ancient future worship
Faith – Family – Friends – Eucharist
By Dr. Robert Web ber
Ayear or so ago President Bush
was asked to name the most
important influences in his life.
Without hesitation he looked at
the reporter and calmly said,
“Faith, family, friends.”
It is Monday morning of Holy Week,
2007, and I have the challenging task of
once again writing the “Ancient-Future
Worship” column. I am greatly challenged
by this assignment especially in the face
of the Easter Resurrection.
It was August 25, 2006, when my
personal physician looked me in the eye
and said “Bob, your life is now measured
in weeks, possibly months, at best.” My
wife and I gave each other that knowing
glance and went on to listen to the rest of
his diagnosis as “tears of knowing what
we’re in for” began to well up in our
eyes.
Joanne and I had celebrated the Eucharist before on special days. So she
knew what I meant when I said, “As long
as we have breath together, we will celebrate the Eucharist in faith with family
and friends—every day we are able the
rest of our lives together.”
And so we have.
And little did we know how meaningful the Eucharist would increasingly
become. Last night, Palm Sunday, was
a powerful experience. After we were
finished I took more than usual time to
let my eyes rest on flickering candles
illuminating the eternal significance of
the bread and wine silhouetted against
the background of the cup, the bread, the
cross, the icon of the sacred heart of Jesus
and the three dimensional carving of
Jesus carrying our cross of sin and shame
up the steps to Golgotha. Just then, Bob, a
very close friend and occasional guest at our
nightly communion said, “Boy, talk about
faith, family and friends at Eucharist…
It doesn’t get any better than that.”
His personal comment spoke into
my silence on the private practice of
celebrating the Eucharist. Eucharist is the
public enactment, with words and symbols,
where we proclaim God’s purposes for
the whole world—to witness God’s goal
for the world, the redemption of the face
of the whole earth.
For this reason I have always resisted
the temptation to make the Eucharist a
personal or private devotion. For through
the Eucharist, the whole world is to know
God’s purpose for all of history, a witness
to all family and friends.
So, I raise the question: is it appropriate to celebrate the Eucharist in your
home with family and friends?
Right now, as I write, it is the Easter
Season. It is, you may say, Eucharistic
season. By the time you read this column
it will be Pentecost season, the reason to
celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit in
new power and understanding.
In one sense you may say that every
season is inherent within the Eucharist.
Advent, the waiting for the coming of
Jesus, finds its ultimate meaning in the
Eucharistic symbol of broken bread and
poured out cup; Christmas, the birth
of our Lord is fulfilled in the reality
re-presented by bread and wine. Epiphany,
which announces to the world that
Christ’s body and blood is for all the
nations of the earth, is vividly portrayed in
the Cup and Host. The Lenten pilgrimage
of repentance becomes a “bright-sadness”
because of the cross and the empty tomb;
the ascension of our Lord to His place of
eternal intercession at the right hand of
the Father and the descent of the Spirit
upon this little band of Apostles to empower the Church to give witness in its
worship to the redemption of all things
is continually manifested every time the
cup is lifted to drink or teeth mash on the
bread, which must be eaten if we are to be
united with Him who was united to us so
that we should live in Him and He in us.
So, how often should we eat His body
and drink His blood? Everywhere, always
and by all. Eat and drink with family and
friends in faith. At home. By the sea. In
the assembled community. At breakfast,
lunch and dinner. In sleep. Let the famine
be over. Let the feasting begin.
I purpose to explore this issue in
forthcoming columns. What do you
think? What does your tradition teach?
How would we go about restoring a daily
Eucharistic walk? Should we?
What is your experience?
Dr. Robert Webber was the Director of the M.A. in
Worship and Spirituality at Northern Seminary and
the President of the Institute for Worship Studies,
Florida. He authored Ancient-Future Faith,
Younger Evangelicals, and most recently released
Ancient-Future Evangelism.
Editor’s Note:
Robert Webber passed away shortly after writing this,
his final column. Please pray for his family during this time.
What a beautiful testament to his Eucharistic life that this
article stands as his goodbye to his Worship Leader family.
When he wrote this article, Bob asked that we make sure to
leave the questions in. His heart was to dialogue with you
until he took his last breath.
