General Theology
Hunger
by Jimmy Hopper
Holy Week is almost always the most moving and meaningful time at most churches but last week at Riverwood was especially so for me. First there was the service and sermon on Palm Sunday on the humility of Christ as He approached Jerusalem and His (wonderful!) mission. Then there was the always special Maundy Thursday service, where we take Communion on the night of the first Communion and this year heard of our family, the family of God; and of family meals and family values. Finally, Easter Sunday; Resurrection Day, and Tim spoke of its uniqueness in all of history, the Hinge of History was his sermon title; the most important day in all of history to each of us individually, and it happened two millenia ago. Again we met together at the table of our Lord and celebrated His (and our) triumph over our enemies and over ourselves.
Something that crossed my mind, however, concerned the two Communion services less than three days apart. I hadn’t thought of it earlier even knowing they were planned, but the closeness of the two services didn’t cause any feeling of stale repetition; it had the absolute opposite effect. Looking back on it, there was a sense of hunger for the Sunday Communion that came from the Thursday night service. The sweetness of the one led to anticipation of the other, and I caught myself on Sunday morning yearning for the mystical joy of being fed by the Lord. It was a far different feeling than the usual general forgetfulness that is typical when approaching first Sunday Communion. It is also something I would like very much to maintain in the future because the blessing of it was intense.
Posted by Jimmy Hopper at April 10, 2007 12:21 PM
Jimmy, That is very profound…I can’t help but compare the “yearning for mystical joy” with two brands of Christianity. One finds it in the tangible elements of the Lord’s Table, and the other finds it in the recesses of their own ever-changing mind/heart.
I totally understand the feeling of anticipation and hunger. It is my personal hope that we as a church will be able to corporately embrace the value of Holy Communion, and eventually celebrate it weekly. I always think it important to point out we’re not Baptists (with all due respect to our Baptist brothers and sisters); this act is no mere memorial, but Christ is indeed mystically present and feeds us through his body and blood.
And if this is true, as the bulk of church history teaches (including Calvin and the WCF), then the more we celebrate it, the better. Confessionally and historically we have a sacramental and liturgical heritage that is rich and edifying, while standing in sharp contradistinction to the prevailing evangelical culture. The sacraments are an oasis in a hokey, very often unfulfilling evangelical Disneyland.