Don Johnson, whom I have considered a good though casual friend for 21 years, posted a few questions about weddings and communion. There are some interesting issues for discussion there and in the comments that follow.
So much to reply to, so little time...
1. About Communion in weddings... my bias has always been that weddings of believing couples, held in churches, are worship services. The service of communion should be offered to all who self-identify as believers - followers of Christ. To offer it to the couple only has the effect of denying the unity of the body, missing the admonition of 1 Cor 11:20-21, and treating a holy sacrament as a prop in a play. So I would not do that.
2. About "Fencing the Table"... interestingly enough I am serving in a church which is part of a national body that "fences the table" or is perceived so by most folks like Covenanters. But interestingly enough, the way it is handled locally is a manner that I think would fly in a Covenant Church. Here's what happens: in the worship folder at the point at which Communion takes place, these words appear (or words to this effect):
It is important to us that those who participate in this meal affirm with us the following: 1) I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior and have been baptized. 2) I believe that Jesus Christ is truly present here. In this meal, I receive bread and wine and His body and blood. 3) I desire to partake of this meal so that I may receive power to live as a fully devoted follower of Christ.
Earlier in the service, usually before the offerings when some other worship details are being discussed, worshipers are alerted to those words in the folder and informed that if they aren't sure they can affirm these words, they are invited to receive a prayer of blessing when they come forward.
Interestingly, when I first heard those words the first time I walked in the door as a worshiper, I immediately recognized that a) the language in #2 was there to identify their consubstantial theology, and the whole statement was there to softly acknowledge their synodical position, without explicitly sending a "not-welcome" message to worshipers. I caught all that because of theological training. Alicia, however, completely missed the significance of it - as, I suspect, many if not most worshipers would.
Don - and other Covenant responders - I would love to hear your responses to this. If your sacramental theology is not consubstantial, you probably would not agree with it; but apart from that, how does it strike you?
3. Weddings and Funerals...The juxtaposition of these two words brought to mind something I said at the most recent wedding I performed, for my niece Bekah and hr husband Jon. I observed that one normally doesn't talk about death or funerals at a wedding, but in fact a wedding is a funeral in several very specific ways.
It is the death of our freedom to live as a single person of course; but more than that, I view marriage itself as in essence death, in this regard. We are told to give our lives for our partners. You hear language in Paul about husbands loving their wives as Christ does the church, and the common remark is "How did Christ love the church? He died for her", prompting the common remark of husbands to the effect that "I'd take a bullet for her if it came to it". The simple fact is that won't ever come to that for most of us, but that doesn't let us off the hook. Every day we make choices about dying for our partner - turning off the sports game on TV (usually him) or putting down a good novel (usually her) to invest oneself in that which is of significance to the partner.
Marriage is simply the best place we are given to pratice dying. And since weddings are where this officially starts, a wedding is a funeral. Living-for-self is the deceased, and if we're wise, we say "Rest in Peace" out loud, and silently, "Good Riddance".
Surprisingly enough, my niece said she was significantly and positively moved and challenged, not put off, by these words.
"Nothing in this life that I've been trying
can equal or surpass the art of dying"
-George Harrison
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Dear Rick;
I appreciate your thorough response to my post on weddings & communion. Because I don't think any one denomination "gets it fully" when it comes to theological constructs, I would not criticize a church which fences the table as cognitively as yours does. I would personally affirm your church's consubstantial understanding of the eucharist, but I would not require that understanding of fellow participants. Our eucharistic theology is something that grows and develops over time and participation rather than being fully formed prior to first communion.
I California I am also encountering a new phenomenon of un-batpized believers, believers who have put off baptism for years, yet are clearly believers. I'm sure they existed in Minnesota, but I did not know any of them. But a biblical question would be "where is it written?" Can it be demonstrated that all the disciples were baptized before the Last Supper? I know we assume some were John's disciples and baptized by him, but it's not clearly explicit. Hmm. Anyway, those are my ramblings. Thanks for your creative thoughts.
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