A call to restore the Lord’s Table to our weekly worship
Here I continue to present my argument that our churches should adopt the practice of participating in communion at least weekly. I have given a case from precedent or the pattern that God has laid down in Scripture. Here I present an argument from the meaning of the Lord’s Supper.
An argument from meaning
The Lord’s Supper pictures Christ’s gift of himself to us for the sake of our life in him. It’s helpful here to see the connection between the two sacraments, one applied externally (I speak physically here) and the other applied internally. In Baptism, Christ washes us, declaring us clean before God. The sign is applied externally because it demonstrates the promise of Christ’s covering. It is the declaration of the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is an initiatory rite. It marks the beginning of our relationship with God. The Lord’s Supper keeps the bonds of that union tight. Through the Lord’s Supper, God continues to confirm our faith in our hearts through the promise of union with Christ.
The Lord’s Supper pictures a taking in of Christ. An image that, through the Spirit, becomes a reality. In the Lord’s Supper, we internalize the promises of Christ. It declares to us that Christ is our only spiritual sustenance. In the words of Belgic Confession Art. 35, we receive nothing less than Christ himself in the Lord’s Supper, “who nourishes, and sustains the spiritual life of the believers, when he is eaten by them, that is, spiritually appropriated and received by faith.” All our salvation is from Christ. We cannot justify ourselves, and we cannot sanctify ourselves. The Lord’s Supper reminds us that everything we have comes from God’s grace. We receive grace through the constant application of the Spirit in crucifying the old man and bringing the new man to life. God declares to us that he is transforming us into the image of Christ.
This work of transformation happens over the entire life of the Christians. We are not presumptive about this work of salvation, but seek to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We need that constant reminder that this is not of our strength, but it is the Spirit who is working in us so that we have the strength, the energy, and the freedom to work this out. It is the Spirit who works in us to work and to will. The Christian life is a working out of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Weekly communion is a constant reminder that of the central truths of the gospel. It is not I who live, but Christ, who lives in me. I must put my flesh to death on the cross of Christ. I must find life in Jesus. Of course, we hear that in the word, but we also need that confirmed to our hearts every week. The breaking of the bread and the pouring out of the wine are integral to the life of the church because they so clearly demonstrate our union with Christ and his righteousness. Through faith, The Lord’s Supper is effectual in bringing that union about. We want to be fat with the gospel of Jesus, not always on a diet.
The whole point is assurance. I learn through the word. God assures me of the truth of that word through the sacrament. All Christians struggle with the assurance of their new reality in Christ. God gives us the gift of the Lord’s Supper to strengthen that assurance. Use it! I now taste and see that the Lord is good.
The question remains how do we avoid the mistake of the Roman church and turn our focus on the earthly elements rather than heavenly sustenance? The gospel that we have a living king in the flesh at the right hand of God must continue to come out clearly in all our teaching. We must also emphasize that that king is accomplishing our transformation through the Spirit, who comes from his side. If we continue to set our participation in the Supper in the context of a risen Christ and a mighty Spirit, we will avoid looking to the earthly elements in the Supper for sustenance. Regardless of our practice, that realization is what we need for a healthy church. It is our union with the once dead and risen Christ that is fundamental to living out our salvation.
I sometimes wonder if the reason our churches struggle working through the connection between justification and sanctification is found in that we do not live out those doctrines in weekly communion. We know that sanctification flows from justification in our minds, but do we have a “from the gut” understanding of this truth. The connection, of course, flows from our union with Christ. The Lord’s Supper is all about union with Christ. In Christ, we no longer belong to this world, but we are citizens of heaven.
What greater way to live that out, than to physically live out that union with Christ? That is what the Lord’s Supper is. We boldly come before the throne of grace, clean in Christ, and there we find what we need to live in Christ. Christ is the seed that is taken into ourselves so that good works flow from our hearts as naturally as from a spring. Both our status as Christians who may eat with Jesus and our need to receive spiritual sustenance are deeply entwined together in this holy meal.
We can flesh this out with the doctrine of Christ’s three-fold office. As a priest, I eat with Christ, and so I demonstrate that I share in his death and resurrection. Therefore, I declare in the Lord’s Supper my willingness to offer myself as a living sacrifice to him. I am a priest offering myself to God in gratitude for what Christ has done. We also see our kingly office. We declare the righteousness of God that is found on the cross and offer the reconciliation of God to all men through the body of Christ. God is righting the wrongs of history at this table.
Finally, we see our prophetic office. We follow Christ in declaring the coming of the kingdom of God. We declare the forgiveness of sins, equally and freely offered to all. So we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Here is the table! Come and see that the Lord is good!
We might object: weekly communion isn’t necessary for a positive Christian life. Neither are churches who practice weekly communion shining examples of God’s goodness. Of course not. On the one hand, churches without weekly communion have lived out the gospel. On the other hand, churches with weekly communion have not. In these, communion was used for its own sake and was not used to point the congregation to Christ.
Weekly communion does not magically make us better Christians, but then again, neither does the practice of having two services every Sunday. The point is that weekly communion will strengthen those churches who do have the gospel. In the same way, churches are more greatly edified by having both a morning and an afternoon service.
We can also bring up the example of those churches that lack infant baptism. Many Baptist churches do have the gospel, but if we believe that the practice of infant baptism is good, we must also say that they weaken themselves through withholding the gift of infant baptism to their children. Even though a given church that baptizes their infants may be weaker than a given church, that does not make the practice itself unhealthy. Like the Baptist, who chooses not to baptize their infant, we choose spiritual weakness by offering Christ’s self-gift in communion so infrequently.