Last week I posted that the church is most the church when it is in worship, on Sunday morning, receiving the Lord’s Supper. My friend and colleague Chris James left a thoughtful reply disagreeing with me.
I see his point. Isn’t this actually the problem in mainstream Christianity? We neglect the mission of God in the world because we are so focused on setting up and maintaining our Sunday morning in-house event.
I want to look at the question a bit more:
Is the Eucharist really the heartbeat of the church?
Yes. It is not the whole picture of what the Church is and does, but for my money the Eucharist, more than any other single marker, is definitive.
I’m not alone in saying so. My good friend Gregory Carl Faulkner did his Ph.D. dissertation on Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann. He tells me Schmemann argues that the Eucharist actually creates the Church.
In the sacrament, the gathered community receives the promise that Christ’s Body has really been given for us. Receiving that good news, verbally and physically, we know, and experience, that we really are joined to Christ as part of his Body. And his Body is the Church.
The Eucharist is where God calls that reality into being.
Is that a Reformed viewpoint?
What, you might ask, does my stalwart Heidelberg Catechism say on the topic? Well, nobody can expect a Reformed theological text from the 16th century to echo Orthodox theology from the 20th. There are going to be differences.
But still, it is worth poking around on the topic.
In the section on the line by line commentary on the Apostles’ Creed the authors dealt with the Church, and then followed the Creed into the related topic of the “communion of saints.” Here’s the question in full:
55 Q. What do you understand by
“the communion of saints”?A. First, that believers one and all,
as members of this community,
share in Christ
and in all his treasures and gifts.Second that each member
should consider it a duty
to use these gifts
readily and joyfully
for the service and enrichment
of the other members.
The connection, at least for today’s readers, comes with the word “communion.” Many of us use the word “communion” rather than “the Lord’s Supper” (the preferred term for the Reformed) or “the Eucharist” (the preferred or more technical term for Orthodox, Catholics, and others).
That is we show, intuitively, in our use of language, that we think of the Lord’s Supper as the time of being “in communion” — but communion with whom?
First we “share in Christ”
In one sense communion is vertical: We share in the life of God, we are connected, in community, with Jesus himself.
The catechism emphasizes this when it says that the communion of saints first describes the fact that we “share in Christ.”
Second, practical love flows outward
In another sense communion is horizontal: We share in life with each other, in community, with each other.
The catechism emphasizes this when it notes that the communion of saints describes the way we should be prompted toward practical love for one another. The sacrament is also about community–and therefore so is the Church,
Both are true. But the first comes first and the second comes second.
Both the vertical and the horizontal dimensions of community are truly the nature of the Church.
As the Catechism puts it
- Sharing in Christ is the essence: we do share in Christ.
- Communion with each other is the implication: we should serve others.
The vertical connection is the orienting axis, like the arrow in a big garden sundial. The things that happen in the outward circles, the very true and holy things of community and mission, happen because of the axis.
Of course in this question the Catechism does not discuss the Church’s participation in God’s mission. That is not the topic at hand. It has more to say elsewhere about what we do in the outer circle where the Church is in contact with the world.
My point is that the Church is most primally the Church where it hears, experiences, receives and lives into the essence of being in communion with Christ.
This is not about institutional maintenance. It is about being people whose identity and existence flows from our life-giving connection to God through Christ.
Admittedly many churches so de-emphasize the Lord’s Supper that it is neither a source of communion with Christ nor something that empowers community and mission. Bad on us.
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I’d love to hear from you in the comments: What can a church do to live into the fullness of what the Lord’s Supper is intended to teach and do in our midst?
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Beautiful reply. I especially like this:
“The vertical connection is the orienting axis, like the arrow in a big garden sundial. The things that happen in the outward circles, the very true and holy things of community and mission, happen because of the axis.”
PAUL PREACHED CHRIST CRUCIFIED THROUGH THE EUCHARIST
This reminds me of St. Paul, “2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1Co 2:2 RSV)
And the Eucharist is precisely knowing nothing but Christ crucified, “26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1Co 11:26 RSV)
Then Paul warned us to do nothing other than what he showed us, “15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.” (2Th 2:15 RSV)
THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
One way I’ve also thought of communion is through an understanding of the Church as the bride of Christ (a very scriptural image).
If the Church is the bride of Christ, then the most intimate part of the marriage is the marriage bed. For a young couple the marriage bed is reserved for the honeymoon. In the life of a Christian the marriage bed is the act of communion.
No other act, between us and God, can be more intimate. Why? Because, it’s precisely this act that transforms us – that saves us, to use Evangelical parlance.
After all, Christ said:
“51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” (Jhn 6:51-56 RSV)
Sorry, something went wrong with my coding and everything ended up bolded!
Thanks for the comment Fr. Dustin. I fixed the html code so the bold is only where you seemed to intend it.
Thanks Gary. I was just checking to make sure you were awake 😉
As a hospital chaplain, I am engaged in “extending” the table beyond the church and into the hospital setting. Many of the people, both patients and staff and of many denominations, have not had this visible, tangible, presence of the Lord brought to them in a long time and they are so very grateful. It is in this context that I get a glimpse of a broader communion of saints, where we all “share” in Christ and his gifts that bring such spiritual strengh. It occurs to me that we all need to work a little harder to lower the walls of the church and get out into the mission field – which we could define as being —-> right outside the doors.
Thanks Bertie. Sounds like you are thriving in chaplaincy.
I’m not sure lowering the walls is the metaphor I’d use. I’d like to see greater clarity about the zones or circles I wrote about in the previous week’s post: helping the Church see clearly who truly is part of the Church, and doing what the Church is intended to do as the Church, is key. Then those who are nurtured as Church can reach out to the outer circles and bring people through the doors with integrity.
I appreciate this so much.
Thanks Joel! I’m grateful to you for letting me know. Hope y’all are doing well.
(Sorry your comment got stuck in the approval queue when I was offline.)