Two Important Truths Concerning the Lord's Supper

Ignatius of Antioch was a church father, who was a student of the apostle John, became the bishop at Antioch, and was martyred in Rome by being fed to the lions. I came across two quotes of his in a book I am reading, concerning the Lord's Supper:

"I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life --- which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. . . . And I desire the drink of God, namely his blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life."

The Lord's Supper is more than a memorial. The sign (bread and wine) is joined to the thing signified (Christ's body and blood), and thus we are given Christ's body and blood in the Supper, and through these, the benefits of Christ. How this happens is a mystery. What is important is that we do not merely receive the sign, but hunger and thirst to receive what the sign signifies.

The second quote of Ignatius, points to another important truth about the Lord's Supper:

"Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop or by one to whom he has entrusted it."

The bishop was the pastor. The pastor usually administered the sacrament. But notice that the pastor could entrust this administering of the sacrament to others, who were not pastors. This is an important point if we are ever to return to a weekly or even more frequent partaking of the Supper. We must see that just as lay people can be licenced to preach, so lay people can be trained to administer the Lord's Supper. If we are ever going to return to the apostolic pattern of at least weekly communion, then more people must be trained and entrusted to administer it.

Jesus Speaks in the Psalms

One of the things people miss in reading the Psalms is that the speaker of the Psalms is often Jesus Christ our Lord! This is what Hebrews 2 teaches when it says that Jesus said what David said in Psalm 22! Hebrews 2:11-12: 

"That is why he [Jesus] is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”"

As David's greater Son, the righteous sufferer, and the resurrected Lord, Jesus speaks to us throughout the book of Psalms. The Psalms are not only about Jesus, but Jesus is often the very speaker of the Psalms! How wonderful it is for his sheep to hear his voice in the book of Psalms!

"The Case for the Psalms"

I finished N. T. Wright's book, "The Case for the Psalms." He made a case for the use of the Psalms in churches that no longer go through the Psalms in their worship in a systematic way. His basic argument is one I resonated with and have articulated myself, namely, that the Psalms can have a transformative effect because they teach us the biblical worldview so different than the worldview of the secular world around us. The Psalms teach us to see the glory of God in creation, to long for His new creation when his glory will drench his creation in a greater way, and to see how in Christ that new creation has already dawned, just as the Psalms themselves prophesied. To see and live in this new way is a wonderful blessing!

As for the Evangelical and Reformed churches that have displaced the systematic reading and singing of the Psalms in the liturgy with praise choruses, I am not optimistic they will return to the practice most abandoned in the twentieth century. For that reason, it is imperative that individual Christians read at least one Psalm per day. Wright's own practice has been to read through the Psalms once a month, which works out to five psalms per day, which would mean about 40 verses per day. Here is a plan for reading through the Psalms once a month that takes into account the problem of Psalm 119:

Each day you read five Psalms. On the first day of the month read Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91, and 121. On day 19 you’ll read Psalm 19, 49, 79, 109, and 139. On day 29 you’ll read Psalms 29, 59, 89, and 149, skipping 119. Why skip Psalm 119? Because it is the longest chapter in the Bible---176 verses!

In months with 30 days (April, June, September, November), you won’t read Psalm 119. But when there is a 31st day in the month (8 of them), you’ll read only Psalm 119. Reading only Psalm 119 on day 31 assures that all chapters in Psalms are read only one time. 

Kind of ambitious, but it might be valuable to try. Wright says that he generally reads his five Psalms at various times of the day, rather than reading them all in one setting.

N.T. Wright and an Example of Reformed and Evangelical Liturgical Insanity

"In some parts of contemporary Christianity, the Psalms are no longer used in daily and weekly worship. This is so especially at points where there has been a remarkable growth in numbers and energy, not least through the charismatic movements in various denominations. The enormously popular 'worship songs,' some of which use phrases from the Psalms here and there but most of which do not, have largely displaced, for thousands of regular and enthusiastic worshipers, the steady rhythm and deep soul-searching of the Psalms themselves. This, I believe, is a great impoverishment. By all means write new songs. Each generation must do that. But to neglect the church's original hymnbook is, to put it bluntly, crazy." --N. T. Wright in "The Case for the Psalms"

Just as I suspected, Reformed and Evangelical churches have gone liturgically crazy, and Tom Wright agrees!

Sadly, one of the characteristics of crazy people is that they refuse to listen to wise voices, but only those voices that are self-destructive, and so my guess is that the "dumbing down" of worship will continue, and even worse, the removal of the Lord's voice in the Psalms.

A Worship Form that Belies the Gospel Message

We went to a church plant this morning that is near us. We were sent a flyer in the mail and it said that the church believed in the five solas of the Reformation (with which we agree), so we thought we would give it a chance, although I assured my wife we would find a big band up front and at least one or two inane songs.

Of course, I was right. The band was there and the songs were inane, as for example, the line that Christ sets us free to dance! When you come into church at my age, being set free to dance is pretty far down on your list of priorities.

But my real objection to the way this generation is attempting to worship is that the form of worship is so far removed from the message of the cross. Jesus instituted the intimacy of a meal and the quiet of learning at his feet. This generation comes into his presence with a musical production and showy entertainment, and then tries to tell us about Christ-like behavior, when the very form of its worship belies and contradicts the message of a crucified Lord.

Sabbath and Supper in Luke 6:1-11

I wrote this hymn based on Luke 6:1-11 which brings together the related themes of Sabbath and Supper. It teaches that Jesus has fulfilled the Sabbath and brought about the eternal Sabbath, which began when he was raised from the dead. The argument that Jesus uses to defend himself against Pharisaical objections, points to himself as the true Son of David, who gives his disciples the bread of the Presence, food that was only to be eaten by the priests on the Sabbath day. Thus, the passage shows that Jesus is the one who by his cleansing blood has created a priesthood of believers, who now have the privilege of eating the holy bread, not on the Sabbath, but on the eighth day, which begins the eternal Sabbath. How privileged we are to eat this bread on the Lord's Day, bread that only the priests of the old covenant were allowed to eat! In the hymn below, "bread" is capitalized as a way of pointing out that the bread we eat as the priesthood of believers is actually Jesus, the bread of heaven.

Come to Eat the Bread Together

Suggested tune: St. Austin (http://www.opc.org/hymn.html?hymn_id=153). Meter: 878747. Based on Luke 6:1-11. Words: William Weber, 2013. (after sermon, beginning of worship, communion, Sabbath, Lord's Day, eschatology, already not yet)

v. 1
Come to eat the bread together,
that the Son of David gives.
To His table gladly gather,
eat the Bread that you may live.
Are you hungry
for the heav'nly Bread He gives?

v. 2
Come to Jesus, Lord of Sabbath,
on the day when He was raised.
With His death and resurrection,
He has brought the coming age.
Eat the Manna,
heavenly Food that will sustain.

v. 3

Come to eat the Bread of Presence;

only priests may eat the Bread.

We are priests and we are holy,

by the blood that Jesus shed.

By His body,

broken for us; we are fed.

v. 4
Now, eternal is the Sabbath,
ushered in when Christ was raised.
Jesus, now we come to listen,
on this day to learn Your ways.
Teach and feed us,
so our walk might bring You praise.

Reflections on Form and Power in our Worship Together

Acts 20:7: "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread . . . ."

This verse shows how far we have moved away from the apostolic view of worship. Can you imagine any present day Christian saying that the reason we gather together on Sunday is "to break bread," i.e., to partake of the Supper?  I cannot, nor have I ever heard anyone say that, and that is the problem.

The fact that few people see that the Lord's Supper is the way Christ instituted his worship for his church is grievous. "Do this (the meal) in remembrance of me," is how Jesus instituted his worship. He instituted worship, not through teaching, but through a meal, and this is significant in understanding the true nature of what is to happen when we worship our triune God together. Divorce Word and meal, as the church has done for so long, and it leaves the church with a recipe for losing the heavenly presence and power of Christ, and creating malnourished and weakened Christians.

Worship is about sitting at Jesus' feet in order to learn from him, but it goes beyond learning to receiving his grace and life, and this comes through his broken body and shed blood, received by faith. Worship with our fellow Christians, without this eating and drinking, is incomplete, and short circuits our greatest need, which is to receive Jesus' life for our poor and needy souls. Worship is about Word and life, Word and experience, Word and meal, and this is why Jesus wisely instituted his worship by commanding us to eat his meal when we gather together on the first day of the week. Teaching without the meal is incomplete because Jesus wants to do more than teach us:  He wants to give us his very life to change and transform us by his power.

But can we have the proper form of worship (Word and meal) without experiencing the power of Christ and the age to come?  Yes, it is possible because of our unbelief.  We can have teaching and the meal and still miss the life and power Jesus wants to transmit to us, through the unbelief of both leaders and laity.  But it seems to me this danger of form without power is exacerbated, not helped, if we ignore the very form of worship our Lord gave us in the words: "Do this in remembrance of me."

O that pastors and elders, churches and denominations, would take these words from our Lord to heart:

"And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes." (Luke 12:42-43)

The "proper time" is defined by Luke in his second book in Acts 20:7. "On the first day of the week" is when pastors are elders are supposed to give their households, i.e., churches, their portion of food.  Blessed are those pastors and elders who do so, and blessed are those Christians who eagerly and gladly eat the portion of food (Word AND meal) they are given on that day!