difference: An Introduction
  2. The Lutheran Difference: Historical Background
  3. The Lutheran Difference: The Light Bulb Moment
  4. The Lutheran Difference: Indulge Me for a Moment
  5. The Lutheran Difference: The Backlash
  6. The Lutheran Difference: Outlaw, Knight, and Husband
  7. The Lutheran Difference: Augsburg and Beyond
  8. Martin Luther’s Antisemitism
  9. The Lutheran Difference: What’s the Source?
  10. The Lutheran Difference: Sola Gratia
  11. The Lutheran Difference: Sola Fides
  12. The Lutheran Difference: The Bondage of the Will
  13. The Lutheran Difference: A Matter of Perspective
  14. The Lutheran Difference: Sola Scriptura
  15. The Lutheran Difference: The Means of Grace
  16. The Lutheran Difference: The Sacraments
  17. The Lutheran Difference: Baptism
  18. The Lutheran Difference: Infant Baptism
  19. The Lutheran Difference: Bread, Wine, and “Is”
  20. The Lutheran Difference: Remembering Jesus
  21. The Lutheran Difference: You Are What You Eat
  22. The Lutheran Difference: Sacrament Wrap-Up
  23. The Lutheran Difference: Happy 499!
  24. The Lutheran Difference: Confession and Absolution
  25. The Lutheran Difference: The Office of the Keys
  26. The Lutheran Difference: Law and Gospel
  27. The Lutheran Difference: The Three Uses of the Law
  28. The Lutheran Difference: Lutheran Preaching
  29. The Lutheran Difference: Worship
  30. The Lutheran Difference: It’s the End of the World as We Know It
  31. The Lutheran Difference: Q&A
  32. The Lutheran Difference: Q & A — Luther vs. Calvin
  33. The Lutheran Difference: Q & A — A Word on the Word
  34. The Lutheran Difference: Q & A — The Different Lutherans

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve discussed the Lutheran sacraments, namely Baptism and Holy Communion. For Lutherans, these are not symbolic gestures, but ways that God has chosen to distribute the grace that is ours through Christ. Baptism adopts us into His family. Communion is the way He feeds us.

That’s why, in Lutheran congregations, you’ll often see communion celebrated with great frequency. This is because we understand that communion is important to our faith. We eat three times a day to remain healthy. We take communion often for the same reason. It keeps us healthy spiritually.

And the same is true for Baptism, after a fashion. But here’s the rub: since most Lutherans are baptized as babies, and we’re only baptized once (we’re not big on re-baptisms), how are we to continue making use of our baptisms?

Well, we see baptism as the foundation of our identity in Christ. And so we’re encouraged to remember our baptism daily. I often encourage my congregants to remember their baptisms when they come in contact with water. Water is, after all, the physical element used in baptism. So when we feel the water upon our face in the morning or pelting us during a rainstorm, we are reminded of how God claims us as His own.

For Lutherans, the Sacraments are an integral part of who we are as Christians. They run through our lives, bolstering our faith and our ability to live as God’s chosen people.

And that’s the last thing I have to say on that. In two weeks, we’ll come back to the “half a sacrament,” the odd leftover from Catholicism that Lutherans don’t make much use of, but totally should.

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