Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Table Restrictions
I’m reading (yes, he’s reading again!) “Experiencing the Cross” by Henry Blackaby. He makes an interesting observation about the Lord’s Supper. He writes:
“When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, it wasn’t a public worship service and He didn’t open it up to everyone who’d ever follow Him. On the contrary, it was an exceedingly restricted occasion. It was only for those whom the Father had given Him, who had made an obvious commitment to follow Him to the end, and who He had carefully taught and instructed. They had a bond to Christ as Lord as well as a bond with each other.
So I came to view the Lord’s Supper as His special time of encouragement for His deeply committed followers, and especially for those who’ve been paying a price to follow Him.”
I have never given a lot of thought to “restrictions” concerning participation in the Lord’s Supper. What restrictions (if any) should we impose on those who attempt to participate in Communion? Should we communicate anything from the “front” (Can’t say “Table” since ours is now in the back of the auditorium.) of the auditorium as we start a Communion Service?
Is this a non-issue?
I await your input my little blog family.
“When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, it wasn’t a public worship service and He didn’t open it up to everyone who’d ever follow Him. On the contrary, it was an exceedingly restricted occasion. It was only for those whom the Father had given Him, who had made an obvious commitment to follow Him to the end, and who He had carefully taught and instructed. They had a bond to Christ as Lord as well as a bond with each other.
So I came to view the Lord’s Supper as His special time of encouragement for His deeply committed followers, and especially for those who’ve been paying a price to follow Him.”
I have never given a lot of thought to “restrictions” concerning participation in the Lord’s Supper. What restrictions (if any) should we impose on those who attempt to participate in Communion? Should we communicate anything from the “front” (Can’t say “Table” since ours is now in the back of the auditorium.) of the auditorium as we start a Communion Service?
Is this a non-issue?
I await your input my little blog family.
Comments:
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The way we do communion is so far removed from what that original meal must have been like (not to mention the subsequent practice in the early church) that it is comparing apples and oranges (or better, comparing homebaked unleavened bread with dry, tasteless Manischewitz matzo crackers). I really enjoyed John Mark Hicks' book, Come to the Table: Revisioning the Lord's Supper. He brings the supper back into the context of a communal meal, which, while almost logistically impossible on a large congregational scale is so theologically appealing that you almost want to change how we do church just to incorporate that aspect.
As for restrictions, Jesus did let Judas share the meal before he went out and betrayed him. Is our purpose in excluding people to identify the faithful, or to invite people to experience what it means to be a part of the family? I've never really felt comfortable with our rationale for who we "officially" allow and exclude. At least we don't check credentials at the door.
As for restrictions, Jesus did let Judas share the meal before he went out and betrayed him. Is our purpose in excluding people to identify the faithful, or to invite people to experience what it means to be a part of the family? I've never really felt comfortable with our rationale for who we "officially" allow and exclude. At least we don't check credentials at the door.
Hi John.
Great points. I'm not one for doing background checks before communion and apparently “performance” doesn’t qualify as a criterion since as you noted, Judas was present at the “Last Supper.”
I don't even think Blackaby had "communion restrictions" in mind but it did cause me to think about the concept.
Great points. I'm not one for doing background checks before communion and apparently “performance” doesn’t qualify as a criterion since as you noted, Judas was present at the “Last Supper.”
I don't even think Blackaby had "communion restrictions" in mind but it did cause me to think about the concept.
I have trouble with this idea of Jesus "instituting" the Lord's Supper.
I think many of our restrictions come from the idea of displeasing God. Will God be unhappy if a woman teaches a man about Him? Will God be unhappy if we praise Him with instruments? Will God be unhappy if we miss a Sunday of Communion? Will God be unhappy if we allow someone who is unreached to commune with us?
As my kids say, I am "so over" the part of my life where I used the Bible as my rule book. God is love. It is good to praise Him. It is good to teach about Him. And it is good to remember Him in Communion. Will he be upset if we fail to exclude another of His loved ones from the table? No. I find it far more likely that He is upset when we fail to INCLUDE them.
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I think many of our restrictions come from the idea of displeasing God. Will God be unhappy if a woman teaches a man about Him? Will God be unhappy if we praise Him with instruments? Will God be unhappy if we miss a Sunday of Communion? Will God be unhappy if we allow someone who is unreached to commune with us?
As my kids say, I am "so over" the part of my life where I used the Bible as my rule book. God is love. It is good to praise Him. It is good to teach about Him. And it is good to remember Him in Communion. Will he be upset if we fail to exclude another of His loved ones from the table? No. I find it far more likely that He is upset when we fail to INCLUDE them.
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