For Further Reflection and Discussion
- The author describes worshiping in a congregation where he can’t understand the language. What new experiences or traditions have you faced when visiting congregations?
- Through his time in Japan, this author learned that sacraments form the church’s international language. How have you experienced this in international gatherings, such as World Conference and International Youth Forum?
- The author says that too often we are like the Corinthians, not examining ourselves before receiving Communion. How do we avoid letting this sacrament become mere ritual, devoid of meaning?
- What has been your experience in sharing Communion with worshipers from another denomination?
- Communion is not the only Community of Christ sacrament in which members of other denominations may participate. Among the others are the laying on of hands for the sick, an evangelist blessing, blessing of children, and marriage. Describe how you have felt the Spirit during such sacraments involving somebody from another denomination. How did they react?
- The author focuses on reconciliation—not only in the sacrament itself, but in preparation. If you don’t confess wrongdoing or reconcile your relationship with others before coming to the Lord’s Table, how does it affect your Communion experience?
- Communion is not just for remembering our covenant with the resurrected Jesus; it’s for remembering our commitment—through Christ—to serve the marginalized and pursue peace. How do you make this connection?
- How does participation in the Lord’s Supper change the way you live your daily life?
- Review the Enduring Principles. Which do you think are linked most closely with Communion?
—Greg Clark
Integrated Communications
Going Deeper:
the Lord's Supper
Herald, November 2010
At the time of my baptism, I thought Communion was boring and ritualistic. I much preferred prayer and testimony services, especially those at camps or reunions.
Then my wife, and I with our toddler son, went to serve at the church’s school in Tokyo, Japan, for two years. We taught English. We also learned some Japanese, but we understood little in the church services.
However, when Communion came once a month, I knew exactly what was going on. Communion Sunday by Communion Sunday, I was blessed as I went deeper into understanding the blessing Communion had for me as a foreigner joining in the loving Japanese Community of Christ congregation.
For the first time, I understood the sacraments are the international language of the church.
We are called to go deeper in our understanding of the Lord’s Supper. This is how I read Doctrine and Covenants 164:4a–c. Let us begin with the introduction:
Some have continued to express concerns about how the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper should be conducted. In other places, the meaning and potential power of this sacrament have been lessened by a lack of understanding and preparation.
The Apostle Paul rebukes the believers in Corinth because at Communion they do not examine themselves before receiving the bread and cup. They also do not discern the body (1 Corinthians 11:28–29). They do not hear the Spirit whisper, “Take off your shoes for what you are doing is holy.”
Too often today we are like the Corinthians. As a result our fellowship is tepid and our discipleship dull and weak.
Because of these circumstances, the following counsel is given as confirmed by the Spirit:
4 a. Serve the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to all committed followers of Christ as a visible witness of loving Christian fellowship and shared remembrance of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
We now discern the body of Christ includes those beyond our circle who are committed Christians. We call them in love to join us. Together we share in remembrance of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
Individuals may choose whether to receive the emblems according to their faith and understanding in harmony with guidelines provided by the First Presidency.
It is helpful to study the present guidelines in the Church Administrator’s Handbook, 2005 edition pages 81–83. It is important for priesthood, and especially those who preside at Communion, to be familiar with these guidelines. The handbook is available from Herald House or at www.CofChrist.org/OnlineResources/administrators/.
b. This pastoral provision does not lessen additional meanings associated with this sacrament in the church’s life. When the church gathers for Communion, highlight the opportunity for members to reaffirm their baptismal covenant, to reconcile strained relationships, and to commit together to the church’s mission of promoting communities of generosity, justice, and peacefulness.
Implicit in our baptism are three commitments also found in the Communion prayer on the bread.
The first is to “eat in remembrance of the body of your Son.” We remember Jesus suffered. As an innocent victim, he was executed through crucifixion. In Jesus every victim also is present.
The second commitment is to witness to God that “they are willing to take upon them the name of your Son, and always remember him.” In baptism we commit to follow Jesus. In Communion we recommit to following Jesus and to remember him in every moment and in every act of each day. We remember his teachings, which guide us. It is all Jesus in all aspects of our life. We delude ourselves if we think we can be Christian in any other way.
The third commitment is to “keep the commandments which [Jesus] has given them.” Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Where do we find the commandments of Jesus? We find them in the teaching passages of Jesus recorded in the gospels.
We would do well to begin with the Sermon on the Mount chapters 5–7 in the Gospel of Matthew. We would be blessed also to focus on Jesus’ new commandment: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35).
We respond to the love of God present in Jesus to love others. Love releases the power to love. Each commandment of Jesus directs our will and actions to love others.
Recommitting to loving others will lead us to express this love naturally in concrete ways that further the “church’s mission of promoting communities of generosity, justice, and peacefulness.”
Preparation for Communion should include reconciling with others, making up, confessing our faults, apologizing. We cannot come to the altar to reconcile with God if we are not reconciled with a brother or sister in the congregation (Matthew 5:23–24).
Such a practice would transform our congregational and family lives. I know this is difficult. My pride gets in the way. However, to follow Jesus is to walk from pride to humility, from arrogance to love.
c. Explore all the ways the Lord’s Supper can spiritually form the church community into a true and living expression of the life, sacrifice, resurrection, and continuing presence of Christ. Inherent in this sacrament is the divine call for the church to be a sacramental offering for the blessing, healing, and peace of creation.
My wife, Jewell, insisted we eat at least one meal a day as a family together. Our boys now are adults, but I remember with joy these mealtimes. The conversations could be fun and at times surprisingly serious. Our table was an open table, and guests or friends often dropped in. These daily shared meals shaped and formed us as a family.
The Lord’s Supper, Communion, is a symbolic meal that has the power to shape and mold us as congregations “into being a true and living expression of the life, sacrifice, resurrection, and continuing presence of Christ.”
Actually, three meals are present in the Lord’s Supper. When we consider each, our understanding of this sacrament deepens.
The first is the Jewish Passover meal. Jesus at the Last Supper met with his disciples to share in the Passover meal. Jesus said that night, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…” (Luke 22:15).
We do well to remember the meaning of Passover, for it is the foundation of the Lord’s Supper. It is a party, a joyful celebration of God freeing slaves from exploitation and suffering to enter a promised land of plenty. Passover is meal that challenges us to remember that freeing the poor from poverty is the central story of the Hebrew scriptures and that Jesus took this as a sacred duty, central to his mission (Luke 4:18–19).
Our Oblation offering, which should be taken every Communion service, is our down payment on justice for the poor. We therefore remember in every Lord’s Supper that central to our purpose as Christians is Zion with no poor among us (Doctrine and Covenants 36:2h–i).
The second meal is the Lord’s Supper as started by Jesus. We remember Jesus as a victim of those in power, who suffered a horrendous execution by crucifixion (Luke 22:17–20).
Those who remember our crucified Lord never can join in the crucifixion of others. We commit to remember victims of violence and pledge ourselves to end violence in the world. We remember there are no exceptions to the worth of all persons, for Christ died to redeem all (Doctrine and Covenants 16:3c–e). In “remembering” in the Lord’s Supper we disarm our hearts.
The third meal is yet to come, but we anticipate it in the Lord’s Supper. It is the Messianic Banquet, a biblical theme begun in Isaiah and reinforced in the New Testament.
We glimpse this in the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–22). The resurrected Jesus is a companion with them as they walk. They recognize him only when he shares a meal with them and breaks bread.
The Messianic Banquet is the victory meal, of good over evil, the full coming of Zion, the kingdom of God on earth. It is a time when God will wipe away every tear from every eye.
So in Communion we remember justice for the poor, we remember Jesus and others as victims, and we remember victory is coming. In committing to overcome poverty, end war, and have faith in the coming of the peaceable kingdom we hear, sense, and taste in this sacrament the divine call for the church to be a sacramental offering for the blessing, healing, and peace of creation.