Holy Communion in Cyber Space
Doing
Holy Communion in Cyber Space
Certainly, the necessity of a Christian to know
one’s stance on what or how the Holy Communion is becomes ever so true in times
like these. What has happened? I will explain that later. But I realized
something when my mum who was yearning to do the holy communion asked me that they
may not have wine or bread or even ribena and biscuit would water suffice? I
said that the fact that there is no resources yet wanting to remember what
Christ has done should be fine. But it got me thinking, what is my view?
What is Holy Communion?
The Holy Communion is one of many of
the sacraments that the church carried out in church. What are sacraments? St
Augustine said that a sacrament are signs applied to divine things and has to
bear some relation to the thing which is signified.[1]
Even the Israelite had sacraments through their priests and sacrifices. Old
Testament sacraments points towards the reality that Christ was to fulfill them
and New Testament sacraments point back to Christ and His completed sacrifice
of redemption.[2] So
how is the Holy Communion or as some other churches would call it the Eucharist
or re-enacting the Lord’s Supper, count as a sacrament? (I will be
using these three terms sparingly throughout this reflection). For that allow
me to just go a little farther back into history to the first supper done by
Jesus.
Why is it important?
Jesus did this activity of breaking
the bread saying “this is my body, which is given to you” and gave the wine and
said “this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood”.[3]
Wait, wait, wait. New Covenant? What was the old then? When he did it? During
the Passover. The Passover was a religious festival that Jews celebrate to
commemorate the liberation of the Children of Israel who were led out of Egypt
by Moses. They do this to remember that it was God who brought them salvation
and made a covenant with the Israelite to be a holy nation of priests and be a
blessing to the world. Jesus did something revolutionary. Andy Stanley would
say that He just told the Jews that He is replacing this Old Covenant of the
Passover with the New Covenant in Him; through His death and resurrection that
the promises made in the Old were to be fulfilled in Him.[4]
After all it is the Gospel of Matthew that we are reminded that Jesus did not
come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.[5]
It must be truly mind boggling for the first century Jew to hear Jesus said
that. It almost as if he has changed the entire tradition. Now tradition is
important but with true revelation from Christ, only He can institute a new
covenant. He was not changing tradition, but merely revealing what those years
of traditions were pointing to; Himself. Jesus was and is greater than the
Passover, than Moses.
Jesus in the gospels told the disciples to “do this” as “often” as they
could and in Corinthians it is said by doing the Holy Communion we “proclaim
the Lord’s death till he comes”[6]
G.I Williamson reminds us that the Holy Communion is a sacrament which exhibits
salvation through the one perfect sacrifice of Christ where the body and the
blood was broken and poured out for our sins and by us partaking it we take
possession of Christ as well.[7]
What the believer receives in the sacrament of course is the testimony and the
confirmation of the saving grace received from Christ through His Spirit; a sign
and a seal of union and communion
with Christ (who he is as a sinner and what Christ has done for him).[8]
So you can see why it is important and to be taken seriously. A person who does
not believe in this cannot just simply join in this sacred moment. To them it
may just be drinking ribena and eating a small piece of bread. To us to is a
sacred act of proclamation of the truth. The truth that Christ has died on the
cross and suffered for us and our sins to redeem us and be His people bearing a
redeemed image of God. We continue to do that for the hope of glory, that no
matter what happens now on earth we know Jesus is coming again to make
everything right where we will then live in the new heaven and new earth.
That is the reality of the Lord’s supper/ Holy Communion. We join in
communion in the same community to say that we are a holy nation, a royal
priesthood redeem by Christ to stand in the gap with the power of the Holy
Spirit. We are not just saved from our sin, we are also saved for good works.
The goal of Christianity is not heaven. That is the joy of Christianity. The
goal of Christianity is to be a redeemed people to rule and reign as image
bearers on earth; our vocation.[9]
But we are in the in between. The here and not yet. Christ has yet to come for
the second time. So In the mean time we be the salt of the earth preserving the
decaying world until Christ comes and make everything new. Do you see the rich
implications of just doing the Holy Communion?
What has happened now?
So, here comes the issue. Now that Covid-19 has struck the whole world,
we are all either in social distancing mode, lock-down mode or some governments
have called for a restriction movement order. Which means all activities that
involve large group gatherings are to be stopped and that includes the physical
church. So praise God that church still continues online but an issue has
appeared. How do we do Holy Communion? And it is not as simple as it is and we
actually do need to put in some effort and thought to this. It all depends on
whether you have a high view or a low view of the Lord’s supper. But regardless
of such view we need to know why we do and say certain things. What is the
theology behind it? (I know, some people wince at the word theology but hey if
it is about our Lord it is worth considering) The
main question here is how do we do Holy Communion in the cyber space when we
cannot meet physically?
What does the words in Matthew 26:26 means he Jesus showed the broken
bread and said “this is my body”? Does the bread become the body or does it
become a holy symbol? Does the bread and wine become evidence of God’s real
true presence or it is a commemoration and God is omnipresent? Remember, the
purpose of the Eucharist/Holy Communion is to reveal the union of the members
of the church, considered as the body of Christ with Christ as the head, and
with each other, and reassurance of the hope of glory that is to come.[10]
Some take the stance that the bread and wine in that moment does become the
body of Jesus; transubstantiation (protestants heavily criticize this
view).[11]
So if your pastor says “At this moment, the bread you are eating IS the
body” then technically your pastor holds a transubstantiation view. But if your
pastor says this bread signifies Christ. It is no more just merely bread but at
that point the bread is to represent Christ’s body that is called transignification.[12]
And no I know what some are hoping, are there any transformers view? Sadly
there is no such bread to…”Roll out!” Martin Luther on the other hand insisted
that both bread and the body of Christ at one and the same time where there is
no change in substance. The substance is both of bread and the body of Christ
present together; consubstantiation.[13]
Let’s not forget what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:17-33. Basically,
there was factions and divisions among the church of Corinthians. Some of the
rich elites, they eat and get drunk in front of some who may not have even
nothing to eat. In doing so, they are not representing the sacrificial death of
Christ or His character. And in verse 27
it goes on to saw that if you eat the bread or drink the cup in an unworthy
manner, they will be guilty. This meant that if you took it complacently,
light-heartedly, and giving no thought to what the elements signify. (disclaimer, I am not saying we must do it, but as far as remembering what Christ has done, we should do it often- But not doing it does not change your salvation state at the same time understanding the gospel you would not want to not do it either haha) So Paul
here I rebuking three things.
1. Those who had no disregard for
others in the church (rich humiliated the poor).
2. Those who included pagan rituals
into the Lord’s supper. (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)
3. Those who had a flippant disregard
for what the elements (bread and wine) signifies.
By now I can almost imagine some thoughts coming to mind. Oh but we
changed it to ribena and crackers not bread and wine anymore. Oh we give it to
our own children even though we cannot affirm whether they understand what it
means. But that is not the place to discuss. Today I am here to give my
thoughts on how do we do Holy Communion in the
cyber space when we cannot meet physically?
How should we do it?
That is the big question now then right? If the Holy Communion is
something sacred and only meant for believers who truly understand the
significance of it without taking it lightly how then are we suppose to do it
when we might not have the place or the proper resources to do it? This is
my humble conclusion based on my research on the Eucharist.
I have a few benchmarks to filter through in all my suggestions. But
allow me to begin with 1 Corinthians 11:28-29 where it says “Let a person
examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone
who eats and drinks without discerning the body of Chirst eats and drinks judgment on
himself.”
We have changed the rules multiple times. Example, from wine to ribena.
The moment we exchanged the wine for ribena we are already leaning towards a
low view of the Lord’s supper (not that it is wrong). But let us examine
ourselves. We changed it because it did not matter whether it was wine or
ribena as long as we understood what it signifies (yes I am more of a consubstantiation
view where the bread both signifies bread and his body.) or because I
wanted to save money for wine is expensive? But let’s say my conscience is
clear and I examine myself before the Lord that I truly respect the Holy
Communion for what it stands for and not take it flippantly, then there is a
second aspect to consider.
Second, in everything that I do is it loving? And by loving I am
breaking down into two aspects. The first, those who may not have the necessary
resources to get the things that they need (bread and wine). Second, those who
have a higher view of the Lord’s Supper that holds the idea that, children
should not take the Lord’s supper and that we cannot use any other elements
other than bread and wine (for that is how serious the individual takes the Eucharist).
If by carrying out the Lord’s supper online in zoom we have to consider those
who may not even have the opportunity to go out to buy the materials. We can
say we empathize with them but that does not change the possibility that they
may feel left out. We stumble them. And if we decided then, okay we do not need
wine, your house only has tap water, hence we use tap water as the symbol, for
those who have examined themselves and came to the conviction that wine is
necessary we also stumble them. And when we stumble them that is not loving.
My conclusion? I used to think I could use this opportunity to share the
gospel through the Holy Communion. But I was made to humbly realize few things.
Number one, sharing the gospel is something that should be constant and always
being done not just taking the chance during the Holy Communion. Number two, if
I were to look back at the purpose of the Holy Communion, it is to be sacred
and holy meant to unite the believers, reassure them of their faith in God, and
remember what Christ has done and point them to what Christ will do; the hope
of glory. There is a time and place for everything the book of Ecclesiastes
points out. And while I would like to say “all those who are not believers are
welcomed to observe to join us at the table, all those who may not have wine
either use water to join us OR make sure you have wine but those who do not
have we empathize with you but come join us in spirit” I find that is a can of
worms too big to open that it would be hard to close.
I cannot speak on behalf of those who may fail to examine themselves. Or even though I have given disclaimers I cannot assume that by saying all the right things the members who may not have the right elements will not feel left out. Thus, we should not have Holy Communion online (but depending on how family discipleship is carried out, we can teach our children and have holy communion in our homes – No I do not want to write another paper on whether only a pastor/priest can institute holy communions, that is not the question here).
I cannot speak on behalf of those who may fail to examine themselves. Or even though I have given disclaimers I cannot assume that by saying all the right things the members who may not have the right elements will not feel left out. Thus, we should not have Holy Communion online (but depending on how family discipleship is carried out, we can teach our children and have holy communion in our homes – No I do not want to write another paper on whether only a pastor/priest can institute holy communions, that is not the question here).
Nonetheless, I am reminded of the Israelite who read the book of
Psalms. Psalms 84 speaks of how lovely is God’s dwelling place that better is a
day in His courts than a thousand elsewhere and it was written when they could
not even be at the temple. Israelite read the Psalms as prayers to God with great
anticipation that though they may be in trouble and exile they held on to
God’s faithfulness that they will be redeemed one day and be joined back
together with Him in His presence. Similarly, perhaps we hold on to that
encouragement that though things may not be all as it seems right now we should
be still and know that He is God and that He will be exalted among the nations
and the earth. And with great anticipation hold on to the view that one
day the church can see each other face to face and as one body have the Holy
Communion together.
P.s. My thoughts on tithing and first fruits bordering prosperity gospel can be found here.
P.s. My thoughts on tithing and first fruits bordering prosperity gospel can be found here.
Writer: Eddryll
Author's views are his own and does not represent the entire team
Author's views are his own and does not represent the entire team
[1] Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction, 5
edition (Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. ; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011)
421.
[3] Lk 22:14-21 (ESV).
[4] Andy Stanley, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New That Jesus Unleashed
for the World (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018), 102-104.
[5] Mt 5:17 (ESV).
[6] 1 Corinthians 11:26.
[7] G. I. Williamson, The Westminster
Confession of Faith: For Study Classes, 2nd ed. edition (Phillipsburg, N.J:
P & R Publishing, 2003) 281.
[9] “The Day the Revolution Began - N. T.
Wright - Hardcover,” HarperCollins Publishers: World-Leading Book Publisher,
accessed March 28, 2020,
https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062334381/the-day-the-revolution-began/.
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