This article was originally published by The Mennonite

Confession of Faith roundtable: Lord’s Supper

The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective was developed in 1995, and is the most recent systematic statement of belief for Mennonite Church USA. 

Over the course of the next several months, we will be releasing “roundtable posts”, featuring two to three members of Mennonite Church USA congregations reflecting on an article from the Confession of Faith and how it impacts their ministry, congregational life and theology. We’ll move through the articles in numerical order. You can read all the past posts online

Today’s authors are reflecting on Article 12: The Lord’s Supper. Writers appear in alphabetical order. 

Ruben Chupp is Pastor at North Main Street Mennonite Church in Nappanee, Indiana.

The notes are still clipped inside the cover of my Minister’s Manual (MM): concise, meticulous. Sunday October 7, 1990, first communion as pastor of a congregation: I wanted to make sure I did things right, no mistakes or miscues. I utilized the communion texts prescribed in the Confession of Faith (CoF) and MM, used readings out of The Mennonite Hymnal. I was ready as could be. And nervous.

From CoF, Article 12: “As we partake of the communion, the bread and cup, the gathered body of believers shares in the body and blood of Christ and recognizes again that its life is sustained by Christ, the bread of life.”

“The gathered body of believers” expands beyond the church doors to include eclectic millions of global Christ-followers, extending to the far corners of God’s creation. In my current congregation, North Main Street Mennonite Church, this notion becomes practical as we invite anyone to the communion table that is “striving for peace between yourself and God and in your human relationships,” (an idea noted in the CoF).

One line gives me pause: “All are invited to the Lord’s table who have been baptized into the community of faith . . .” At times, when I peer into the inquisitive, longing faces of children, I regret that they are not fully included until baptized, relegated to receiving crackers and grapes.

Some time ago, a little boy locked eyes with me as I passed the bread: “Can I have some?”  “Sure,” I said.  Emboldened by his success, he asked again, when the grape juice was passed.  My response was the same: “Sure.” Since then, I refuse no child’s request for the bread and cup, even if they have already received grapes and crackers.

Using the communion words from the gospels, I am awed as I duplicate the expressions Jesus employed. For 2,000 years, the words and practice have remained essentially the same. It is a profound privilege to stand before a congregation, introducing these metaphors of our faith and using the words of Jesus, the founder of our faith.

“While they were eating . . .” (Matthew 26:26) suggests that Jesus was among friends, relaxing around a meal.  They were eating supper when Jesus instituted the practice of “communion,” utilizing common middle-eastern fare. When I consider the initial context for the sacrament we now celebrate several times a year, I am more engaged and no longer so worried  about getting things just right. Thanks be to God!

Christopher Montgomery is Pastor at Sermon on the Mount Mennonite Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Confession of Faith speaks of God’s redemptive work and our remembrance as though they are separate events: one historic, one contemporary. It asserts that Christ’s role in the ritual–the salvation work evidenced in the Gospel accounts–has been fully completed. And yet we live, work and do the things of ministry in a world that is broken and ailing. Has the work of Christ been fully completed? Is Christ not still moving, still working, still saving?

To these questions, the article speaks remarkable potential: “As one body, we participate in the life of Jesus Christ given for the redemption of humankind.” Our attention should focus on the active, vibrant word choice in this phrase, of our “participat[ing] in the life of Jesus.” The life of the Lord Sovereign of the cosmos, defined by gracious and scandalous sharing of bread and wine with the religiously and culturally offensive, continues. The death of Jesus hardly marked the end of Christ’s life or the culmination of Christ’s salvific work, precisely because the story continues: Jesus was resurrected. Jesus lived and Jesus died, yes, but Jesus rose and lives now in a fully restored human body. His Spirit sweeps through the church that gathers for bread and cup to bind us up into the past, present, and future of redemption that is ongoing.

We don’t merely remember a past event, nor do we merely observe a ritual of unity. The Lord’s Supper is our central liturgical act as Christians because it is our participation in Christ’s active work of extending God’s Table to all people. It is an act that defies our limited view of time and space. While we do remember Christ’s past life and saving work, we are also re-membered by God into Christ’s ongoing life and saving work. It is an indispensable habit for Christians, which is why the Confession’s commentary admonishes us to come to the Table often. My congregation comes to the Table every week in worship to be formed as active participants of Jesus’ resurrection life. And the healing and hope for the world resonates at that Table: our host, who welcomed and dined with the marginalized peoples of first-century Palestine, welcomes and dines with us still.

Cheryl Shank is Youth Pastor at Bethel Mennonite Church, West Liberty, Ohio, and has also taught high school French for 20 years.

The first line in this article states, “We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a sign by which the church thankfully remembers the new covenant which Jesus established by his death.”

When a congregation participates in communion, is there a thankful remembrance of God’s new covenant, not only between God and oneself, but also God and the church? The article of faith goes on to state, “The supper re-presents the presence of the risen Christ in the church.”

Most of the time one thinks of communion as eating the bread (symbol of Christ’s body) and drinking from the cup (symbol of Christ’s blood shed for our sins). It is a way to remind ourselves of the common union we have, to each other and to Christ, as a church community because of Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus is God’s personal invitation to each one of us, to the banquet table that God has prepared. So when we come together to partake of the Lord’s Supper we are sharing in the Good News of Christ, and we celebrate God’s grace, love and forgiveness that he has freely given to us through his son Jesus. It is a way for us to experience Christ in our midst as we participate together.

The last part of this article says, “Remembering how Jesus laid down his life for his friends, we his followers recommit ourselves to the way of the cross. Confessing our sins to one another and receiving forgiveness, we are to come as one body to the table of the Lord.”

In the Lord’s prayer, we say, “give us this day our daily bread.” Christ is the bread of life. Do we share that Good News daily? I find it interesting that early Anabaptists sometimes observed communion daily as a way to renew and celebrate their commitment to God. There are some churches today where one might have a weekly communion, but I wonder why this partaking of the Lord’s Supper and celebrating God’s grace, love and forgiveness is not practiced daily in Anabaptist congregations, at least in those I have observed.

The Lord’s Supper is about celebrating and sharing with others the goodness that God has shown to each one of us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Church members have a common bond with each other and with Christians throughout the world.  How do you share your personal relationship with God to those around you? Are your daily actions offering God’s grace and affirming the presence of Christ in your life? I think many times today it is more difficult for people in a church to extend grace and forgiveness to fellow believers, than to those we might meet in the neighborhood or workplace, even when one assumes that he/she deserves it from God.

Since the Lord’s Supper points towards Christ and our covenant with God, how can we make God’s invitation to communion a daily practice, reaching beyond the sharing of the bread and cup?

 

 

 

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Anabaptist World Inc. (AW) is an independent journalistic ministry serving the global Anabaptist movement. We seek to inform, inspire and Read More

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