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One Church at One Table

This is a table of unity. The Apostle Paul urges us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” He says “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father over all and through all in in all” (Eph. 4:3-6).

We should not fail to notice that there is also one table. Christians often lament the Church’s lack of unity as we experience division and strife. This does happen sometimes when there is a real conflict, but it does not occur simply because we meet in different buildings in different parts of the world. We lack unity when we can’t eat this Supper together, when we separate from others like Peter and Barnabas did from eating with the Gentile Christians in Antioch.

Eating this meal deals with our sins, and not just our sins against God. It maintains the unity of the Spirit and bond of peace between one another. We all partake of one Christ, his one body broken and blood shed, and in him we are one church. Our unity is not seen in our denomination or network or latest cooperative effort. It’s far too important to be left to that. It’s demonstrated, maintained and given here to encourage us. God sets the lonely in families, in his family here. So anyone baptized and trusting in Christ is welcome, and those who are not are not asked to partake under compulsion but to consider the gift of God offered to them.

Not My Problem

Martin Luther was once told that the Lord’s Supper ought not to be given to those convicted of a public crime because of the likelihood they were unbelieving. Luther replied: “This doesn’t concern the one who administers. His only concern should be that he offer the true Word and the true sacrament. I don’t worry about whether he [the communicant] has true faith. I give the sacrament on account of the confession which I have heard, the condition of his heart be what it may. I wager a thousand souls that the absolution and the sacrament are right. I must believe him when he says he is penitent. If he deceives me, he deceives himself. Nevertheless, the sacrament is true and the absolution is true. It is as if I were to give somebody ten pieces of gold and he took them to be only ten coppers. The gold is right in front of his eyes. If he doens’t know what he’s taking, the fault is his and the loss is his.”

 

God’s Menu

The New Covenant is a time of vivid, concrete spiritual reality, not one of types and shadows. Before the death of Christ, the faithful were like a boy prince, governed by his tutor, waiting for his maturity so he could rule and grow the kingdom. Israel engaged in various training exercises, like fencing classes for the prince, that would prepare them for real battle with real weapons. Well, the people of God have grown up. We might even be in our 20s; we have yet a long way to go, but we have been entrusted with real weapons now, and a couple of them are right here on the table. The Westminster Larger Catechism asks “How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?” And it answers “not by any power in themselves, or any virtue derived from the piety or intention of him by whom they are administered, but only by the working of the Holy Ghost, and the blessing of Christ, by whom they are instituted.” What is the work of the Holy Spirit but your faith? By the same faith God accomplishes our salvation whether it be by hearing the Word, or at this table having heard it, eating and drinking it. Bread and wine are the food of conquering kings as Abraham received from Melchizedek. The minor prophet Zechariah prophesied of the coming of Zion’s King, whose coronation we celebrate today on Ascension Sunday, and he said “On that day the LORD their God will save them…for like jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land…. Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women” (Zech. 9:16-17). You are the kings and queens, the royal people of God. Here is your bread and wine. We also include grape juice which we know God blesses. We don’t include it because we’re catering to taste preferences or because it doesn’t really matter what we consume. God set the menu, and the time of types and shadows have passed. We do this because it’s not just what we eat and drink, but how. And we don’t want to stumble anyone physically with the wine in the same way we don’t want someone who is allergic to eat the bread. Special bread, special juice, God understands. But if you can drink the wine, drink it. It’s potent and powerful, part of a dangerous gospel that requires us to grow in wisdom. Drink too much of it and it will mock you. Drink it here and in moderation as Christ delivered, and it will grow you up into his image. And if this whole meditation leaves you unsettled, don’t be. Take what you’re ready to take. We are all together working toward maturity.

The Cup of Fierce Ginger Ale

From Robert Capon’s The Supper of the Lamb:

“Witness the teetotaling communion service. Most Protes­tants, I suppose, imagine that it is part of the true Reformed religion. But have they considered that, for nineteen cen­turies after the institution of the Eucharist, wine was the only element available for the sacrament? Do they seriously envision St. Paul or Calvin or Luther opening bottles of Welch’s Grape Juice in the sacristy before the service? Luther, at least, would turn over in his grave. The WCTU version of the Lord’s Supper is a bare 100 years old. Grape juice was not commercially viable until the discovery of pasteurization; and, unless I am mistaken, it was Mr. Welch himself (an ardent total abstainer) who persuaded American Protestantism to abandon what the Lord obviously thought rather kindly of.

That much damage done, however, the itch for consistency took over with a vengeance. Even the Lord’s own delight was explained away. One of the most fanciful pieces of exegesis I ever read began by maintaining that the Greek word for wine, as used in the Gospels, meant many other things than wine. The commentator cited, as I recall, grape juice for one mean­ing, and raisin paste for another. He inclined, ultimately, toward the latter. Continue reading →

One Loaf, One Cup

One of the things this supper demonstrates and increases is our unity in Christ. Chloe’s people told Paul of all the divisions in Corinth. Some said they were of the persuasion of Paul, some of Apollos, some Cephas and some took the divisive high ground and said they were of Christ. All of these were really of Satan, who name means “accuser” and who divides brothers and sisters.

To our hurt, our divisions can be more subtle. We don’t fight openly at the table like the Corinthians did, but Christians will routinely suspend themselves from the Supper, typically for one of two reasons. They do so because they had a bad week, or a bad day, or a bad morning, and therefore feel they aren’t worthy of this meal. Of course we aren’t worthy, that is the reason for the meal. This is grace and not a reward. Don’t divide the body of Christ on account of your works. The second reason is because of some doctrinal scruple. They take communion at their church but not another because not everyone believes exactly as they do. We don’t sacrifice unity for truth, but unless this rite has become idolatrous or scandalous, Jesus calls us to take it together as one body united to him—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and in terms of this Supper, one loaf and one cup. All who love God and his Christ are welcome at his table.