Baptist Ideas: The Mystery of Communion

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Martin Sutherland

Baptists have always been a bit ambivalent about sacraments. In keeping with other Protestants we are quite clear that only two symbolic rituals are at stake (unlike the Catholics who have seven, including such events as ordination and marriage). For most Protestants only baptism and eucharist (Lord’s supper, communion) come into the discussion.

But precisely how are we to understand these events? What do we mean by “sacrament”, and are these events properly seen in that light? It is a complex issue, which caused major divisions among the Protestant reformers themselves. Is there a Baptist perspective on this? Is there a big Baptist idea at stake?

Sacraments

First, what do we mean by sacrament? The word has its origins in the concept of mystery. It is an acknowledgement that God “does stuff” which we cannot pinpoint and do not fully understand. The classic definition suggests that baptism and communion involve “visible signs of an invisible grace”. To call something “sacramental” is to say that God works there in a particular way, a special way.

In this series we have already looked at the significance of baptism as a marker-point for entry into the church. It is a seal of the covenant made with the congregation under Christ, which Baptists have not seen in truly sacramental terms. This time we will concentrate on Communion. This is tricky enough, it must be said.

For a start there have been (and continue to be) a wide range of practices in Baptist churches. In the late nineteenth century Baptists began to move away from using real wine, a matter of some controversy (as much as you would get in some congregations if you tried to reintroduce the practice!).

It was not so long ago that communion was very clearly restricted to the members of the local church only. Others would be given an opportunity to leave and then “communion” would commence. Today, it receives scant attention in some places but is the focus of arguments over who can take it and who can serve it in others. You might be forgiven for thinking that Baptists are just plain confused over the matter – and you would probably be right!

Remembering

So, what are we to make of it? Baptists have been quite clear that there is no particular significance attached to the “elements”, the bread and wine of Communion. This of course is in contrast to the Catholic view which sees the elements changing mysteriously into the very body and blood of Christ.

The formula which Baptists have tended to settle on is that Communion is about remembrance, about looking back to Jesus’ last supper with the disciples, which in turn reminds us to be thankful for the sacrifice of his body and the shedding of his blood. Important as this is, there is no special “sacrament” here. Rather, the talk is of “ordinance”. We take Communion together regularly because Jesus told us to, “in remembrance of me”.

Anticipating

Fair enough, but is this the whole picture? There are plenty of Baptist theologians today wondering whether we have missed something when we understand Communion just as looking back. Nigel Wright, Principal of Spurgeon’s College in London, explained this wider context in his recent book Free Church - Free State: The Positive Baptist Vision (pp. 102-103). As well as the “past dimension” there is a “future dimension”, what “Jesus referred to when he spoke about a fulfilment in the kingdom of God when he would eat and drink once more with his disciples (Luke 22:16-18)”.

The Apostle Paul makes this link when he talks of communion “proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Communion anticipates the great eschatological feast. This adds a richness of hope and expectation to an event which doesn’t need to be only a sombre recollection of sacrifice.

Celebrating

Then there is the “present dimension”. Jesus, Wright points out, “makes himself present in the feast of life of which he continues to be the host”. The presence of Christ takes on a special nature when “two or three” gather around this meal. Now, here we are indeed approaching an understanding of communion which touches on a big Baptist idea.

We need to make a further connection, however, if we are to understand this fully.The “present dimension” extends in a horizontal, as well as a vertical direction. During Communion the congregation too is joined together in a special way. When we link this to our stress on covenanted community, we are getting to a truly Baptist sense of sacrament.

Both Baptism and Communion make sense as events in the life of God’s people, gathered together. If there is something mysterious, something sacramental going on, it is in the knitting together of this motley crew of individuals into one body. Communion, after all, is eating together – in itself a community-forming event in all cultures. But this is a special meal, it is Christ’s meal, the “Lord’s Supper”, and partaking in it is a crucial way in which we gather “in Christ’s name”.

Communion, then, is about remembering, anticipating and celebrating what God has done, will do and is doing. The ritual itself isn’t the sacrament. The bread and the wine have no unique quality. They are significant because they are part of a bigger mystery in which God reconciles us to himself, to each other and to the whole of creation. The “sacrament” is in the gathering. This is an event about which we should have no uncertainty or ambivalence. It is the essence of being Church.

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