As
Jesus established His church, He appointed two ordinances (some groups call
them sacraments) for the edification and encouragement of His people. The first
is baptism, in which we as believers demonstrate our joining together with
Christ. The waters of baptism are a symbol of the earth that covers the old
body from which that same body is now raised to newness of life. It shows in an
unmistakable way, how our old self is buried with Christ in His death, and a
new self is raised to newness of life (Romans 6:1-4).
The
second of these ordinances is the Lord’s Supper. In it, the body of believers
joins together as one organism to remember and give thanks for the prize that
was paid for us on Calvary. The Lord’s Supper represents the body of Christ in
the bread and His blood in the fruit of the vine. These emblems remind us that
the body of Christ was broken for us and the blood was given for our
redemption, freely and unencumbered. This then is the only ordinance that the
body practices on a regular basis as a community of believers. It is here that
we come together as one church to break the bread and to drink the cup. As Paul
reminded the same Corinthians he wrote the words at the top of this article, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the
bread which we break a sharing in the
body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16)
There
are many arguments about how often and under what circumstances the supper is
to be observed. The early disciples observed it on a daily basis and they made
it a part of what was then termed an “agape feast” or a feast of love. Unlike
our present custom, the early disciples did not separate a specific time to
have the supper, making it instead a part of their fellowship meal. It is the
abuse of this practice that Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians. The meal had
become so disorganized and fragmented, that many were eating at different times
and others, who had less means, were going hungry. In this context, Paul
admonishes and reproves the Corinthians, finally telling them that they were
better off eating at home separately and coming together to eat the supper
without continuing their usual, but now abused, custom.
Unfortunately,
as we humans are wont to do, we go from one extreme to the other. Eventually
the eucharist (a word that means simply “giving of thanks”) came to be seen as
some sort of magical ceremony that meant much more than its original Designer
intended it to mean. You know about the Roman Catholic doctrine of
transubstantiation, perhaps the most egregious example of how the supper and
its meaning were grossly perverted. But we have also devolved to the point
where we often do not partake of the supper because we do not feel ourselves
“worthy” to partake. Let me say here that I do not judge people’s motivations.
If they abstain from partaking of the supper because they truly feel they
shouldn’t partake, I’m not going to be the one that tells them they’re sinning
and that they should partake anyway. Each individual has to be persuaded in
their own mind as to what exactly they should or shouldn’t do. My concern is not
what people’s intentions and convictions are, but rather ensuring that they
truly understand why they do or do not partake.
It
is imperative to understand that Paul did not tell the Corinthians that they
should examine themselves and be careful about how they partook to discourage
them from partaking. Rather, the point of his admonition was to ensure that
they understood the solemnity and seriousness of the activity. It was not to
discourage them from partaking that Paul said what he said, but to help them
see the supper for what it is and to give the eating of the bread and the
drinking of the cup the respect that it deserves. Notice what he says
subsequently in the same passage: “And so let a man examine himself and let him
eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28). The obvious
implication being that it is not to abstain that we examine ourselves, but in
order that we may partake in a worthy manner. We should not be intimidated or
cowered into thinking that we better abstain because we don’t feel ourselves
worthy of the elements. None of us is worthy and it is only through the grace
of Christ that we can even come to the table in the first place. Thus, Paul’s
reprove is with a view to rectifying the problem and not to instill an
unhealthy, misguided fear in the disciples.
The
next time you come to the Lord’s Supper, do examine yourself and do meditate
deeply on what the ordinance means and why you’re doing it. And then, eat of
the bread and drink of the cup with the joy of knowing that Christ has shed the
blood that is represented in the cup for your sins. That is something worth
celebrating!
Spot on all. I know this much - if self "worthiness" were the door to the Supper, we would all be passing.
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