Communion: Where should we look?

Jul 1, 2020 by

by Marc Lloyd, Church Society:

As new guidance allows for the possibility of communion in some form, Marc Lloyd continues his series of blog posts on the subject.

Some people have been looking at Communion services online. As part of our series on The Lord’s Supper, following on from our post on the Supper as a visible and edible word, when we are able to gather again around the Lord’s Table, where should we look?

We look back
As the Prayer Book and Common Worship both stipulate, the service of the Lord’s Supper will rightly involve confession of sin. We will want to look back over the last week and repent of all that we know to be wrong. As our parents taught us, we ought to wash our hands before we come to the table.

But above all in the Supper we look back to the great events of salvation history. They are the essential grounds of this meal. They celebrate a historical reality: the mighty deeds of God on behalf of his people.

The Last Supper was a Passover meal (Luke 22:7-8, 11-15). It recalled God’s rescue of his people from slavery by the sacrifice of the Lamb. Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). He is the Lamb of God who takes away we sin of the world (John 1:29). As we celebrate this meal, we participate in this story: Jesus rescued us, and not just our ancestors in the faith. As the Passover marked the first month for Israel, Jesus’ exodus in the cross and resurrection are the founding event of the New Testament church on which we base our communal life.

Jesus told us to do this in remembrance of him (Luke 22:19). We remember his body broken for us and his blood outpoured. We cling to the cross as the event which defines who we are as God’s forgiven, rescued people.

Read here

Previous postings on the subject of Holy Communion during lockdown:

Learning from Lockdown: rethinking eucharistic worship, by Michael Graham, CEN

Holy Communion – on line, by David Holloway, Jesmond Parish Church Newsletter

Can Holy Communion be celebrated remotely at home? Two more views (the ACNA Bishops say ‘no’; Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies says ‘yes’.)

The Eucharistic Feast: participation, representation and sacramental integrity in the time of social distancing, by Charlie Bell, anglicanism.org (also says ‘no’).

Can Holy Communion be celebrated remotely at home? The Gospel Coalition presents different views from two evangelicals

 

 

Related Posts

Tags

Share This