Word and Table: The Ecology of Grace

Around a decade ago I was serving as the interim preaching pastor of a congregation affiliated with the Christian & Missionary Alliance. For a series of sermons I chose to illustrate points and the theme of the sermon each Sunday by highlighting how the Lord’s Supper either reflects or is a means by which the focus of that day, an aspect of faith and the grace of God, might be known and experienced. It was a way to not so much focus of the Lord’s Supper but speak of it along the way, as an aside, and thereby week by which do some teaching about the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. This was no doubt motivated, in part, by I had a concern that typical church attendees did not have an understanding of the meaning of this Meal – its significance for the church and for their own Christian journey.

After worship one of those Sundays, someone asked me: “why do we only celebrate the Lord’s Supper once a month on the first Sunday of the month?” This is, of course, a good question. But, I had to respond by noting that there is no real theological justification for this but merely that it had become accepted practice. I then heard some while later that several members of the church approached the elders with a request for a more frequent if not weekly celebration. The response of the elders was that as Evangelicals “we only celebrate once a month.” And, further, that it would be would be perceived as “too Catholic” to celebrate the Table weekly. It was almost a matter of firm resolve: the less frequent celebration was viewed as something consistent with our Evangelical identity.

There are certainly Evangelical faith communities that celebrate the Table more often. The Plymouth Brethren communities have always included the “breaking of the bread” service as part of their weekly gatherings. And along the way I hear of a congregation here and there that would self-identify as Evangelical and who have chosen to include the Table as the essential complement each week to the preaching of the Scriptures. But on the whole, there tends to be an assumption amongst Evangelical churches: the essential and non-negotiable element of Christian worship is the Word. Thus Evangelical churches typically place the pulpit front and centre and the table, representing the Holy Meal – was always in my growing up located lower, not as “high” as the pulpit. Anglican churches that are more Evangelical in their sensibilities will often also not celebrate weekly Communion. As the Anglicans from Chile once put it to me: we are Evangelical and not Sacramental and for them this meant monthly not weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

This inclination to assume that Catholics are “sacramental” – evident that the high altar is front and centre in the worship gathering – while Evangelicals are “word centred” does reflect some of the history of the Protestant Reformation. We note in particular the influence of Ulrich Zwingli – the Swiss Reformer who was anti-sacramental and quite ambiguous on any potential for grace to be known and received through the Table. His impact and influence on many denominations has been felt over the centuries, including some denominations that only celebrate the Lord’s Supper quarterly. For Zwingli the Lord’s Supper was a mere memorial. As a consequence of this rather minimalist understanding was that observance of this sacred meal took on less importance or significance in the life of the church. And this way of understanding the significance of this meal, this sacred rite, has dominated the sensibilities of Evangelicals for centuries and it has had a profound impact on the structure and approach to Evangelical worship. It is of note that both John Calvin and John Wesley would have argued otherwise; their conviction and practice was for more frequent observance. Indeed, for Wesley, he participated twice a week – on Sundays and on Thursdays. But the influence of Zwingli has been pervasive.

However, there is a movement afoot that merits our consideration that has me hopeful we can get beyond this unfortunate minimalizing of the Lord’s Table and on the vital place of both the Word and the Table in the structure and content of Christian worship – both Catholic and Evangelical. In this regard, both Evangelicals and Catholics have much to learn from one another. First, let us affirm that the Scriptures are indispensable to our shared or common worship: when we meet, we will be a people among whom the Scriptures are read and proclaimed (1 Tim 4:13). Without apology, we will recognize the authority and anointing of the preacher in our midst – called of God to open the sacred text and in the grace and power of the Spirit, and in the language of the Apostle Paul, preach in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2) and make plain the meaning of the sacred text. Week in and week out, this will happen: the sermon will be intentionally an exposition of Scripture. It will not be merely good ideas or advice to the saints but a rigorous and thoughtful articulation of the faith as witnessed to through the text of Scripture for this place and in this season of the life of this church. Those in religious leadership will be preachers; those preparing for ministry in the church – be they Catholic in a Catholic Seminary or Evangelical in an Evangelical Seminary, will view the study of Scripture as foundational to their formation along with the acquisition of the skills, the art and the craft of effective preaching.

Second, let us also affirm that our worship will also include as an equally indispensable element, the Table, as the essential complement to the Word. Consider the experience of the two on the way to Emmaus – described for us in Luke 24. We read that Jesus opened the Scriptures to them along the way – or, as the described it, “were not our hearts burning within us.” And then when they get to Emmaus, at Table, Jesus he revealed himself to them in the breaking of the bread. Their encounter with Christ was twofold: Word and Table. It is no surprise, then, that after Pentecost we read in Acts 2:42 about the early church: they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship and further, they devoted themselves to the breaking of the bread and the prayers. Again, we see the twofold Word and Table. And later in the book of Acts we read how each time they gathered they broke bread – Luke’s way of speaking of the Lord’s Table (Acts 20:7).

Does this suggest to us that both Word and Table are indispensable to our worship? That both are integral to what it means to be the people of God? And that now we can get past and over the debates from the 16th century and recognize that the worship of the early church was marked by weekly exposition of Scripture complemented by the weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper, reflecting the witness of Scripture and that this is actually consistent with our Evangelical heritage as evidenced in the teaching of John Calvin and John Wesley?

To say that “weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper” is somehow Catholic is both biblically and historically inaccurate and naïve. It is a perception that lacks biblical and theological foundation. It is not consistent with the history of the church – including our Evangelical heritage. And, more to the point, is it not time ask the foundational question: what does it mean to be the people of God today, in this time and in this place – particularly for the church in a post-Christian secular and pluralist society? Do we not need to lean into the fullness of the grace of God?: to appreciate that while there may be a different nuance between Catholic and Evangelical congregations, both are called to affirm the vital place of the Scriptures, read and proclaimed, and the critical and essential place of the Table as a vital part of weekly worship.

It is rare when we see it demonstrated in our places for worship – liturgical spaces – that Word and Table are both essential and complementary. But when it does happen, it is a powerful signal to one and all of the ecology of grace. Thus my joy in entering the first time into the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – and in from the back to pass by an exquisite baptismal font and pool and then to see before me in the chancel area the two key indicators – the podium signaling the Word and the altar signalling the Table. Side by side; each given equal visual significance. It is an example or model that we might all find compelling when we design our spaces for the worship of the people of God. And it is a powerful statement that both Word and Table are integral to Christian worship.