This quote from Euangelion kind of hits close to home!
I tend to think that a church pot-luck dinner with a few prayers and hymns sung at the same time is far closer to what the early church did re: the Lord's Supper, as opposed to current practices involving a 5 minute guilt-trip sermonette, a crumb of bread, and a drop of sour grape juice.
Having said that, some comments at the post point out that it seems that 1 Cor 11 (not the head covering part!) seem to indicate that the Lord's Supper is not merely a potluck with friends. So where is the happy medium between an informal meal in someone's house and the overly formal passing of oyster crackers and Welch's grape juice? We should break bread together as the Body in meals but should we also not give the shed blood and broken body of Christ proper perspective in the church? This is my comment at Euangelion:
Is there not a place between the two extremes of rigid sacramentalism and informal meals? Can believers in a home experience the Lord’s Supper as a means of grace or must it be in a church building? Can a potluck among fellow believers exhibit the sobriety and gravity that the breaking of bread and drinking the cup demands? I have broken bread and had (non-alcoholic) wine in my home with believers and it was as meaningful and perhaps more so than a church ceremony. But I have also had meals in my home with fellow believers that were social but not at all in keeping with 1 Corinthians 11 nor would I consider those meals an adequate replacement for the Lord’s Supper. It has less to do with location and more to do with the spirit.
What do you think?
(HT: Alan Knox)
10 comments:
"a 5 minute guilt-trip sermonette,"
Wait a minute! I preach a full-fledged 35-40 minute guilt-trip sermon, thank you very much! lol
Arthur,
You said, "But I have also had meals in my home with fellow believers that were social but not at all in keeping with 1 Corinthians 11." Since I was not a part of those meals, I need to ask: In what ways were some of those meals not at all in keeping with 1 Corinthians 11?
-Alan
Hi Alan,
I guess I look at 1 Cor 11 and especially verses 26-29 as more memorial...
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 27 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. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Coupled with verses 17-22 it seems that Paul is distinguishing between regualr meals and the observance of the bread and the cup.
I would say that a meal of fellowship in my home that was "just a meal" or a potluck is not without value, but it doesn't really require a declaration or examination of self. That could be a result of my being conditioned to view the supper in a particularly ceremonial way. I am not sure if Acts 2:42 and 1 Cor 11 are speaking of the same thing, if the breaking of bread in Acts 2:42 is a meal or an observance of what we would call the Lord's Supper. I haven't spent enough timie studying Greek on your new page!
Arthur,
Thanks for the response. First, I don't want you to think that I'm disagreeing with you. I'm not. I'm trying to understand your distinction.
You said the meal in your home may not be the "Lord's Supper" because it "doesn't really require a declaration or examination of self". I see the idea of examination in the passages you quoted, but not declaration. In 1 Cor 11:26, it seems that the meal itself is a proclamation. Is that what you mean?
What would make your "fellowship meal" into a "Lord's Supper"? If you examine yourself and declare it, would that make it so? Would everyone have to examine themselves and agree with the declaration?
Again, I'm simply trying to understand the distinction that you're making.
-Alan
There is a big difference between the Lords Table and the Lords Supper.
Paula
Should have added...fellowship versus worship
Paula
See,
You guys got together for "Church" and you are already fighting about communion...classic
Josh,
did you preach for 35-40 minutes? I must have nodded off after the first 15...just kidding!
Alan,
I would ask where the difference comes in. I can have a group of friends who are in no way Christians over, or my familiy who are also not Christians and have a meal. That wouldn't be the Lord's Supper in the spirit of 1 Cor 11 would it? I would agree with Paula in the sense that it seems that a fellowship meal lacks an element of worship. Again, this may be reflective of a overly traditional interpretation of worship and sacrament.
Joe,
Where have you been?! I was seriously getting worried about you. We are not fighting, just discussing. I would say that these sorts of discussions are waaaay overdue given how many churches observe the Lord's Supper in a formualaic manner because that is how we have always done it: once a quarter or once a month or once a year, on these platters, using these plastic shot glasses, saying the same thing we have said for a hundred years in this church because that is just how we do it. Having said that I have never been to a communion service at Vanderbilt CC, I am just speaking from experience in the majority of churches I have been involved in.
Arthur,
Well, you raised my next question yourself. Where are you getting the distinction between fellowship and worship? I would agree that meals with unbelievers are not "Lord's Supper". I guess my questions remains: what makes a meal between believers the "Lord's Supper" and what makes it not the "Lord's Supper"? (It would help me if you could show me the distinction in Scripture.)
-Alan
At the last supper, when Jesus gave the command to eat and drink in remembrance of Him, wasn't it the Passover meal? I don't know if we are still supposed to observe the Passover (I'm no theologian--I'm learning, and one issue at a time!), but obviously they ate more than oyster crackers and grape juice. They had an entire meal together, but special significance was given to the bread and wine. That is what I envision a biblical "Lord's Supper" as--coming together for a communal meal (a potluck, if you will), placing special significance on the bread and wine. Like I said, I don't claim to be a theological expert in this area, but that's just my two cents.
Post a Comment