We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?
This Lent, in addition to the devotions found here, I've been going through a little book titled "40 Days with Wesley" by Reuben Job, and it's been a really delightful journey so far.
As you likely know, churches around the country are busy creating virtual worship services through YouTube and Vimeo and Facebook Live and probably Twitch and everything else remotely useful out there.
One thing that just doesn't seem to work virtually is Communion - the Eucharist - The Lord's Supper, and I'm not sure I understand why. Growing up, I remember always seeing in the TV Guide (gasp! how old are you?! You remember a printed TV Guide?!) that there was always a show on Sunday mornings called "Mass for Shut-Ins" on some channel or other. The Roman Catholic church at least thought that was something worth doing, but the current United Methodist leadership disagrees. We are enjoined from doing any kind of "virtual communion" services.
John Wesley encouraged the early Methodists to take communion weekly, and apparently took communion even more frequently than that. He urged us all to take advantage of all means of Grace available to us.
I've long had trouble understanding the difference between communion and an agape feast (or love feast). We have only two sacraments in the United Methodist Church - baptism and communion - and any Christian can perform the former at need, but only ordained clergy can perform the latter. Why is that?
As a church we affirm the priesthood of all believers, but in this one particular we don't. Do we believe that ordination - with the laying on of hands by a bishop - endows our clergy with magical or mystical powers? Perhaps.
Still, that doesn't really comport with the general tenor of Methodist belief. We have a "representative" clergy in our polity, and while we do have an episcopal model, there are real threads of congregational and even (shudder) democratic governance in the church. I have a feeling that the term "Methodist Mystic" would be seen as an oxymoron (I certainly don't feel that way, and would describe myself as one). So if there's not some magic going on, why can't we gather virtually around a virtual table?
Is it that - as a creed I can't quite remember said - communion provides a way to grace which only the church provides? (I'll update that if I can find the real line.)
In John 6:32-40, Jesus tells us that He is the Bread of Life. It is Christ whose grace we receive, not the church's. Further, while there is no question that communion is - at least in part - about coming together as a single body (the Body of Christ) to share a commemorative meal, it is also where each of us meets Christ individually and intimately. It is our taking part in His sacrifice for us that sanctifies our sacrifices for Him.
We are all - all of us - invited to the table of grace. As Reuben Job puts it, "The Lord's Supper is built on our oneness with Christ and with one another. At this table power flows equally to all; none is excluded, and none need go away empty." Later in this same reflection he says, "At the Lord's Table there is enough for all. No matter how broken, hungry, or needy I am, there is always enough of the bread of life for me. And my need does not prevent another's need from being recognized and met. No one is shortchanged or denied what is needed. My great need does not jeopardize the resources for my sister or brother. At the Lord's Table there is enough for all...."
So how are we to access this Grace? this Bread of Life? Is it only at the organized communion service of a church? I find that incredible, frankly. God offers us His Grace, His Life, His Love, and His Joy through Jesus at all times and in all places.
If our communion services are simply a reminder of this, then there is no reason to avoid it in a virtual meeting.
If our communion services are actually a mystical encounter with God in Christ through the elements, then there is no reason to avoid it in a virtual meeting: it is God who meets us, not the pastor who commands that the Holy Spirit endow the elements with their significance.
If you've read this far, I apologize to you for the sort of rambling presentation here, but I simply don't understand this, I guess. I've struggled with it before (see this posting from 2015), and I think I'll continue to struggle with it.
So, until we can meet together again and share the bread and wine, may God the Father grant that the Grace, Peace, and Joy of Christ rest with you through the power of the Holy Spirit, now and always. Amen.
Now, Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?
This Lent, in addition to the devotions found here, I've been going through a little book titled "40 Days with Wesley" by Reuben Job, and it's been a really delightful journey so far.
As you likely know, churches around the country are busy creating virtual worship services through YouTube and Vimeo and Facebook Live and probably Twitch and everything else remotely useful out there.
One thing that just doesn't seem to work virtually is Communion - the Eucharist - The Lord's Supper, and I'm not sure I understand why. Growing up, I remember always seeing in the TV Guide (gasp! how old are you?! You remember a printed TV Guide?!) that there was always a show on Sunday mornings called "Mass for Shut-Ins" on some channel or other. The Roman Catholic church at least thought that was something worth doing, but the current United Methodist leadership disagrees. We are enjoined from doing any kind of "virtual communion" services.
John Wesley encouraged the early Methodists to take communion weekly, and apparently took communion even more frequently than that. He urged us all to take advantage of all means of Grace available to us.
I've long had trouble understanding the difference between communion and an agape feast (or love feast). We have only two sacraments in the United Methodist Church - baptism and communion - and any Christian can perform the former at need, but only ordained clergy can perform the latter. Why is that?
As a church we affirm the priesthood of all believers, but in this one particular we don't. Do we believe that ordination - with the laying on of hands by a bishop - endows our clergy with magical or mystical powers? Perhaps.
Still, that doesn't really comport with the general tenor of Methodist belief. We have a "representative" clergy in our polity, and while we do have an episcopal model, there are real threads of congregational and even (shudder) democratic governance in the church. I have a feeling that the term "Methodist Mystic" would be seen as an oxymoron (I certainly don't feel that way, and would describe myself as one). So if there's not some magic going on, why can't we gather virtually around a virtual table?
Is it that - as a creed I can't quite remember said - communion provides a way to grace which only the church provides? (I'll update that if I can find the real line.)
In John 6:32-40, Jesus tells us that He is the Bread of Life. It is Christ whose grace we receive, not the church's. Further, while there is no question that communion is - at least in part - about coming together as a single body (the Body of Christ) to share a commemorative meal, it is also where each of us meets Christ individually and intimately. It is our taking part in His sacrifice for us that sanctifies our sacrifices for Him.
We are all - all of us - invited to the table of grace. As Reuben Job puts it, "The Lord's Supper is built on our oneness with Christ and with one another. At this table power flows equally to all; none is excluded, and none need go away empty." Later in this same reflection he says, "At the Lord's Table there is enough for all. No matter how broken, hungry, or needy I am, there is always enough of the bread of life for me. And my need does not prevent another's need from being recognized and met. No one is shortchanged or denied what is needed. My great need does not jeopardize the resources for my sister or brother. At the Lord's Table there is enough for all...."
So how are we to access this Grace? this Bread of Life? Is it only at the organized communion service of a church? I find that incredible, frankly. God offers us His Grace, His Life, His Love, and His Joy through Jesus at all times and in all places.
If our communion services are simply a reminder of this, then there is no reason to avoid it in a virtual meeting.
If our communion services are actually a mystical encounter with God in Christ through the elements, then there is no reason to avoid it in a virtual meeting: it is God who meets us, not the pastor who commands that the Holy Spirit endow the elements with their significance.
If you've read this far, I apologize to you for the sort of rambling presentation here, but I simply don't understand this, I guess. I've struggled with it before (see this posting from 2015), and I think I'll continue to struggle with it.
So, until we can meet together again and share the bread and wine, may God the Father grant that the Grace, Peace, and Joy of Christ rest with you through the power of the Holy Spirit, now and always. Amen.
Now, Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
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