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One of the few distinctions between my “tribe’s”
expression of the faith (the American Restoration, or Stone-Campbell Movement)
and the rest of the greater Protestant Evangelical world is our emphasis on the
weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday.
In this blog, I do not want to get into the frequency of the Lord’s Supper. I believe there is freedom in our frequency (and that perhaps weekly isn’t even often enough). What I want to look at today is the purpose of the Lord’s Supper as I know it, the spirit in which we ought to participate in it, and the benefits of doing so.
My very first experience of the Lord’s Supper was dark, somber, individualistic, and, well, confusing. I am not so sure that as an outsider, confusion was not an inappropriate reaction. In the early church, those who had not yet made a decision for Jesus and had it confirmed through baptism were banned from this part of the worship gathering. There should be some element of mystery to the Lord’s Supper that outsiders should encounter.
But dark, somber, and individualistic? It reminded me more of a funeral than it did the past and future feasts the Lord’s Supper commemorates and foreshadows. And even funeral dinners have smiles and laughter. This had none of that.
Sadly, this is how many churches within the Stone-Campbell Movement “celebrate” the Lord’s Supper. I believe the reason is threefold: an unawareness and misunderstanding of Scripture, the Protestant movement’s lack of confessional liturgy, and a disproportionate emphasis on the death of Jesus during the event itself. Allow me to explain.
TABLE MANNERS
Above all else, God’s story of salvation history within the Bible is his pursuit of restored communion with his creation. Communion is the act of sharing, having something in common, participating in one another’s life and story. From eternity, the Godhead had this communion within itself—the perichoresis (infinite, interlocked, intermingled “dancing”) of Father, Son, and Spirit. Desiring to share this kind of communion with someone outside of the Godhead, the triune God created man. The Genesis account shares with us the incredible experience of God and Adam walking side by side through the garden—in communion.
Of course, things went awry. Man rebelled. He and all creation were cursed. Communion was severed between God and man, between man and his fellow, and between man and creation itself. But God wasn’t content to let it stay that way. The rest of the Scriptures unfold God’s great plan of renewing that original communion.
Through the season of election, God called people to be his representatives, starting with Abraham and the patriarchs, culminating in the people of Israel, and the later remnant. And then, through the redemption, or “buying back” of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God calls all of mankind back to him. But things are finished quite yet. Those of us who answer that call live in the “now and not yet” as we eagerly await the renewal of all things and perfect communion with God, with one another, and with God’s created order.
Throughout God’s story of salvation, he has operated by establishing covenants with his people. A covenant is an agreement between two parties. In this case, it is the greater (God) offering terms to the lesser (mankind). To establish and seal a covenant, something must be sacrificed at an altar. It is a means of ensuring fidelity to the terms of the deal. When covenants are established, Scripture makes it clear that when at the time and place of sacrifice (the altar), it is appropriate to experience sadness, to make penance, to give confession, and to seek forgiveness.
Not so at the table. The table is where the covenantal meal, the feast, takes place, Feasts commemorate and celebrate the covenant. God, the overseer of the covenant, is present at the table as his people’s host. Throughout Scripture, the table is a place where the most intimate human interactions outside of the marriage bed take place. In Scripture, the table is marked by joy, intimacy, community, celebration, and gratitude.
Jesus came to restore the joy, intimacy, community, celebration, and gratitude that the Fall and its curse stole from man. How telling it is that over 20% of Luke’s Gospel records Jesus dining at the table with the people around him! Jesus wasn’t at the table because he struggled with overeating like I do. He was there because he wanted to know and be known by the people around him.
The amazing thing about the Lord’s Supper is that it not only reminds us of the establishment and sealing of the covenant between God and us (Jesus’ sacrifice and our baptism into it), but it also points forward to the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant (the renewal of all things kicked off by the great wedding feast of the Lamb)! And what’s more, we are powerfully reminded that Jesus is Emmanuel—God-with-us. This is what is called anamnesis and prolepsis, a participation of the past and anticipation of the future as we are made more aware of God’s presence in the present.
All too often I have witnessed in our churches an overemphasis of the altar aspect of our covenant. As someone once said, “We tend to leave Jesus on the cross at communion.” And that’s sad. We can never move the table out from under the shadow of the cross, but we dare not leave Jesus there. He is with us in the present and is preparing a place and a feast for us in the future!
Which does our practice of the Lord’s Supper resemble more?
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ALTAR |
TABLE |
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Solemn Individual Sorrow Remorse Introspective Penance Focused on Cost |
Celebrative Communal Joy Thanksgiving Interactive Commitment Focused on Presence |
DON’T LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges to the spirit in which the Lord’s Supper should be celebrated stems from three verses in the Bible combined with Protestantism’s traditional dislike of tradition (yes, enjoy the irony). The three verses are 1 Corinthians 11:27-29:
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself (ESV).
Taken by themselves, it is easy to see why these verses make for a very somber, serious, individualistic, and introspective experience. However, we must look at them in their context. The Apostle Paul is taking the Corinthian church to task earlier in the chapter for the division within its ranks, particularly at the Lord’s Table itself. They are not waiting for one another. They gobble up everything before others can get a chance to participate! It was this abuse that eventually turned the Lord’s Supper from being part of an agape (love) feast to the Chic-let and shot glass of Welch’s it is today!
Paul is warning his readers here that if they approach the Lord’s Supper in an “It’s all about me” manner rather than an “It’s all about us and Jesus” manner, we’re heading down a dangerous path. He’s not advising them just to discern the physical body of Jesus in the bread; the context tells us that he’s also advising them to discern the metaphorical “body” of Christ—our fellow brothers and sisters.
How crazy is it that in an earnest attempt to obey this passage, we actually do the opposite of what Paul commands when we make the Lord’s Supper this private, introspective, individualistic affair!
THESE AREN’T MY CONFESSIONS
Also, most Protestant worship gatherings set aside no time for confession. This was a natural pushback against the trappings of many traditions that had become meaningless opportunities for abuse. But Scripture, again and again, shows us the importance of confessing our sins before God and before one another. A time of reflection and confession before the Lord’s Supper marks many of the “high church” Protestant liturgies. (Liturgy refers to the elements of a worship service.) For us in “low church” liturgies, we do not have such an opportunity.
But we need such an opportunity! And so we force upon the Lord’s Supper the confessional element of worship that it was never intended to represent. The misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 reinforces this thinking. I’ve heard more than one person say, “I examined myself to see if I was worthy to take the Lord’s Supper this week, and I abstained because I didn’t feel I was.” Really? If that was my approach to the Lord’s Supper I would never participate. None of us are ever, on our own merit, worthy to sit at the table with Jesus. But Jesus, as our gracious host, invites us to the feast he’s prepared.
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
So what do we gain if we approach the Lord's Supper in this way? Here are just a few blessings:
- A deeper awareness of Christ's presence.
- A joyful look forward to the future rather than only a somber glance back at the consequences of our sin.
- A more accurate picture of heaven, for the Lord's Supper is a preview of a coming attraction--the great wedding feast of the Lamb!
- An easing of doubt and fear as to one's worthiness to sit at the table with Jesus. It's not about you. It's about him and us.
YOUR MOVE
If I’ve sold you on the thought that the Lord’s Supper ought to be an interactive time marked by celebration, community, joy, thanksgiving, and recommitment as we experience a greater awareness of Jesus’ presence now while looking back to what he did for us and looking forward to what he will do for us, what steps can you take to make that thought a reality in practice?
If you feel your church leadership is open to discussing the issue, share with them your heart on the issue. Feel free to show them this blog post. I’d be glad to discuss it further and with greater detail with anyone interested.
You may not worship in a place where there is much freedom to express and encourage needed changes in how the Lord’s Supper is observed. If that’s the case, I encourage you to do the following:
- Celebrate the Lord’s Supper in your home with your family and loved ones. Jesus did not set a limit on the frequency or the day. “As often as you do this” were his words.
- Use a substantial amount of bread and fruit of the vine.
- Break the bread during the event.
- Take it by intinction (dipping the bread into the cup).
- Focus on what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do.
- Play Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration.”
- Wear party hats, blow up balloons, and throw confetti!
I’m only half-joking about those last two. The Lord’s Supper is serious. It does point back to Jesus’ sacrifice for us. But the Lord’s Supper is also a serious party. It points forward to the renewal of all things, consummated at the great wedding feast of the Lamb. And you and I, along with Jesus, get to experience it all in the right here and now.
If you’d like to learn more, I highly recommend the following book:
If you’re interested in acquiring a nice plate and chalice set, check out a local artist who has hooked both us and our church up—Soil Pottery.
Grace and peace.
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