the Means of Grace: Holy Communion

 The Sacrament of the Table goes by many names in the Christian faith.  Various groups call it Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, The Eucharist (which means "thanksgiving"), or The Mass, among other titles.

 The Lord's Supper plays an extraordinary part in the theology of John Wesley. As a matter of fact, one of his most widely- quoted works is a sermon called "The Duty of Constant Communion."

 Wesley understood Communion to be both a command and a mercy. He recalls the institution of the Lord's Supper, where Jesus says, "Do this, as often as you drink it, as often as you eat it, in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:14-23) At the Lord's Table, we remember so many things: we recollect Jesus' sacrifice as the paschal lamb of the new Passover; we remember that he has said that he will not partake again of the fruit of the vine until he drinks it anew with us in heaven, as he anticipates the fulfillment of God's rule and the gathering of the saints at the Messianic banquet; and we call to mind Jesus' abiding love and ongoing presence - when we hear the words "This is my body, this is my blood," we are reassured of Christ's ongoing accompaniment with us. So pronounced has been the significance of Holy Communion that it is sometimes referred to simply as The Sacrament by some of us.

One of the happenstances in our history that was a great positive force also had its negative impact upon our understanding and practice of Eucharist. When Methodism first came to these shores, it was a movement that was very much dependent upon lay leadership. There were class leaders and society presidents who took the great burden of leadership upon themselves. The church of England was not very quick in ordaining and dispatching priests — and we must remember that Methodism originated as a reform movement within the Anglican Church — who would come to America. It was over this issue that The Methodist Episcopal Church in this country originated. 

Wesley ordained preachers to come to America and to see after the members here. But, those early ordained ministers were few and far between. So, the preaching and care of souls from day to day was carried out by lay ministers. These folks could do almost everything an ordained clergyperson could do, except administer the sacraments. 

To receive Communion, the people had to wait for the ordained minister to come around. That might be once a month, or once a quarter, or it might be just whenever. So, while we are the spiritual descendants of John Wesley, with his emphasis on constant Communion (Wesley himself took the Sacrament several times each week), because of a personnel shortage, we Methodists fell into a pattern of infrequent Communion. This is a tragedy, since the biblical pattern of worship is that Christians should share in the Sacrament of the Table whenever they assemble. Likewise, the Anglican Church out of which we emerge still maintains this practice. Now that we have enough preachers to go around, perhaps we should consider changing our practice, and returning The Eucharist as the centerpiece of our worship.

 Wesley fought throughout his life to clear up two misunderstandings regarding the Lord's Supper. First was the objection that some folks raised, saying, "Oh, but I'm unworthy! And scripture says that whoever takes the elements unworthily eats and drinks damnation upon himself!" (1 Corinthians 11:27- 29) Wesley calls those people to read the whole chapter. It was the practice of the Corinthian Church to have a community meal, and to include the bread and wine of Communion as a part of that meal. The problem in Corinth became when some people had a full banquet in front of them, and some didn't have any.  There would come a time when some people had so gorged themselves on other breads and other wine that they didn't have any idea when the sacramental loaf and cup were being passed. These practices made them unworthy, and it was these behaviors against which Saint Paul warned.

For, in regard to being worthy, who can ever say that they are worthy? If you were worthy, you wouldn't need the Sacrament. Who is it Jesus says needs a physician? The healthy? No, the sick. Who is it that needs the Sacrament? The righteous? No, the sinner.

 The water gets muddied further by some of the earlier English translations of the Bible that used the word “worthy” rather than the more accurate “worthily.”  “Worthy” is a state of morality or entitlement.  “Worthily” is a state of awareness.  That to which Paul calls us is an active discernment regarding the solemnity of the moment. 

 The other difficulty Wesley contended with was the belief of some people that said, "Oh, no, I don’t partake of Communion too often. I surely wouldn't want my church to do it every Sunday. That would take some of the special away from it." Let me ask you this. Those of you who are married or who have a "significant other" in your lives, what if that other person were to say to you, "I'm only going to hold your hand once in a while. I'm only going to embrace you on the first Sunday of every month. I'm only going to kiss you quarterly. I'm going to hold off on saying 'I love you,' because I don't want to wear out the special." How would you feel? When you love someone, you want more and more hugs and kisses and hand-holding.

 Can you ever hear "I love you" too much? The Eucharist, and all the Means of Grace, are some of God's ways of saying "I love you."

 And we never tire of that.

The Means of Grace: Baptism

 I want to say a word about Baptism. We connect Baptism and Communion in our minds because they are both sort of a subset of the Means of Grace. We call this category The Sacraments. These two things, Baptism and The Lord's Supper, are closely connected because of their sacramental nature. As important as all these other things are, the front line is held by Communion and Holy Baptism.

 The Wesleyan approach to Baptism is that it is undeniably a Means of Grace. Without question, the Baptism of Christian believers is instituted by Jesus. Its rank among the means of Grace is unquestioned.

 But I’m not going to spend much time on it for two reasons.

 First, it is my understanding of Baptism that everything else we do as believers is in the context of our baptism. Baptism is our initiation into the church so that we may avail ourselves of all the rest of these means of grace. Prayer, Fasting, Searching the Scriptures, Christian Conference, Communion, and all the Prudential Means of Grace (I’ll say more about this soon) are ours because we have been Baptized.

 Secondly, while all the rest of the Means of Grace are ongoing in terms of our actions, Baptism is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. While the result, the grace, of our Baptism stays with us the rest of our lives, we don't get baptized again and again in the same way that we are called to pray without ceasing. As a matter of fact, our church expressly states that re-baptism is not our practice.

 The United Methodist Church practices three modes of Baptism: immersion, affusion (or pouring), and aspersion (or sprinkling).  Some communions practice total immersion exclusively.  This is the practice of completely submerging the candidate in water.  We don’t see examples of affusion very often in our area of the country.  But the practice is to have an adult bend over the baptismal font, or for the presider to hold a child or infant over the font and then pour water in such a way that it flows across the head of the candidate and drops into the font.  Aspersion – sprinkling in the common vocabulary – has the presider put a small amount of water on the head of the candidate.

 The United Methodist Church holds that all of these methods are valid.  Local tradition plays a large part in making the decision of how to administer the waters of Baptism.

 The United Methodist Church baptizes infants and young children as a practice of grace.  Responsible adults receive Baptism upon their profession of faith.

 As an aside, The United Methodist Church does not “christen.”  I have yet to see a bottle of Champaign smashed upon someone.  We christen boats.  We baptize people.  The christening of children is an act of dedication in denominations that do not baptize infants.  It is a way of recognizing the birth of a child but acknowledges their belief that only those who have professed faith are legitimate candidates for baptism.

 We DO have a service for baptismal renewal, and it is a wonderful observance.  But, part of the rubrics (instructions) for that ritual state, “water may be administered in a way that cannot be interpreted as baptism.”  Again, re-baptism (as if there was such a thing) is not our practice.

 So, moving forward, “Remember your baptism, and be thankful.”

The Means of Grace: Searching the Scriptures

 In speaking of the Means of Grace – those gifts of God by which the Lord draws us closer to God’s Spirit – one that comes to mind quickly is reading the Bible.  It is through Bible study that we most clearly come to an understanding of the revelation of God.  I would make a few observations on that thought, however.

 Cracking the Bible open at random and scanning a few verses is not the most productive approach to this discipline.  Sometimes that approach can do more harm than good.  The church and its members have made huge errors by cherry-picking a handful of isolated Bible verses and then hanging their entire theology or practice on that small sampling. I have said it before, but when people ask me what the biblical position on a topic might be, I tell them to start with Genesis 1:1 -- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” -- and conclude with Revelation 22:20-21 -- Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.”  The biblical position (if there is one) is between those verses.  A lesser sampling leaves some important stuff out.

 It is important that we study our Bible with a sense of intentionality and purpose.  It is also good to get some guidance from those who know the Bible better than we do.  When Josh Pastner was men’s basketball coach at The University of Memphis, he used to say, “Practice doesn’t make perfect.  Perfect practice makes perfect.”  His point was that a player can shoot a thousand free throws and do so with the wrong technique, the player’s skills don’t get any better.  But, if that player practices under the guidance and direction of a competent coach who analyzes and corrects the player’s form, that player stands a chance of becoming a pretty good free-throw shooter.

 You notice that the description of this Means of Grace above is “Searching the Scriptures.”  It is not merely, “read your Bible.”  This is again John Wesley’s term.  To search carries with it both a sense of intentionality and a suggestion of organization.  Jesus spoke in Luke 15 of a woman who had lost one of ten silver coins.  He observes, ‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?’  His description carries with it a sense of the methodical.  She didn’t look on topo of the refrigerator and then behind the bedroom dresser before looking in the dog’s bed.  She moved carefully and systematically until she found her coin.  To speak of “searching” the scriptures carries with it a sense of preparation and studiousness that random thumbing through the volume cannot accomplish.  Wesley also uses the word scriptures.  “Scripture” is any groups collection of holy or revealed or definitive writings.  Most world religions have a set of scriptures.  Whether they go by the name The Sutras or the Vedas or the Quran or The Tanach or The Holy Bible, these various volumes contain the important ideas – and for some, the words of God – that these people value.  I think “Searching the (Christian) Scriptures has more gravity than a casual reference to “reading our Bibles.”

 Our Articles of Religion of The Methodist Church reads, “Article V — Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation:  The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation;” 

 John Wesley described himself, saying, “as I want to know one thing, —the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach me the way. For this very end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri! -- (a man of one book).

 By being people of this book, we come to know God.

 

 

The Means of Grace: Prayer

 In a previous post I made mention of “the Means of Grace.”  This is a specific term in Christianity, and several denominations have their own take on the specific.  John Wesley taught that the Means of Grace are “ways God works invisibly in disciples, hastening, strengthening; and confirming faith so that God's grace pervades in and through disciples.”  Put a little more plainly, the Means of Grace are activities through which God reveals the Divine nature to people and through which God draws human beings closer to God’s Spirit.

 Predictably, one of these Means of Grace is prayer.  It is through prayer that we communicate – some might say “commune” – with God.  To pray is at the forefront of the practices of Christian faith.  You only have to look at our morning worship services and see the several prayers that we offer on a given Sunday to begin to recognize the importance of this practice.

 Prayer is easy enough to comprehend even if some of us find it difficult to practice.  Prayer is at root communication with God.  One of the vital observations that I would make about that definition is that “communication” is always a two-way street.  If we are in the presence of someone who does all the talking and none of the listening, that that does not fall under the banner of communication.  It is important in our experience of God that we bring the candid condition of our hearts to God.  But it is equally important that we spend as much of our prayer time discerning God’s voice.  Anthony Towne once observed, “God is not an acoustical ceiling.”

 In general, prayer falls into two categories: prayers that someone prepares in advance and prayers that are extemporaneous.  The prayer that is written in advance of its use in worship or devotion allows a group of people to pray together.  These prayers are often part of the church’s liturgy or ritual.  The Lord’s Prayer, the Great Thanksgiving in the Communion service, and prayers of confession are a few examples of community prayers in worship.  In addition, many devotional resources will include a prayer related to the topic of the meditation.  There are some people and groups that reject unison prayers or “written-out” prayers.  But the use of these pieces of material allow large groups to join together in prayer for a particular purpose.  The alternative is to have one person pray while others listen or seek to pray along with the leader silently.  The other option is to have each person pray aloud simultaneously, with the result being absolute chaos.

 Extemporaneous prayer, or spontaneous prayer, allows an individual to speak from the heart in the moment.  It is the way many of us pray, especially when we think of “daily” prayer or “private devotionals.”  These prayers have the advantage of capturing the concerns of the moment.  I would urge that we guard against falling into the practice of saying the exact same words without variation day after day.  Such a way of doing things has a way of dulling our awareness of what it is we are doing in the first place.

 One of the labels that the church attaches to prayers that are part of a liturgy so that multiple people can use them together is to call such prayers “prayers with form.”  Logically those prayers that a believer composes on the spot are “prayers without form.”  John Wesley saw the advantage of both.  He wrote “my heart was so full that I could not confine myself to the forms of prayer, which we were accustomed to use there. Neither do I purpose to be confined to them any more; but to pray indifferently, with a form or without, as I may find suitable to particular occasions.”  (Journal, March 27, 1738)

Prayers can have a variety of forms in order to address particular functions.  We pray a table grace before meals, prayers of confession, intercession, thanksgiving, praise, and a host of other purposes.  Sometimes we pray a prayer that contains a great many of these elements.  Other times, we offer particular prayers for individual purposes.

 It is worth noting that of all the things the disciples of Jesus saw him do (walk on water, feed a multitude, heal the blind, deaf, mute, lame, exorcise demons), the one thing they asked him to teach them was “to pray.”  This, more than any other observation, is an extraordinary comment on the urgency of prayer.

On holy conferencing

 If plans had held up, The United Methodist Church planned to convene the 2021 General Conference this Sunday, August 29.  Due to Covid-19 restrictions, that will not happen.  The church has re-scheduled that gathering for August 29 – September 6, 2022.  The General Conference normally meets every four years in order to set budget, elect leaders, evaluate ministries and set programming for the coming four-year period (quadrennium).  When the General Conference finally gathers this time around it will consider some momentous ideas in the life of the church.  There will be plenty of time to consider this as time moves along.

 I want to think about the event more theoretically than practically for a moment.  The history of Methodism has considered “conference” to be a verb rather than a noun.  It is true that Methodists assemble at various levels of administration in gatherings called “conferences.”  But in its intention, “to conference” was the purpose of coming together.

 The session of which I spoke earlier – the General Conference – is a congregating of lay and clergy delegates from all over the world for the purposes that I mentioned above.  The General Conference is the only body in Methodism that can alter our Book of Discipline.  It is the sole entity that can speak officially on behalf of the entire denomination.

 The General Church divides itself into Jurisdictional conferences for the sake of administration and ministry.  We are members of the Southeast Jurisdiction.  That designation includes the churches that make up the Alabama / West Florida, Florida, Holston (East Tennessee & Southwest Virginia), Kentucky, Memphis, Mississippi, North Alabama, North Carolina, North Georgia, Red Bird Missionary (Southeast Kentucky), South Carolina, South Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Western North Carolina Conferences.  Jurisdictional Conferences meet every four years and mirror the functions of the General Conference in terms of its business.  In addition, it is the Jurisdictional Conferences that elect, consecrate and assign bishops within their bounds.

The several conferences within the Jurisdictions meet yearly at their Annual Conference meetings.  Again, these assemblies deal with issues of program, leadership, finances and ministry.  It is at this level that the bishop of a Conference appoints ministers to churches.  Like the other assemblies, an equal number of laypersons and clergy constitute the membership of the Conference.

 Although they are a rarity in modern times, there is provision in the Book of Discipline for a Conference meeting at the district level.  Again, that body would deal with matters of mission and ministry at a more local level.  The only District Conferences I have ever attended dealt with matters of real estate.  The District was looking to buy or sell the buildings that house the district Offices, and under certain circumstances that requires a gathering of delegates from throughout the District.  Our Tennessee River District includes the West Tennessee churches of Henry, Carroll, Benton, Madison, Henderson, Decatur, Hardeman, McNairy and Hardin County (west of the Tennessee River).

 Finally, there is also a designation for conferencing at the local church level.  Pastors serve appointments that we call “Charges.”  This may be one church, two locations, or a larger number of congregations.  But whatever the number, churches that we yoke together in the care of one clergyperson comprise a pastoral charge.  The churches within a charge will hold regular administrative meetings.  But, once a year, that church (or those churches) meets for a “Charge Conference.”  It is here that churches elect officers, adopt ministry goals, evaluate programs and set salary for their pastor.  We have an upcoming Charge Conference December 4.

That’s a lot of meetings.

And, as I describe them, they seem to reflect a lot of paper-pushing and not much ministry.  I hope that is not accurate.

In the history of our church, John Wesley would call together his Methodist preachers yearly “to confer.”  Wesley’s terminology was “to conference.”  The heart of the conferencing matter was to converse together in order to hammer out the church’s theology.  The discussions centered around the questions, “What to teach?” “How to teach?” and “What to do?” (How to regulate our doctrine, discipline and practice?)  The talk of nickels and noses came along much later. 

Wesley considered these “holy conversations” – and all spiritual talk – one of the ways in which God reveals God’s nature to human beings.  Wesley called these revelatory activities the Means of Grace (and there will be more about that later).

All of this is to say that, when we get back on track, these several conferences will gather and consider some weighty matters.  This will not be a season of “going through the motions.”  It is a time of decision-making that could shape our denomination for a generation.  I hope that our church finds the will of God as its representatives come back together.