We are starting a new series in our Sunday morning Facebook Live and want to add blogs to the teaching. We’ve finished our series on Covid Neighboring where we saw that the Bible clearly answers the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” with “Yes. We are.” We saw the story of the Hebrew midwives and noticed that when God’s people face an ethical quagmire, they are always to act in such a way to preserve life. We saw that functioned in the responsibility of community leaders to develop policies to protect life in the Pentateuch. We saw that we are to train our empathy to be with the vulnerable of society. We saw that the Old Testament prophets held the community to accountability to care for the vulnerable. We then explored the New Testament and saw that Christ gave up all authority to come to earth to serve. Thus, arguments for personal rights are inconsistent with the nature of Christ. We saw that we are to follow Jesus example of service, and that the New Testament Church was noted for going extra measures to care for both those within and without of the Church. Lastly, we saw that those who follow Jesus are instructed to cooperate with government leaders who are bringing about God’s justice to preserve life.
Now, the end of the Covid winter is in sight. Vaccines are rolling out. Spring will soon be here. Many of us are still in locations of some type of lockdown, or are maintain social distancing. A time will be coming in which we will return to a life like before Covid.
Yet, for many of us this Sabbath and Jubilee season of Covid has given us a time to rest from churchy expectations. We have rediscovered greater intimacies with a small group. We have communicated more online or over the phone with scattered extended family. We have grown smarter, stronger, and wiser. We do not want to go back to “normal.” If we look at Christianity in the West as missionaries, we see a movement that has been on decline for at least a generation. Why would we want to return to that “normal”?
Thus, we are starting a series on What is the Church to help our community process what we want Church to be as the Covid winter closes. We are starting by looking at Holy Communion. (Some will call in the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper. We will use the three terms as synonyms.)
If we start in the New Testament looking at the Lord’s Supper, there are several frequent texts most
believers turn to in explaining the Eucharist. In the Gospels of Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, and Luke 22:14-23 Jesus institutes Holy Communion with His disciples. From Acts 20:7 many conclude that the bread broken is the Eucharist, and that the early Church took Communion weekly. In 1 Corinthians 11:17-33 the Apostle Paul gives instructions for how the Church is to take Communion.
Something that has been interesting about Christianity and the Covid winter has been that some of the traditional divisions of Christianity such as the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholicism, Mainstream Protestantism, and Evangelicalism have become less pronounced in many of our networks. We may not be meeting in local churches so many of us are having more diverse faith-based conversations or forming more diverse house church bubbles.
As such in our house church bubbles, we are trying to establish rhythm. In some ways the rhythm disrupts the past doctrinal disagreements. For instance, there are churches that take Communion every Sunday. These are theologically diverse such as the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Episcopalian, and then evangelical ones such as Restoration Movement Churches such as Disciples of Christ, the Independent Christian Church, and the Churches of Christ plus others such as the Brethren, and some in Vineyard Churches and Converge Churches (former General or Swedish Baptist Churches.) Though this is many diverse churches with a weekly Communion rhythm they are a minority of churches in many locations. Most churches tend to take Communion only monthly or quarterly.
As many of us have broken into house church bubbles some of our bubbles have not taken communion at all since Covid began while some are taking Communion every Sunday.
Much of this practical diversity of Communion house church rhythm reflects a diversity of how we see the difference between the clergy and laity. Do we need a priest or ordained clergy to lead us in the Lord’s Supper? If so, how is he or she credentialed? With a church system that emphasizes ordination to perform certain functions of church there is a practical result that with limited ordained clergy certain functions only take place in a church building with a crowd. Or if some change is made for small groups it involves some type of circuit of a priest visiting the house church bubbles to perform certain sacred rituals.
If, however one comes from a religious tradition with a heavy emphasis on “the priesthood of all believers” there is a little theological concern as lay leaders exist in the house church bubbles and would logically be able to perform Communion rituals.
In the New Testament it appears to me that there are several offices. The most predominant one is the role of the Apostle who teaches and writes. As the Apostles words are recorded, they speak with the authority of Scripture. I do not see that role of Apostle as being normative today. It seems to me only the religious kooks try to claim that much authority. Yet, the practical apostolic role of church planting missionary still exists. Some are called to go to new places, proclaim the Gospel, make disciples, and develop young churches. To bring order to those new churches there were offices created of elder (which seem synonymous with overseer or bishop, and shepherd or pastor) (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus.) There also was the office of deacon and many conclude it was also a female office of deaconess.
With this type of leadership structure, the New Testament Church became a rapidly growing house
church movement. Though it seems in the giving of structure there was some roles that were typical of men and women, and there were clear expectations to arise to an office, Paul largely just worked with where the believers were at when he started a new church. For instance, in Philippi the earliest predominant leader was a woman named Lydia in Acts 16.
It seems that the early church had some typical rhythms. The Old Testament was read and taught. If there was correspondence being circulated among the churches from missionaries or different church leaders that correspondence was read. They prayed. They sung hymns and Old Testament Psalms. It seems that with such intimacies they often ate a meal together. During the meal they would break for the Eucharist. Quite likely one of the leaders would explain the significance of the Lord’s Supper, and review the story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Likely, that leader would have been known for his role in the church that was like an extended family. It was probably an older man or woman who would be called grandpa or grandma, or uncle or auntie.
Today, in our Covid house church bubbles such a practice can be replicated. I encourage if you are in a house church bubble this winter to imitate the early Church. First, just work with what you get. Whoever is leading should continue to lead. Try to take Communion weekly if possible. Read and reflect on some of the Bible texts we have mentioned. Then gather some type of juice or bread. Ideally the bread should not have yeast. Ideally, the juice should come from grapes. In some cultures, the bread might be called chapati, paratha, tortilla, or lefse. Many will use alcoholic wine. Some will not have any grape product. If so, try to find some fruit that grows from a vine such as passion fruit juice. If you have little kids and you want to pass on your faith, please do not make your lesson long or complicated. Just take a little time to briefly tell the Gospel story each week.
The simplicity of the Eucharist in our house church bubbles reminds us of the beauty of Holy Communion. Historically, the early Church used the Passover meal of the Jewish people as it is launch pad to develop the Lord’s Supper meal that came from Exodus 12 and 13. The Lord saved His people from disease. He freed them from slavery. They remember His redemption through a yearly meal with a Passover lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread.
Thus, Holy Communion in our house churches reminds us that a new day is coming when Covid will break. It calls us to hope. It also calls us to lament and grief. This year has been one of loss. Yet, our Lord is near in the loss providing an example of relinquishment of rights and community care. For many of us Holy Communion in a crowd is what we most miss during the Covid winter. Yet, as we take the Lord’s Supper, we remember the universal nature of the Church. Our family of faith exists around the world. Christianity is a global religion. The Eucharist is celebrated in a variety of churches – high and low, big, and small, and urban and rural. We in the Lord’s Supper commune with God and believers from all ages and places. In our small house church, we see the vast size of our Christian community. We hope as Covid breaks and we return to a church experience more like the past the lessons we have learned of Communion in our house churches will endure for the rest of our lives.
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