Reformation Faith Today

Somehow the sacrament of baptism gets all the press. We all seem to enjoy discussing and debating the who, when and how of baptism. But the other sacrament (or ordinance) does not get even close to equal time. Why? I’m not sure, but I suspect a couple of reasons may be offered:

1. The method and participants are not nearly as disputed. Sure there are disagreements about how often (weekly, monthly, quarterly) and whether we should use unleavened bread and of course whether wine or grape juice should be used (I think wine would be more appropriate). Additionally, some believe that little children should be admitted to the table (paedo-communion). But overall, there is little dispute.

2. I suspect the larger reason for so little discussion on the Lord’s Supper has to do with the nature of the sacrament. That is, communion is all about us admitting our utter sinfulness and unworthiness. Not really “fun” discussion points.

So with the next Lord’s Day approaching and our monthly communion service (though I would prefer weekly), I wanted to write about this very important part of Christian worship. This will not be lengthy and overly scholarly. My hope is that if you have stumbled across this blog your time will not have been wasted.

Why are the sacraments in general important? Well of course first of all these (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) are left to us by Christ to be practiced.

But secondly, and here forward we will look at communion only, there is great benefit to the believer. Presbyterian minister Grover Gunn says of the Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is the sacrament of spiritual nurture. How many times do you eat? Many times. How often do you eat? You eat frequently and regularly. In like manner, you partake of the Lord’s Supper frequently and regularly. When you eat, do you have an active role? Yes, you do. You feed yourself. In like manner, the Lord’s Supper is an active sacrament. You take, you eat, you drink, you do this in remembrance, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Gunn continues

Bread nourishes, sustains and maintains the life of the body. Wine nourishes, refreshes, strengthens and gladdens. That is what the sacrificial work of Jesus does for us spiritually. We must constantly commune with Christ, or we will spiritually weaken and die. When we abide in Christ as a branch abides in a vine, we spiritually thrive and bear much fruit. When we neglect communion with Christ, we are like a branch severed from the vine. The branch is deprived of the life sustaining sap, and it withers and dies.

So the Lord’s Supper is the active sacrament of spiritual nourishment, the repeated sacrament that we should partake of regularly and frequently.

Gunn of course is echoing the Westminster Larger Catechism # 170

Question 170: How do they that worthily communicate in the Lord’s Supper feed upon the body and blood of Christ therein?

Answer: As the body and blood of Christ are not corporally or carnally present in, with, or under the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, and yet are spiritually present to the faith of the receiver, no less truly and really than the elements themselves are to their outward senses; so they that worthily communicate in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, do therein feed upon the body and blood of Christ, not after a corporal and carnal, but in a spiritual manner; yet truly and really, while by faith they receive and apply unto themselves Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death.

Gunn again

The Holy Spirit uses the communion service to increase our faith, to strengthen our faith, to confirm our faith. Thus through the communion service, we can have communion with the total person of Christ, including His body which was broken and His blood which was shed for our salvation.

So we see that in addition to remembering Christ’s sacrificial death and looking for His glorious return, we are strengthened and nourished in our faith. This is so very important.

But I know what some of you might be thinking, because I have thought it myself all too often. Our thinking goes something like this: “Well, I have had an awful week (month, quarter) yelling at the kids, kicking the dog, etc. In fact I have had lustful thoughts, gossipped, complained about the preacher, lied a few times, etc. I just do not feel worthy to come to the Lord’s table. I am too much a sinner.”

Ever been there? Of course you have. I have too. But listen to the words of Bishop J.C. Ryle on unworthiness

For another thing, some false Christians stay away from the Lord’s Supper because they believe they are not yet worthy.

They wait and stand still, under the mistaken notion that no one is qualified for the Lord’s Supper unless he feels within him something like perfection. They pitch their idea of a communicant so high that they despair of attaining to it. Waiting for inward perfection they live, and waiting for it they die. Now such persons would do well to understand that they are completely mistaken in their estimate of what “worthiness” really is. They are forgetting that the Lord’s Supper was not intended for unsinning angels, but for men and women subject to weakness, living in a world full of temptations, and needing mercy and grace every day they live.

A sense of our own utter unworthiness is the best worthiness that we can bring to the Lord’s Table. A deep feeling of our own entire indebtedness to Christ for all we have and hope for, is the best feeling we can bring, with us. The people I now have in view ought to consider seriously whether the ground they have taken up is defensible, and whether they are not standing in their own light. If they are waiting till they feel in themselves perfect hearts, perfect motives, perfect feelings, perfect, repentance, perfect love, perfect faith, they will wait forever. There never were such communicants in any age–certainly not in the days of our Lord and of the Apostles–there never will be as long as the world stands. No, rather, the very thought that we feel literally worthy, is a symptom of secret self-righteousness, and proves us unfit for the Lord’s Table in God’s sight. Sinners we are when we first come to the throne of grace–sinners we will be till we die; converted, changed, renewed, sanctified, but sinners still (though not like before–sin is not the pattern of a believer’s new life). In short, no man is really worthy to receive the Lord’s Supper who does not deeply feel that he is a “miserable sinner.”

Now Ryle was referring to “false Christians.” But Christian, that is how we should approach the table of our Lord. The more we recognize our unworthiness the more fit we are for the bread and wine.

If you or I want to stay away from the table, Ryle has words for us which we all would do well to heed

I have said repeatedly that I want no one to come to the Lord’s Table who is not properly qualified. But I ask those who stay away never to forget that the very reasons they assign for their conduct are their condemnation. I tell them that they stand convicted before God of either being very ignorant of what a communicant is, and what the Lord’s Supper is; or else of being persons who are not living right, and are unfit to die. In short, to say, I am a non-communicant, is as good as saying one of three things–I am living in sin, and cannot come–I know Christ commands me, but I will not obey Him–I am an ignorant man, and do not understand what the Lord’s Supper means.”

Next time your church sets the Lord’s Table, may God show you your utter despair of self-righteousness and complete unworthiness. Confess such to our great God and Savior, and then eat, drink and be nourished!