43. What is the Lord’s Supper?
The Lord’s Supper is a means of grace, a representation of our redemption, a remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ, and a token of love and union which Christians have with Christ and with one another.
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The Lord’s Supper was a means of grace that Wesley avidly promoted. He would be dismayed at the widespread habit among Methodists of celebrating the Lord’s Supper only once every month or, far worse, once every quarter. What had been a matter of necessity due to the shortage of duly ordained ministers in the nineteenth century became fixed tradition, quite contrary to the spiritual counsel of the movement’s founder.
Why was regular participation in the Lord’s Supper so important to him (as it continues to be throughout the Anglican Communion)? First and foremost, it makes Jesus’s giving of himself for us—for me—a more fixed point of reference in our lives as well as makes intentionally seeking to bring more of Christ’s life into our own lives a more fixed goal. Regular participation in the Lord’s Supper as “remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ” facilitates our steady focus on responding gratefully by living ever more fully for him who died and was raised on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:15). This, in turn, keeps us mindful of the central importance of leaving behind the life of the old person—liberation from which was a principal purpose of Christ’s death for us!—and living the life of the new person until we can say, with Paul, “it is no longer me who’s doing the living, but Christ is living in me!” (Gal. 2:20 DST).
Regular participation in the Lord’s Supper also keeps us mindful of the horizontal dimension of the Spirit’s work among us. The ritual reminder of Christ in you, Christ in me, Christ in them drives home again and again that all who gather at the table—and at as many tables throughout the world where the bread and cup are shared—are family in Christ, indeed, have been made one body together in Christ (1 Cor. 10:16–17), the one people of the new covenant.
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And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19–20 DST)
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Cor. 10:16–17 ESV)
See also Matt. 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; John 6:53–59; 1 Cor. 11:23–25; CoF VI
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This is an excerpt from Christian Faith and Doctrine: An Annotated Catechism for the Global Methodist Church. Seedbed is pleased to partner with The Global Methodist Church to offer this companion resource to A Catechism of Christian Faith and Doctrine for the Global Methodist Church.
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