This summer we are spending time at the table. Which table? Well, the table where Jesus gathers in his people, the Lord's Table. We are going to explore the multiple meanings of being the people of the open table, Christ's table.
For those who do not come from the Disciples of Christ tradition you may not be familiar with our convictions about the holy supper. Let me share.
The first thing you might think about is the Last Supper, the meal Jesus shared with his disciples before his passion and death. That is an obvious association because the words we share in the table ritual derive from there; the correspondence of the broken bread with his body and cup with his blood poured out for many. We remember that this meal took place during Passover and so think of him as our Passover lamb. And we re-enact the setting of the New Covenant with all who would draw near in faith. All of these aspects come from the Last Supper.
But before the Last Supper were all the other suppers. If there was anything that defined Jesus it was the company he kept around his kingdom meals. It was there that he taught, broke bread and healed. All manner of people gathered around. These agape meals, love feasts, set the pace for what Christian community would become: They gathered around the table as a family and ate over table talk. So do we. By sharing this way we draw closer to God and one another in love.
And then there are the continuing meals, the Lord's Table of the church in the present tense. Every time Christians gather for worship there is a table in the room. It's all over the New Testament story of the church. We remember, we sense the real presence of Christ, we hope for a future reign of God characterized by perfect communion with the Spirit.
In the Disciples of Christ we celebrate the Lord's Table every Sunday and on many other occasions as well. It is an open table to which all are invited, all who long to join with Christ and his people. Those who preside at the table are ordained and lay, men and women, young and old. Typically, but not absolutely, Pastors preside alongside lay Elders representing the wholeness of the church. As in the tradition of the earliest church we deliver communion to those who were unable to be present. The method of serving? Generally we pass trays and serve one another. This comes from our Presbyterian roots and the insistence that we serve one another as opposed to a priest serving us in the role of a mediator. But we occasionally also come forward to share a common loaf and common cup.
There are also dimensions of the table that include compassion and justice. We cannot eat together without thinking of those who cannot eat. We are told to reconcile with our estranged brother or sister before coming to the table, to examine ourselves and discern the body, to not take communion in an irreverent manner.
Disciples are an interesting breed. In terms of frequency we are like Episcopalians or Catholics, insisting that Communion is to be shared every worship service. We are like Presbyterians in the form of communion and the role of the Elders. Like the Baptists or Congregationalists we do not understand that the elements are literally the physical body and blood but rather symbols or representations. Like the Lutherans we believe that Christ is somehow and mysteriously present in our sharing of the story and participating in the meal he first shared. Like Pentecostals we look to the fullness of the reign of God's future in which we sit at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
If you are a Disciple and worship elsewhere in a church without communion you leave feeling like something is missing. If some people are invited to the table but not all that violates your sense of Christian unity. And if women are excluded from presiding at the table (or any other role in the church) your convictions are offended.
When it comes to the Lord's Table, that's how Disciples are distinctive. And if you compare our Chalice Hymnal to any other hymnal you will be shocked to see just how many communion hymns we have by comparison (45 communion hymns), usually more than four or five times as many communion hymns as are included in other denominational hymnals .
Yes, we are the people of the Table and proud of it. Our high affirmation of the Table symbolically places Christ in the center of our communal life and extends open-hearted welcome to all people. That's who we are, Disciples. And we're proud of it.
