Confessing with our Mouths that Jesus is both Lord and Christ
I'd like to consider the confessional aspect of this liturgical practice of coming to the Lord's Table, and how it is that by confessing simultaneously as individuals, we, in this meal, confess corporately and with the entire communion of saints.
If we take for granted that Word and Sacrament are the "means of grace" - the common practices instituted and set apart from common to holy usages: speaking, hearing, washing, eating and drinking - then it may be said that the preaching of Christ is the verbal Word. Our tradition even goes so far as to say that the preached Word of God IS the Word of God. But the point here is that it's an oral-aural means. Something is said to us, and we are thereby the recipients of grace. In the Supper, it may be said that we have a VISIBLE Word.
I remember dialoging with some friends who said that the Supper is a non-verbal Word. We also discussed the confessional aspect of the meal, and one lady pointed up how it's a non-verbal CONFESSION that we make by coming to receive the sacrament. I remember being startled at a realization that I had: When we come to the table to receive the Supper, we are certainly making a visible confession - people can see us gathering there and using our vocal chords very little. It's even a sort of non-verbal confession, as she mentioned.
But what struck me is how ORAL this confession remains! We are told that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess one day that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Again, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The phrase "Amen" is sprinkled throughout the liturgy - after the hearing of the word, after the hearing of absolution, and even after hymns. We are to say "so be it" or "yes, it shall be so" at very specific instances during the service. And what is this action of recieving the elements other than a confession with our mouths that Jesus, whom we crucified, has been made both Lord and Christ?
I heard it once said that to confess, in almost every imaginable sense of the term, is to "agree with God." We agree with him that we're nothing but a lump of poor, miserable sinners. We agree with him that he is God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.... We agree with him that he has forgiven us all our sins for his Son's sake. We're given zillions of chances to confess - to agree with God by saying "Amen!" - throughout our services.
And with this non-verbal Word, this visible Word, in the Lord's Supper, we're offered another chance to confess - to agree with God --- and with our MOUTHS no less! Indeed, to neglect to make use of the Supper is to do a lot of things - one of which is to forfeit an opportunity to open the mouth and show forth God's praises with a confession that God has made this Jesus, whom we crucified, both Lord and Christ.
"For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread." - 1 Cor. 10:17
"...that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling." - Phil 2:10-12
I'd like to consider the confessional aspect of this liturgical practice of coming to the Lord's Table, and how it is that by confessing simultaneously as individuals, we, in this meal, confess corporately and with the entire communion of saints.
If we take for granted that Word and Sacrament are the "means of grace" - the common practices instituted and set apart from common to holy usages: speaking, hearing, washing, eating and drinking - then it may be said that the preaching of Christ is the verbal Word. Our tradition even goes so far as to say that the preached Word of God IS the Word of God. But the point here is that it's an oral-aural means. Something is said to us, and we are thereby the recipients of grace. In the Supper, it may be said that we have a VISIBLE Word.
I remember dialoging with some friends who said that the Supper is a non-verbal Word. We also discussed the confessional aspect of the meal, and one lady pointed up how it's a non-verbal CONFESSION that we make by coming to receive the sacrament. I remember being startled at a realization that I had: When we come to the table to receive the Supper, we are certainly making a visible confession - people can see us gathering there and using our vocal chords very little. It's even a sort of non-verbal confession, as she mentioned.
But what struck me is how ORAL this confession remains! We are told that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess one day that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Again, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The phrase "Amen" is sprinkled throughout the liturgy - after the hearing of the word, after the hearing of absolution, and even after hymns. We are to say "so be it" or "yes, it shall be so" at very specific instances during the service. And what is this action of recieving the elements other than a confession with our mouths that Jesus, whom we crucified, has been made both Lord and Christ?
I heard it once said that to confess, in almost every imaginable sense of the term, is to "agree with God." We agree with him that we're nothing but a lump of poor, miserable sinners. We agree with him that he is God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.... We agree with him that he has forgiven us all our sins for his Son's sake. We're given zillions of chances to confess - to agree with God by saying "Amen!" - throughout our services.
And with this non-verbal Word, this visible Word, in the Lord's Supper, we're offered another chance to confess - to agree with God --- and with our MOUTHS no less! Indeed, to neglect to make use of the Supper is to do a lot of things - one of which is to forfeit an opportunity to open the mouth and show forth God's praises with a confession that God has made this Jesus, whom we crucified, both Lord and Christ.
"For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread." - 1 Cor. 10:17
"...that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling." - Phil 2:10-12
