When the Lord calls his body bread, made from the collection of a large number of grains, he is pointing to the unity of our people. And when he calls his blood wine, which is pressed from a large number of grapes to form a single liquid, he signifies that our flock is made up of a multitude gathered into unity. ~ St Cyprian, 3rd Century bishop from North Africa, martyr(1)As we discussed in the last section, we encounter God's grace through water in the sacrament of Baptism. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for each person. However, we encounter that same grace on a regular basis through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Again, the primary mode through which our faith is strengthened is sensate(2). We encounter grace through something that we can touch, smell, and taste. That is how sacraments form us spiritually.
Specifically, the Lord's Supper is, in the words of the catechism that I was taught as a child, "the sacred use of bread and the cup which was ordained by the Lord Jesus, by which we remember his suffering for us, proclaim his death until he comes, and in communion with one another partake of him in faith."(3)
That is still a pretty good description.
In English the Lord's Supper also goes by the name "Holy Communion" -- or just "Communion." Another very traditional term is "Eucharist," which means "good grace."(4) This name suggests that it is a time of thanksgiving and celebration.
This sacred use of bread and wine(5) can be traced back to the Last Supper before Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified. The Savior and his disciples were gathered together to celebrate the Passover or at the very least, to eat together during the week of Passover. If the meal was not an actual Passover meal the overtones of the week were definitely present.
The Gospel of Mark (14:22-25 NLT) describes the event like this:
As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”Here is what Donald Frisk says about this sacrament.
And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”
...the Church as Church is the active presence of the risen Christ among his people. Nowhere is that truth brought to sharper focus than in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Here at his table the crucified and risen Lord is present to unite the worshiper with himself and with other believers in the one body which is his living Church.So, practically speaking what can we do to fully benefit from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper? After all, isn't the point of these means of grace to develop us into spiritually formed followers of Christ?
The rich meaning of this sacrament escapes full expression, however profoundly we speak. The variety of terms by which it is known indicates something of its range and depth. It is the Lord's Supper, a term which brings to mind all the associations of that night on which he was betrayed. It is the Eucharist or thanks-giving as an act of worship. It is the Mass of the Catholic Churches, although Protestants disagree with some aspects of their interpretation. It is the Holy Communion, our corporate identification with Christ and with one another through him. It is the Lord's Table, to which we bring our adoration and praise but also our weaknesses, our failure, and our need, and he brings to the table his grace, his strength, and his healing love.
The Lord's Supper is a memorial feast as is indicated in the words, "Do this in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24). However, to speak of it as a commemorative does not exhaust its meaning. The Greek word anamnesis, connotes the re-calling or re-presenting of a past event so that it becomes a powerful and effective reality in the present. Through this sacramental re-presentation Christ's sacrificial death and victorious resurrection are made present to faith. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16)
The Lord's Supper is a joyous feast of communion and celebration which is observed by the Church "between the times" -- between Christ's First Coming and his Second Coming. It looks back to the last meal he ate with his disciples, and it looks forward to the heavenly banquet of the redeemed at the end of history. It rejoices in the inauguration of the Kingdom in the person and work of Jesus, and it eagerly awaits the consummation which is to come -- a consummation in which the whole creation will participate. It is significant that at this table, elements of the creation (bread and wine) become, through the Holy Spirit, bearers of the grace of God and thereby anticipate the final transformation of the creation itself into "the new heavens and the new earth," which will perfectly express the grace and glory of God.
The mystery of Christ's real presence at the table is underlined by Paul when he warns against unworthy participation (1 Corinthians 11:27:32). In that warning he gives expression to a theme which characterizes all of Scripture. Every act of divine grace is also an act of judgment when it is rejected. It is important, however, that we hear exactly what is being said. Waldenström wisely observed that Paul is not speaking of worthy or unworthy guests at the table; none of us is worthy. Rather he is speaking of an unworthy manner of participation. The Corinthian Christians participated unworthily by ignoring the poor of the Church and holding communion without waiting for them. They did not discern the unity of the body. Waldenström commented that we participate in an unworthy manner when we partake thoughtlessly and without self-examination. He insisted that our manner is unworthy when we include in holy communion believers and scoffers but also exclude others who are Christians but of a differing theological persuasion or a different economic class or race.
In all these actions we fail to discern our essential oneness in Christ and, by introducing barriers of our own making, bring judgment upon ourselves. Of supreme importance for Waldenström was the need to discern in faith the reality of the living Christ in his full humanity and deity at his Table. Not to do so is to fail to recognize the gracious condescension of the divine love (agape) which comes to us where we are -- at the point of our deepest need.(6)
These are my pastoral suggestions for taking advantage of what is offered in the Lord's Supper.
1. Receive the bread and the cup as a gift from Christ himself. It is HIS table! Darren Marks expresses it well:
The sacraments bind us to fiducia (faithfulness), which enhances our trust in God. Sacraments thus both presuppose and nourish faith. To readily understand this, imagine that in receiving the sacrament, the hands of Christ give the element to you. In this case, we need faith to accept the gift as more than merely an object, and when we believe it to be from the Lord's hand, we encounter the Lord and come away strengthened in faith (see Peter and Jesus in Mt 14:22-32).(7)I really like Dr Marks' suggestion that we use our imaginations to picture that it is Christ himself handing us the bread and the cup.
2. It is a table of remembrance. "Do this in remembrance of me..." (1 Corinthians 11:24). Dr Frisk emphasized the meaning of the Greek word for remember -- anamnesis. When we remember we are transporting ourselves back into time and are also bringing that event from the past time into the present. We are using our imaginations again to connect with a story as participants in that story. The Last Supper is happening here and now and I am there at the table -- along with all the others who are "in Christ." In this remembering we are surrounded by a great number of saints -- parents, grandparents, biblical characters, and faithful followers of the last 2,000 years. Can you see them sitting beside you during the communion service? In remembering we are changed.
3. Celebrate! Sometimes the Lord's Supper is enacted as a somber and pensive event. And indeed, there is some seriousness to it. For in the event itself we re-connect with the pain and suffering of Christ -- his sacrifice. We are "proclaiming his death until he comes again." But that is not the whole story. We are at the same time celebrating his victory over the pain and suffering -- the defeat of death. And we are looking forward to the great celebration fiesta scheduled for Christ's return! What we do now is a practice celebration for the great celebration! It is real -- but in a sense it is merely a taste of wonderful things to come.
The traditional communion prayer that has been used throughout the ages in most churches, and in most cultures, is called the Great Thanksgiving. Here is how the version of the prayer as used in the Anglican Church of Kenya starts out:
Minister: Lift up your hearts.Do you approach the Lord's supper as a "delight"?
People: We lift them to the Lord.
Minister: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right and our delight to give you thanks and praise great Father...(8)
3. Exam yourself before taking communion but don't dwell on your sin and weakness. Communion isn't about your sin and your weakness but about Christ and his generosity -- his forgiveness. Some people get stuck on how unworthy they are to receive the Lord's Supper and miss the point of it all.
Yes, it's true. We are all unworthy -- just as the prodigal son was unworthy to eat at his Father's table. But his father held the feast anyway. That's the whole point! We are all unworthy guests at the table and that fact points to the extravagant generosity of the host.
4. Do a unity check. Whenever Paul chides the early believers for taking the Lord's Supper unworthily it is always over the sin of division. Since we as his followers are one in Christ we are supposed to set aside our little differences before we share in the Lord's Supper. It is suppose to unite rather than divide.
This is why the sacrament of the Table is always offered to every believer present. No believers are to be excluded from the invitation.
Perhaps they don't baptize people correctly or they wear funny clothes or worship on the wrong day. So what? The unity of Christ is so strong that we set those things aside to share the bread and cup together.
So, when we prepare for the Lord's Supper we are extra conscious of our unity in Christ.
5. Share in the sacrament as often as you can. Different churches have different practices. Some have communion once or maybe four times a year. Others seem to do it once a month. Historically, though, most of the churches in the world have included the Lord's Supper in the weekly worship gathering. There is no biblical rule saying how often it should be done. But it would seem wise to encourage it as often as possible.
6. Try to understand but accept the mystery. There are many theories about the way that Christ makes his presence known in the Lord's Supper. Scholars have spent a lot of time discussing this issue. And that's good. But ultimately we will come to the conclusion that it is a mystery. It's not magic but it is a great mystery that we share in every single time that we eat the bread and drink from the cup. No one is capable of a complete explanation of it all. And that's okay. Just enjoy the fact that our God is so big and so complex that he and his ways are beyond a complete explanation.
I am reminded of this each time that I smell the wine and touch the bread. Each time that I taste those elements my faith grows stronger, even though I can't explain it all. How it is that God could be so gracious as to send his Son into the world -- that his body would be broken and his blood poured out in such a way that we, sinners, are reconciled to God, is a mystery beyond explanation. But it is a cause for celebration.
SECTION #18 NOTES
(1) Cyprian Letters 69.5.2 Quoted in Worshiping with the Church Fathers by Christopher A. Hall (Downers Grover, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009) p. 68.
(2) Sensate is an adjective that means something is perceived through physical sensations. That is, we experience it through physical senses such as touch, taste, or smell.
(3) Clifford W. Bjorklund, et al. According to Thy Word (Chicago: Covenant Press) p. 406.
(4) "Eu" is the Greek prefix for good and "charis" is the Greek word for grace.
(5) In the Roman Catholic churches and some Protestant churches the bread is usually made of wheat and is unleavened. This highlights the fact that the ceremony itself is rooted in the Jewish Passover Feast. Some Protestant churches will use leavened bread or in contexts where wheat bread is not common will substitute rice or bread made from other grains. Eastern Orthodox churches use leavened wheat bread.
Historically, almost all churches have used wine in the cup. However, many Protestant churches, concerned about the problems of alcoholism, started using alcohol-free wine or grape juice in the late 19th century.
(6) Donald C. Frisk, Covenant Affirmations: This We Believe (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 1981, 2003) pp. 138-139.
(7) Darren C. Marks, Bringing Theology to Life (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009) p. 125.
(8) Anglican Church of Kenya, Our Modern Services (Nairobi: English Press, 2002, 2003) p. 80.
SECTION #18 ASSIGNMENT
1. Write a description of a communion service in your church. Explain in as much detail as you can what happens and when. A good description will weave together the answers to questions like these: What does it smell like? What does it look like? What does it feel like? How often does it happen? Who does what? When in the worship service does it happen? What is the bread like? What is in the cup? What, if anything, do you sense is happening to you? (Up to 20 points possible for a well developed description)
2. Compare and contrast the sacraments of the Lord's Supper and Baptism. That is, explain the significance of each and how they are similar and dissimilar to each other. (Up to 15 points possible)
Again, email your answers to me at bboydston@piu.edu. Write your answers in the email itself -- or if you use a word processor, copy and paste the answers into the email. Make sure that your name, the name which you used to register for this class, appears at the top of the work.
I will respond to you as soon as possible. Do not wait for a response from me before you start working on your next assignment.
