Something from ... Gottesdienst regarding Closed Communion

Here is a sermon worth reading and taking to heart.  It is in regard to the role of the pastor, specifically in regard to Closed Communion.  Closed, by the way, is better and more accurate than Close Communion.  It is the opposite of Open Communion in which the pastor does not concern himself with whomever is taking it.  Open Communion sounds loving and inviting.  Close Communion tries to do that, but I feel it raises more questions than it answers.  How close is close enough?  "My cousin is so close to me.  How can you refuse him?"

Closed Communion has been the practice of the Church from the days of the Apostles.  Therefore, we can conclude one of two things.  Either the Church has always been led by non-loving jerks, or this is the faithful, Scriptural position.  The correct answer is, of course, the latter.

Here is a well-crafted sermon which addresses these things and says it quite well.

A Sermon for Gaudete on the Stewardship of Closing the Altar by Rev. Evan Scamman — Gottesdienst