Is It Communion? The Lord's Supper? Or the Eucharist? Yes.

Now the Lord's Supper had not yet been instituted, of course. But the message is clear by the time it is given: Jesus is our life. He is the One who takes the bread, breaks it, gives eucharisteo for it, and passes it to us to eat. But we are feasting on Jesus Himself by faith. This is the doctrine of the union of the believer with Christ. Every time we commune, we follow the four-fold action of Jesus in what is faithfully called the Eucharist, the Thanksgiving.

One last thing: What about Frequency?

Jesus says, "As often . . ." which means what it says. John Calvin believed that since the Lord's Supper is a meal that conveys the grace of God by faith, and is the most powerful experience of Jesus and our union in Him this side of heaven, "as often" should mean at a minimum, weekly. The Council of Geneva said no and stayed quarterly. Many of our Reformed churches followed, and that became the predominant tradition of Protestantism (though not all). What we are seeking to do is to recover a Biblical appreciation for the Communion being our union with Christ and increasing our times before the Lord, using a combination of both morning and evening communions. We should not judge others on this, and this seems good to us and to the Holy Spirit for now.

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There are questions that I sometimes get in the matter of more frequent Communion which I want to address here:

• But is more frequent Communion needed? As Robert Godfrey reminds us, Memorialism could easily live with once a year and many of our Scottish forefathers did just that. But an understanding that begins with memorial and recognizes the other things we have seen in the Word of God desires, naturally, to move us to more frequent observance.
• Will it become rote and dry? I pray not, for our preaching and singing of hymns and baptisms could also become thus. It is by faith that we commune.
• Is this more catholic? It is, if by catholic we mean a part of the greater Body of Christ. If one means Roman Catholic, I hope the answer is self-evident. The Roman view does not depend on frequency but on understanding of what happens in the Lord's Supper. The Reformed view, that of Real Spiritual Presence, rejects the Roman view as flawed at best, and simply unbiblical at worse. Our response to the Scriptures was summed up by the great Princetonian, Charles Hodge:

  To summarize the Reformed position: The Lord's Supper is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ as a memorial of His death wherein, under the symbols of bread and wine, His body as broken and His blood as shed for the remission of sins are signified and, by the power of the Holy Ghost, sealed and applied to believers. Thereby their union with Christ and their mutual fellowship are set forth and confirmed, their faith strengthened, and their souls nourished unto eternal life.

In this sacrament, Christ is present not bodily, but spiritually — not in the sense of local nearness, but of efficacious operation. His people receive Him not with the mouth, but by faith; they do not receive His flesh and blood as material particles, but His body as broken and His blood as shed. The union thus signified and effected is not a corporeal union, not a mixture of substances, but a spiritual and mystical union due to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The efficacy of this sacrament as a means of grace is not in the signs, nor in the service, nor in the minister, nor in the word, but in the attending influence of the Holy Ghost.2

I was once a part of a presbytery in Kansas where there was a church in trouble. A committee was formed of elders and ministers to come in and seek to help the church. One of the wisest recommendations made was that the church move to more frequent communion, to a clearer understanding of the union in Christ in Communion, of the Lord's Supper being a means of grace and a faithful way to experience Jesus. This was received well by the local church's session. The pastor began to preach it, and the congregation emphasized the Lord's Table as priority in their community life. The results were astonishing. Where there was division, Christ brought healing. Where there was an over emphasis on intellectualism, Christ brought a fresh experience of His grace.

One couldn't explain it. You just watched it and loved it. And that is the way with Jesus and His people at His table.

Tonight, let us come together, broken and needy to the Cross of Jesus, let us taste and see that the Lord is good. Let us, by faith, commune with Jesus and with each other for this is Communion. Let us remember His love at Calvary for this is the Lord's Supper. Let us give thanks for this is the Eucharist, the "Cup of Thanksgiving."

I can't explain such love. He just tells us to receive it.

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Michael Milton is Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, TN.

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1 John Piper, "The Lord's Supper as Worship" (Copyright 1997: www.worshipmap.com/sermons/piper-1cor11.html), accessed on February 7, 2004.