Famed modern theologian...
Illustration
Object:
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth nicely sets the tone for celebrations of the Lord's Supper and of its first celebration in the Last Supper:
The Lord's Supper ought to be more firmly regarded from the Easter standpoint than is generally the case. It is not primarily a mourning or funeral meal, but the anticipation of the marriage of the Lamb. The Supper is a joyous meal: the eating of his Jesus Christ's flesh and the drinking of his blood is meat and drink unto life eternal in the midst of our life. We are guests at his table and so no longer separated from himself.
(Dogmatics in Outline, p. 155)
An extended family meal is a celebration. This is Barth's point. The Eucharist is a celebration meal. Meals have a way of building fellowship, a time you can bond and really be yourself. In ancient cultures (the cultures of some of our immigrant families) an invitation to a family meal is the highest compliment one can receive from the host. We are guests at God's family meal!
Sharing meals is a bonding experience. Martin Luther describes this bonding in an intimate way, as a union in Christ's Body:
Christ used bread and wine for his supper as many kernels, each having its own body and form are ground together, becoming one bread, so every human being is an individual kernel, that is, his own person and a separate creature. But because we all are partakers, we are all one bread and body and are called one lump.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 45)
This bonding, receiving the sacrament, makes a big difference in everyday life. Luther describes this well:
But our Lord Christ desires that just as your greed speaks to you and preaches to you endlessly of money and goods, or power and honor, in the same manner you would let yourself be drawn and led into that life, and think on your redeemer, who died on the cross for you; and so set your heart on fire, that you desire to be with him being weary of this world.
(Ibid., p. 47)
The Lord's Supper ought to be more firmly regarded from the Easter standpoint than is generally the case. It is not primarily a mourning or funeral meal, but the anticipation of the marriage of the Lamb. The Supper is a joyous meal: the eating of his Jesus Christ's flesh and the drinking of his blood is meat and drink unto life eternal in the midst of our life. We are guests at his table and so no longer separated from himself.
(Dogmatics in Outline, p. 155)
An extended family meal is a celebration. This is Barth's point. The Eucharist is a celebration meal. Meals have a way of building fellowship, a time you can bond and really be yourself. In ancient cultures (the cultures of some of our immigrant families) an invitation to a family meal is the highest compliment one can receive from the host. We are guests at God's family meal!
Sharing meals is a bonding experience. Martin Luther describes this bonding in an intimate way, as a union in Christ's Body:
Christ used bread and wine for his supper as many kernels, each having its own body and form are ground together, becoming one bread, so every human being is an individual kernel, that is, his own person and a separate creature. But because we all are partakers, we are all one bread and body and are called one lump.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 45)
This bonding, receiving the sacrament, makes a big difference in everyday life. Luther describes this well:
But our Lord Christ desires that just as your greed speaks to you and preaches to you endlessly of money and goods, or power and honor, in the same manner you would let yourself be drawn and led into that life, and think on your redeemer, who died on the cross for you; and so set your heart on fire, that you desire to be with him being weary of this world.
(Ibid., p. 47)
