Outline:
Purpose: To look at how Eucharist is a Sacrament and how we receive the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus in the Eucharist.- Eucharist- One of the Two Great Sacraments
- Given by Jesus
- Other is Baptism
- "Outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace." (BCP 857)
- Outward signs are the Bread and Wine (BCP 859)
- Inward signs are the Body and Blood of Christ
- Question is how the outward signs show the inward signs:
- The act of αναμνεσις- “Remember Me”
- Simple translation is "remembrance"
- The word that is used by Jesus in the Last Supper: "Do this in remembrance of Me."
- Not a simple remembering of the past
- Remember past as if we are present in that event
- Way Passover was and is viewed by the Jewish People
- Jesus says in the Last Supper, “this is my body” and “this is my blood of the New Covenant”
- Live into that in each Eucharist through anamnesis, or “remembrance”
- 1 Cor. 11:26- "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."
- Means we live into the Last Supper and all that follows from it
- Living into Cross and Resurrection too
- These events also made present through anamnesis, or “rememberance”
- Note: this remembrance was given to the Disciples as a group
- Jesus in Matthew 18:20- “Where 2 or 3 are gathered in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.”
- All are part of and necessary for the Eucharist
- Celebrant- go between
- Represents God to the People
- Represents the People to God
- Can look at Ancient Israel and Epistle to the Hebrews for parallels
- Not meant to do Eucharist solo, or without others there
- Became an unfortunate practice by priests in the Middle Ages
- Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ
- Inward signs- know what we receive
- Different thoughts on how we receive Christ in Communion
- Prayer Book leaves it open on how reception works
- Various views:
- Transubstantiation
- Think of it as transitioning substance
- Bread and Wine retain the qualities that make them bread and wine (shape, feel, smell, taste, etc.)
- Inner being of the Bread and Wine becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus
- Based on a misunderstanding of Aristotle pioneered by Thomas Aquinas
- Primarily Roman Catholic view
- Real Presence/Consubstantiation
- Two different views that are similar
- In both, Bread and Wine stay bread and wine while Jesus is present in them
- Consubstantiation says inner being of elements is both bread/wine and Jesus
- Real Presence says Jesus is there in a real way
- Mystery remains as to how Jesus is present
- Real Presence is closest to Martin Luther's view
- Receptionism
- Jesus is received during communion "through the heart of the believer"
- Something spiritual, not physical, is going on
- Thomas Cranmer held this view
- Jean Calvin and others like him also held this view
- Memorialism
- Eucharist is simply an act of remembering Jesus and the Last Supper
- Ulrich Zwingli, Swiss Reformer, held this view
- In all our Eucharistic Prayers, we call down the Holy Spirit (επικλησις) upon the elements
- Do so that 'they may be for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ'
- Each Eucharistic Prayer words this differently
- Open in how they are the body- could hold to any of these 5 views
- Note: Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi- “law of prayer [is] law of belief”
- Commonly referred to as “praying shapes believing”
- i.e. What words we use shows what we believe
- True for individuals and churches
- Have to think through your own view on what is occurring in the Eucharist
- Because we are recalling Jesus and His death for us, we are called to have reverence no matter what
- Weekly Reminder
- Sacraments are how we receive Grace
- By taking Christ’s Body and Blood (however we understand it), we remember we are part of the Body of Christ in Baptism
- United in His Death and Resurrection
- Each week, we are reminded of who we are as Christ Jesus’ own through the Eucharist