Battle Feast

One of the things we do that is different from many Presbyterian and Reformed congregations is how we serve and partake of this meal. The minister eats first and then the elders and deacons, and then you all serve one another with the assistance of ushers in the aisles. And I frequently receive questions about why we do it this way. So let me explain it briefly and then you can tell all your friends. First, it seems likely that this is how Jesus served the Last Supper to His disciples. The Scriptures say that He took bread, gave thanks, and then broke it and gave it to His disciples. Most likely, He was not breaking the bread in half. Most likely He was breaking off His piece and eating it. We see this explicitly in what Paul does in Acts 27:35. We know that this is what Jesus did with the cup for sure since there was just one cup that He passed to His disciples. But the reason for this is also tied to the meaning of the meal. Jesus refers to the cup in particular as the cup of His suffering, the cross that He is about to bear, and it was necessary that He drink that cup first. The Lord’s Supper is a victory meal, but it is also warrior meal, or better, a battle feast. When you take this bread and this cup, you are engaging in spiritual warfare by faith. You are looking your sin in the eyes, looking your problems in the face, staring down all the powers of darkness and defying them with the body and blood of our crucified King. But we are also serving one another, and as we eat and drink, we are swearing oaths of allegiance to one another. We are swearing that we will lay our lives down for each other. We are considering others better than ourselves, their lives more important than our own. Now, I’ve heard rumors that in another community this has been seriously misunderstood and the men feel free to serve themselves first at potluck dinners and the like. But this is to get this symbolism completely backwards and upside down. This meal means war through sacrifice and death. Christ is our head and tasted the sharpness of death for all, so now that the sting is taken away, we can freely lay our lives down for one another.