A modest proposal for Communion II
by John D. Rempel, Elkhart, Ind.
I was gratified by the thoughtful articles on Communion (Sept. 4) and affirm the concerns they raise. I was moved to respond to two of them.
As the authors note, our church’s practice of the Lord’s Supper is diverse. My experience in liberal Mennonite circles is that we have moved so far from a focus on Jesus’ sacrifice that I hear little of the wonder and mystery of God’s redemptive love on the cross; I sense little of the reverence that arises from the contemplation of Jesus dying for us. I am not calling for gloom and guilt at the Lord’s Table but awe and gratitude. I agree that it is also the celebration of resurrection, of bread for the world. But only by reciting the whole story each time (death, resurrection, sign of kingdom—placing greater weight on the underemphasized aspects in a given congregation) can we nurture balance in congregations and the denomination.
The principle of balance applies to the whole service. Fresh words and gestures need to be combined with unchanging ones. The power of ritual lies in its repetition and universality. The core of almost all Christian forms of worship is the words of institution as they are recorded in the New Testament. To change them takes away the only words all churches have in common and makes our ritual unrecognizable to other traditions.
Ray Hurst writes that he would like to open Communion to “all who thirst for God.” I share his yearning to be open to people who venture the first tentative step of coming to faith. But we already have a ritual that does that: baptism. Conversion and baptism are unreservedly inclusive: Everyone who is willing to take a chance on Jesus is embraced with the sign of baptism. To open the breaking of bread to people who have not made the covenant with Jesus and the church confuses what it means to become a Christian, and this jeopardizes the Mennonite understanding of the church.
Associated Issue: Communion - Sept. 4 2007
Associated Article: A modest proposal for Communion
Current Stories
Articles
News stories, digests and Meno Acontecer
- Klassen named MCC executive director
- Fire destroys four buildings during Michiana Relief Sale
- Goshen and EMU soccer games played in Lancaster
- Health access initiative director named
- MCC assesses damage from Hurricane Felix
- Mennonite offices to be energy-efficient
- Global Youth Summit 2009 to triple in size
- Harriet Lapp Burkholder of Goshen dies
- Philhaven’s new center celebrates opening
- Tennessee church uses memorial garden