SPIRITUAL LIFE MINISTRY

The Spritual Life Ministry is responsible for creating and encouraging opportunities for spiritual growth through prayer, Bible reading, meditation, spiritual retreats, the use of Advent and Lenten booklets and the reading and discussion of Christian literature, and to maintain the Prayer Chain ministry.

If you would like to get involved with this important ministry by either providing assistance in the running of activities or you simply want to improve some aspects of your Christian life, contact Robert Nelson at (045) 584-6014.

SPIRITUAL LIFE HOME PAGE

Last Updated Thursday, November 01, 2001

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WHAT'S NEW:

WELCOME THE NEW SPIRITUAL LIFE ELDER—ROBERT NELSON!

From this month I will be handing the baton for the Spiritual Life ministry over to Robert Nelson. I would like to encourage everyone to give him the same kind of warm support that has enabled me to carry out this ministry from its creation two years ago until now. I would also like to say how much I appreciate all the help and encouragement I have received from the Spiritual Life team members and from members of the congregation. Thank you! Jean Wilson.

PRAYER CHAIN

The prayer chains are groups of people who are contacted by e-mail, fax or phone to pray for the leaders and ministries of TUC and for any prayer requests we receive during the week. Join us in this vital and expanding ministry at TUC. For more information contact Fran Wilmot (Tel. 5474-5616, Fax 5770-6082).

THURSDAY EVENING PRAYER GROUP

This is a group for people who would like to meet to pray together for TUC, Tokyo, Japan, world concerns and individual prayer requests. Everyone is welcome—come and join us whenever you can in the 2^nd floor classroom from 7.30 p.m. on Thursday evenings. Occasional attendees and latecomers are also welcome!! Contact Marcus Manning (044) 932-5404 or Jean Wilson (03) 3803-3417.

WOULD YOU LIKE SOMEONE TO PRAY WITH OR FOR YOU?

The Prayer & Healing Ministry Team is dedicated to praying with and for all people, members and non-members of TUC alike, about their joys and concerns. Look for us at the front of the sanctuary after the 11:00 a.m. service (after the 10:00 a.m. service in the summertime), or just stop us any time at the coffee hour or anywhere at TUC. With our special nametags, we are easy to spot. We look forward to an opportunity to pray with or for you about any issue, large or small.

DO YOU ENJOY INTERCESSORY PRAYER?

The Prayer & Healing Ministry Team invites all who find intercessory prayer to be a meaningful part of their Christian walk to prayerfully consider joining our team. We find this ministry to be a joyful way to serve God and others and to enhance our spiritual lives. Training and support are provided. For more information, please contact Fran Wilmot (Tel: [03] 5474-5616; Fax: [03] 5770-6082; or e-mail: wilmot@gol.com).

LET US HAVE YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS

If you have any concern that you would like us to pray for during the week, please put your request in the offering bag during either of the Sunday services, place it in the prayer request box on the first floor office counter, or contact Fran Wilmot (Tel. 5474-5616, Fax 5770-6082).

KOINONIA SPIRITUAL LIFE ARTICLE APRIL 2000

"BREAD OF LIFE AND CUP OF JOY"—HAPPY EASTER!

by Jean Wilson, Spiritual Life Elder*

"Holy Communion," "The Lord’s Supper," and "Eucharist" are all titles we give to the meal of bread and wine (or grape juice) that all Christians celebrate despite their denominational differences. On April 23 we will be celebrating Easter and this meal together as a congregation. As we do this, let us reflect on how the Eucharist can draw Christians together rather than divide them, by looking at this special meal from several perspectives.

The Eucharist as Memorial

Memorial, or remembrance, is bringing to mind past events so that their effects become operative in the present. At the time of the Last Supper, Jesus was celebrating with His disciples the Passover meal, which recalls the event in Egypt when the angel of death passed over the land causing the firstborn of each family, including Pharaoh’s, to die. The only ones who were passed over untouched were the Israelites who had sacrificed a lamb and smeared the blood on the doorposts and lintel of their houses (Exod. 11:4-14:31). The first Passover meal was held at that time; each Jewish family ate unleavened bread and the animal whose blood they had shed. The Jews finally escaped through the Red Sea, which God parted for them.

In the same way we are saved by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, and freed. Just as Jews then and now recall their liberation and exodus from servitude in Egypt, so too in the Eucharist, Christians are remembering our liberation thanks to the crucified leader of the new exodus from slavery to sin and death.

The Eucharist as Thanksgiving

The word "Eucharist" is Greek for "thanksgiving." In the Eucharist Christians individually and as the Body of Christ contemplate their grateful and joyful encounter with the crucified and risen Lord. We give thanks to God for His gifts in both creation and in redemption. We thank Him for all of creation, including the animal, vegetable and mineral world, space, time, air and light. We thank Him because God created all things from the beginning and formed us in His image and for Himself. We thank Him because even though we rebelled against Him, He did not desert us but sent His Son, through whose death and resurrection we have been freed from slavery to sin. We thank Him because through our Savior Christ we have been sent the holy, life-giving Spirit and have been made God's own holy people and have been given eternal life.

The Eucharist as Sacrifice

A "sacrifice" is something of value offered as an act of worship or devotion to God. The first element of sacrifice in the Eucharist is the death of Jesus—the suffering and sacrifice (offering) of His own life for us. Second is His entire life of obedience which He offered to the Father, and His perpetual offering of intercession in heaven for us all (Heb. 7:25). Also in the Eucharist, as in the cross, God conveys His own sacrificial self-giving—the sacrificial gift of Christ. Fourth, there is our own sacrifice, as Paul instructed: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Rom. 12:1). We offer to abandon our self to God—our ego-centered nature is crucified. This in turn leads to resurrection, which means we rise with Christ and share in the anticipation of the heavenly banquet.

The Eucharist as Eschatological Banquet

"Eschatology" is the theological word that refers to end times. In Revelation 19:7-9, John refers to the marriage banquet of the Lamb, when Jesus (the Lamb) will be joined with His Bride (the Church). The image of the marriage banquet reflects the joy and deep unity of love between Christ and His bridal community, the Church. The Eucharist as an eschatological banquet points to the goal of history, when God will establish His kingdom in its fullness. Here we think not of Christ coming down to us, but of us ascending to Him.

Horatius Bonar of the Church of Scotland expressed the concept in a hymn:

This is the hour of banquet and of song:

This is the heavenly table spread for me;

Here let me feast, and, feasting, still prolong

The brief, bright hour of fellowship with thee.

Feast after feast thus comes and passes by,

Yet, passing, points to the glad feast above,

Giving sweet foretastes of the festal joy,

The Lamb’s great bridal feast of bliss and love.

The Eucharist as Communion: Joyful Meal of Unity

"Communion" can be seen from three aspects. First, the unity between God and humanity resulting from the reconciliation achieved on the cross by Christ; second, the unity of the members of the Body of Christ effected by Christ in the Eucharist; and third, the sacred meal is intended to exhibit the profound fellowship and sharing of the Body—Christians everywhere, past, present and future—with Christ, the Head. We are also united in joy because we worship not a dead hero but a risen and ascended Lord who has given us the gift of forgiveness, a new perspective on whatever troubles we suffer in this life, and the promise of eternal life. The meal looks forward to the full establishment of the Kingdom of God at the Second Coming of Christ.

Jesus demonstrated the importance of taking meals together, both before and after His death (e.g. Acts 10:40-41), and Paul speaks out against disunity among the participants at the Eucharist (1 Cor. 11:20-22). But communion should produce not only unity but action, for another of the benefits of union with Christ is that it should increase our humility and our desire to serve others in His name.

The Eucharist as Mystery

In emphasizing the imminence (nearness/presence) of God, we sometimes lose sight of the mystery elements in the Eucharist. The supreme mystery is God Himself, utterly holy and transcendent, the invisible God who revealed Himself in the flesh in the person of Jesus; and suffered humiliation and death on the cross, and then resurrection and ascension. That God reveals Himself in such a way far surpasses all human capabilities to comprehend.

There is an element of divine transcendence in all God's dealings with humanity, and especially in the self-giving of the eternal Son. For us it should lead to humility, and a reminder not to partake in the Eucharist casually, hurriedly, irreverently or without proper preparation. We need to examine and ponder Paul’s words to the Corinthians: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died" (1 Cor. 11:27-32).

God transcends our rational ability to understand Him. The sense of mystery keeps alive the recognition that attendance at the Eucharist is the supreme privilege of the members of the Body of Christ. Let us look forward to sharing that privilege together on Easter Day at TUC.

(The subheadings, quotation, and some of the ideas in this article are taken or adapted from Bread Of Life And Cup Of Joy, Newer Ecumenical Perspectives on the Eucharist by Horton Davies, Eerdmans, 1993)

*This article represents my final regular submission to Koinonia. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who over the past two years have encouraged me to continue writing this page. I equally encourage others to come forward and write occasionally or regularly on topics relevant to spiritual life. Anyone interested in doing so should contact Robert Nelson, the new Spiritual Life elder.