Monday, March 08, 2004 AD
What Communion means "to me"
In a recent post, I alleged that, in many evangelical churches, every person participating in the Lord's Supper has 'a different take on "what Communion means 'to me'".'
At the time I wondered if I was being a bit harsh. But then, at our (no-longer) current church yesterday, during the "Lord's Supper" (I plan to post later to explain the quote marks) the member of the congregation who was "giving thanks for the wine" said something along the lines of, "we remember Christ's blood shed on the cross, and I guess each person here will have a different understanding of what that means to them."
This fuzziness about the meaning and purpose of Lord's Supper is pretty endemic among evangelicals. This contrasts with the Lutheran perspective, which is wonderfully clear, focussed and Scriptural. To summarise (based on the Small Catechism):
1. The Lord's Supper is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself.
2. The benefit of the Lord's Supper is that forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words, "Given and shed for you for the remission of sins".
3. We receive these benefits simply by believing those words, "Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins", as we eat and drink.
Simple, clear, liberating - a release, for me, from years of trying to work myself up into the correct "frame of mind" for "getting the full benefit" out of Communion, while being unclear on what that "benefit" is actually intended to be, and hence what the correct "frame of mind" is. Which is probably why I've "got more out of" the two occasions on which I've attended Divine Service at my local Lutheran church, than in years of attending Anglican and non-conformist Communion services - despite not having actually received the bread and wine at the Lutheran church on either occasion.
At the time I wondered if I was being a bit harsh. But then, at our (no-longer) current church yesterday, during the "Lord's Supper" (I plan to post later to explain the quote marks) the member of the congregation who was "giving thanks for the wine" said something along the lines of, "we remember Christ's blood shed on the cross, and I guess each person here will have a different understanding of what that means to them."
This fuzziness about the meaning and purpose of Lord's Supper is pretty endemic among evangelicals. This contrasts with the Lutheran perspective, which is wonderfully clear, focussed and Scriptural. To summarise (based on the Small Catechism):
1. The Lord's Supper is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself.
2. The benefit of the Lord's Supper is that forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words, "Given and shed for you for the remission of sins".
3. We receive these benefits simply by believing those words, "Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins", as we eat and drink.
Simple, clear, liberating - a release, for me, from years of trying to work myself up into the correct "frame of mind" for "getting the full benefit" out of Communion, while being unclear on what that "benefit" is actually intended to be, and hence what the correct "frame of mind" is. Which is probably why I've "got more out of" the two occasions on which I've attended Divine Service at my local Lutheran church, than in years of attending Anglican and non-conformist Communion services - despite not having actually received the bread and wine at the Lutheran church on either occasion.
