The Eucharist or Lord's Supper
Forward
Questions about the Lord's Supper, otherwise known
as the Eucharist or Communion, arise in local churches on occasion. Questions
such as this have been asked again and again: "How often should we have the
Lord's Supper?" "How and in what form should the elements (the bread and
the wine/grape juice) be served?" "Should the people stand or kneel when
taking the Lord's Supper?" "What liturgy should we use for the Lord's Supper?"
These are more than simple questions. Often they reflect
understandings about the church that go far beyond the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. If, for instance, the laity in a local congregation determine that
they do not want the Lord's Supper served more than four Sundays out of fifty-two
Sundays a year, they may be making a statement about their need (or lack
thereof) for ordained clergy .
This document is an attempt to grapple with some of
these questions, putting them into a perspective that will relate to an overall
biblical theology.
The Lord's Supper:
A Historical and Biblical Perspective
Did you know that the Lord's Supper has its roots in
the Old Testament? That's right! The ancient Hebrews ate bread and drank
wine in their worship experiences. Most notably, the use of bread and wine
is seen during the celebration of Passover, the yearly remembrance of the
Hebrew people of their exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The
blood is a vivid reminder of the blood of lambs which Moses told the people
to place on their door posts so that the angel of death would "pass over"
their homes. The bread is a reminder of the haste with which the people were
to leave Egypt, for the bread in this case was unleavened. There was no need
to wait for such bread to rise before it was baked.
Lamb's blood was important to Hebrew worship
in a variety of ways. In Leviticus 14:25, for instance, the blood of a
sacrificial lamb had healing qualities. Throughout that chapter we see how
the sacrifice of a lamb could bring forgiveness for sin.
The importance of this symbol in Jewish worship was
a part of their regular worship experience through the time of Christ and
even to this very day. Jesus saw himself as being like a Passover lamb for
his people (John 1:29). Luke 22 shows how Jesus took the cup and compared
it to his own blood that would be shed for them on the cross. The sharing
of the cup, he said, was a joining with him in a new relationship with God,
a relationship of wholeness and oneness with God.
Jesus also passed bread down the table to his disciples.
He told them that when they ate it they were joining in the work of his Body
and celebrating his presence with them.
After Christ's death the disciples took this act of
Christ and made it a regular part of their worship experience together (Acts
2:42). The breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup was a vivid reminder
of Christ's call upon their lives. And the Lord's Supper was celebrated because
it also reminded them that Christ was with them.
The very worship of the early Church was based
upon the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Fully believing that it was a
celebration of Christ's presence, and of what Christ did for the Church upon
the cross, the Lord's Supper was the climax for most worship services. Indeed,
the Apostle Paul was forced to lay down ground rules for the celebration
of the Lord's Supper so that it would be conducted properly and with reverence
among the Christians in Corinth (I Corinthians 10 and 11).
As the years went by, the Eucharist or Lord's Supper
remained central to the worship of the Church. In times of persecution, as
Christians in dark dungeons prepared themselves for death in the arenas,
the simple act of silently breaking bread and sharing wine among fellow prisoners
was a powerful and moving act of worship and faith. Indeed, such silent,
powerful scenes as this have been acted out again and again throughout the
history of Christianity.
The Confessional Aspect of Communion
Over a period of several hundred years from the death
of Christ the celebration of the Lord's Supper remained a celebration of
Christ's presence and of his death and resurrection. But, in time there were
those in the church who began to worry about persons who partook of the Lord's
Supper who were not serious Christians. Indeed, it was noted that there were
those who attended worship services who had committed sins. Remembering Paul's
advice to the Corinthians the question was raised as to whether such persons
should be allowed to partake of the Lord's Supper. So, the Church began to
require that persons who partook of the Lord's Supper be recognized as
Christians. The Church also required confession of sin and absolution
(forgiveness of sin) of its members before they could partake of the Lord's
Supper. With the advent of such an emphasis in the worship, the focus of
The Lord's Supper shifted from being a celebration of Christ's presence to
being one of penitence. Having gone through a lengthy process of purification
before they could partake of the Lord's Supper, the sacrament became an act
wherein people came to God feeling profoundly sorry for their sins and unworthy
to partake. Such an over emphasis on penitence became so strong in the Church
that by the time of Martin Luther (1500's) the congregation was usually barred
from the partaking of the bread and wine for fear that someone yet full of
sin might partake of the holy elements. In such services the people were
not even allowed to approach the Lord's Table. A fence or rail was put up
to keep the people out of the chancel. Today we call this fence an altar
rail.
Thus, the Church has traversed a long way from Christ's
sharing of bread and wine with twelve motley, sinful disciples, including
one who would deny him, one who would betray him, and most of whom would
leave him to die on the cross, alone.
The way Christians perceive communion today is based
in no small way upon the emphasis the Church put upon penitence. Following
the Reformation, many Protestant leaders who believed that the Roman Church
had placed too much of a stress upon penitence banned the Lord's Supper in
most worship services of the Christian year. Rather than a renewal of an
apostolic understanding of the Lord's Supper, instead of celebrating the
Lord's Supper in the same spirit as it was celebrated by the disciples of
the early Church, they made an infrequent celebration of the Lord's Supper
(perhaps as little as four times a year) the rule. And when they did celebrate
the Lord's Supper it was celebrated with the same penitential emphasis, with
the people literally beating their chests in sorrow for their sins as they
partook of the Lord's Supper. Missing was the joy they should have experienced
because of the awareness of Christ's presence and acceptance of them! Missing
was the hearing of the call Christ was making upon their lives as they partook
of the bread and the wine.
The problem was aggravated in the American Protestant
churches during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In most cases the
Roman Catholic Church and Episcopal Church sent forth priests to start churches
in America. Thus, Roman Catholic Churches and Episcopal Churches were not
without clergy to conduct the sacraments, including the Lord's Supper. However,
many Protestant churches, including English Methodist and German Methodist
groups, were started by lay persons who were not allowed to conduct the
sacraments. Thus, decades often went by in such churches where the sacrament
of the Lord's Supper was not celebrated. During this time many of these groups
simply accepted the lack of the Lord's Supper as something they would have
to endure. And, if there was a Catholic or Episcopal church nearby, it was
easy to say, "The Lord's Supper is something those Catholics and Episcopals
do all the time, but not us!" It was only when these churches received full
time clergy that the opportunity arose for the Lord's Supper to be more frequent.
But, by that time familiar patterns of worship had already been long accepted.
If a clergy person even suggested a more frequent celebration of the Lord's
Supper their congregations wouldn't hear of it for fear that they might start
looking like the Catholics!
So, this is where many Protestant Churches find themselves
today. Without even realizing it, we who have righteously and innocently
insisted upon an infrequent and penitential observance of the Lord's Supper
may rather be assuming some of the misunderstandings, mistakes, and circumstances
of the past.
What Can Be Done?
We need to recover the meanings of the Lord's Supper
that were evident as Christ, himself, first celebrated the Lord's Supper.
We also need to recover the meaning of the sacrament as it was conducted
in the early Christian Church.
When a biblical scholar does biblical research, one
of the things that he or she wants to have is a bible text that is as close
and accurate to the original manuscript as possible. It is assumed that the
older the manuscript, the more accurate the text is going to be.
The same is true for liturgical theology (the way we
think about worship). If we can find out what the beliefs and practices were
of the disciples and of the early Christian Church we may feel confident
that we are worshiping in the way Christ would want us to worship. After
all, those disciples knew him personally. Among all the persons who have
ever lived on the planet earth, they are the ones who should have known Christ's
mind the best.
The best way to study about the Lord's Supper, then,
is to study the Bible and other documents written by leaders of the ancient
Christian Church.
Within the past few decades such studies have been
undertaken by learned persons within the United Methodist Church. Within
the past few years the United Methodist Church has made the following suggestions
for the renewal of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper based upon these intensive
studies.