Palm Sunday - Reading of the Passion of Christ & Sermon

 

Sermon for the 5th Sunday of Lent

 

Review of "A Daybook of Prayer"

 

"Real Presence" and the Prayer of Humble access in Methodist liturgies

Have the Methodists actually remained Wesleyan when it comes to how our prayers express our faith in the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in Holy Communion?

Well, yes...but...

In our official liturgies (and our informal acts of worship), I think there has sometimes been a tendency to downplay the real presence of Christ or any sense that we are really feeding (in a spiritual manner) on his body and blood, as is stated in our Articles of Religion (Article XVIII).

A great example of this tendency away from our original "high" sacramental theology is seen in the changes to the classic "Prayer of Humble Access." 

This prayer draws upon the very vivid - some disciples even thought TOO vivid, even scandalous - language that Jesus uses in John chapter 6.  This prayer is included in the various editions of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (BCP) beginning with the original BCP of 1549 compiled by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, and John Wesley retained it (from the 1662 BCP) without any change at all when he prepared the original Sunday Service book of the Methodists: 

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table.  But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.  Amen.

The theology here fits well with our Articles of Religion and such Charles Wesley hymns as "Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast," as well as other writings of John Wesley on Holy Communion. 

But the actual request (in italics) of this prayer was apparently TOO vivid for some Methodists as well (perhaps we'd spent too much time with the Baptists at the big tent revivals), for in The Book of Worship of 1944 we see this new version of the prayer, which represents a much "lower" sacramental theology: 

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table.  But thou art the same Lord, whose mercy is unfailing: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to partake of these memorials of thy Son Jesus Christ, that we may be filled with the fullness of his life, may grow into his likeness, and may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.  Amen.

This prayer represents a dramatic shift away from the "Real Presence" view of Holy Communion held by Wesley (and Anglicans more generally) toward a "Memorialism" view of the Supper, which is the view held by Baptists, that the signs of bread and wine merely remind us of Jesus' sacrifice and inspire our piety. 

However, during the 20th Century, United Methodists were influenced by the Liturgical Renewal, the Ecumenical movement, and also an attempt (led by Albert Outler and others) to recover a more authentically Wesleyan approach theology.  So the UMC's HYMNAL of 1989 gives us the new liturgies in modern English that much more clearly express a "Real Presence" theology, though they do not include The Prayer of Humble Access (or the accompanying Agnus Dei).  

At the same time, the "Traditional language" liturgy (on p.30) gives us a version of the Prayer of Humble Access that is a bit of a compromise, capable (at least at first glance) of being interpreted in either a more "Memorialist" OR a more "Real Presence" manner.  It is an improvement over the 1944 prayer, but does not return to the 'scandalous' language of Wesley's original Sunday Service book:

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table.  But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to partake of this Sacrament of thy Son Jesus Christ, that we may walk in newness of life, may grow in his likeness, and may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.  Amen.

Basically, the word "memorials" has been replaced with "Sacrament" with a couple of other minor changes.  This opens up the possibility that the phrase could be interpreted as "the sacrament that reminds us of Jesus Christ" (Memorialism) or "the Sacrament that is filled with & conveys the presence of Jesus Christ" (Real Presence).  However, the use of the word "Sacrament" makes the Real Presence interpretation more natural, since a Sacrament is traditionally defined as "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace that conveys the grace that it signifies."

This is where the prayer stands in our official liturgy at present.

I propose adding one further change: adding the words "of the body and blood of" after the word "Sacrament".  So here is how it would read (in a bit more modernized English): 

We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your abundant and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord who always delights in showing mercy.  Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to partake of this Sacrament of the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ, that we may walk in newness of life, may grow into his likeness, and may evermore dwell in him and he in us.  Amen.

This is not a return to the full blown "eat the flesh" language of Wesley's original Prayerbook (and John chapter 6), but I believe that the petition "grant us...so to partake of this Sacrament of the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ..." is nevertheless a significant step in a more Wesleyan direction, and more clearly articulates a theology of Christ's "real presence" and of "spiritually feasting on his Body and Blood" as explained in our Articles of Religion and Confession of Faith.

If there is a liturgical revision or a new Hymnal/Worship Book after the (apparently) looming schism, I hope that something like this prayer (along with the Agnus Dei) will be included in all of the Communion Services.  

It is the Wesleyan thing to do. 

CS Lewis on Ethics

There are lots of people these days who advocate for casting off tradition - including Christianity - as part of the wicked "patriarchy" in order to establish "social justice."  

I have long held that this whole movement is incoherent - it begins with basic assumptions that are part of traditional (and Christian) morality, and then uses them in its assault upon Christianity and Tradition.  But no new grounding for the moral claims is offered.

CS Lewis points out the basic problems with "new moralities" that actually borrow some aspects of the classic, inherited, morality in order to attack classic and inherited tradition.  It is a self-contradiction.

 

Talking CS Lewis and reading Classics with Rev. Stephen Fife

 

Full Service 3.7.21 - Zealous Jesus mean and wild

 

The Courage to see enemies with grace

 Sunday Service for February 28th

The Great Litany in Wesley's Prayerbook

 A look at the long and strong prayer, called the Litany, from The Book of Common Prayer and which John Wesley also included in his own Sunday Service Book.

The Book of Common Prayer and John Wesley

 

Service of the Word for the 2nd Sunday in Lent

 Here is the early (8:30) service from this past Sunday.  The message is on Jonah 3:1 - 4:4.