Eucharistic Celebration

Old habits are hard to break.  The same can be said of old traditions.  Once we are use to doing things one way, it becomes unthinkable that we should do it differently.  The Lord’s Supper is one place where I see a need for a change of habit: I’m not talking about frequency, although that too needs to be re-examined.  The issue I’m concerned with here is with the way we celebrate the Eucharist.  What I see taking place in many churches during the supper looks more like a funeral than a celebration.  Everybody is in their own world, no eye contact, and certainly no smiles: not the festive gathering one would expect from a celebration.  Now, I don’t mean to be too critical.  I understand what is happening.  People are praying, some are meditating and thinking about the events of Good Friday, and some are searching and confessing their sins less they eat and drink in an unworthy manner.  In other words, we are going through self-examination for fear of bringing judgment on ourselves.  Before I continue I just want to make clear that all these practices are good, and that Christians ought to be doing these things regularly.  My complaint is not that these things are done, but that they have become the only things one is doing.  The Lord’s Supper, at its core, is about community.  Today, it has become too individualized and no joy.  Each person takes their own portion and goes off into their own little world to eat and drink.  It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop.  Doesn’t sound much like a communal celebration, does it?  I am not suggesting we drop all reverence and seriousness, put on our togas, and bring out the beer, but we need not fear change.  We need to find ways to bring the community together during her sacred feast.  I don’t have any great ideas, but one thing my church tried was to have the people sit around tables.  It’s simple and a good place to begin building new habits.

Calvinism

In Sunday school, we are studying reformed theology, specifically the five points of Calvinism represented by the acronym TULIP.  My conversion to Calvinism began the summer before my junior year of college and was complete by the end of the following summer, with limited atonement being the last and most difficult pill to swallow; that was six years ago.  Now as I’m teaching my class about Calvinism and defending its five points, I find some of the things coming out of my mouth not sitting well with me anymore.  Maybe I swallowed the pills too quickly.  Let me make an aside.  I am still a five point Calvinist.  As a philosophical and theological system, it’s basically right.  However, on a more biblical and historical level, some nuance is required.  Here’s what I mean.  The problem I have is with how we understand covenant and election.  Who does the Bible include under the label “elect”?  Traditionally, the elect are those unconditionally chosen by God, for whom Christ died, to whom life is given by the Spirit, and whom God will preserve to the end.  Calvinism is a theological system that is rigid and makes a lot of sense.  My contention, though, is that the Bible is less rigid and more historical when it speaks concerning “the elect”.  That is, the church is the elect; this entity which exists in time and space, made up of baptized people.  This historical community is what the Bible calls the body of Christ, for whom Christ died, who received a measure of grace from the Spirit, and ultimately made up of some who will not persevere to the end.  This, I believe, is a more biblical view of the church.  Rather than ignoring the covenant community for the sake of “the elect”, it defines the elect in terms of the covenant.  This is just a brief summary of my thinking.  A lot more could be said.  I will try to post other relevant materials in the future.

A Bit of Irony

Something quite humorous, but unintentional, occurred this past Sunday during worship.  I don’t know if anyone else there caught it or found it funny, but it gave me a quick giggle.  Our church usually provides beautiful music during the offertory, and this Sunday was no exception.  While the plate was being passed, our worship team was singing “Come ye sinners”.  One of the stanzas goes like this, “Come ye needy, come and welcome, God’s free bounty glorify; True belief and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh.  Without money, without money come to Jesus Christ and buy”.  It was this last line that made me laugh.  It was just a little funny and ironic hearing it sung during the offering.