United Methodists AND COMMUNION: Eating Difficulties?
September 6, 2009
1 Corinthians 11:20-28,33-34
When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord's supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." or as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup...
So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation.
NRSV
Throughout the month, we’re going to explore the unique stance United Methodists take on certain things.
All denominations have distinct characteristics. For example:
How many church people does it take to change a light bulb?
Charismatics: Only one. Hands already in the air.
Roman Catholics: None. They use candles.
Pentecostals: Ten. One to change the bulb; nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.
Presbyterians: None. God has predestined when lights will be on and off.
Episcopalians: Eight. One to call the electrician; seven to say how much they liked the old one better.
Baptists: At least 15. One to change the bulb; two or three committees to approve the change. Oh, and also provide a casserole.
Lutherans: None. Lutherans don't believe in change.
No doubt United Methodists could fit in here at a few places.
But this month we won’t be talking about the United Methodist stance on light bulbs. Rather, we’ll cover such things as grace, perfection, the nature of the church, and—today—the sacrament of communion.
It is the unique privilege of church people, from earliest of times to right now, to take something that is simple and beautiful—the act of receiving communion—and debate it, argue over it, fight over it: all in the name of Jesus.
How lovely. It’s like two pacifists disagreeing over something, then getting into a fist fight. Doesn’t quite make sense to me.
But, it’s been happening ever since the church came into existence.
We heard it in today’s passage.
The issue was how to take communion. Do you pass the loaf and cup to someone, and let that person eat and drink as much as they like? Hey, it’s a good way to fill up, especially if you’ve missed a meal. Or, do you treat the Lord’s Supper as a spiritual exercise—not meant to satisfy physical hunger, but spiritual?
You heard Paul’s stance. He said, “If you’re hungry, eat at home! For pity’s sake, this isn’t about a free meal!”
Since then, there have been other debates:
There’s been a debate as to whether or not the bread and the juice are really transformed into Jesus’ body and blood. We don’t believe they are; we believe the elements are symbols of Christ’s presence with us. By the way, believing they’re literally the body and blood leads to being concerned with how to deal with the leftover bread and wine; we don’t have that problem.
There’s the debate over what should be used, wine or grape juice. We use grape juice for two reasons. It supports our historic stance on temperance [not smoking or drinking]. It also respects children, young people, and recovering alcoholics, enabling them to take communion.
There’s a debate as to how it should be administered. One is the “Catholic” way: wafer, and drink from the same cup. The other is the “Protestant” way: individual cups, and a little cracker or cube of bread. There’s no mandated way for UM’s to administer it. The most common is the way we do it. It’s called “intinction,” where you are given bread, and invited to dip it into the cup. [BTW, we love people, but hate germs—we always use hand sanitizers.]
There’s a debate as to whether or not taking communion should be “open” to anyone who wants it, or “closed,” restricted to only church members. Those churches that restrict communion to members believe that the sacrament is meant for building up, strengthening the faith, of those who are already Christians. Churches that practice open communion believe that the sacrament is a means of grace for all people, regardless of whether or not they’re Christians already.
Thus is what we believe.
Now, let me editorialize a moment.
Paul said today, “Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
Well, I’d like to do that. As I’ve reflected on the dynamics of serving communion over the years, I’ve heard people give two reasons for hesitating in receiving the Lord’s Supper. I call these the
TOP TWO REASONS PEOPLE DON’T TAKE COMMUNION
The second most common reason people don’t take communion is this:
“It’s not preaching today, just communion, so I’ll skip it. After all, I could get swine flu.”
This is a sort of Protestant objection, where the emphasis in worship has always been on preaching instead of the sacrament. It’s like, “Well, there’s nothing to listen to today, and I’ll have to get up and walk down the aisle, and I don’t want any of that. I want to sit, listen, and leave. So, I’ll come back when I can just stay in the pew.”
Jesus gave the Lord’s Supper to us as a gift, reflecting his “amazing grace.” He asked us to do it as a way of remembering him, honoring him. He asked us to do it with other Christians as a bonding experience, just as eating with our families is a bonding experience.
WHETHER OR NOT YOU PREFER TAKING COMMUNION DOESN’T MATTER. JESUS ASKED US TO DO IT. SO…WE DO IT. REMEMBER—WORSHIP ISN’T ABOUT WHAT WE LIKE; IT’S ABOUT HONORING GOD.
And the number one reason people don’t take communion:
“I’m not worthy to take it.”
This must come from being in churches with “closed” communion, where only card-carrying members can take it. That would give the sense that you have to achieve some sort of spiritual standard before you can take the bread and cup.
Well, we don’t believe that.
The whole point of communion is that you’re not worthy to begin with! Communion is a means of grace for sinners. Who do you think Jesus gave the first Lord’s Supper to? Peter was not yet a saint: he was a struggling ex-fisherman who would deny Jesus three times. Yet Jesus gave him the bread and the cup—the body and the blood—as a sign of his love and forgiveness of Peter. And so did he do for all those sinners sitting in the upper room that night. And so does he do for all us sinners sitting in this sanctuary, this morning.
If you wait until you’re “worthy” to take communion, you’re going to be waiting a long, LONG time!
A while back I used the lowly brussel sprout as an example in a sermon. I said I didn’t like brussel sprouts, but knew they were good for the body. Likewise, spiritual disciplines during Lent weren’t sweet and tasty, but had to be done because they were good for the soul.
Shortly after that sermon, my family and I ate at one of our favorite places, Hometown Buffet. And wouldn’t you know it, brussel sprouts was one of the vegetables they were offering that day!
Our kids, like most all kids, avoid vegetables as if they were homework. So that day, I made a deal with our son Cameron. If he ate five brussel sprouts, he could have all the dessert he wanted. He agreed, and his sister Emma immediately went to the buffet and selected for him five of the biggest brussel sprouts there were. That’s love.
I will always remember the expressions on Cam’s face as he paid the price for his dessert.
Friends, I have good news for you today.
At the Lord’s table, there are no brussel sprouts. It’s all dessert, and it’s dessert that’s good for you. That’s because the main ingredient in this supper is…
