We are seeking to return to a full and biblical view of the sacraments, and, as we do so, we have to guard against the temptations that attend this endeavor. One of the temptations is to set Word and sacraments against one another, as though they were somehow competitors. “What is more important,” the question is asked, “the sermon or the Table?” Even to pose the question illustrates that a false theology has crept in already.
What is more important, cooking or eating? What is more important, the first story of a house or the second story? What is more important for walking, your right leg or your left leg?
What God has joined together, no man may dare to separate. The Word without the sacrament is like cooking all day, and then throwing the food away. Preaching of the Word that does not come at the end to communion has forgotten the point.
But coming to the sacrament without the Word is coming to an empty table, for there has been no cooking, and once there, pretending to eat. This hardly constitutes a high view of food.
When you hear the Word, you are charged to hear with faith, and this same faith enables you be nourished here at the Table of the Lord.