The Lord's Supper
23 Oct 2015
Below is the text of my article in this month's church magazine.
As the church gathers together to worship the Lord, at the centre of what we do must be the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments. As God’s word is preached we hear his voice, which his Spirit works through to call us and enable us to obey him - to grow in faith and repentance. The sacraments - baptism and the Lord’s Supper - are, as Augustine famously described them, “visible words”, by which God presents his word to us through our senses, and he has especially promised to be present with us as we take them. They are not magic, as if we benefit by taking them regardless of whether we trust in Christ or not, but neither are they just visual aids to jog our memory, or simply expressions of our faith in Christ. No - in them God gives us signs and seals of his covenant promises, and strengthens the faith of all who belong to him. He is present with us in a special way through these means of grace.
Because the sacraments have a central place in the life of the church, it seemed fitting to move the Lord’s Supper to bring it into the main body of the church service. In this way our time gathered round the table is clearly linked to everything that has gone before - the hymns, the prayers, the confession of sin and assurance of pardon, and especially the preaching of the word. It is not a second, separate service. It is a central part of what it means to be the Lord’s people meeting together on his day being fed and built up by him.
It is abundantly clear in the Bible that the only people who should take the Lord’s Supper are those who are Christians - that is baptised (which includes as an infant) believers who are trusting in Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. This is simply another way of saying that the Lord’s Supper is a family meal with Jesus Christ at the head of the table, feeding all who belong to him. If you know you are not a Christian, or if you are not sure, please talk to me, and while you are very welcome to stay and observe and listen to what is going on during the taking of communion, please do not take the bread and cup. Please don’t feel any embarrassment for not taking part.
A question which has been raised recently, particularly as we have closed the gap between the main service and communion is what responsibility do we have as a church have for those who may not be Christians (as the Bible describes), but who may be taking communion. This is a question which has been discussed over many centuries and different churches have come to differing opinions. There are 3 different options.
Some churches operate a closed table for communion. That is, they only offer communion to those who are members of their local church. This means that everyone can know with some degree of certainty that everyone who takes the bread and wine has a credible confession of faith.
A second option, which is a variant on the first, are churches that would operate a close table. This means they would welcome those who are members of their local church, and members of other local churches that they are linked with or know well. This extends the welcome a little, but not much.
Latimer Church has never operated either of those two policies regarding the Lord’s Supper - and I am very glad about that. Although they might seem to be careful options, in practice they fall into an error at the other extreme. Simply put, it is just as wrong to deny communion to a true believer, as it is to encourage an unbeliever to receive it. After it, it is the Lord’s Supper, not our supper. He is the host. He decides who can come and who can’t.
The option we practice is what’s called an open table. Anyone who is a Christian - who is repenting and believing in Christ as Saviour and Lord, is welcome to take communion. The table is open to those who are members and those who are not (although becoming a member of a local church should be a vital part of any believers expression of their faith), to baptised children of believers old enough to express their faith and understand what is going on, and to Christians who are visiting with us. However, if someone was under church discipline for the kind of public and unrepentant sins as described in the New Testament part of that discipline would involve having the Lord’s Supper withheld from them.
The danger of the third option is that it leaves the decision to take or not to take communion in the hands of individuals. What if those who are not Christians decide to take communion? Whose responsibility is that?
It is absolutely vital that the Lord’s Supper is never given without the word of God being proclaimed, and without it being made very clear what the Lord’s Supper is, who is to come and who is to not take the bread and cup. The minister speaks for the Lord, the host of the meal, in that moment. The welcome is given to repentant sinners who trust in Jesus. Don’t stay away because you feel weak and sinful - the supper is for the weak and sinful!
But it is a serious as well as joyful thing. Just as hearing God’s word preached and doing nothing about it leaves you hardened, so does taking communion without trusting Christ. The most important part of fencing the table comes when the minister says those words. However, it is a sobering thing to remember that the warnings given by the apostle at the end of 1 Corinthians 11 are to Christians who are approaching the table with a wrong attitude to other christians. They are not first and foremost warnings to unbelievers.
Then, it seems clear in passages such as 1 Corinthians 11 the responsibility is on the individual as to whether to take or not. Communion is not the same as baptism. We don’t baptise ourselves! But we take and eat and drink during the Lord’s Supper. We as individuals have to answer before the Lord for our response to his warnings and promises.
At this point it is important to realise that we cannot see each others hearts. Hopefully we all come together on Sundays expecting that the Lord will speak and act. Who knows if during the sermon just preached someone did come to Christ for the first time? Who knows if someone is a bruised reed that Christ would not break, with weak faith poorly expressed but is really there? This isn’t to justify a lack of church discipline or pastoral follow up - but it does caution us about how we view what is going on with individuals.
There is also a third level of responsibility which is the responsibility the pastor and leadership has to shepherd the flock, which does involve following up on these kinds of issues with individuals, making sure they understand who communion is for, and working through with people where they stand with the Lord.
There is however no clear responsibility in Scripture laid on every church member to be looking out for individuals during communion, and stopping them from taking. So if the table has been clearly fenced by what the minister has said at the front, we should trust and pray that God will work through those words - and trust and pray that the leaders God has given the church will do their job to follow up with individuals.
We shouldn’t let these serious questions rob us of the joy and centrality of the Lord’s Supper. It is a wonderful thing to be able to feast together with Christ, no longer trembling with a fearful expectation of judgement, but belonging to him. It is a wonderful thing to be able to feast together with each other, no longer divided and torn apart because of our sin and petty jealousies but united together as brother and sisters in Christ. So never take communion for granted. Look forward to it. Prepare yourself for it (usually we take during the evening service on the first Sunday, and the morning service on the third Sunday in the month).