Communion - the founding feast of the Church

Introduction

Tissot: The Signs on the Door.
Public Domain Image

"On the night he was betrayed"- on the occasion of his last meal with his friends during his natural life, Jesus took bread.  It was the Jewish Passover, a founding moment in the life of the Jewish people.  And Jesus took that remembrance and recast it "in remembrance of me".  Here he is with his core group of followers - disciples - establishing the tradition that was going to be handed on - just as the Passover tradition had been handed on - as the foundation meal of the new community, the Church.  He instils into this new celebration meal the values of the Kingdom, the vision for this new community.  When we make the Lord's Supper merely a commemoration of his death, we make it somewhat less than it is mean to be.  It is the founding and bonding festival of the Church.  And as we shall see, it contains and illustrates the values that are summed up in our "Mission Statement" which is "Learning to show the father's love."  Here, at the Lord's Table, without looking too hard, we will find a call to Discipleship, Demonstration, going Deeper with God and Dealing with people in love.  Not in that order, though.

1. Dealing with people.  Love.  Christianity is about relationships.
The whole Institution of the Lord's Supper is wrapped up in relationships, like a deli wrap. The meat in the middle is the Jesus bit of Communion; the wrap is relationships.   Is that just Paul?  After all he had to tackle the stupid, selfish things that were happening in the Church at Corinth?

No! It is Jesus too.  Remember that Passover was always a "family meal".  It was designed to hold the community together but not by being eaten in a huge celebration in the temple or tabernacle; but by each household having its own lamb and bread and wine.  In the company of Jesus it established the New Community as a New Family with Jesus as the Head of the house.

What Paul does is take that principle that comes from Jesus and apply it to what was happening at Corinth.  They were subtly divided - not necessarily or even mainly about doctrine. It was about friends hanging together, cliques that looked out for each other and ignoring ieverybody else, so that at communion "Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk." (v. 21, The Message) The resulting inequalities and insults, were an absurdity and a denial of the core of what this meal is all about.  Elsewhere, Paul says, "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." (1Co 10:17)

2. Going Deeper with God.  Christianity is about Spirituality.
Jesus took bread and said, "This is my body"; he took wine and said, "This is my blood."  What happens at communion?  We remember.  We call to mind.  But we do more than that.  In the Holy Spirit, Jesus isn't absent but present.  He promised as much.  "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Mat 18:20)

Paul understands that the act of eating a piece of food can be an act of identifying with something spiritually: in fact he is prepared to take the beliefs of pagans about what happened at pagan temple meals and use that in the context of what happens at Communion.  "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?" (1Co 10:16)

"Hand-baked Matza" by Debresser
used under creative commons license

There are parts of the Church that believe that at a point in the communion service, something happens to the bread and the wine so it literally, physically becomes the body and blood of Jesus.  That is sometimes called the doctrine of the "Real Presence" of Jesus in the bread and the wine.  I don't believe that is what Jesus intended when he said "this is my body"; and I don't believe it is what Paul intended either.  But in our Baptist Protestantism, we have developed a doctrine of the "Real Absence" so that all we do is "remember" and all that is present is something to "represent" Jesus.  But by the Holy Spirit, when we obey his command, Jesus is here.  So why on earth do we feel we need to improve in the words of Jesus himself, who said, "This is my body"?

By the Spirit, when we break bread, we should expect Jesus to be present.  We can "feed on him in our hearts by faith".  And if he is present, we can encounter him, spend time with him.  I appreciate that people have dinner in the oven, kids to attend to, and so on.  There are reasons why we may have to watch the clock when we are in Church. But one reason not to be watching the clock is because it's just a waste of time.  When you are in a love with someone, you want to waste time with that person. If Jesus is present, then we want to waste time with him.  We don't have to be getting things done!

3. Demonstration.
At the Passover, there were words and actions. The instructions for Passover include what to say  "when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?'" (Exo 12:26-27)  in the same way the drama of eating the bread, prepares the way for proclamation.  Some scholars talk about the "visual word."  In communion, there is the visual word; and the spoken word as the Jesus story explains and complements the dramatic action.  "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim (Gk: Spread the news of) the Lord's death until he comes."  (1Co 11:26)

The communion service is an action that shows that Jesus died for us at Calvary. That action embodies the presence of Jesus and his presence takes action to demonstrate the love of God When Francis of Assisi sent his men out he told them, "Preach the Gospel; use words if necessary!" Well, words are necessary: we need to know the words and use the words.  Can you put your own story into words?  Have you words to sum up the Jesus story?  But words should be the caption for the pictures, the action.  We are learning not just to talk about the Father's love but also to show it.  Scottish Baptists need to take on board this challenge to our "Word-centred" approach.  How can we show Rosyth God's love?  . Let's find the actions that show the presence and love of God to our community.

4. Discipleship.  Helping each other to grow.
What does it mean to eat or drink "in an unworthy manner." (v. 27) It means when we don't "discern the body" (v. 29); that is when we don't see the body around us and when we don't see Jesus in the Eucharist. If we are capable of taking this food and drink and treating it as simply food and drink, not seeing Jesus, not hearing his story, we eat and drink in an unworthy manner.  If we are capable of taking this food and drink while treating the people around us at communion, with contempt, scorn or callous disregard, (as in v 21) we eat and drink in an unworthy manner.

This is serious stuff. If we eat and drink in this unworthy way we are "guilty of Christ's body and blood" (v. 29) - guilty of killing him, and judged accordingly.  Around the Cross of Jesus there are two sorts of people.  There are those who benefit from what he did on the Cross. And there are those who are part of the process of putting him to death.  If we eat and drink the bread and wine "in an unworthy manner" we separate ourselves from the benefits of that sacrifice. We are therefore held guilty of his death, in other words, lost.

God disciplines us, and we can discipline ourselves. Paul says, "Let a man examine himself..."  Questions are  always a great way of learning, checking that we have learned properly and deepening our learning. In examining ourselves we need to ask two basic questions about discipleship...

1. Do I discern the sacrifice of Jesus at the Table? Am I a disciple?  Am I trusting Jesus and walking with my Heavenly Father? Am I growing?
2. Do I discern the body around me and expect Jesus to minister to me through my brothers and sisters?  Who's discipling me?  Who am I discipling?  Am I helping or hindering other people from growing and from finding faith in Jesus?

© Gilmour Lilly May 2012