Constant Communion: January 2013

The Story Behind the Song and Its Implications

The song “Heart of Worship” by Matt Redman is my most favorite Contemporary Christian Song, for it captures a glimpse of the essence of worshiping in Spirit and in Truth. The story of how the song came about was recounted by Matt Redman himself.

A few years back in our church, we realised some of the things we thought were helping us in our worship were actually hindering us. They were throwing us off the scent of what it means to really worship. We had always set aside lots of time in our meetings for worshipping God through music. But it began to dawn on us that we’d lost something. The fire that used to characterise our worship had somehow grown cold. In some ways, everything looked great. We had some wonderful musicians, and a good quality sound system. There were lots of new songs coming through, too. But somehow we’d started to rely on these things a little too much, and they’d become distractions. Where once people would enter in no matter what, we’d now wait to see what the band was like first, how good the sound was, or whether we were ‘into’ the songs chosen.

Mike, the pastor, decided on a pretty drastic course of action: we’d strip everything away for a season, just to see where our hearts were. So the very next Sunday when we turned up at church, there was no sound system to be seen, and no band to lead us. The new approach was simple - we weren’t going to lean so hard on those outward things any more. Mike would say, ‘When you come through the doors of the church on Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God? What are you going to sacrifice today?’

If I’m honest, at first I was pretty offended by the whole thing. The worship was my job! But as God softened my heart, I started to see His wisdom all over these actions. At first the meetings were a bit awkward: there were long periods of silence, and there wasn’t too much singing going on. But we soon began to learn how to bring heart offerings to God without any external trappings we’d grown used to. Stripping everything away, we slowly started to rediscover the heart of worship.

After a while, the worship band and the sound system re-appeared, but now it was different. The songs of our hearts had caught up with the songs of our lips.[1]

According to Matt Redman, “The revelation of God is fuel for the fire of our worship. And there is always more fuel for the fire. … The heart of worship is fueled by essential things, such as reading God’s Word, praying to Him, and going to church to share fellowship together. … So often, when my worship has dried up, it’s because I haven’t been fueling the fire. I haven’t set aside any time to soak myself under the showers of God’s revelation.”[2] Redman uses he word “revelation” in the same sense as what biblical and traditional theology calls “grace”, for that is what grace is—grace is the revelation of God to, for and in the believer that also happens to be the fuel, the “oil for our lamps,” so to speak.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the reading—AND ESPECIALLY THE HEARING—of God’s Word is a means of grace, a conduit for the “fuel for the fire of our worship”, for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ/God” (Romans 10:17). Nor should it surprise anyone that prayer is also a means of grace, a channel for “more fuel for the fire”. Meeting in church for corporate worship, too, is a means of grace, for the Scriptures tell us to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10:24—25).[3]

A little more should be said about the word “fellowship”. It is the English translation of the Greek word koinonia, which implies more than what fellowship means in English as a synonym for “socializing”. The word, in fact, was used in the New Testament to also mean that the believers shared their property with each other. This is fact was the origin of the passing of the offering plate. But the word koinonia means even more than the sharing believers did.

The word koinonia was originally translated with this word: communion. This in fact was the ultimate sense that the Apostle Paul gave to the word.

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion [koinonia] of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion [koinonia] of the body of Christ? Because of one bread, we who are many are one body—for we all of the one bread do partake.

What S. Paul is actually saying here that the means by which believers have fellowship—have communion—with each other as one body is when believers partake of one bread which is the communion of the body of Christ. In other words, what makes a group of believers the fellowship of the body of Christ, what makes them essentially the Church IS the breaking of bread which Christ called his body and the partaking of the cup which Christ called his blood.

The centre for Christian worship is the Holy Communion or Lord’s Supper. Here the church remembers what God did for us historically in Jesus and the spiritual presence today of Jesus Christ among us. Here is the reality of faith. … We believe in the reality of God because he was revealed in Jesus. And that same Jesus miraculously rose from the dead and lives among his people today by his Spirit.[4]

And yet—there are many who would contest this. Many have told me that Holy Communion is just a ritual, and to insist on its being the center of Christian worship—that is, insisting that the Eucharist be held at least every Sunday—is legalistic. For many, the “heart of worship” consists solely in either a) letting “the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” and/or b) “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16). To those who emphasize the former, the most essential aspect is Bible reading and Bible study, and in public worship that means preaching should be the center of Christian worship (I myself am sympathetic to this view).

Those emphasizing singing as the heart of worship love to quote Psalm 22:3, that God “inhabits the praises of his people.” This would not fit with Matt Redman’s experience, when God’s presence was most acutely felt when they stopped singing for a season. Yet many still insist that the singing of praises is that which invokes the presence of God, so much so that the absence of any singing almost means God is not there as well!

What IS the “Heart of Worship”?

The reason why I am sympathetic to the view that the “heart of worship” consists of letting “the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” and in “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” is that it is Scriptural. We read in Acts 2:42 that the early believers “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine,” that is, they attended upon the apostles preaching and teaching. Furthermore, not only in S. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, but also to the Ephesians he writes:

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (5:17—21)

This does show that the singing of music was an integral part of Christian worship as it was under Judaism.

Another example that shows that there is the opinion that the "heart" of worship consists solely in letting “the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” and in “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16) is the example of our Lord Jesus Christ himself:

Matthew 26:30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Jesus and his disciples, soon after their celebration of the Passover (itself a liturgical act of worship) they sang a Passover hymn. Christ’s own birth, triumphal entry, and second coming was and will be accompanied by singing.

I myself was originally trained in music, and I had originally entertained ambitions of writing choir music. I entertained opinions about church music all because I believed that music was central to Christian worship. By the time I became a pastor, I came to believe that while music was very important in worship, the preaching of the pure Word of God should take precedence over any musical expression. Music in worship should not primarily entertain but instruct, the “teaching and admonishing” part. I gloried in the hymns of Charles Wesley, seeing them as the great depositories of Protestant and Methodist doctrine.

And so I delved into the depths of Wesley’s hymns, and even the hymns of the German Reformation. The hymns and chorales taught and admonished me personally into learning what Martin Luther loved and believed. Johann Sebastian Bach became my hero, and the old Christmas carols made alive for me the doctrines of the Incarnation and Redemption. I learned to chant the psalms at about the same time I discovered “Heart of Worship”. I learned to appreciate both contemporary and traditional songs of praise.

Yes, “psalms, hymn and spiritual songs” can an do teach correct doctrine. And yet, after singing many such, especially Redman’s “Heart of Worship”, I came to realize that singing was not the heart of worship at all.

Was it the preaching then? I came to believe this was so, though many would accuse me of believing this because I am a licensed preacher of the United Methodist Church. I maintained and preached constantly that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of Christ/God”. Not just reading, not just studying, but actually HEARING the Word of God.

Many would like to have faith primarily as choice made my human free will and a “gift of God” secondarily. I maintain, and still do, that faith is primarily a gift of God, that in our total depravity we would not have even thought of coming to Christ unless that faith was first implanted by the sowing of God’s Word to us. That many do not believe just means that many choose to reject God’s Word, and consequently cease to believe. Many claim they believe in God, but if they do not accept God’s word, even Christ’s, then they do not really believe.

I have met many preachers who do not believe in God’s written Word, and yet they claim to have a genuine faith. Oh, they sing a lot, dance a lot, and raise their hands a lot, but their rejection of God’s written Word—even Christ’s own direct words—show that their “faith” is a false faith. And I realized that this has nothing to do with musical styles: I have met many preachers who dislike contemporary Christian music, singing only the most traditional hymns, and still reject God’s Word. These preachers—contemporary and traditional—explain away the clear words of Christ and impose their own meanings.

And yet they seem oh-so-spiritual because they wave either their hands in the air or sing “Standing On the Promises” with such gusto. I could not understand how they can say they have faith, yet NOT believe in the Bible. Then, I realized why: the heart of their preaching was not Jesus Christ, but themselves!

Romans 16:17—18 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.

These preachers are popular because they flatter their hearers, telling them what their “audience” wants to hear. These preachers do not worship Christ but the people: vox populi, vox Dei; ergo, populi Deus est. They preach so as to gain the people’s approval, the people’s applause.

Luke 6:22—23, 26 "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. … Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."

One preacher once told me that people should worship according to how they choose to worship. Sounds so nice and holy—but it is WRONG. People should worship God the way God himself says he should be worshiped.

And so I realized that even if people may say that the heart of worship is Christ through the preaching of the pure Word of God, what they actually mean is that the heart of worship is the preacher. The better the preacher is, the more he or she has the tendency to become the heart of worship, not Christ. Therefore, preaching on its own and by itself cannot be the center of worship.

How then can worship be centered solely on the Lord Jesus Christ? Believe it or not, Christ himself gave the answer, which is

The Sacrament of Lord’s Table, or Holy Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23—26 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

In either a traditional anthem sung by a choir or a contemporary song played by the band, it is too easy to focus on the “performers” and how well they sing. In fact, that was EXACTLY the problem in Matt Redman’s church, which is why their pastor had to stop the band from singing and even removed the sound system for a season. On the other hand, it becomes too easy as well for the preacher to make his or her sermon a performance piece designed to attract applause. Indeed, preaching has become so treated as entertainment that there are books sold that contain “entertaining illustrations” for sermons.

The only element of worship where entire point is Christ’s centrality is the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The ordinance of Holy Communion is so centered on the Lord Jesus Christ that if it became a remembrance of something or someone else, it ceases to be the Lord’s Supper. It is very difficult to regard the Eucharistic prayer, the Great Thanksgiving, as a performance piece which would move the “audience” to applaud the “performance”.

Indeed, Holy Communion should be considered THE central element of Christian worship along with the proclamation of the Word of God because it is the most immediate means of fulfilling the primary meaning of “worshiping in Spirit and in Truth” which is “in obeying the voice of the LORD” for “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22). The definition of true, biblical worship is no less than this.

Worship is all about the Lord God—listening to God’s word (not the preacher’s words!) and obeying God’s word. True worship is never about the worshipper. But where does Holy Communion fit into this? The Eucharist is the part of worship where Christ commands that he be recalled and this command is obeyed immediately. Of course, both preaching and singing can do this as well. A preacher can preach repentance and the people can at the saying of it repent. A song can exhort people to praise God, and the command is followed. But preachers now rarely preach repentance, and many songs (both contemporary and traditional[!]) are more about the singer than God.

Furthermore, just as Matt Redman and his church realized, “a song in itself” is not what God has required, nor does God need any help from the preacher to “explain” what God means. God’s written Word is both clear and powerful as it is. If worship is about exalting God above everything, including oneself, then one must exalt God’s will over one’s own preferences. “Not my will, but thine be done.” And God wills that Christ’s commands be obeyed.

Many would object that the “ritual” of Holy Communion is not really “necessary” to salvation, much less worship, for we are saved by “faith alone”. Martin Luther, who coined the term sola fidei, would not have been impressed:

The other argument which they bring up is that it [Holy Communion] is not necessary. ... For this is what they say: If I believe in Jesus Christ, who died for me, what need is there for me to believe in a baked God? ...

YOU MIGHT AS WELL TELL ME ALSO THAT BECAUSE FAITH ALONE JUSTIFIES, CHRIST IS NOT NECESSARY. ... Indeed, let us even go further and say that it is not necessary that Christ be God. For through God’s power he could have just as well been risen from the dead and saved us, even if he had been purely human...

... What is it to me, whether it be necessary or not? God knows well how it shall be and why it must be thus. IF HE SAYS THAT IT IS NECESSARY, THEN ALL CREATURES MUST BE SILENT. But because in the sacrament Christ says in clear words: "Take, eat, this is my body, etc." IT IS MY DUTY TO BELIEVE THESE WORDS, AS FIRMLY AS I BELIEVE ALL THE WORDS OF CHRIST. ... and say, "Lord, you know better than I." The same is true of baptism. The water is baptism, and in baptism is the Holy Spirit. So you might also say: "Why is it necessary to baptize with water?" BUT THE SPIRIT SAYS SO, do you hear? HERE IS GOD'S WILL AND WORD; ADHERE TO IT, and let your opinions go.[5] [italics, bold and emphases added]

If Martin Luther, whose catch-phrase “faith alone” does not preclude the necessity of the Sacraments, endorses the belief that Holy Communion IS necessary, it is worth anyone’s time to notice this. For the necessity of the Sacraments is in itself an article of sola fidei. The problem is, that in contemporary and “traditional” worship, people have faith in faith—that is, they literally worship faith, not Christ. They say, “All that is needed is faith,” and then proceed from that premise as if Christ’s commands mean nothing, and that even to attempt to obey Christ is demonized as “legalism” and “pharisaicalism”.

You do not become a master musician by playing just as you please, by imagining that learning the scales is sheer legalism and bondage! No, true freedom in any area of life is the consequence of regular discipline. It is no less true of the life of prayer.[6]

Why is it that those who have no biblical convictions or theology to govern and direct their actions are tolerated and the standard or truth of God's Word rightly divided and applied is dismissed as extreme opinion or legalism?[7] [bold and italics added]

Christ himself shows that the primary meaning of “worshiping in Spirit and in Truth” is “in obeying the voice of the LORD” (1 Samuel 15:22) when he complained to his disciples:

And why call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and yet do not the things which I say? Whosoever comes to me, and hears my sayings, and does them, I will show you to whom that is like: it is like one who built a house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But one that hears, and doeth not, is like one that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. (Luke 6:46—49, bold added)

Now, how often are we to obey Christ’s commands? Does it depend upon the convenience of the worshiper? Or does it depend on the will of God?

How often are we to forgive those who wrong us? Seven times, or seventy times seven? How often are we to love one another? Once a month, or every day, or every hour? How often are we to “teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”? Once a month? Once a week? Every day? How often should we read our Bibles? Once every Sunday? Once a day? Anytime we want to? How often are pastors expected to preach the Word? On Sundays only? How often should Holy Communion be held? Once a month? Every week? Daily?

Someone once wrote to me on a public, online forum in a Facebook group:

is FREQUENCY the issue here, or the SIGNIFICANCE? if FREQUENCY = SIGNIFICANCE, then why don't we apply it as well to holding worship services AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE? EVERYDAY? EVERY HOUR? is ONCE A WEEK also too INFREQUENT, thus by syllogism, also rendered INSIGNIFICANT?

I answered thus:

Why not? The original Methodists held Morning AND Evening Prayer EVERY DAY (as per the schedule of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer) and had Holy Communion as much as five times a week (excluding the fast days of Wednesday and Friday). And we WONDER why modern "Methodists" are not as successful as those during the time of the Wesleys. In Acts 2[:42, 46], the early Christians had Holy Communion every day.

The problem is that modern "Methodists" have compartmentalized their lives to "religious" and "secular". Lest we forget, the original 18th century Methodists were CALLED Methodists because they methodically worshiped according to the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer, i.e., EVERY SINGLE DAY. On the other hand, modern "Methodists" are at best "Sunday Christians" and at worst...

He then answered thus:

is the Sunday worship mere RITUAL or a MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP as well? we ALL have PERSONAL and CORPORATE relationship with GOD as believers and as members of the United Methodist Church. constant communion is NOT THE SINGLE MANIFESTATION of one's deepening relationship with GOD and his neighbor.

The constant practice of Holy Communion may not be the “single manifestation of one's deepening relationship with GOD and his neighbor” but the Eucharist is the most SIGNIFICANT manifestation of “one's deepening relationship with GOD and his neighbor”! FOR THROUGH THE PARTAKING OF THE EUCHARISTIC BREAD BELIEVERS BECOME ONE BODY (1 Corinthians 10:17), i.e., the body of Christ, AND THROUGH THE PARTAKING OF THE CUP OF BLESSING WE RECEIVE THE BLOOD OF CHRIST POURED OUT FOR US FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. The bread partaken is the basis for our relationship with our neighbor as fellow Christians, and the cup shared is the basis for the renewed relationship we have with God.

Biblically and Scripturally speaking [yes, I know I just wrote a redundancy], it is not the singing of songs that unites us as the body of Christ (where in the Bible can it be found that a choir can unite the church?), nor can the church be reunited to God merely by the efforts of a great preacher. It is Christ who unites us to God and to each other through his ordinances.

Jordan, how could i say this more succinctly? you have STUDIED this so THOUROUGHLY as we can see. now, HOW does this knowledge parlay into your DEEPENING RELATIONSHIP with your congregation? does your congregation NEED more frequent communion services? or does your congregation NEED more pastoral care? where does your advocacy for more frequent eucharistic service stem from?

The question above makes the erroneous assumption that what a congregation “wants” is what they “need”. Sometimes this may be the case. But in putting constant communion against “pastoral care”, the questioner committed a serious doctrinal and theological error. THIS MAN HAS IMPLIED THAT THE MERE ACTIONS OF A PASTOR (pastoral care) IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN AN ORDAINED MEANS OF GRACE (the Eucharist)! In short, this man places more value on humans works than on God’s means of grace! Who then is the real “legalist”? one who upholds the means by which God conveys his grace to his Church, or one who wants the works a pastor does “to be seen by men” (Matthew 23:5)?[8]

On the other hand, I agree with Thomas Oden, when he wrote:

No pastoral act is more central to the care of souls than the Supper where the resurrected Christ himself is present at the table. IF ALL ACTS OF PASTORAL CARE WERE STOPPED EXCEPT [THE] EUCHARIST, THE WORK OF PASTORAL CARE WOULD REMAIN VITAL AND SIGNIFICANT.[9]

You see, constant communion is IN ITSELF pastoral care, that of the best kind. For the congregation is cared for by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd. Thus, constant communion is a whole lot better as pastoral care than the imperfect attentions of a human pastor. HOLY COMMUNION IS PASTORAL CARE by the Divine Pastor (Shepherd) of our souls.

I answered his question, “where does your advocacy for more frequent eucharistic [sic] service stem from?” by answering that Scripture, Methodist tradition, recent experience, and plain reason says that constant communion is a disciplinary and spiritual necessity. He answered thus,

point for point well taken for now... but i still think the essential issue here is SIGNIFICANCE and not FREQUENCY per se.

And just what does this famous person mean when he said this? That it does not matter that one does not have communion as long as one knows its significance? One may as well say that one need not accept Christ as Lord and Savior as long as one knows the “significance” of Christ’s sacrificial death! So “significance” is more essential[?] than frequency—does that mean that it is more essential to know the “significance” of the Bible than to read the Bible frequently?[10]

I wrote it before, and I write it again, if the FREQUENCY of the Eucharist per se is not essential, then Holy Communion itself would cease to be a SIGNIFICANT element of worship, for like if one only prayed or preached once a month, then both prayer and preaching themselves would cease to be significant elements of worship. That is what happens when something is not regularly done during Sunday worship—it becomes treated as an “add-on”; yes, a very special add-on, but one that is perceived as largely UNNECESSARY and INSIGNIFICANT. Thus, for people to say that the FREQUENCY of Holy Communion is not tied in to its SIGNIFICANCE is just plain ignorance.

And this ignorance has caused many to think that they can get closer to God and to each other by either a twenty-four hour praise and worship concert or a multi-church choral cantata. It was this that Matt Redman found out to be so very wrong, oh so very, very wrong.

The Inherent Christ-centeredness of the Eucharist

The most important reason Holy Communion should be considered THE central act of Christian worship as the most fitting conclusion and extension of proclamation of the Word of God is because the breaking of bread in the Eucharist is centered solely on the Lord Jesus Christ. The lyrics of Matt Redman’s “Heart of Worship” actually show why:

When the music fades,

All is stripped away,

And I simply come;

Longing just to bring something that’s of worth

That will bless Your heart.

I’ll bring You more than a song,

For a song in itself

Is not what You have required.

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear;

You’re looking into my heart.

Note the phrase, “a song in itself is not what you [meaning God] have required”. That is why “the music fades, and all is stripped away.” What then, does the Lord require in worship? What does Scriptural, New Testament worship look like when everything non-essential is stripped away? Believe it or not, the New Testament does describe how the early Christians worshipped, which tells us what they thought the Lord ordained to be essential.

Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfast in the teaching of the apostles, and the fellowship, and the breaking of the bread, and the prayers.

And they continued steadfast - So their daily Church communion consisted in these four particulars: (1) Hearing the word; (2) Having all things common; (3) Receiving the Lord's Supper; (4) Prayer.[11]

These are the four essentials of Scriptural, New Testament worship. If there be need to “strip down to the bear essentials”, then when “all is stripped away” these four particulars must remain. What was the teaching of the apostles? Jesus said that the particular role of his apostles was “teaching them to observe all, whatever I did command you.” And one of Christ’s commands which must be taught is to partake of bread and the cup of blessing in memory of Christ.

When the Christians began to be persecuted, what was the most basic form of worship they observed? Did they sing like S. Paul and Silas in jail. Probably they did, when they were in jail. But when they were in hiding, they stuck with the four-point New Testament pattern of worship:

And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles [that later became the New Testament] or the writings of the prophets [Old Testament] are read, as long as time permits. When the reader has finished, the presider in a discourse [sermon] urges and invites [us] to the imitation of these noble things. Then we all stand up and offer prayers. … When we have finished the prayer, bread is brought, and wine with water, and the presider similarly sends up prayers and thanksgivings to the best of his ability, and the congregation assent, saying Amen; the distribution and reception of the consecrated [bread and wine] by each one takes place and they are sent to the absent by deacons.[12]

Since the Christians described here were under persecution and had to meet secretly in homes, it is likely that services were held in haste and that anything nonessential was omitted, especially anything noisy or otherwise likely to attract public notice. This may be why there was no mention of singing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.”[13]

Notice that both the persecuted Church of Justin Martyr’s time and the distracted church of Matt Redman’s time “stripped everything away” including the singing but retained that which was essential. For truly, “a song in itself” is not what Christ has required. What Christ required is this:

This is my body which is given and broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you and for many for the remission of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

And this is why the breaking of bread in the Eucharist is centered solely on the Lord Jesus Christ. One can sing any hymn or song on any topic other than Christ. One can preach sermons that need not be about Christ at all (like when preaching from the Old Testament). In Holy Communion, the topic is always all about the Lord Jesus Christ. THE EUCHARIST IS ALL ABOUT JESUS.

I’m coming back to the heart of worship,

And it’s all about You,

All about You, Jesus.

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it,

When it’s all about You,

All about You, Jesus.

Again, one can sing about “trading one’s sorrows” without directly mentioning Jesus Christ who bore our sorrows. One can even sing about God’s “amazing grace” without even mentioning what Jesus Christ did so that we can have that amazing grace. One can even preach about “sinners in the hands of an angry God” without calling to mind the Lord Jesus who called out on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” One can even preach about love, courtship, and marriage without even mentioning the same Jesus who once turned water into wine during a wedding. WHETHER HYMN OR SERMON, PRAISE SONG OR PEP TALK, THESE ARE NOT INHERENTLY ABOUT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE EUCHARIST IS.

For God “searches much deeper within through the way things appear” for he is “looking into our hearts.” That is why, in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we are told “lift up our hearts” in order to “give thanks to the Lord our God.” Holy Communion, unlike both singing and preaching, cannot be twisted to be about any topic or subject other than Christ’s sacrificial death.

IF THE HEART OF WORSHIP IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, AND THE EUCHARIST IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, THEN THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF WORSHIP.

Conclusion: Why the Eucharist IS the Heart of Christian Worship

… the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks [εὐχαριστήσας], he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

And he took the cup, and gave thanks [εὐχαριστήσας], and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

The reason why the Sacrament of Holy Communion is called the Eucharist is because both the breaking of the bread and the cup of blessing is preceded by the giving of thanks, in Greek, eucharisteo.

εὐχαριστέω, eucharisteo. From εὐχάριστος, eucharistos; to be grateful, that is, (actually) to express gratitude (towards); specifically to say grace at a meal: - (give) thank (-ful, -s).

While the word itself can be used in a “generic” sense as giving thanks, its primary meaning was the blessing made at a meal, specifically in Jewish practice the blessings said over the cup of blessing and bread broken. In Jewish homes, the blessing of the cup and the breaking of bread on the Eve of the Sabbath was the central act of worship. Similarly, the early Christians, (who were originally predominantly Jewish,) brought this understanding of the Sabbath breaking of bread their observance of Holy Communion, which (following Jewish custom), they called the Eucharist.

This is the reason why Prayer of Consecration of the elements in Holy Communion is called The Great Thanksgiving, for the worshipper thanks God in the generic sense through primary meaning of eucharisteo in its specific sense.

What is interesting is that the same word is conjugated in the following verses:

1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks [εὐχαριστεῖτε], for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus in regard to you.

Ephesians 5:17—20 Therefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks [εὐχαριστοῦντες] always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:16—17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks [εὐχαριστοῦντες] to God and the Father by him.

So it can be seen that even in the texts that talk about letting “the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” and “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” the Eucharist is mentioned as well. This is in keeping with the Basic Pattern of New Testament Worship found in Acts 2, where the believers, “continued steadfast in the teaching of the apostles, and the fellowship, and the breaking of the bread, and the prayers” (v. 42), and interestingly enough, the original believers after Pentecost worshipped using this pattern EVERY SINGLE DAY (v. 46). That is, not only did they hearing the preaching of the Word constantly, shared all things constantly, and prayed without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), the New Testament believers had Holy Communion constantly.

I repeat: THE EARLY, NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS INTERPRETED CHRIST’S COMMAND TO EAT BREAD AND DRINK WINE AS A DAILY DUTY. This is probably why the Lord’s Prayer at an early time became associated with the Lord’s Supper, with its phrase, “Give us this day our DAILY BREAD.”

Holy Communion should be considered THE central element of Christian worship as the extension and fulfillment of the proclamation of the Word of God for two main reasons. First, the primary meaning of “worshiping in Spirit and in Truth” is “in obeying the voice of the LORD”. For if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, we will keep his commandments. And not only once a month, but every time we gather to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, who commanded his disciples to eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of him.

Most importantly, the breaking of bread in the Eucharist is centered solely on the Lord Jesus Christ. For IF THE HEART OF WORSHIP IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, AND THE EUCHARIST IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, THEN—THEREFORE—THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF WORSHIP.

Of course, not everyone will accept this conclusion. What I like about Matt Redman was his honesty as to why he did not like discovering what the heart of worship was:

Some will at this point argue, “But isn’t Holy Communion one of those ‘external trappings we’d grown used to’ that also has to be stripped away? Isn’t Holy Communion just a ritual, when what’s really important is the relationship between God and neighbor?”

I repeat my answer: Holy Communion should not be regarded as a mere ritual involving common food but as means for a more meaningful and deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and our fellow believers through what Christ himself called his body and blood.

The relationship between believers as the body of Christ is created by the act of breaking bread together, for “we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17). But most importantly, our Lord Jesus said that if we love him, we will obey his commandments (John 14:15), and so our obedience to the command to eat bread and drink from the cup in memory of him is indicative of our loving relationship with Christ.

How someone can claim to have a deep relationship with Christ and yet not want to constantly remember Christ the way Christ told his disciples to remember him, I cannot even pretend to comprehend.

Yet others will insist on asking, “Why the necessity of using bread and wine? Can we not remember Christ every day without the ritualistic Holy Communion?”

For why does God feed us through the bread, or under the bread, when he could do so just as well by the mere Word alone, without the bread? … But he [God] says: “What is that to you? [John 21:22]” … Let this then be the sum of it: See only that you pay heed to God’s Word and remain in it, like a child in the cradle. If you let go of it for a moment, then you fall out of it.[14]

The thing is, Christ asked that he be remembered through the breaking of bread and the blessing of the cup: why the resistance to remembering Christ through the means he told his followers he should be remembered? It was Christ himself who made the breaking of bread and the blessing of the cup as a necessary means of remembering him.

Furthermore, as Hoyt L. Hickman would observe,

The word translated remembrance has a meaning stronger than what we ordinarily mean by the word “remember.” We might better use the word “recall” in the sense of “call back”—“Do this to call me back.”[15]

The point is not just about a purely mental or nostalgic remembrance of Christ, but the kind of remembrance, the epiclesis, that truly invites Christ’s actual and real presence, when Christ is just as present with us as with his disciples long ago. And the means whereby Christ told us to invoke his actual and real presence is through the blessing of the cup and the breaking of bread. This is what Christ himself commanded us to do if we love him.

If we really “wanna see Jesus lifted high” and be really “sorry for the thing” we have made of worship, then we really have to go back to the heart of worship. And IF THE HEART OF WORSHIP IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, AND THE EUCHARIST IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, THEN—THEREFORE—THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF WORSHIP. We then have to go back to Holy Communion, and not only once a month,[16] but as often as we have the opportunity.[17]

***

But then again, “quis credidit auditui nostro et brachium Domini cui revelatum est”?[18]

[2] Ibid., “The Unquenchable Worshiper,” pp. 25—26.

[3] One reviewer (David W. Jones, November 8, 2002) of Matt Redman’s book wrote, “The only theological concern that I had involved Redman's use of the word "revelation" (see in particular pages 25-27). He talks about how God reveals Himself in nature and in the history of His people and in the cross and in fellowship with others. He also includes God's Word in this, but I would have liked for him to emphasize it above the others. The way it is written now, it almost sounds like God's Word is one of any number of places where we can receive revelation about God, rather than the primary place with the others supplementing.” Indeed, Redman did write about “getting out to nature—the ocean, the mountains or just a field—to soak our souls in the wonder of our creator [sic].” Indeed, it is in putting God’s Word, i.e., Divine revelation on the same level with natural revelation which is probably the root cause of why their worship at Soul Survivor suffered to begin with. It is this confusion which is the main problem with most contemporary worship.

[4] Vernon Blackmore and Andrew Page, “Melting Down the Gods,” Evolution the Great Debate (Lion Publishing, 1989), p. 188.

[6] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Grow in Grace.

[7] John Stott, Corporate Worship for the Church? Chevrolet and the Word of God, An Open Letter to the CCM Community.

[8] It was no wonder to me, then, when I at one time witnessed this same man arrange to have a concert held on a Vesper Service which was, we found out during the service, a “practice” for an upcoming choral contest. As to be expected, the concert took very long, so this same man whispered to the pastor in charge of the Vesper Service not to preach anymore (imagine how the pastor, who took several days to prepare his sermon, felt when he was told this). I was seated behind the pastor in question and cannot help but overhear. That this particular Vesper Service was also a Communion Service did not bother this man. That goes to show that by his actions, this man does not value either the Word of God preached nor the Sacrament duly administered, despite his claims to the contrary. He may claim that he values preaching and the Lord’s Supper, yet he would rather have a choral contest take the place of both preaching and constant communion, for he believes that listening to a choir as they prepare for a choral contest is a better means of grace than God’s own ordained means of grace. In other words, this man’s “means of grace” takes precedence over God’s own Scripturally ordained means of grace. So, it is no surprise to me that this man would exalt human works over God’s ordinances, and oppose those who would exalt the latter. Actions speak louder than words. Unfortunately, his words carry more weight in the contemporary “church” than God’s Word. How I wish some pastor he respects would do a Matt Redman on him, just to teach him humility! All that I experienced (and that hapless pastor whom he told not to preach anymore) from him is disrespect and disdain, just because we are young pastors who have no clout to challenge his fame or ego.

[9] Thomas Oden, Ministry Through Word and Sacrament (New York: Crossroad, 1989), p. 154, emphases added.

[10] This is full indication that this famous man is operating under the doctrinal error called GNOSTICISM, for in Gnosticism knowledge is all that is essential, not grace. Oh, he may say that grace is important to him, but both his actions and words show that for him knowing the “significance” of a thing is better than the thing itself. That is why he can say he values Holy Communion while at the same time denigrates it through his actions and his opposition to those he judges as “legalists”. He is also apparently an antinomian, for his denigration of the necessity of obeying Christ.

[11] John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament.

[12] Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 67. Quoted by Hoyt L. Hickman, “The Basic Pattern of Worship and Its Origins,” Worshipping With United Methodists: A Guide for Pastors and Church Leaders (Nashville: Abingdon Press, © 1996), p. 38.

[13] Hickman, “The Basic Pattern of Worship and Its Origins,” Worshipping With United Methodists, p. 39.

[14] Martin Luther, Op. cit.

[16] And not just even once a week! There are already too many “Sunday Christians” who may worship wholeheartedly one day a week, then forget all about Jesus the rest of the week.

[17] Ideally, if we are to follow the New Testament pattern—as well as follow in the footsteps of our Wesleyan forebears—we ought to have Holy Communion every day.

[18] “Excaeca cor populi huius et aures eius adgrava et oculos eius claude, ne forte videat oculis suis et auribus suis audiat et corde suo intellegat et convertatur et sanem eum.” Et dixi, “Usquequo, Domine?” et dixit, “Donec desolentur civitates absque habitatore et domus sine homine et terra relinquetur deserta.”

Constant Communion

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The True Heart of Worship