Growing Your Appetite for the Lord's Supper

Many Christians have an uneasy relationship with the Lord’s Supper. Though this gospel feast has been central to Christian worship since the beginning of the church, many believers find the Lord’s Supper either confusing, intimidating, or just plain boring.

I was raised in a tradition that observed the Lord’s Supper only twice a year, complete with unleavened bread and alcoholic wine. These biannual services were usually very solemn, and though they prompted serious self-examination and genuine gratitude for the work of Christ, they also made me feel uncomfortable. It was rare for me to approach the Table with anything like celebratory joy or the expectation of receiving practical help for my Christian life.

Even in my early days as a pastor, I approached Communion Sundays with a certain dread. Though responsible to officiate the Table, I usually felt too unworthy to do it, and was haunted by 1 Corinthians 11:27: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.” Nor did I really understand how Communion could serve as a “means of grace” for believers.

But over the years, this has slowly changed.

For one thing, I now see what should have been obvious: that even on my best weeks, I’m never worthy to serve Communion. Or take it. Or proclaim the gospel itself, for that matter. But I’ve also begun to understand that my unworthiness is exactly the reason why I need the Lord’s Supper and that the Supper really is a means of grace, that is, a God-ordained sacrament through which God, by his Spirit, nourishes the hearts of his people with his renewing grace.

Let me further explain each of these realizations. 

The Table as Medicine for Sin-sick Souls

First, let’s clear up this whole issue of eating and drinking in an “unworthy manner.” It’s true that Paul’s instruction includes this exhortation to self-examination. But this doesn’t mean that believers must always have their act together in order to take Communion.

In context, Paul was addressing a nasty division within the Corinthian church. The “haves” were abusing their feasts by overindulgence (v. 21), even drinking to the point of drunkenness.[1] This excess was made even worse by their neglect of the “have not’s,” the poor who were left hungry while the wealthy feasted. Far from fostering unity around the Table, their behavior was a practical denial of the gospel.

Paul was addressing this situation when he warned about eating and drinking in an unworthy manner. While we should certainly check ourselves for divisive attitudes and practices before coming to the Table, this doesn’t mean you can’t take Communion if you yelled at your kids on the way to church. In fact, your ongoing battle with sin is one reason why you need the Table. 

John Calvin, one of the best guides to troubled souls when it comes to the Lord’s Supper, helped me understand this. He said,

When we feel within us a strong distaste and hatred of all vices, proceeding from the fear of God, and a desire to live well in order to please our Lord, we are fit to partake of the Supper, notwithstanding the vestiges of infirmity which we carry in our flesh.

Calvin helpfully compared the elements of the Table to medicine that the Lord provides for the healing of sick souls.  

Since then it is a remedy which God has given us to assist our frailty, to fortify our faith, to augment our charity, and to further us in all sanctity of life, so far from this making us abstain, we ought the more to make use of it, the more we feel oppressed by the disease.[2]

In other words, when we decline the elements because “we are still weak in faith or in integrity of life,” we are like convalescents refusing to take medicine because they are too sick! The Table is medicine for sin-sick souls, a strengthening cordial for weary, struggling, still imperfect, sometimes un-saintly saints.

“This then,” says Calvin, “is how the frailty of the faith which we feel in our heart, and the imperfections which persist in our life, ought to incite us to come to the Supper, as to a remedy designed to correct them. Only let us not come without faith or repentance.”

The Table as a Means of Grace

I’ve also come to better understand how the Table is a means of grace. This doesn’t refer to any supernatural change in the substance of the bread and wine itself. The elements do not work like magic. So do they merely jog one’s memory, benefiting us only by reminding us of what Jesus has done for us on the Cross? And, if so, is Communion really that important? After all, I can remember Jesus while strolling the beach, or playing golf, or enjoying a sunset in the mountains.

I’ve again found help from Calvin, but rather than quoting him again, allow me to paraphrase. The function of the Table runs parallel with the other primary means of grace, the Word of God. The Word holds forth the saving gospel of the crucified and risen Christ. But Scripture by itself is never sufficient to save. The Spirit must accompany the Word to make it effectual. “Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). The Word is like the sun, giving light to all. But in order to see the light of the sun, you must have the faculty of sight. But the sun cannot give sight to the blind. In the same way, the Word gives light, but only the Spirit gives us eyes to see.  

The Table works in a similar way. The Word declares the good news for our hearing. It is the gospel made audible. But the Table displays the gospel to our eyes, hands, and mouths. It is the gospel made visible and tangible. At the Table, we taste and see that the Lord is good.[3] But the bread and wine do not benefit us by themselves anymore than the Word will benefit us by itself. To participate in Christ’s body and blood (1 Corinthians 10:16), we need the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us eyes to see, minds to understand, and faith to feast on the broken body and shed blood of Christ.

Appreciation and Appetite

This theology of the Lord’s Supper has helped me grow in both my appreciation and my appetite for the Table. Our church now observes the Table twice a month and I find myself eagerly anticipating these joyful celebrations of the gospel with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I still feel unworthy to administer the Sacraments. But as my friend, Jeremiah Bass, has said, “When we partake of the Lord's Supper, we are not coming to a Table to put something on it, but to take something from it.  The message of Communion is not that we are to make ourselves worthy but that Someone Else has been worthy for us.”[4]

The truth is that I’m not worthy and never will be. But the Table points me to the worth of Christ, whose death covers my sins, whose righteousness is counted mine, and whose Spirit continues to make me clean and new.

This is medicine, indeed. But this medicine actually tastes good.

This article was written for Christianity.com. 

End Notes

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[1]This is a strong indication, by the way, that there were drinking fermented wine.

[2]John Calvin, Short Treatise on the Holy Supper of Our Lord and Only Savior Jesus Christ. InCalvin: Theological Treatises, edited by J. K. S. Reid. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1954) pp. 152-153.

[3]In Calvin’s own words, “Faith is the proper and entire work of the Holy Spirit, illumined by whom we recognize God and the treasures of his kindness, and without whose light our mind is so blinded that it can see nothing; so dull that it can sense nothing of spiritual things…For first, the Lord teaches and instructs us by his Word. Secondly, he confirms it by the sacraments. Finally, he illumines our minds by the light of his Holy Spirit and opens our hearts for the Word and sacrament to enter in, which would otherwise only strike our ears and appear before our eyes, but not at all affect us within.” Institutes of the Christian Religion. 4.14.8. Edited by John T. McNeil. Translated by Ford L. Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), p. 1284. 

[4]Jeremiah Bass, “Coming to the Lord’s Table” http://space-fillingthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/02/coming-to-lords-table.html

Why Only Baptized Christians Should Take Communion

In a recent worship service in our church, I invited all “baptized believers” to join us at the Lord’s Table. That prompted a question from several people: why say, “baptized believers?” Is baptism really a prerequisite for taking communion?

Of course, not all churches would answer this in the same way. But the majority of Christians throughout history have believed that only baptized people should participate in Eucharistic meal. I think it’s a biblical position, and here’s why.

Two Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Table

There are two sacraments given to the church, baptism and the Lord's Table, but these serve different functions.[i]

Baptism is a one time event that signifies: 

•   identification with Christ,

•   initiation into the Christian faith, and

•   entrance into the Christian church. 

Lots of passages point this way, and I won't list them all, but think for example about the Great Commission (we are commanded to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of Father, Son, and Spirit – Matt. 28:19), or multiple references in Acts, where people are baptized in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:39, 8:16; 10:48), or the Epistles, where Paul speaks of being baptized into Christ and into the body (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:5). Consider especially 1 Cor. 12:13 where Paul says that by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. In other words, baptism is what identifies someone with Christ and unites someone to the church. We also see this in Acts 2, where people repent, believe, and are baptized and thus are "added" to the church (Acts 2:38-41). 

The Lord's Table, on the other hand, is an ongoing, repeatable event (“as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup do this in remembrance of me”) that signifies:

•   fellowship with Christ, 

•   continuance in the Christian faith, 

•   and unity with the Christian church. 

This is especially clear in 1 Cor. 10:16-17, where Paul says, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” This shows us that communion involves both a special fellowship (“participation”) with Jesus and symbolizes our unity with the “one body” of Christ (“we who are many are one body”).

The Sequence: Baptism Precedes Communion

So, while baptism is an initial profession of faith, the Lord's Table is an ongoing, continual, and repeated renewal of faith. But isn’t it dishonest for someone to participate in a renewal of faith, if they've never professed faith in baptism to start with?

Communion is also something of a pledge of renewed trust in Christ and obedience to him (which is one reason why Paul warns against eating or drinking unworthily in 1 Cor. 11:27). But it would be pretense for someone to take communion when they have not even taken the first step of obedience to Jesus in baptism. 

Then there's also the biblical pattern. The sequence is always baptism first, followed by communion. So in Acts 2, for example, it is only those who are baptized and added to the church in verse 41 who then participate in the breaking of bread in verse 42. In 1 Corinthians, when Paul talks at length about communion (in chapter 11), the assumption from earlier in the letter (chapter 1) is that he is writing to baptized Christians. There are no examples in Acts or the Epistles of unbaptized people taking communion. 

Add to this the witness of the church through the ages. While historical creeds and confessions don't settle the matter (Scripture does that!), they do give us some clear benchmarks for understanding how the church has historically understood doctrine. And from what I can tell, the majority of churches have either taught or assumed that baptism should precede communion. Of course, there are significant disagreements about the mode and timing of baptism – but almost all agree that baptism, however it is understood, must come first.

So, that’s why I invited “baptized believers” to share in the Table at our church. Stating it this way is helpful for a couple reasons. First of all, it’s a helpful reminder for parents that their kids should be baptized before taking communion. It’s also helpful for seekers and non-Christians who need a concrete way of discerning whether they are really converted Christians or not. Of course, being baptized itself doesn't make someone a Christian or necessarily prove they are. But making a public profession under the authority of a local church who affirms the reality of someone's conversion is an important step and a good safeguard against self-deception.

Their Significance: Making the Gospel Visible

Finally, let’s never forget that both baptism and the Lord’s Table are given by the Lord to make the gospel visible to the church and the world.

Baptism points to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a dramatic reenactment of the humiliation and exaltation of our Lord that signifies our union with him through faith. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4). Baptism publicly declares that what is true of Christ is also true of all who trust in him. His story is our story, in his death we also died, and through his resurrection we receive life made new. 

The Lord’s Table, likewise, “proclaims the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). When we eat the broken bread and drink the fruit of the vine, we taste and see that the crucified and risen Savior is gracious and good. We embody our faith through the everyday acts of eating and drinking, showing that just as we’re dependent on bread for physical nourishment and strength, so also we trust in Christ and his finished work alone for salvation, spiritual life, and strength.

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[i] I owe some of my ideas for this article to Jeremy Keever, whose thoughtful blog post on “Should I Take Communion if I Haven’t Been Baptized?” was helpful for me.   http://differentway4kids.blogspot.com/2011/03/should-i-take-communion-if-i-havent.html. Accessed March 15, 2013. 

This article was originally written for Christianity.com.