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| Photo from INUMC.ORG website |
In the United Methodist
Church, there are two Sacraments. The one is baptism. This is a one-time, most
singular moment in the life of a Christian by which we are, at once, purified
and freed of sins, and also incorporated into the body and life of the universal
church.
The other Sacrament,
which I wish to discuss here, is Holy Communion.
Yet one more reason why I
choose to remain in the United Methodist Church is our stance of “open table”.
The Rev. Gary
Henderson describes the meaning of “open table” very well…: “When we use the
term 'open table,' we’re really referring to the Communion table where all are
welcome; welcome without regard to difference. It is a table where there are no
barriers to community. It is a place where we experience the love of God. ‘God
so loved the world that God gave.’ The image that I have is the image of a
banquet where everyone is a VIP, a very important person with a special seat at
the table.”
There are
some churches in which one must be a full member as a requirement to receive
the Communion elements. Not so in a United Methodist Church. All in the room
are invited, because it is the invitation of Christ.
Our liturgy offers
these conditions…
Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him,
who earnestly repent of their sin
and seek to live in peace with one another.
And even those conditions, loving Christ, repenting, living in peace,
are a matter of personal, self-assessment. There will be no pastor who will
question or qualify your sincerity in those matters as you approach the table.
May Heaven help the pastor who would interfere with an invitation from
Christ and the one approaching.
In fact, in the liturgical word we hear
“Pour out your Holy Spirit on
us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be for the world the body of Christ,
redeemed by his blood.”
Two things I bring to your attention…
I always clarify that it is grape juice that we use rather than wine so
that there will be no misunderstanding. But more importantly, I like to
emphasize that these Communion elements are offered and made to be the body and
blood of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit…not the pastor.
While most United Methodist
Churches offer Communion one Sunday per month so as to maintain its special
sacred quality in the particular congregation, other churches offer Communion
each Sunday as a constant and frequent opportunity to humble oneself in the
presence of Christ. Each individual congregation is allowed their own custom in
the matter. There is not an imposed schedule of Communion.
In his sermon “The Duty
of Constant Communion”, John Wesley (founder of the Methodist movement) said
“I am to show that it is the duty of
every Christian to receive the Lord''s Supper as often as he can.”
There is no denominational, rigid, schedule of Communion which all
churches and individuals must follow. It is a matter of congregational agreement.
I will be staying United Methodist because in this church each
congregation has room to approach Communion as Christ calls them to do. In the
United Methodist Church, each person in the room is a “VIP” invited to the
table. In the United Methodist church each person has room for the Holy Spirit
to make the elements for them to be the Body and Blood of Christ.
By the way, at Mishawaka Willow Creek and Granger Good Shepherd, having
learned a good thing from the pandemic, we continue to serve the bread and
grape juice in small individual cups. This manner of Communion seems most
healthy. And you know, as much healing as Jesus did, I don’t think he would
mind a bit of precaution.
