What happens when we take Communion together? It’s a moment that remains one of the most profound moments in Christian worship. Precisely because it is so profound, it is at the same time fraught with danger and potent with blessing. The 39 Articles of the Church of England pick up this exact passage (I Cor.10:16) when they teach us: ‘The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the mutual love that Christians ought to have among themselves. Rather it is a sacrament of our redemption through Christ’s death. To those who rightly, worthily and with faith receive it, the bread that we break is a partaking of the body of Christ, and similarly the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ’ (Art.28). Article 29 by contrast warns that ‘those who lack a living faith … are in no way partakers of Christ. Rather, by eating and drinking the sign or sacrament of so great a thing, they bring condemnation on themselves’.
The significance of taking Communion is so dramatic because in this act of worship, the Spirit is deeply present joining us in the death of Christ, such that we ‘participate’ in His body and blood. Put another way, the bread and wine – by the working of the Holy Spirit – convey to us the reality of what they symbolize.
But it isn’t just that through Communion the Spirit binds us to Christ. He binds us to each other. Communion is never an individual thing. As we’ll see in the ‘Hour before the Cross’ on Good Friday, our relationship to each other is in focus every bit as much as our relationship with Christ. ‘We who are many are one body, for we all share the one loaf’ (I Cor.10:17). We do not come to the Cross alone.
The fact that this is Spiritual doesn’t make it any less real. Paul shifts seamlessly into warnings about demonic involvement (10:18-22), and later to weakness, illness and even death resulting from abusing the Lord’s Supper (11:30-31). Christian spirituality is physical, and it refuses to be confined to one isolated arena of our experience.
Questions:
Do you think Christ by His Spirit is present at Communion in a way that He isn’t at any other time? …or perhaps: that you are present by the Spirit with Christ at Communion in a way that you aren’t at any other time?
When have you experienced Christ’s presence in Communion in a unique way?
What does Art.28 mean when it warns us to receive the Bread and Wine ‘rightly, worthily and with faith’? How can we be sure we are receiving Communion in such a manner?
Do you think people would still be in danger – spiritually or physically – if they took Communion inappropriately?
Paul’s language throughout I Corinthians reveals a multi-facetted understanding of Communion and the relationship of the Bread and Wine to Cross and to the Church.
In what sense are we proclaiming (I Cor.11:26) the Lord’s death when we repeat this meal? In what sense are we ‘remembering (I Cor.11:24-25) His death? Why is it important that we do these?
Does Paul suggest something more than proclaiming and remembrance is going on in I Cor.10:16? What does he mean by ‘participating’?
What is the connection between taking Communion and the unity of the Church as the Body of Christ?
Is there a time when you should refrain from taking communion? …or when someone shouldn’t be allowed to take communion?
Given Paul’s connecting Communion with unity, are there any conditions under which we should refuse to take communion with someone?
How would it affect you / the Church if you took Communion whilst not in communion with others in the Church?
