Exploring Christian Worship
Part Three: Meeting Jesus at the Table
Introduction
Having ended the prayers, we salute
one another with a kiss.
(Justin, First Apology 65)
And, as we before said, when our
prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought and the president
in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his
ability, and the people assent, saying Amen. And there is a
distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks
have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the
deacons.
(Justin, First Apology 67)
Luke 24:28-32. The Emmaus disciples reached the summit of their
experience of Jesus with the breaking of bread.
- "In the breaking of bread, they recognized Jesus." (What makes
the breaking of bread different? What makes it important?)
- Only realized that their hearts burned in the reading of
scripture after they met Jesus at the table.
Biblical terminology shows a variety of understandings of the
significance of the early Christian communal meal:
- The breaking of bread (Ac 2:46): focus on the risen Christ
- The Lord’s supper (1 Co 11): focus on the death of Jesus
- Communion (1 Co 10): focus on intimacy
- Thanksgiving/ “Eucharist” (Lk 22:17, 19): focus on gratitude,
rehearsal of all of God’s saving acts in Christ
- Later, Mass, from the Latin expression, "Ite, missa est"
(roughly, "Go: you have been sent").
There is an appropriate time for each of these emphases in the
liturgical year.
Development
The earliest attested practice of the church was daily Communion (Ac
2:46). Later, practice centered around a weekly communal meal or “love
feast”
(most likely Saturday night) (see Ac 20:7), which was the most uniquely
Christian observance of the church, although daily Communion at home
apparently remained customary for several centuries.
The original structure:
- The "Kiss of Peace." This served as a kind of gathering exercise
for the worshipers. The themes of reconciliation predominated. In the Didascalia (early 3rd century),
the deacon would urge anyone who had something against a brother or
sister to be reconciled then and there before the service could proceed.
- A blessing over bread.
- A full meal, probably "pot luck."
- A blessing over wine and sharing of a common cup.
- Apparently after the meal, those with charismatic gifts would
minister--perhaps long
into the night. This is one likely interpretation of the Didache, which corresponds with
what we see in 1 Cor 11-14.
Very early, apparently while parts of the New Testament were still
being written, the bread and the cup were brought together into a
single rite of blessing and partaking. In some locales, the combined
bread-and-wine blessing came before the meal; in other locales it came
after.
Eventually (some time between ca. 90 and 150), there were three
important shifts:
- The meal moved from evening to pre-dawn.
- It became attached to the service of the word, originally based
on the Jewish synagogue liturgy.
- It ceased to be an actual meal, becoming instead a symbolic form
of eating.
With the disappearance of the meal, the liturgy developed a "fourfold
shape" based on four key verbs used in various New Testament texts:
- "He took"--the offertory or bringing forward of the Eucharistic
elements.
- "He blessed"--the Eucharistic prayer.
- "He broke"--the bread was then broken for distribution to the
congregation.
- "He gave"--the rite of Communion itself.
The Eucharist as the Community's Prayer
The bishop was to pray “at great length” and “according to his ability”
(Justin, First Apology 65,
67). But the exact wording was fluid:
It is not altogether necessary for [the
bishop] to recite the very same words which we gave before as though
studying to say them by heart in his thanksgiving to God; but let each
one pray according to his own ability. If indeed he is able to pray
suitably with a grand and elevated prayer, this is a good thing. But if
on the other hand he should pray and recite a prayer according to a
brief form, no one shall prevent him. Only let his prayer be
correct and orthodox
(Apostolic Tradition 10:4-5).
The Eucharistic Prayer as the corporate prayer of the church. In the
earliest texts, it is not so much a prayer offered by the minister, but
a prayer offered by the whole assembly.
(1) The Sursum Corda ("lift
up your hearts"). In Judaism, the meal blessing was introduced
with a set form of liturgical dialogue. This custom was carried over
into the church, where the Eucharistic Prayer began with a dialogue
between the bishop and the people:
Bishop: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.
Bishop: Lift up your hearts.
People: We have them with the Lord.
Bishop: Let us give thanks to the Lord.
People: It is fitting and right.
This dialogue was already traditional by the time of Cyprian, ca. 250.
(2) An early Egyptian Eucharistic Prayer (Strassbourg Papyrus 254, ca.
200) describes the Eucharist as a sacrifice of praise offered by the
congregation. In part, it reads:
Giving thanks through him [Jesus] to
you
with him and the Holy Spirit,
we offer the spiritual sacrifice
and this bloodless service,
which all the nations offer you,
from sunrise to sunset, from south to north,
for your name is great among the nations,
and in every place incense is offered
to your holy name and a pure sacrifice.
Over this sacrifice and offering
we pray and beseech you,
remember your holy
and only catholic Church,
all your peoples and all your flocks.
(3) In the Apostolic Tradition (3rd
century), the Eucharistic Prayer seems to express the idea that the
congregation stands before God as priests:
Remembering therefore his death and
resurrection,
we offer to you the bread and the cup,
giving you thanks
because you have held us worthy to stand before you
and minister as priests to you.
(4) The Sanctus. By the 4th century, the Sanctus ("Holy") hymn was
incorporated into the Eucharistic Prayer in Syria. Eventually, it
became a universal feature. Here is the text (from Egyptian Anaphora of
St. Basil, early 4th century):
(Bishop:)
You are enthroned in royal glory,
and before you all heavenly powers bow down:
The angels and archangels,
the principalities and powers,
the thrones, dominions;
around you stand the many-eyed cherubim
and six-winged seraphim,
forever singing and crying out loud:
(People:)
Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts;
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
All of this implies a deep sense of participation. It is “our” prayer.
Other elements that suggest active participation:
- In some traditions, there are bits of liturgical participation
built in
(“Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again”); or just
some plain old “Amen’s.”
- The Kiss of Peace. In most early traditions, the Kiss came at the
beginning of the Service of the Table. In the Roman rite, it came right
before Communion itself.
- Private prayers.
- The sign of the cross.
- The Lord's Prayer--by the 4th century, the Lord's Prayer became a
very common form of spiritual preparation for Communion.
Worship Disciplines for the Service of the Table
(1) Appreciation of the sacramental/material means of communion with
God. It is not enough to “think about” God--we need to taste him,
ingest him (Jn 6).
(2) Sense of participation, involvement
(3) Private devotions