Book Review: Making a Meal of It: Rethinking the Theology of the Lord's Supper, by Ben Witherington III

Making a Meal of It: Rethinking the Theology of the Lord's Supper by Ben Witherington III addresses the topic of Communion in the history of the Church. Beginning with a survey of the cultural factors contributing to historic 1st century practices, Ben illustrates a profound progression and description of 'secular' traditions that are eerily similar to that of which Paul was addressing in 1 Corinthians.

Ben also goes on to discuss the trajectory of the Lord's Table from the final night of our Lord's earthly ministry with the Disciples, to the stratification and elitism of the 1st and 2nd centuries, on to the eventual liturgical and sacramental mystery that became the sacrifice of the mass.

Making a Meal of It serves as a running commentary that sheds light on the mystery that seems to surround the practice as we see it today. Regardless of the view a Christian has on the actual rite itself, this book covers the nuances between them, and then demonstrates why not even those were a matter of debate in the 1st Century Church practice. As it would seem, and according to the author, the meal of breaking bread in the scripture would be so much more inclusive than even the most liberal celebrants amongst us could imagine.

I personally enjoyed the conversing tone of this book. The author presents interesting information that gives a clearer portrait of what we traditionally see as the Lord's Table in our minds. With limited technical and scholarly jargon, the historical narrative provided by Ben made the read enjoyable. Consequently, I read this book via Kindle, and mostly on my Blackberry. Now, I typically do not enjoy reading on electronic devices, and the level of engagement I enjoyed with this title, led me to disregard that inhibition. Ben offers closing comments on practical implications and gives personal anecdotal evidence that supports what one would find in the scriptural support that does exist in the New Testament, that are helpful and encouraging.

If you find yourself questioning or curious about the modern practice in comparison to the scriptural practice of the Lord's Table in meetings across the globe, this book is a good primer for you. Enjoy!

The Lord's Table, sippy cup and all

Okay. So I am having a real hard time believing that there are so few Bible reading believers who are not willing to stand in unity against the disunity of what passes for today's supposed Lord's Table, or Remembrance, or Breaking of Bread meetings.

If in John 17, the Lord Jesus himself prays for the unity of the disciples, and by proxy those who would become disciples in the future, unity is important right?

In Acts we see evidence of true communion through having everything in common, and truly bearing the burdens of the brethren that Christ may be glorified, including eating together.

In Luke we see bread being broken with sinners, tax collectors, and pharisees. Then we see the Lord break bread with the disciples on the night of his betrayal. Then we see him break bread with them again after he had risen.

Was Christ fractured into self-serving, compartmentalized, portions of individuality, or was he broken once for all that we may commune with him in the Kingdom?

I must say, I may be completely reactionary and responding to some things I am emotionally invested in working out. But, what I feel I am reacting to can be summed up in the simple purchase of ease, and convenience via individualized, sterile, disposable, longer shelf-life communion cups that include unleavened bread AND juice all in one for celebrating (?) the breaking of Christ's body and pouring out of his blood. Swallow, sip, and toss it away. No muss, no fuss.

Another reason to look at the scripture and ask, is this what it really said?

Half-baked sacrament or breaking bread?

As early as the late 1st century, and well into the 2nd, we begin to see a form of gatekeeping or table-fencing creeping into the meetings of Christians. If grace is a means received when one partakes of the Lord's Table, eating the bread or drinking the cup, then Christ really is only partly sufficient as a sacrifice no? Then the result would require an administration of the element of grace to those who are seen as worthy would it not? Interesting and yet perplexing thought here if you think about it.

"The Church had come a long way since the Last Supper, and much of it had involved a journey away from, and even against, it's original Jewish recipe. The result was half-baked sacramental theology with too many foreign flavors overwhelming the main ingredient."

-Ben Witherington III, Making a Meal of It: Rethinking the Theology of the Lord's Supper

Now, if the means of grace must be administered properly, then an effective system must be adhered to. Why not implement priests, altars, and appropriate delegates to serve the means of grace as it should be. If the sacrifice is being re-initiated, then the priesthood and temple shall be also. I wonder if this would look anything like the modern evangelical landscape, or would it look like the breaking of bread seen in the assembly of Christians?

Ben Witherington goes on to make another interesting point in Making a Meal of It,

"One wonders what Jesus, dining with sinners and tax collectors and then eating his modified Passover meal with disciples whom he knew were going to deny, desert, and betray him, would say about all this. There needs to be a balance between proper teaching so the sacrament is partaken of in a worthy manner and overly zealous policing of the table or clerical control of it."

What do you think? Is the Lord's Supper really something that has so much liberty of interpretation that we can do it in this way or that way? Or is it really so simple that a plain reading of scripture reveals the manner in which the disciples, and ourselves, should take it?

Book Review: Come to the Table by John Mark Hicks

Come to the Table: Revisioning the Lord's Supper is an interesting treatise concerning the manner in which the Eucharist is observed in modern Christianity. This book takes the reader through a journey from the Scriptural attestation, a brief early Christian witness, and a modern application in 205 short pages. John Mark Hicks' treatment of this debated, diversely observed, and often divisive issue is fair-minded and communicated in a conversing manner. Come to the Table invites the reader to do just that, come and dine with the master, who is host of the table.

The Table discussion has long been a controversial subject amongst believers. The debate of trans-substantiation vs. con-substantiation has raged for ages. Zwingli and Luther debated the manner in which the table was conducted and sparked a reformation dialog the carried on for centuries. Is it really that simple? Or is it actually much simpler? Some questions that lack answers normally, receive an admirable treatment in Come to the Table. Some of them include,

• What is discerning the body?
• What is eating and drinking unworthily?
• What is the table of demons and the table of the Lord?

I really enjoyed this book for it scriptural substance. Hicks is very purposeful in painting the picture of what the Lord's Table was according to Luke, Acts, and 1 Corinthians. You begin to find yourself seated at table with not only the Lord and his disciples, but also with those whom Paul is addressing in Corinth. Giving data from the Old Covenant, showing more clearly the data of the New, and modernizing our approach for today all come together quite well. I also  really enjoyed the audacity that Hicks demonstrates by taking the road less traveled and taking the debate out the picture by stating pretty plainly what scripture is saying.

If I could have my druthers with this book, I would opt for a more systematic approach to the topic. I am not sure that it could do the subject justice, but that tends to be my reading preference anyway. Of all the systematic deductions I have read, this book has gone an extra mile by delivering a simple, logical, and plain view without mucking it all up with presuppositions to support.

This book was much worth the read and if you are interesting in learning more about the Lord's table, maybe even 'revisioning' it, then this book will get you started. Hicks also provides a bit of a practical application guide for believers or congregations who are currently exploring the topic and looking for an example to kick things off with.

Hope you enjoy it, I did!

Coming up Methodist: Fire in the bones

continued from Coming up Methodist: God’s wonderful plan

Imagine the majesty of a sanctuary built and fashioned in the likeness of Noah’s ark, is intricately designed with sculpted wood, and has acoustics that power the message of any orator well into the vestibule with nary a sight of electronic amplification. It would be beautiful no? The vestige, edifice, and pomp that accompanied the services in that sanctuary over the years have surely done it justice, and the architects must have been proud. David Wilkerson and other circuit riders even used to preach to packed audiences of Christian youth that once populated the numbers of evangelicalism and showed a faint promise that Methodism was being blessed by God.

That was one of my first impressions of “Church.” I was impressed by a building.

Now it has become a hallowed orifice. Revival was only a hope of those who dared pray the Lord would fill the pews with soldiers donning the armor of God. Some would even drop to their knee and pray to the Lord a mighty spirit of proclamation would whisk across the weary saints who still dared to stand for the Kingdom of God. Now the attendance on a given Sunday is a mere trickle compared to its capacity, and another staggering 50% of the formerly mortgaged parcel lay in ruin occasionally intriguing members with its ghosts of a brimming past that once promised life to the congregation. Bearing with it all, the news that one could only surmise, is that this steeple house, has seen her day. She now lay there dying, waiting for her last breath. And yet countless resources are poured into keeping it all going. For what I would ask?

The day I departed the First United Methodist Church of Wayne I felt a great sadness in my heart. I wish I could explain to you what it was exactly, but can only begin to mark it with great burden. The overwhelming feeling of hope that had been born in me the day I made it my home, inherited my new family, made new friends, and became invigorated with the zeal of Christ’s Gospel was a distant shadow. Having a desire to preach the Gospel that had given me life was my sole passion. I could hardly think of much outside seeing the Kingdom be proclaimed, and witnesses encourage other witnesses to not look back from the plow (Lk 9:62). My shoulders bore a weight I could no longer carry, and my prayers, as though they were not being answered, actually were.

Sadly, the church, while teeming with the life of humans who had breath in their lungs, was spiritually gasping for air as the same old same old was the accepted, and yet revered, norm. A fish fry was no place for evangelizing the ‘un-churched’ and council meetings were regularly being held to discuss the squawking of those zealously desiring to proclaim Christ and Him crucified. A thick air of sectarianism could be sensed between what seemed like an organized army dashing the dreams of some barbaric tribal upstart with nothing but hope on their side. Eventually, the upstart limped off into the sunset in defeat, but not in surrender. Even though many were attempting to silence those who were pointing out the obvious offense there is the resonation in the faithful to speak with Jeremiah the Prophet,

If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
(Jer 20:9)

How could a place that bore the name ‘church’ be such an enemy of the Gospel of Christ? Would those who faithfully remain, those who genuinely love the Lord, those who would lay down their lives for the Master ever realize that they had been overrun with tares? Can you see the wheat of the field if the tares have outgrown it? Is it plausible that the once potent Methodism of yesteryear had smoldered like a candlewick at its fateful end? One could only imagine, one could only dream, that Christ would revitalize the hearts of those who have chosen ‘church’ over Him. Truly, the first love had become an edifice. Truly, the faint knocking at the door is the Christ calling out to those inside to repent (Rev 3:20) and sup with Him. If the Christ has set the fire in the bones of those who are sent to preach His word, then surely those who seek to quench it cannot possibly be of Christ, can they?

next: Coming up Methodist: Messengers from on high

Good Ministry, Bad Ministry, You Decide...

Good Ministry: Partaking of the table of the Lord, eating and drinking with the brethren, waiting for those who have not yet come, and seeing to the needs of others with whom you partake. (1 Cor 10:21, 1 Cor 11:20-22, 1 Cor 11:33)

Bad Ministry: Partaking of the table of Demons, forsaking your brethren, and eating and drinking all that you can before anyone else partakes of that which you have brought for them. (1 Cor 10:20-21, 1 Cor 11:18-22, 1 Cor 11:33)

A Twisted Scripture 2

In the spirit of Alan Knox's "Scripture...as We Live It" series,

But to all who did receive him pray a prayer, who believed in who wore t-shirts bearing his name, he gave the right to become children of God came into their hearts, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of the revivalist, a paid preacher sent by God.
(Joh 1:12-13 Twisted)

Book Review: The Quotable Chesterton by Kevin Belmonte

The Quotable Chesterton: The Wit and Wisdom of G.K. Chesterton is a handy little compilation of quotes, excerpts, and pithy sayings from the renowned, and plenteous works of G.K. Chesterton. The editor, Kevin Belmonte has poured through Chesterton's works, and cleverly arranged them according to topic alphabetically. The book contains not only excerpts of Chesterton's magnanimous labors, but also includes brief interludes and introductions on selected topics scattered throughout.

I have not even known how extensive this man's writing has been until I was exposed to this book. I have not ever read Chesterton. In the exposure that I have had, I do know that he is prolific, honored, and thoughtful. Some may even label him a philosopher. To me, this book was a good primer for all things Chesterton. Having grasped just a few nuggets here and there while diving headlong into extended samples in this book, I feel acquainted with The Quotable Chesterton. I doubt I would ever pull this book out as a venerable reference, but it certainly is worth a glance now and again. To make a long review short, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books. If you are a Christian, I do not know much of what this mans theology entails, but I am not sure I have heard so much as a gripe against him  for it.

"I received this book for free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program for this unbiased review."