INTRODUCTION - People are always looking for the tangible, the use of media, someway in which people can be "touched" - many Protestants whose heritage is founding on a discarding of the use of images in worship have begun making worship visual. They are reviving the arts. Michael R. Keller, a United Methodist, writes in an article, "Drama in the Worship Service"
"How many times have all of us sat through worship services that could most politely be described as uninspiring? The hymns are played with little feeling or enthusiasm, the choir sings another tired anthem, and the scripture lessons are read in a manner which is ponderous at best. There is no sense of wonder or excitement communicated and no enthusiasm about the reasons we worship. It’s “just another Sunday.” In contrast, picture a worship service where energy and enthusiasm abound the minute the service begins. The music is appropriate and uplifting, scripture lessons are read with a sense of conviction and understanding, and the sermon ties together the themes of the service. Everyone leaves refreshed and invigorated, having experienced one of the most exciting parts of their week."
So often the church ignores what God has provided to reach out to us. Many Evangelicals our on a search for media in worship, while ignoring the holy media that communicate. Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message. How true that is when God chooses and sanctifies the medium. This is exactly what we have in the Lord’s Supper.
OUR CONFESSIONAL STANDARDS SPEAK OF SIGNS AND SEALS:
Heidelberg Catechism
What are the sacraments? The sacraments are holy visible signs and seals, appointed of God for this end, that by use thereof he may the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the gospel, viz: that he grants us freely the remission of sin, and life eternal, for the sake of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross.
Westminster Confession says in chapter 27:1:
Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace,(1) immediately instituted by God,(2) to represent Christ, and His benefits; and to confirm our interest in Him:(3) as also, to put a visible difference between those that belong unto the Church, and the rest of the world;(4) and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to His Word.(5) [(1)Rom. 4:11; Gen. 17:7,10; see the refs. for section 2 below. (2)Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:23 (3)1 Cor. 10:16; 1 Cor. 11:25,26; Gal. 3:27; Gal 3:17 (4)Rom. 15:8; Exod. 12:48; Gen.34:14 (5)Rom. 6:3,4; 1 Cor. 10:16]
The question arises, what is the basis for considering sacraments as “Signs and Seals”?
1. BIBLICAL BASIS FOR THE SIGN/SEAL LANGUAGE:
a. Romans 4:11--"And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be reckoned to them"
Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; 8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin." 9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. 13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
b. Sign: Paul chose the LXX word for sign (semeion) from Genesis 17:10.
c. Seal: (in the verb form) is used for the Holy Spirit’s seal (n. sphragis [Rom. 4:11]; v. sphragizo [2 Cor. 1:22, Eph. 1:13, 4:30]). AT ROBERTSON: Rom 4:11 - The sign of circumcision (shmeion peritomhj). It is the genitive of apposition, circumcision being the sign. A seal of the righteousness of the faith (sfragida thj dikaiosunhj thj pistewj). Sfragij is old word for the seal placed on books (Re 5:1), for a signet-ring (Re 7:2), the stamp made by the seal (2Ti 2:19), that by which anything is confirmed (1Co 9:2) as here. The circumcision did not convey the righteousness, but only gave outward confirmation. It came by faith and "the faith which he had while in uncircumcision" (thj en th| akrobustiai), "the in the state of uncircumcision faith."
2. WHY THE LORD’S SUPPER IS A SIGN AND SEAL, WHY IT IS A SACRAMENT
Views of the Lord’s Supper: 4 Views
1. Transubstantiation: The bread and wine are the physical body and blood of Christ. This predominantly Roman Catholic view (although Eastern Orthodox and high Anglicans may also hold this view) holds that the substance of the bread and wine is actually transformed into the substance of the body and blood of Jesus. [This presupposes the Aristotelian distinction of “substance”]. Grace is communicated through this sacrament as long as it is not actively resisted. In the Romanist view, Christ is resacrificed in the Mass - according to the counsel of Trent and its abbreviated Tridentine Profession of Faith.
2. Consubstantiation: The bread and wine contain the physical body and blood of Christ. This view is distinctly Lutheran. Luther wanted to maintain a literal belief in the words of Christ “This is my body,” yet deny that Christ was re-sacrificed in the Mass and that grace comes in the sacrament without active faith. Luther suggested that since Christ was divine, his human body could be omnipresent, and thus, everywhere present in Communion. As Zwingli pointed out, however, this is a co-mingling of the human and divine attributes.
3. Mere Memorial (Real Absence): The bread and wine represent the body and blood of Christ. This view was championed by Zwingli. It teaches that the Lord’s Supper is nothing more than a memorial to Christ’s death. Zwingli argued that it should be observed annually like Passover. However, most who hold this position opt for a quarterly observation.
4. Then, there is the Real Presence: The bread and wine contain spiritually the body and blood of Christ. This view was articulated by Calvin. The Lord’s Supper is still a means of grace to nourish the believer through faith. Christ is spiritually in the elements. Calvin says of how this can be, “I will not be ashamed to confess that it is too high a mystery either for my mind to comprehend or my words to express; and to speak more plainly, I rather feel than understand it” (Trans. H. Beveridge, Institutes, Vol II, James Clarke Co., 1953) p. 587. Since Christ’s glorified human body is seated at the right hand of God and He has sent the Spirit, the glorified human body and blood of Christ cannot be in the elements (Acts 2:22-34). Therefore, the sense in which the bread is the body and the blood is the wine must be spiritual. This is basically Calvin’s view. The Heidelberg Catechism is a good creedal formulation of Calvin’s position,
“What is it to eat the crucified body and drink the shed blood of Christ? It is not only to embrace with a believing heart all the sufferings and the death of Christ, and thereby to obtain the forgiveness of sins and life eternal, but, further, also to become more and more united to His sacred body, by the Holy Spirit, who dwells both in Christ and in us, so that, though Christ is in heaven and we are on earth, we are nevertheless flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones, and live and are governed by one Spirit, as members of the same body are by one soul. (Q. 76)
The Genevan Catechism which Calvin wrote is instructive in questions 343-344,
But why is the body of our Lord figured by bread, and his blood by wine?” We are hence taught that such virtue as bread has in nourishing our bodies to sustain the present life, the same has the body of our Lord spiritually to nourish our souls. As by wine the hearts of men are gladdened, their strength recruited, and the whole man strengthened, so by the blood of our Lord the same benefits are received by our souls.
Do we therefore eat the body and blood of the Lord? I understand so. For as our whole reliance for salvation depends on him, in order that the obedience which he yielded to the Father may be imputed to us just as if it were ours, it is necessary that he be possessed by us; for the only way in which he communicates his blessings to us is by making himself ours.
The Biblical Argument for Communion as Communion
a. It is a Memorial: "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Lk. 22:19).
b. But not a mere Memorial: "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?" (I Cor. 10:16). The Lord’s Supper is a sharing (koinonia) in the blood and body of Christ.
c. Some weight, as Luther stressed, must be assigned to the most often repeated words by all the New Testament writers in this matter "This is My body" (Mt. 26:26; Mk. 14:22; Lk. 22:19; I Cor. 11:24).
d. However, since Christ’s glorified human body is seated at the right hand of God and He has sent the Spirit, the glorified human body and blood of Christ cannot be in the elements (Acts 2:22-34). Therefore, the sense in which the bread is the body and the wine is the blood must be spiritual. This is basically Calvin’s view.
e. There is a Sacramental Union of the Cup and the Covenant: "In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood;" (I Cor. 11:25). How better can such a statement be understood. The cup was not literally the new covenant, yet it was in some real sense. It was not literally the covenant, but it was sacramentally the convenant. This union between element and reality in an act of worship is best understood as a sacrament.
THE REFORMED CONFESSIONS STATE THIS BIBLICAL VIEW IN PRECISE LANGUAGE
Helvetia (the Latin name for Switzerland) was the home of two great men whose persons and works should ever be remembered. Much is known of the older man, Huldreich Zwingli (1484-1531), but much less of Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), Zwingli’s pupil, friend and successor. Zwingli represented the first stage of the Reformed church in Switzerland. He commenced what Bullinger, Calvin and others were to complete and died at the zenith of his life, a patriot and martyr.
2 Helvetic Confession:
The Substance or Chief Thing in the Sacraments. But the principle thing which God promises in all sacraments and to which all the godly in all ages direct their attention (some call it the substance and matter of the sacraments) is Christ the Savior - that only sacrifice, and the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world; that rock, also, from which all our fathers drank, by whom all the elect are circumcised without hands through the Holy Spirit, and are washed from all their sins, and are nourished with the very body and blood of Christ unto eternal life.
Westminster Confession’s 27.2
There is, in every sacrament, a spiritual relation, or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified: whence it comes to pass, that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other. (Gen. 17:10; Matt. 26:27,28; Tit. 3:5)
Belgic Confession
Sacraments: We believe that our gracious God, taking account of our weakness and infirmities, has ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto us His promises, and to be pledges of the good will and grace of God towards us, and also to nourish and strengthen our faith; which He has joined to the Word of the gospel, the better to present to our senses both that which He declares to us by His Word and that which He works inwardly in our hearts, thereby confirming in us the salvation which He imparts to us. For they are visible signs and seals of an inward and invisible thing, by means whereof God works in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the signs are not empty or meaningless, so as to deceive us. For Jesus Christ is the true object presented by them, without whom they would be of no moment.
Moreover, we are satisfied with the number of sacraments which Christ our Lord has instituted, which are two only, namely, the sacrament of baptism and the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord’s Supper
We believe and confess that our Savior Jesus Christ did ordain and institute the sacrament of the holy supper to nourish and support those whom He has already regenerated and incorporated into His family, which is His Church.
Now those who are regenerated have in them a twofold life, the one corporal and temporal, which they have from the first birth and is common to all men; the other, spiritual and heavenly, which is given them in their second birth, which is effected by the Word of the gospel, in the communion of the body of Christ; and this life is not common, but is peculiar to God’s elect. In like manner God has given us, for the support of the bodily and earthly life, earthly and common bread, which is subservient thereto and is common to all men, even as life itself. But for the support of the spiritual and heavenly life which believers have He has sent a living bread, which descended from heaven, namely, Jesus Christ, who nourishes and strengthens the spiritual life of believers when they eat Him, that is to say, when they appropriate and receive Him by faith in the spirit.
In order that He might represent unto us this spiritual and heavenly bread, Christ has instituted an earthly and visible bread as a sacrament of His body, and wine as a sacrament of His blood, to testify by them unto us that, as certainly as we receive and hold this sacrament in our hands and eat and drink the same with our mouths, by which our life is afterwards nourished, we also do as certainly receive by faith (which is the hand and mouth of our soul) the true body and blood of Christ our only Savior in our souls, for the support of our spiritual life.
Now, as it is certain and beyond all doubt that Jesus Christ has not enjoined to us the use of His sacraments in vain, so He works in us all that He represents to us by these holy signs, though the manner surpasses our understanding and cannot be comprehended by us, as the operations of the Holy Spirit are hidden and incomprehensible. In the meantime we err not when we say that what is eaten and drunk by us is the proper and natural body and the proper blood of Christ. But the manner of our partaking of the same is not by the mouth, but by the spirit through faith. Thus, then, though Christ always sits at the right hand of His Father in the heavens, yet does He not therefore cease to make us partakers of Himself by faith. This feast is a spiritual table, at which Christ communicates Himself with all His benefits to us, and gives us there to enjoy both Himself and the merits of His sufferings and death: nourishing, strengthening, and comforting our poor comfortless souls by the eating of His flesh, quickening and refreshing them by the drinking of His blood.
Further, though the sacraments are connected with the thing signified nevertheless both are not received by all men. The ungodly indeed receives the sacrament to his condemnation, but he does not receive the truth of the sacrament, even as Judas and Simon the sorcerer both indeed received the sacrament but not Christ who was signified by it, of whom believers only are made partakers.
Lastly, we receive this holy sacrament in the assembly of the people of God, with humility and reverence, keeping up among us a holy remembrance of the death of Christ our Savior, with thanksgiving, making there confession of our faith and of the Christian religion. Therefore no one ought to come to this table without having previously rightly examined himself, lest by eating of this bread and drinking of this cup he eat and drink judgment to himself. In a word, we are moved by the use of this holy sacrament to a fervent love towards God and our neighbor.
Therefore we reject all mixtures and damnable inventions which men have added unto and blended with the sacraments, as profanations of them; and affirm that we ought to rest satisfied with the ordinance which Christ and His apostles have taught us, and that we must speak of them in the same manner as they have spoken.
AN INTERESTING HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT: Mercersburg Theology
John Nevin, Philip Schaff and their followers sought to return to the ancient ecumenical creeds and argued that the mystical presence of Christ, mediated by word and sacrament, was the essence of the church. Reverence for creeds, catechism and liturgy, they believed, would unify the church and ward off the danger of sectarianism which already had split Protestantism in the United States into hundreds of competing denominations. In liturgy, the Mercersburg reformers restored the altar as the center of worship along with litanies, chants, prayers and vestments, while the Old Reformed pastors preferred a central pulpit towering over a small holy table, extemporaneous prayer and informal worship.
THE RECIPIENTS OF THE SACRAMENT
EXEGETICALLY - BIBLICAL TEXTS
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
VERY EXEGETICALLY: PAUL’S PARALLEL ON THE SACRAMENTS: OT/NT
1Cor 10:
Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
IN TERMS OF WORSHIP BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
Communion functions in the context of the Peace Offerings. The peace offering is the OT Communion. followed in the sequence: Sin Offering, Burnt Offering, Peace Offering, Wave Offerings. Peace offerings were meals for all the worshipers, children included.
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
Since it is a sign of the covenant - should it not go to those in the covenant that are able to partake? Or should we create an artificial intellectual or experiential barrier to the Table? What sayeth the Scripture about this?
THEREFORE, I WOULD CONCLUDE THAT
The Lord’s Supper is a blessed sacrament of the New Testament instituted by our Lord as a sign and seal of His redemptive work for members of the new covenant. By eating the bread and drinking wine in a worthy manner believers spiritually feed upon Christ, renew their union and fellowship with Him, meditate upon His redemptive work, and renew their thankfulness for His saving work, as well as spiritually commune with other covenant members (Luke 22:20; Mat. 26:26-28; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; 1 Cor. 10:14-21).
