Eucharistic meditation, August 28

Ephesians 4:15-16: Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

“The Eucharist makes the church.” That is a patristic and medieval axiom, and it is also a teaching of the apostle Paul. It means that the church is formed as a body as it gathers at this table to memorialize the death of Jesus and to celebrate His resurrection. As Paul said, “We who are many are one body because we all partake of one loaf.”

The Eucharistic meal not only shapes the church as the body, but it manifests the character of the church, her shape and organization. Different ways of celebrating the Eucharist communicate different conceptions of what the church is, how it is structured, how Christ is given and received within His body. In some churches, all the members come forward to receive the bread and wine directly from the hand of the minister. But that practice suggests that only the ministers of the church minister Christ to the people. If you want to receive Christ, you must receive it from the hands of a clergyman. While that may not be the official theology, this practice might well communicate precisely that message.

But this is not the picture of the church we saw in Ephesians 4. Instead, Paul emphasizes that all the various members of the church have a contribution to make in building the body of Christ. The whole body is held together and grows by “that which every joint supplies” and “according to the working of each individual part.” Christ builds His body, and yet it is also true that the body builds itself up, as the Spirit works through each of us. Each of you is a minister, a servant of Christ, who ministers Christ to each other. If you want to receive Christ, you don’t have to come to a pastor.

And the way we celebrate the Supper is an effort to manifest that truth. You pass the bread that is the body of Christ to one another, rather than each receiving it from a minister. You help each other get the cup that is the blood of the new covenant. As you do that, you are all ministering Christ to one another, building up the body until it grows up into a mature man.