Last week, we talked about the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. This is a longstanding debate in Christian history, mostly surrounding the reformers in the 16th century bringing correction to a world that had become very superstitious. When it comes to a lot of debates in Christian beliefs, I love what one of my favorite scholars, NT Wright, is fond of saying, “We must stop giving 19th-century answers to 16th-century questions and start asking 21st-century questions listening for 1st-century answers.” I want to keep exploring the Christianity the was founded by the early disciples of Christ to see who we are called to be today. This is a Christianity that existed in the margins of the Roman world and had no power. There is a lot for us to learn about who we need to be today moving forward into the uncharted terrain of a post-Christian society. One of the major beliefs in the early church was that Christ was present with them in the Lord’s Supper. They called it the “Mystery” and held this belief as central to who they were as a community of believers.
This discussion is honestly a little uncomfortable for me to wrestle with. If I am honest, I would rather the Lord’s Supper just act as a memorial meal to remind me of what Christ did to save me of my sins (the teaching of Zwingli in the 16th century). If Christ is really present with us, then what does his presence mean for us as a people who join him around the table? What does his presence mean for your transformation into the image of God for the world: Christ’s likeness? How does Christ’s presence change the way you see other people who are at the table with you? Do you see them the same way the world sees them, or do you allow them to be transformed into the way God sees them through Christ?
Two years ago, I read a book by David Fitch called “Faithful Presence.” It really shaped how I think about the church and God’s mission in the world. He looks at the church in three circles: The Close Circle, the Dotted Circle, and the Half Circle. The Close Circle is where the church gathers in the Presence of Christ around the Table of the Lord’s Supper. This is where we are transformed by the Presence of Christ and take Christ within us through the eating of the meal. We then carry the Presence of Christ with us as we leave the assembly of the Church.
We carry the Presence of Christ into our homes where we invite people to gather around our table. At our table, we become the Presence of Christ as host for others to come to know Christ. This is where we invite people to come closer to Christ’s presence. Our homes should be places of peaceful rest for others to retreat to from the chaos of the world. We can only create these places of peace through being transformed ourselves in the presence of Christ. This should be the focus of why we gather. We all have the Holy Spirit within us, but the Spirit is more fully realized when the Church comes together (1 Cor. 3:16-17; Eph. 2:21-22).
The Half Circle is where we carry the Presence of Christ to the tables in the world around us. We become the Presence of Christ for them as guests around their tables. We’ll explore what this means in later weeks. First, I want us to look at how drawing close to Christ’s Presence weekly shapes our identity as a Church.
Here are some questions I wrestle with when I consider the power of the Presence of Christ for the transformation of a community:
If the Lord’s Supper was central to Christian community, how would this have changed how Christians viewed one another during the Civil Rights movement and prior?
When a Church is on the verge of a split, how could the Lord’s Supper re-center them in their discussions and debates (Philippians 2:5-11 comes to mind)?
When I am personally struggling with Sister or Brother in Christ, how does seeing them at the Table shape how I think of them?
How does the Presence of Christ transforming each person into Christ’s image (Galatians 3:26-29) change how we understand our place in the church community?