The question posed in the title of this blog entry is one that might be on the minds of some of our members.  God has blessed our congregation with an amazing grouping of members, of all kinds of backgrounds and ages.  Many of our young families worship together (with the rest of the congregation) and they often bring their young ones up to the altar during the distribution of our Lord's holy Body and precious Blood.  Some congregations bless the children with something like the following:  "the Triune God keep you always in your baptism/the Christian faith/His grace/His forgiveness."  While this may not necessarily be poor practice, and while it is within the realm of Christian freedom (note:  congregational freedom, not freedom of individual Christians per se), let me try to explain why we don't follow or encourage this practice.

The holy Lord's Supper is precisely that...holy (set aside as special) and the Lord's.  It is for Christians who have been instructed in the holy faith that we share.  We share that faith by confessing it in words, practices, and deeds.  Having shared our faith out loud boldly, we come together and share in the core of our faith:  the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, given and shed on Calvary's cross, now given out and eaten/drunk under the bread and wine, all for the FORGIVENESS OF SINS (i.e. the Gospel).  This is not something Luther devised, or something the apostles dreamed up, or something the church thought might be a good idea in its life together, it is the Word of the Son of God; not only is it His Word, it is a special Word of His--namely, it is His last Will and Testament!

Now the church certainly is bound to this Testament--to administer and receive it in accord with Christ's institution.  To the same degree the church is also free in many things, including practices she might introduce that undergird (not undermine) the Word of God, particularly the Gospel.  However, we always want to distinguish between the Word of the living God and the traditions of men.  In our understanding here at St. John's blessing the children at the altar rail during the communion distribution is a tradition of men.

Let me give you another example.  Some churches will dedicate children instead of baptizing infants (infant baptism is the "doctrine put into practice at Christ's direction" of original sin/the fallen human nature, the utter mercy and grace of God, the working of God alone mightily and spiritually using common elements with His powerful Word).  Dedicating children does not have the command of God, unlike baptism which was instituted by the Risen Lord Jesus Himself (see Matthew 28).  Dedication is not even in the same solar system as far as importance goes when it comes to the divine promise, since there is no divine promise.  In fact, this practice of dedication which some Christians and some churches set great store by actually reinforces a false theology and understanding of baptism, something that will stay with the dedicated child even after they decide to be baptized (unless instruction from God's Word intervenes).

Similarly, here at St. John's we do not want to start blessing/dedicating children at the altar rail during the distribution.  Why not?  We don't want them to think that there is something other than the Body and Blood of Christ being given out at the rail for the benefit of those who commune.  It is not as if the Triune God has left these little ones without His blessing, gifts, or grace.  We want (as a congregation and parents together) to instruct our little ones that they have all the spiritual blessings of the Gospel earned by Christ in their baptism!  They are to look into that as their blessing from God (recalled at the start of the Divine Service when the Trinitarian invocation is proclaimed).  They also ought to look forward to the blessing they receive with the entire congregation(!) at the end of the Divine Service when they hear the words of the Aaronic benediction.  These are great and amazing words, truly a blessing that God has spoken, not one the church has made up!

These words are found in Numbers 6, given by God to Moses, who gave them to Aaron, who spoke them over God's people.  This benediction was restored to the liturgy by Luther in his litugical reforms.  This blessing is way over 3,000 years old; your children will never ever hear anything that ancient in their life.  Not only are these words old, they have been preserved and actually used, believers finding great comfort and blessing in them, for three millennia...what else has that kind of track record?

These words could take a life-time of pondering to fully enjoy, use, and confess.  Notice how "the Lord" is spoken three times, a subtle Trinitarian reference already in the Old Testament.  Just a couple of days ago I used this Gospel-giving blessing as the basis of a devotion with one of our dying members.  I pointed him to the phrase:  "the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you."  The part of the phrase--"the Lord make His face to shine upon you"--needs to be pondered.  I told this gentleman that it is kind of like when he looks upon one of his grandkids, his face beams love and gentleness over them.  The phrase implies that God is Himself present, so that His face might shine upon those gathered together as His people.  It also means that the present God is gracious, indicated by the mien of His divine countenance--found fully in the Word of the Gospel (in Aaron's blessing--"be gracious to you").  This is the blessing our children are to hear, treasure, enjoy, and live from--and in--all the days of their life, their earthly pilgrimage.

The image at the top of this article is the Ascension of Jesus, our High Priest, extending the divine blessing (see Luke 24:50-53) with nail-marked hands.