I.
When it comes to the observance of the Sunday service and in particular the service of the Sacrament, the churches of the Augsburg Confession could claim, “Our people have been unjustly accused of having abolished the Mass. But it is obvious, without boasting, that the Mass is celebrated among us with greater devotion and earnestness [Latin: summa reverentia] than among our opponents. The people are instructed more regularly and with the greatest diligence concerning the Holy Sacrament, to what purpose it was instituted, and how it is to be used, namely, as comfort to terrified consciences…” (AC XXIV. 1) and again, “Among us the Mass is celebrated every Lord’s day and on other festivals… after the people have been examined and absolved [Latin: explorati atque absoluti]” (Ap XXIV. 1). Indeed, “people are admitted [to the Supper] only if they first had an opportunity to be examined and heard” (AC XXIV. 6). The essence of their claim is that far from abolishing the Supper, the Supper is observed more frequently and with higher reverence among the churches of the Augsburg Confession than among the Papal churches. The chief way that the Lutheran churches demonstrated and exercised themselves in this “highest reverence” was by thoroughly instructing the faithful in what the Supper was, why it was instituted, and who received it worthily.
Among the Lutheran churches this was accomplished in two ways, both of which were provided by Luther. The first was Luther’s Small Catechism which asks in the sixth chief part, “What is the Sacrament of the Altar?”, “What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?”, and “Who receives this sacrament worthily?” To each of these questions Luther provides the simplest and best answers Christendom has ever known which any child of seven would have been able to say from memory. The second was a rite in the Divine Service that came to be called the “Exhortation to Holy Communion” which does liturgically what Luther’s questions and answers do catechetically. Following St. Paul’s exhortation toward self-examination (1 Cor 11:28), the Exhortation is a call to self-reflection and meditation on the Supper so that the Christian “is truly worthy and well prepared to receive…” the Body and Blood of Christ unto “forgiveness, life, and salvation.”
The first Exhortation we see from Luther’s hand is tucked away in his letters to Nikolaus Hausmann in 1525 alongside a host of new liturgical music and hymnody that Luther was composing to reform the mass. A year later in his Deutsche Messe 1526 Luther included a shorter and simpler Exhortation immediately after his paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer, yet before the Words of Institution. Following Luther’s lead other Lutheran lands and towns like Brandenburg, Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Leipzig, Pomerania, Erfurt, and Mecklenburg, quickly adopted the use of the Exhortation in their church orders. The Pomeranian church order holds it in such high regard as to enjoin, “These Exhortations shall not be lightly omitted… but rather [if time does not allow,] the hymnody shall be curtailed or adjusted [instead].”
II.
Since it is highly unlikely anyone has seen or heard an Exhortation, some examples are necessary. The following are copies of 1) Luther’s Exhortation in the 1526 Deutsche Messe, 2) Luther’s alternate Exhortation from his 1525 correspondence to Nikolaus Hausmann, 3) Wolfgang Volprecht’s Exhortation, 4) the Exhortation from the Hamburg Agenda, and 5) the Exhortation and Prayer from the Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel church order.
1. Dear friends of Christ, since we are gathered here in the name of the Lord to receive His holy testament, I exhort you in Christ to apprehend the testament of Christ in true faith, and above all to embrace firmly in your heart the words in which Christ gives us His body and blood for forgiveness, that you may remember and give thanks for His boundless love which He showed us when by His blood He delivered us from the wrath of God and from sin, death, and hell; and to take the bread and wine, that is, His body and blood, as a guarantee and pledge of this. Let us therefore celebrate and receive the testament in His name, at His command, and through His own words: (verba)
2. Dearest friends in Christ, you know that our Lord Jesus Christ, out of unspeakable love, instituted at the last this, His Supper, as a memorial and proclamation of His death suffered for our sins. This memorial calls for steadfast faith, which will make every conscience and heart that wishes to use and partake of the Supper assured and certain that Christ suffered death for all his sins. But whoever doubts this and does not in some manner feel such faith in him, he should know that this Supper is of no benefit, but rather harmful to him, and should refrain from it. Since we do not see this faith, and it is known only to God, we will leave to the conscience of everyone who comes forward, and admit him at his request and petition. But those who still live in open sins, such as coveting, hatred, wrath, envy, usury, unchastity, and the like, and have no intention of renouncing them, are hereby refused, and admonished faithfully not to take judgment and harm upon their own soul, as St. Paul says. Yet if anyone has stumbled out of weakness, and proves by his deeds that he earnestly wishes to amend his ways, he shall not be refused this grace and Communion of Christ’s body and blood. Let everyone be able and informed to act accordingly and proceed with caution. For our God is not mocked, nor will He have what is holy given to dogs, nor pearls cast before the swine. Amen.
3. Dearly beloved in God, forasmuch as we now purpose to remember and keep the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which He has given us His flesh for food and His blood for drink for the strengthening of our faith, it becomes every one of us with great diligence and fervent devotion to examine himself, as St. Paul says, and then to eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For this Holy Sacrament has been given for the special comfort and strengthening of poor, afflicted consciences who confess their sins, fear God’s wrath, are afraid of death, and hunger and thirst after righteousness. But if we examine ourselves, and each of us enters into his own conscience, as St. Paul teaches us, we shall certainly find nothing in us but all manner of detestable sins, and death which we have merited by our sins, from which we can in no wise deliver ourselves. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ has had mercy on us, and because of our sins was made Man, that so He might fulfill for us and in our behalf the Law and whole will of God, and for us and for our deliverance take upon Himself and suffer death and all that we deserve for our sins. And so that we may more confidently believe this, and by believing live cheerfully in His will, after He had supped He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat, this is My body which is given for you.” That is, “I was made man, and all that I do and suffer is your own, accomplished for you and for your good. As a certain token and testimony of this, I give you My body to eat.” In the same manner also He took the cup and said, “Take, drink of it, all of you; this is the cup of the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins; do so, as often as you do it, in remembrance of Me.” That is, “Having taken your sins upon Myself, I will give Myself into death for those sins, shed My Blood, obtain grace and forgiveness of sins, and so establish a new testament in which sin is forgiven and never accounted to you. As a certain token and testimony of this, I give you my blood to drink.” Therefore, whoever so eats this bread and drinks this cup, confidently believing these words which he hears from Christ and these signs which he receives from Christ, dwells in the Lord Christ and Christ in him, and has eternal life. We should also do this in remembrance of Him, showing His death—that He died for our sins and rose again for our justification; and giving Him our most heartfelt thanks for the same, we should each of us take up his cross and follow Him, and love one another even as He has loved us. For we are all one bread and one body, even as we all partake of one bread and drink from one cup. For just as from many grapes being trodden one wine and one drink flows forth and is mingled together, and from many grains of wheat one meal is ground and one bread and one loaf is baked: so all of us who by faith are incorporated into Christ are by brotherly love on account of Christ, our Savior, made one body and bread and drink, and faithfully and without guile demonstrate the same to one another, not only in word, but in deed and in truth, as St. John teaches (1 John 3:18). The almighty and merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit, grant this to us! Amen.
4. My dearly beloved! Through the preaching of the Gospel we are continually reminded that, on our own, we are ignorant, wretched sinners and lost. And since we are of ourselves nothing more than flesh and blood, and so cannot by our own reason and strength free ourselves from the strict judgment of God and from the power of the devil under which we have fallen by transgressing the commandments and will of God: therefore God, knowing better than we our weakness, has as a gracious Father given His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for us, that by His death we might be delivered from our sins and by Him become the children of God, having eternal salvation, if so we believe. He causes this to be preached to us continually; whoever believes it surely has eternal life. On the basis of this faith and for this salvation we are also baptized; therein we are to remain continually. In this way we remain in Christ and Christ in us, and continually and without ceasing we eat the body of Christ and drink His blood in a spiritual manner by faith. That is, we are incorporated into Christ and united with Him by believing that He delivered up His body for us into death and shed His blood for us on the cross. In this we confide unto salvation against all false doctrine, all sin, tribulation, and distress. Out of this benefit of Christ we also learn what love and forbearance we ought to have toward our neighbor, even toward our enemies. What more should we desire? Yet lest we grow forgetful or weary (as, alas, we do) of believing in the incarnation and death of Christ, He has committed to us a special memorial or declaration of His death, as often as we desire; that, in the outward Sacrament concealed to reason and known only to faith from the words of Christ, we should eat His body and drink His blood, that we may not doubt that His death and the shedding of His blood on the cross is our sure salvation, which it becomes us to sing, read, hear proclaimed, even as we do now (in this our congregation). Afterwards, moreover, we ought to speak of it and declare it to one another for our mutual consolation and for the salvation of many, according to the command of Christ: “This do in remembrance of Me!” Therefore, whoever would eat and drink this Sacrament worthily should do two things: he should believe what Christ says and do what He commands. He says, “This is My body, which is given for you. This is My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” This is what you are to believe. And He commands, “Take, eat; take, drink it, all of you in remembrance of Me!” This is what you are to do, according to His gracious word and command. Amen.
5. My dearly beloved in God, forasmuch as we purpose to keep the Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which His body is given to us for food and His blood for drink, that in so doing we may remember His death and heartily thank Him, let us therefore call upon God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, praying from our inmost heart as follows: Lord God, heavenly Father, we heartily thank You that, because of our sin and for our salvation, You have caused Your only beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to be made man, to suffer so many unspeakable agonies, and to die a bitter death upon the cross; who, lest we should forget what He endured for us, also commanded us to keep this present remembrance of His agony and death in the Holy Supper, in which He, out of His unspeakable love, truly gives us in and with this bread and wine the very body which died for us upon the cross and the very blood which was shed for us upon the cross, to eat and to drink, that we may not doubt, but the more confidently believe that His death and the shedding of His blood upon the cross is our certain salvation. By the same Your dear Son, the only Mediator between You, the righteous God, and us poor sinners, and by His bloody merit, we beseech You, O heavenly Father, to have mercy upon us all. Look upon the face of this our faithful Mediator, Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who intercedes for us and is our Advocate at Your right hand. Regard His holy, innocent bloodshed, suffering, and death, which He endured for our trespasses with all patience, out of unspeakable love for us lost men. Forgive us our sins, and give us Your Holy Spirit, that renouncing ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live in this world moderately toward ourselves, justly toward our neighbors, and in constant, childlike fear toward You, O God, our heavenly Father, as we await the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our mighty God, Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Let each of us take up his cross, follow Your dear Son, and love one another even as Your dear Son has loved us. For this Holy Sacrament is one bread, and we are all one body, since we partake of one bread and all drink of one cup. Grant to us also, and to all believing Christians, as is profitable and good for us, that we may conduct and conclude this life in fear of You, and obtain eternal salvation. Whereupon let us say from our heart. Amen.
III.
A final example can be taken from the service of Corporate Confession and Absolution from Lutheran Service Book:
Beloved in the Lord, it is our intention to receive the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which He strengthens our faith by giving us His body to eat and His blood to drink. Therefore, it is proper that we diligently examine ourselves, as St. Paul urges us to do, for this holy Sacrament has been instituted for the special comfort of those who are troubled because of their sin and who humbly confess their sins, fear God’s wrath, and hunger and thirst for righteousness.
But when we examine our hearts and consciences, we find nothing in us but sin and death, from which we are incapable of delivering ourselves. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ has had mercy on us. For our benefit He became man so that He might fulfill for us the whole will and law of God and, to deliver us, took upon Himself our sin and the punishment we deserve.
So that we may more confidently believe this and be strengthened in the faith and in holy living, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, broke it, and gave it to His disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you.” It is as if He said, “I became man, and all that I do and suffer is for your good. As a pledge of this, I give you My body to eat.”
In the same way also He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Again, it is as if He said, “I have had mercy on you by taking into Myself all your iniquities. I give Myself into death, shedding My blood to obtain grace and forgiveness of sins, and to comfort and establish the new testament, which gives forgiveness and everlasting salvation. As a pledge of this, I give you My blood to drink.”
Therefore, whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup, confidently believing this Word and promise of Christ, dwells in Christ and Christ in him and has eternal life.
We should also do this in remembrance of Him, showing His death—that He was delivered for our offenses and raised for our justification. Giving Him our most heartfelt thanks, we take up our cross and follow Him and, according to His commandment, love one another as He has loved us. For we are all one bread and one body, even as we are all partakers of this one bread and drink from the one cup. For just as the one cup is filled with wine of many grapes and one bread made from countless grains, so also we, being many, are one body in Christ. Because of Him, we love one another, not only in word, but in deed and in truth.
May the almighty and merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit, accomplish this in us.
The common elements that can be found in most or all of these are 1) a thorough recognition of sins, 2) contrition and repentance, 3) faith in God’s forgiveness on account of Christ, 4) the Words of Institution (with paraphrase), 5) an unequivocal confession of the Real Presence, 6) a remembrance of Christ’s cross, 7) a pledge to take up our cross, and 8) recognition of the unity of the Body of Christ.
The Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book specifies that the Exhortation or “Confessional Address” (LSB 290), as it is called, is fittingly used as, “preparation for receiving the Sacrament; penitential seasons, times of crisis or disaster; or congregational repentance and reconciliation. It may also be used on a regular basis as part of the congregation’s normal spiritual discipline.” This rubric seeks, in part, to rectify the recent loss of the Exhortation from the usual settings of the Divine Service in LSB (2006), LW (1982), LBW (1978), SBH (1958), and TLH (1941). The last LCMS hymnal to include the Exhortation in the setting of the Divine Service was the 1912 Evangelical Lutheran Hymn Book. Though this rubric in LSB does not express the same fervor of the Pomeranians who would rather lose all the hymns of the service before losing the Exhortation, it is, perhaps, an indication of the hope that it will one day be restored in North American Lutheran churches. During the season of Lent it is my intention to incorporate the Exhortation as a regular part of our service so that the congregation is able to practice some of the “highest reverence” that our confessions describe.
Rev. Philip D. Bartelt
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
Second Sunday after Epiphany, 2025
