Them: “What if it goes to someone undeserving? Someone who hasn’t earned it?
Me: “Who am I to keep someone from grace, from help, from the table?”
The “rule” of my denomination that I break most often and most fragrantly regards Holy Communion. In the guidelines about the “means of grace” (ways God is revealed to us), pastors are instructed to offer communion to baptized individuals (regardless of age). The pertinent documents declare that “there is no sin” if an unbaptized person is to receive communion, but to begin withholding the sacrament until there is understanding and baptism.
No.
Firstly, I do not believe in hierarchy among the (two) sacraments. Communion is not *more* sacred than baptism. If both are the work of God, then who am I to say that one must be held back until the other can occur. God washes, welcomes, and feeds. It is a gift to be part of that work. It feels like a risky business to withhold the gifts of God based on my own judgment and a human-created schedule.
Secondly, the invocation of “understanding” means there comes a point in time when we comprehend how the mystery of communion works. People worry about children receiving the elements, but no one has ever stopped me from communing an adult with dementia who still reaches for the host. People would be upset if I withheld from folks with developmental differences or neurological issues, who are able to tell that they are being excluded. If “understanding” is required to participate at our Lord’s table, it’s going to be a pretty quiet party. How can a foretaste of the feast to come be exclusive?
Thirdly, how can we do it “rightly” if we can’t have it? I know some who are likely ready to slide into my DMs with some words from 1 Corinthians 11. Bring it on. Paul is concerned about people who are “eating and drinking to their damnation.” In the context of the chapter, this seems more about coming to the fellowship table with a disrespectful attitude or one out of step with the neighbor-honoring that seems to have caused the Corinthian Christians to struggle. Get it together, says Paul. Your heart isn’t right at the table, if it’s not right toward the other people in the room. This is true and important. I will argue, however, that the body and blood of Christ are tools to help us get right. If we are struggling, communion may be what we need more.
Lastly, who decides who deserves to be at the table? Judas (betrayer), Peter (denier), and Thomas (doubter) all ate with Jesus in his last meal before the resurrection. The room held women who prepared the meal, the Sons of Zebedee who hadn’t exactly honored their father, and at least one (former) tax collector who had been in league with an oppressive government. Jesus did not limit who was fed. The forgiveness at the cross wasn’t limited to those who understood what was happening, but was specifically extended to those who knew “not what they do”. Deserve is a precarious concept. And grace isn’t fair.
Grace isn’t fair.
But I don’t want to eat at a table or live in a world without it.
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