6/20- Lord's Supper as Communion

Devotional using scripture, quote from John Calvin and thoughts for the day each day- on the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth.

6/20- Lord’s Supper as Communion of Saints

17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! (I Cor. 11:17-22)

CALVIN: Godly souls can gather great assurance and delight from this Sacrament; in it they have a witness of our growth into one body with Christ such that whatever is his may be called ours. As a consequence, we may dare assure ourselves that eternal life, of which he is the heir, is ours; and that the Kingdom of Heaven, into which he has already entered, can no more be cut off from us than from him; again, that we cannot be condemned for our sins, from whose guilt he has absolved us, since he willed to take them upon himself as if they were his own. This is the wonderful exchange which, out of his measureless benevolence, he has made with us; that, becoming Son of man with us, he has made us sons of God with him; that, by his descent to earth, he has prepared an ascent to heaven for us; that, by taking on our mortality, he has conferred his immortality upon us; that, accepting our weakness, he has strengthened us by his power; that, receiving our poverty unto himself, he has transferred his wealth to us; that, taking the weight of our iniquity upon himself (which oppressed us), he has clothed us with his righteousness(IV.17.2)

Union with Christ is a special benefit of this supper. We recognize this in that Reformed Calvinists have called this supper “communion.” We grow closer to the spiritual presence of Christ in the Supper, and grow closer to other believers as we partake of the same loaf and cup (at the least symbolically). The Lord’s Supper is a symbol of our adoption. It is open only to the children of God who believe. Those who do not believe eat and drink judgment on themselves. The children gather at the Father’s table, and the chief son blesses the food. We are nourished physically, but more importantly spiritually here. We, broken people, are united by the breaking of the bread- a symbol of His broken body. We, poured out and exhausted people, are strengthened and healed by the poured out cup- symbol of his poured out blood.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the gift of the Lord’s Supper. May we anticipate it, as hungry people anticipate food. May we long to be nourished in our soul by you, being made one with you.

April 2- Last Communion

(Picture-inside of St. Pierre in Geneva where Calvin worshipped and had last communion)
4/2- Today was the day that Calvin celebrated his last communion before his death.

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I wil not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Luke 22:17-21

Calvin: In this Sacrament we have such full witness of all these things that we must certainly consider them as if Christ here present were himself set before our eyes and touched by our hands. For his word cannot lie or deceive us: “Take, eat, drink: this is my body, which is given for you; this is my blood, which is shed for forgiveness of sins” [Matthew 26:26-28, conflated with 1 Corinthians 11:24; cf. Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20]. By bidding us take, he indicates that it is ours; by bidding us eat, that it is made one substance with us; by declaring that his body is given for us and his blood shed for us, he teaches that both are not so much his as ours. For the took up and laid down both, not for his own advantage but for our salvation. (IV.17.3)

Contrary to what some say about Calvin, he did not take the Lord’s Supper lightly. He called it “The Sacred Supper of Christ” and he called it a sacrament (as opposed to an “ordinance” or “”commandment” which the Zwinglians and Anabaptists called it). Because the Zwinglians of Zurich joined the Calvinists of Geneva and Lausanne in the Reformed faith, some thought that there was no difference over the supper. Calvin did not believe the Lord’s supper was a secondary matter, however. He tried to draw Melanchthon to his point of view and some say he did. The “in with and under” of Luther is not much different from the “spiritual and real presence” of Calvin. It should be noted that later Calvinists took the supper so seriously in Scotland and America that the elders were assigned to visit the homes of church members before each supper (usually once a quarter), and ask them about their worthiness and willingness to partake of the supper. If they were willing to partake, they would be given a communion token- which was like a ticket to the Supper. I would say that is taking the Lord’s Supper very seriously!
Yet, in typical Calvin fashion, he chose a middle way. On the one hand, he did not believe in the transubstantiation of the Roman Catholics. He did not believe in the miraculous changing of the bread to the body and the drink to the blood when the priest blessed. Such beliefs led to too much power for the priests and too much superstition about the elements. On the other hand, he did he think it was just an ordinance (commandment) to remember Christ. For Calvin, in the supper there was grace given, and a special tie to the Holy Spirit when rightly administered. It was special to him, and so April 2 is remembered as the day he last received the sacrament. It was not a “last rites” ritual, as much as the last time he experienced this special event on this side. Calvin looked forward to changing the spiritual presence to the glorious presence when he got to the other side.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your love and presence seen in the Lord’s Supper. Help us to not take it lightly this Maundy Thursday or Easter. We do look forward to the time when we will eat and drink with you in heaven itself.