Article XIX - Of Both Kinds
The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay people; for both the parts of the Lord's Supper, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be administered to all Christians alike.
See, what had
happened was: back in the Middle Ages,
the church in northern Europe couldn’t get enough wine. This was before globalization and chemical
fertilizers and year round fruit supplies.
North of Mediterranean climes it became impossible to stock enough wine
to give Communion to every Catholic in Europe (which at the time was every
person in Europe), every day, at every Mass.
Simple supply
and demand.
However, the Catholic
Church had ruled that receiving the
Eucharist in Mass was necessary for salvation.
What to do? What to do?
The medieval
Catholicism promoted hierarchical holiness.
Each person of higher sociopolitical or ecclesiastical rank was holier
than thou on lower rungs of the ladder.
In that system, ordained clergy were more worthy of God than regular lay
peons.
And thus the
solution to their wine shortage.
Catholic
priests began reserving the Eucharist wine for themselves. Regular folks could receive the bread, but
only the purely pure clergy were worthy of the cup. The Church even formulated doctrine to match
the policy, maintaining that Jesus was fully present and transubstantiated in
both elements, so if the priest keeps the wine for himself, no biggie.
Protestants
protest this doctrine. But not for any
reasons that could be fixed by opening a new liquor store.
If you can’t
get wine, or Welch’s grape juice, then you just can’t get any. That is a purely secular problem. It’s neither necessary nor honest to spin it
into something deeper than it is, like Jesus’ mom did.
John chapter
2.
Read verses 1
and 2 very carefully. Anyone’s who’s
ever tried to shorten the guest list for a wedding reception with the family
matriarch in the room saying, “Now you have to invite so-and-so” will
understand. Jesus and His friends only got invited to the
wedding in Cana because Mary made somebody send for them after she’d
arrived.
After they
got there, the wedding party ran out of wine, and when Mother Mary mentioned it
to Jesus, the Lord responded, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with
Me? My hour has not yet come.”
Translation: “Mom, that is a purely secular problem. Don’t
try to make this into something deep and theological.”
Sometimes our
physical, financial, or relational deficits are NOT deeply spiritual
states. Sometimes being sick is just
being sick, not a demonic attack. Sometimes being broke is because of our math
not because of a witch’s curse.
Sometimes you’re alone because …(And I don’t want to be mean or
insensitive). Sometimes you’re just
alone. God isn’t testing you. The devil isn’t afflicting you. You’re just not with anybody right now, and
that’s all there is to it.
The Lord is always
present in your circumstances, but sometimes He’s present and asking, “What
does your concern have to do with Me?”
Just take the
antibiotics. Just stop spending money you don’t have. Just go home and don’t watch Lifetime or
Oprah for a while.
Just admit: we’re out of Communion wine but you aren’t
going to Hell because of it.
After Mary told
Jesus about the liquor situation in Cana, she submitted what was under her matriarchal
authority (the wedding servants) to whatever Jesus decided to do or not do. Ultimately, Jesus transformed the hand-washing
water into high-quality wine.
His mother
said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” (John 2: 5)
The Lord could
step into your situation with miraculous physical, financial, or relational
provision. The Lord could turn your water
into wine.
But, that’s
His call; not yours.
“Whatever He
says to you, do it.”
He says share
bread AND wine. That’s what we do.
And if we
ever run out of one or the other, then we won’t invent a theology to
spiritualize the situation. We’ll just
admit that we ran out.
---Anderson T. Graves II is a writer, community
organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership
development.
Rev. Anderson T.
Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield,
Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking
Organization (SAYNO); and director of
rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
#Awordtothewise
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