In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve fell into sin by sharing a
meal.
In Revelation 19, the Church is joined with Christ at
wedding banquet.
The gospel story can be basically told through a telling
of meals—Adam and Eve’s sinful meal, the Passover meal, the Last Supper, a
breakfast where Peter is affirmed by Jesus, the Revelation 19 ‘marriage supper
of the lamb.’ As Christians, we
regularly share a holy meal—Communion. A
few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to share at my church some thoughts on Communion. I thought after almost a year hiatus, I’d
offer them here for you, my blog readers.
We come to the table to remember Christ
crucified...
Communion is not a topic specifically discussed much in
scripture. However, we do see it introduced in a few different ways in the gospels, and Paul discussed it in
perhaps the most detail in 1 Corinthians 10-11.
However, these passages, along with Acts 2:42, do show us how important
‘breaking bread’ at the Lord’s Table was for first century Christ followers. We see this high regard for sharing the
Eucharist throughout Church history, continuing today throughout various
branches of the Christian faith. I
believe this high regard is excellent.
Communion is the most tangible way we have to remember Christ’s
crucifixion. I think a church that celebrates
this meal often (every week) does well.
We come to the table to seek
unity with our brothers and sisters...
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul tried to correct
church members on a variety of issues.
When we reach this Communion passage in chapter 11, we must remember the
reason he wrote. In the Corinthian practice
of the Lord’s Supper, each person brought his or her own meal to church. The rich were seen overindulging on the
lavish amount of food they brought. The
poor, on the other hand, went hungry as they didn’t have much if anything to
bring. During this misguided observance
of this holy meal, division in the church was most apparent. Paul is primarily writing to exhort this
congregation to be unified, rather than allowing their poor practice of
Communion to cause division amongst them.
I believe Paul saw in Communion a distinct opportunity for Christians to
demonstrate and practice the unity that Christ desires (John 17:11b).
We come to the table to
examine ourselves…
Perhaps the earliest and most frequent instruction I have
received concerning Communion is to examine
myself. Certainly, this is taken
from 1 Corinthians 11:28. I suppose I
needn’t write as much on this topic as I assume most others have had this
drilled into them as well. I will say,
though, that I think this primarily means we need to humble ourselves and
recognize our need for Christ’s mercy.
Certainly, it’s appropriate to reflect on any sin we committed and ask
forgiveness. However, in the evangelical
circles I often find myself in, I hear of people abstaining from Communion
while they’re wresting with some particular sin. Perhaps this is actually the time we’re best
prepared to take Communion—when we most fully see our dependence on Christ’s
mercy.
We come to the table to
celebrate His resurrection and anticipate His coming…
We typically conclude our time at the table with the
words reminding us that we share the meal to “proclaim His death until He comes
again.” One of my favorite verses is
Titus 2:13, where we’re reminded of our “waiting for our blessed hope, the
appearing of the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Certainly, at the center of the gospel is the
announcement that Christ has died for us, but this only has significance
because Christ is raised as King of kings and Lord of lords. We are caught in the tension of an inaugurated
eschatology—that is the Kingdom of God is being established here now, but yet in
its fullness, is still to come. We live
in the full recognition that right now Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not, but we
also live full recognition that not everyone knows this. We still have struggles and trials as our
Kingdom ways intersect with the world’s ways.
Our blessed hope is the appearing of the glory of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ at the Parousia, when all things are set right and the Kingdom of
God is fully established on Earth as it is in Heaven. Communion reminds us of the tension we live
in now and lets us hope in anticipation of when this [painful] tension is
resolved.
We come to the table through fully engaging
ourselves in an encounter with Jesus…
In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul leads us into his reasoning on
the issue of eating meat from a first century market where most meat had been
sacrificed to the pagan gods. This
discussion has implications in a 21st century America, but more
interesting in our discussion of Communion is his leading assumption: ”The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not
a participation in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of
Christ?” Paul expects his readers to
respond with a “Yes, of course.” The
assumption of Paul and the Church was not that Communion is a symbol, but indeed
a real participation with Christ’s body and blood. We have a special and significant encounter
with Christ when we come to His holy table.
Our encountering Christ in Communion is a holy mystery to embrace.
As we embrace this mystery of an encounter with Christ at
Communion, we must not misunderstand what it means to encounter Christ. God is not a theme park, a movie, or a
narcotic. He is not at our command to
provide us with a highly emotional, ‘goose-bump,’ ‘liver quiver,’ mountaintop
experience. Just like worshipping in song or in prayer, we worship in faith
without always (or often) experiencing some sort of emotional high. God can choose to reveal Himself in obvious
ways, but He can also chose more silent ways.
Perhaps our faith grows most when God is silently at work in us. Communion, just like in other forms of worship,
may at times be an emotional, mountaintop experience for you. Praise Him when it is! But when it’s not, I believe we still
encounter Christ in a meaningful way.
Through a long obedience, we will see the evidence in our lives.
So how do we engage ourselves in this
encounter?
A beautiful part of Communion is its ability to draw us
into this encounter with every part of ourselves—our minds, our hearts, and our
bodies.
Mind
With our minds, we remember Christ’s sufferings and
sacrifice. To whatever extent you
understand the Passion of our Lord, contemplate it. For a newer Christian, this may be limited to
the knowledge that Jesus died so he could somehow be restored in relationship
with God. For the more studied
theologians, it might be a much deeper contemplation. In my church, Communion is shared after the
sermon. This forces our preacher to make
the transition from sermon to Communion, thus drawing him to make a clear
connection between his sermon and Christ on the cross. It also grants me the opportunity to contemplate
how his sermon may enhance my understanding of the crucifixion.
Heart
When inviting our congregation to the table after sharing
my Communion sermon, I asked them to look around the room at their brothers and
sisters in Christ. These are the people
God is calling me to be unified with. It’s
great to talk about a theoretical unity among denominations and
nationalities. I’m all for it and yearn
to see the theory turned into reality.
However, the congregation is where we are called to practice this with
real people in real time. I urged our
congregation to focus on cultivating a love for those they are about to share
this holy meal with. Perhaps for some
this will involve seeking or offering forgiveness. I was impressed one week recently when a
congregation member felt the need to apologize to another member before coming
to the table. The issue was minor and no
feelings were hurt, but this act of seeking and offering forgiveness was a
great example of unity being sought and practiced.
Body
Communion is a meal with real bread and a real cup. These elements exist in a specific place and
time. We use our bodies to engage with
these real, physical elements. As much
as you can try to spiritualize Communion, you haven’t participated until you
eat and drink these physical elements.
All five senses are involved. We
touch, smell, see, and taste the elements.
We see our brothers and sisters sharing the elements as well. At my church, the person serving the elements
pronounces to each person what it is they are receiving: “This is the body and
blood of Jesus, who died for you.” We
want each person to have a chance to hear this mystery pronounced to him or her
personally. Perhaps your church does not
pronounce this individually but corporately; either way, hear this pronouncement. Pay particular attention to your senses while
sharing this meal.
Communion reminds us what it means to follow
Christ.
At the table, we receive the body and blood of
Jesus. Through Jesus on the cross, God
reveals to us His nature—He would rather suffer a cruel torture and death than
harm his accusers and executioners. His
way is of co-suffering love. Christ
tells us to take up our cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34). This way of co-suffering love is the path He
is calling us in. At the table, we
remember that we are called to endure our body broken and our blood shed. Perhaps this isn’t endured physically for
many of us, but I think we can all identify with suffering as we try to live
the Jesus way in a fallen world. At
Communion we remember that Christ identifies with our suffering, and is anxious
to lead us through suffering and death into a beautiful resurrection.
