Liturgy of the Table
November 24th, 2007Also referred to as the “Service of the Table” or the “Eucharist”, the celebration of this sacrament is both something that sets Christianity apart from its Jewish roots, and builds on those roots. Traditional emphasis existed in the Jewish faith for partaking of food together in temple, synagogue and home. At the time of Passover, the deliverance of God’s people was recalled through participation and ritual (anamnesis) and the coming of the Messiah was anticipated (prolepsis).
Christ chose the Passover to reveal to his disciples that he was the Messiah and the law and the words of the prophets were fulfilled in him. He was given in sacrifice for us and he commanded that we “do this” in remembrance of him. Once again, the Greek word for “remembrance” is “anamnesis“. This is not a simple act of recalling the words and acts of Jesus, but a communal reenactment of what he did that brings Christ’s presence “among us” — both his presence in sacrificial giving and his presence in future glory.
In recent years there has been increased attention paid in the United Methodist Church (and other liturgical denominations) to the Eucharist, drawing on a renewed understanding of the way in which this sacrament was observed in the first and second century Church. In developing the versions of ”A Service of Word and Table” contained in the United Methodist Book of Worship and the United Methodist Hymnal, the General Board of Discipline relied on references to the Eucharist in the New Testament, early church documents such as the Didache, and the writing of church fathers such as Justin Martyr and Hippolytus of Rome.
The manner in which we observe the Eucharist today can be traced back directly to as early as the beginning of the second century Anaphora of Hippolytus, which arguably was an accurate account of the manner in which the Lord’s Supper was observed by the first Christians. And so, we join with Christians through the ages in celebrating His gift to the Church.
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