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Spiritual Discipline
When you go to communion you should do so with great fear, confessing your sins, and in peace with all your neighbors.
- Carthage, Rule (Irish, 7th century)
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
- 1 Corinthians 10.16
The mystery of the Lord's Supper is, I fear, largely lost on many who commune. Most of the believers I've known are Zwinglians with respect to the Supper: it's primarily a memorial of Christ's death and a declaration of our commitment to Him.
Certainly the Lord's Supper is that. But is that all? What does it mean to "participate" in the blood and body of Christ? In what sense, with what experience, and to what ends does the Lord invite us to "participate" in Him?
There is a presence of Christ in the elements of the Supper; we dine at the Lord's table, not only with the Lord, but on Him. My sense is that this participation is not physical but spiritual. Nonetheless, it is real, and since it is real, it ill behoves us to participate half-heartedly or without due preparation.
Confessing our sins and making sure that all is well between us and our neighbors would seem to be the bare minimum of proper Supper attire. But at the moment of "communion" - the Irish here means to "stretch out one's hand" - we are reaching into the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, we are drinking and eating Him into our souls, and thus we should expect the Lord's Supper to be a transforming moment for us.
And it can be, if we prepare well, seek the Lord earnestly, block out all distractions, and open our souls to the indwelling Christ through the elements of His Supper.
The unseen realm and He Who rules it become "visible" in the wine and the bread, if only we look upon them with the eye of faith. When we participate in the Lord's Supper, with the desire to participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we not only remember that death and resurrection, and we do more than merely proclaim these events.
We experience them - really, spiritually, and transformingly.
Supper will be ready soon. Make sure you're properly attired.
T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.