Communion at RinconMountain Presbyterian Church (Why are we changing!?!?)

I want to answer two questions briefly: Why are we now celebrating communion at every evening service? Why are we now coming forward to receive communion?

First, then: why are we now celebrating communion at every evening worship service? Perhaps to sum up my own thinking concisely: we don’t have to celebrate communion at every service; rather, we get to celebrate communion at every service. Here are some reasons why it is important to do so[1]:

  1. Because it is Biblical and historical. The Bible does not make it sufficiently clear to require the celebration of communion wherever and whenever worship occurs. It does appear, however, that the celebration of communion was a regular element of worship in the apostolic church (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:17-20; cf. 14:26). NT scholar Oscar Cullman notes that, “in the book of Acts instruction, preaching, prayer and breaking of bread are mentioned, and mentioned in such a way as clearly to show that these elements were from the beginning, the foundation of all worship life in the Christian community…We know now the basis of early Christian worship: Sermon, prayer, and supper.” It was considered to be the universal Christian custom to celebrate the Eucharist at least weekly by the time of Justin Martyr, early in the second century.[2] John Calvin believed strongly that “the Lord’s Table should have been spread at least once a week for the assembly of Christians” because the apostolic rule was that “no meeting of the church should take place without the word, prayers, partaking of the Supper, and almsgiving” (Institutes, IV.17.44). Martin Luther, though he had disagreements with Calvin’s (and our) view of the presence of Christ in communion, was in agreement that the Lord’s Supper should be celebrated at least weekly. And curiously, there is some evidence that the renowned Baptist preacher, C.H. Spurgeon, partook of the Lord’s Supper on a daily basis!
  2. Because of what we believe about communion. We believe that communion is a “means of grace” through which the Lord richly blesses us. We believe it is not just a remembering of the work of Christ, but a present communion with Christ (1 Cor. 10:16) himself, where we find strength, renewal, and spiritual nourishment. The Westminster Confession of Faith affirms that communion actually “seals” all the benefits of Christ’s redemption to believers and enhances “their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto him; and, to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other, as members of his mystical body.” (WCF, XXIX: 1).
  3. Because it appropriately encourages us to experience Jesus and the gospel. Communion stirs up our faith, shows us Jesus and helps us experientially understand his teaching (Luke 24:30-32). It opens our eyes so that the rational truths of the sermon and liturgy are experientially known in the person of Jesus. Communion makes the heart cry out: “Oh, how delicious is the gospel!” as we “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). In communion, we are able to hear, see, touch, taste and smell the good news of the gospel. Put differently, we need a balance between “intake” and “experience.” Jesus is the “bread of life” not the “sermon of life.”[3]
  4. Because it is mysterious. Many evangelicals have left the Protestant church for Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy in recent years. Perhaps one reason for this exodus is that evangelical Christian worship has often neglected the sense of mystery found in higher-church traditions. When worship feels too cerebral or entertainment oriented, some sense they’ve missed that other-worldly sense the soul longs to enjoy. The Latin word from which we get sacrament means “mystery.” Calvin himself appreciated the mystery of communion: “It is a mystery of Christ’s secret union with the devout which is by nature incomprehensible. If anybody should ask me how this communion takes place, I am not ashamed to confess that that is a secret too lofty for either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And to speak more plainly, I rather experience than understand it” (italics mine; Institutes IV.17.32).

Secondly, why are we now encouraging congregants to come forward to receive communion? There are three reasons:

  1. It is symbolically effective. There is something powerful about the symbolism of Christians actively coming forward to receive Jesus Christ’s body and blood, signed and sealed in the meal. This comports well with what we believe about worship – it is an active and engaging event rather than a passive and detached observation. Furthermore, the personal interaction with the elders of the church as they administer the sacrament to the member is moving and powerful, as we trust the Spirit to work graciously in our hearts. Again, we don’t want to be dogmatic about this; yet we simply believe that the symbolism and aesthetic of coming forward enhances the worship experience.
  2. It is evangelistically provocative. Coming forward to receive Christ also provokes the unbeliever and the non-communing covenant children of our church. We believe that the most biblical and theologically profound “altar call” is not to play a chorus over and over and attempt to emotionally manipulate; but to offer Jesus Christ freely at the table of Eucharist. When unbelievers and non-communicants come forward, they will be charged to “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” unto salvation.
  3. It is communal, not individualistic. The Lord’s Supper is primarily a communal meal and not an individual meal, and so we want our practice to reflect this. We are eager to communicate that we are the church, not simply a group of individuals concerned primarily about our personal relationships with the Lord. We look forward to being served by others, to seeing and hearing and even on occasion bumping into one another, because we want our experience of communion to enhance the wonder that we are vitally connected to one another in Christ.

[1]Much of my response to this first question is taken from a paper given by Rev. Leo Schuster of Christ the King PCA in Houston, TX at the February 2010 meeting of the Southwest Church Planting Network. This material is used with his permission.

[2] Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, 262: “Each Sunday they met for their ‘thanksgiving’ in which the baptized ate bread and drank wine in a sacred meal which they spoke of as ‘eating the body’ and ‘drinking the blood’ of Christ. To share in this sacred meal was so deeply felt to be the essential expression of membership of the society that fragments of the broken bread were taken round to any who were absent through illness of imprisonment.”

[3] “Sometimes students or other persons struggling with a painful experience in their lives will come to me for counsel. I always say to them, ‘I’m not a counselor and I don’t have the tools necessary to help you with this problem. But I can suggest one thing – flee to the Eucharist. Get to the Table of the Lord just as fast as you can, because it is there that God can and does touch his people in a healing way.’ In all the years that I have been giving this advice, not a single person has come back and told me it is not true. On the contrary, many have affirmed that God through the Eucharist reached into their pain and touched them with his healing presence.” Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999), 111.