Holy Communion

On the radio show this morning, we discussed a news story I shared about certain Roman Catholic bishops continuing to advocate the denial of communion to pro-choice politicians and to those who vote for pro-choice candidates.

As I mentioned on the show, the progressive Protestant tradition's understanding of communion is very different from Roman Catholic teaching. As I understand it, Catholic doctrine stresses the real (or physical) presence of Christ's body and blood in the eucharist, while those in the Reformed and other Protestant traditions see Christ's presence in spiritual or symbolic terms. Additionally, in traditional Catholic teaching, communion is a sacrament that can help a person attain salvation; while in Protestant circles, communion as a sacrament can only help point to and remind us of the grace of God already present.

Now that we've got all those explanations over with, I can get to my real point, which again, comes from my progressive Protestant understanding. Communion is about community, a Christian community that the apostle Paul described as without labels: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). In 1 Corinthians, Paul also explicitly links this community in Christ with the Body of Christ (see 12:12-31, for example).

These understandings of Christian community lead me to believe that for Christ truly to be present--for communion to be truly holy--means that all must be welcome to partake. The universal welcome is exactly what makes communion holy. If any of God's children are barred from the communion table, then it no longer remains "holy" communion. Even Judas was allowed to come to the table at the Last Supper.

In some ways, this is a rather comfortable position for me to take, since the United Church of Christ (my denomination) is one of the mainline Protestant churches that has long practiced open communion. However, in many mainline churches, including UCC churches, this debate often gets played out alongside the question of confirmation; in other words, should pre-confirmation children be allowed to partake of the communion elements? The traditional stance usually claims that before confirmation, children don't understand communion. But if we restrict access to the Lord's Table to "understanding," that raises a whole host of other issues: what about folks with some kind of learning/mental disability--should they not be allowed to come to the Table, even if they don't "understand?" Another frequent argument centers on the fact that children are just kids; they're just not ready. Well, this one really misses the boat on what Jesus taught concerning children: "'Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs'" (Mark 10:13-16). Children clearly hold places of honor in Jesus' ministry.

The communion table should serve as the perfect model for Christian hospitality and as the ultimate metaphor for Christian ministry and mission. In short, Jesus welcomed all, and Christians are called to do the same. And "welcome" means a full welcome, and "all" really does mean all. That, for me, is at the heart of the Gospel.

-Pastor Chris