Ya engkau dan seisi rumahmu Seputar perj

1. Pendahuluan

Dalam beberapa bulan terakhir, kita semua sebagai warga GKI, entah yang di Jabar, Jateng maupun Jatim, terlibat dalam diskusi yang lumayan hangat mengenai perlu atau tidaknya Perjamuan Kudus Anak dilakukan oleh GKI (selanjutnya akan disingkat PKa). Di antara beberapa pilihan yang mengemuka ada: (1) tidak perlu, (2) perlu, (3) perlu dengan catatan, yakni dengan usia tertentu misalnya 7-10 tahun (dikenal sebagai age of reason, ditetapkan sekitar th 1910). Memang penulis pernah mendengar ada beberapa pendeta (biasanya mereka masih tergolong muda) yang mencoba mengusulkan pembaruan, di antaranya ada yang mencoba melaksanakan PK dengan tape sebagai roti, dan anggur diganti legen. Namun hal ini menimbulkan reaksi keras dari jemaat dan penatua, padahal mungkin maksud yang bersangkutan hanya menawarkan pemaknaan PK yang lebih kontekstual. Lalu bagaimana dengan PKa tersebut? Penulis yakin bahwa jemaat-jemaat di Sinwil Jateng telah cukup intens

1 http://thousandsthanks.blogspot.com/2011/03/indah-satu-orang-percaya-seisi-rumah.html

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menggumuli persoalan ini, sehingga akhirnya pada th. 2015, mereka dengan bulat hati menetapkan akan memulai PK anak.***** Lalu bagaimana dengan Sinwil Jabar dan Jatim? Dalam beberapa minggu ini, penulis berusaha merenungkan bagaimana sebenarnya kehendak Tuhan bagi umat-Nya di akhir zaman ini. Bagi penulis, persoalan PK merupakan salah satu titik sentral pengajaran Yesus, tentunya selain baptisan, karena itu persoalan ini menyentuh langsung pada inti persoalan: bagaimana membedakan umat Tuhan dan bukan? Bagaimana kita mendefinisikan identitas kita sebagai gereja sebagai umat kudus yang diteguhkan dalam suatu Perjanjian Baru? Penulis tidak berpretensi telah menemukan kata akhir tentang topik ini, namun setelah diskusi dengan beberapa rekan,*** penulis memutuskan untuk tulis sedikit tentang topik ini; dengan harapan kalau-kalau artikel ini dapat menjadi salah satu pertimbangan untuk menggumuli persoalan ini sebagai Tubuh Kristus secara bersama.

2. Tradisi Perjamuan Kudus di GKI, memaknai 1 Kor. 11

Ada beberapa artikel yang sangat membantu memahami tradisi PK di GKI, di antaranya artikel Pdt. Yusak Soleiman dan juga artikel dan penjelasan Pdt. Joas Adiprasetya di youtube. Pak Yusak menjelaskan secara ringkas, di antaranya:

a. penolakan akan PKa justru mengabaikan kenyataan yang dijelaskan dalam teks KPR. Malah tradisi makan bersama seisi rumah itu jauh lebih dekat dengan peristiwa malam sebelum bangsa Israel keluar dari Mesir, tanah perbudakan mereka.

“Pembacaan dan penafsiran Alkitab yang menolak baptisan kanak-kanak (dari kaum Anabaptist dan Puritan-Separatist) ternyata berdasarkan

pemahaman tertentu. Tidak murni alkitabiah, karena mengabaikan ungkapan- ungkapan dalam Alkitab seperti ‘membaptiskan seisi rumah’; dan juga disertai oleh pandangan doktriner, antara lain: baptisan dipahami a) semata-mata sebagai upacara inisiasi (masuk menjadi

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percaya dulu barulah dapat dibaptiskan).”(1)

b. Perjamuan Kudus ditentukan hanya bagi mereka yang telah akil balig dan ikut proses sidi:

“Secara simplistik sering dikatakan bahwa gereja-gereja yang tidak memiliki tradisi paedobaptism sangat konsisten: baik pengakuan

iman/baptisan dan keikutsertaan dalam perjamuan kudus hanyalah bagi mereka yang dapat mempertanggungjawabkan diri dan imannya.”( 1)

c. dalam lingkungan GKI selama ini, teks I Kor. 11 dimaknai dalam 2 tradisi, yaitu: cencura morum (memeriksa diri) dan anamnesis (mengingat).

“Pada kitab yang sama, kita menemukan alasan untuk tidak mengikutsertakan kanak-kanak. Gereja-gereja menggunakan 1 Korintus

11 sebagai dasar perayaan Perjamuan Kudus. 1 Korintus 11 – yang sudah menjadi bagian dari formulir liturgis banyak gereja-gereja Protestan, termasuk GKI – menekankan hal a) pemeriksaan diri (censura morum) dan b) mengingat (anamnesis). Kedua hal ini praktis tidak dapat dilakukan oleh kanak-kanak yang sangat muda, namun masih memungkinkan bagi kanak- kanak yang telah mencapai age of reason.”( 1)

d. Meski ini tradisi yang sudah ada tersebut cukup baik, namun seringkali menjadi sumber untuk siasat gereja khususnya kepada mereka yang dianggap masih dalam pengembalaan khusus. Yang lebih buruk, seperti Pak Joas sebutkan, dalam penafsiran yang dangkal atas I Kor.11 akhirnya anak-anak dieksklusi dari keluarga Allah.

e. Data-data dari Alkitab menunjukkan tradisi makan bersama dalam keluarga itu sudah mentradisi sejak dahulu kala, bahkan mungkin itulah yang dimaksud Yesus ketika Ia mengajak para murid dalam acara makan malam sebagai bagian dari Keluarga Allah.

“Posisi kedua mengklaim bahwa praktik paedocommunion adalah praktik yang sudah berlangsung sangat lama sepanjang sejarah Kekristenan.4 Praktik ini terhenti pada sekitar abad XIII, ketika pelaksanaan perjamuan kudus (eucharistia) dikaitkan dengan teologi baru yang rumit

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(transubstantiation).5 Para pendukung paedocommunion menggunakan argumen a) perayaan seder-Paska Yahudi yang justru mengikutsertakan kanak-kanak, serta b)1 Korintus 10:16-17 yang menekankan

keikutsertaan semua.”( 1)

Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper

Bouveret, The Last Supper, 19 th century

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Dalam perjalanan waktu hingga kini, pak Yusak juga menulis bahwa PK justru seperti luntur spiritnya, dan berubah hanya menjadi formalitas dan ritual belaka. Apalagi jika diingat bahwa secara teknis PK hanya dilaksanakan 3-4 kali setahun.***

3. Sakralisasi dan individualisasi

Selain proses melunturnya makna perjumpaan dengan Tuhan dalam PK di GKI, karena berubah menjadi rutinitas, ada hal lain yang penting untuk diangkat:

Kecenderungan sakralisasi yang berlebihan, apalagi ditambah “ancaman” penggembalaan khusus bagi yang tidak layak, maka proses PK menjadi tidak

lebih dari tradisi yang diwarnai kontrol sosial. Dalam proses modernisasi, segala hal dalam hidup sebuah keluarga menjadi

berjalan cepat, bahkan satu keluarga sering tidak ada waktu untuk bertemu dan makan malam bersama.

Segala sesuatu berjalan begitu cepat, bahkan seorang keponakan penulis, sering pulang sekolah di atas jam 17 petang. Semua menjadi beban bagi

seorang anak, termasuk tuntutan orang tua, dan para guru…dan mungkin ketika dia juga merasa “ditolak” dalam Keluarga Allah maka ia bisa merasa

kehilangan pengalaman bersekutu dalam Keluarga Kristen. 2

4. Di rumah Bapa-Ku ada banyak tempat, memaknai Keluarga Allah Bagaimana sebaiknya memaknai Perjamuan Kudus dengan kembali kepada makna aslinya?

Ada baiknya kita kembali pada janji Yesus kepada semua murid: “ Di rumah Bapa-Ku 1 banyak tempat tinggal. Jika tidak demikian, tentu Aku mengatakannya

kepadamu. Sebab Aku pergi ke situ z untuk menyediakan tempat bagimu.” (Yoh. 14:2)

2 Lihat juga bahan dari Sinwil tentang sosialisasi perjamuan kudus anak.

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Apa yang dimaksud Yesus di sini? Saya belajar makna Yahudi dari teks ini dari Mas Bambang Noorsena, yang

menyatakan bahwa dalam tradisi Yahudi kuno, ketika seorang mempelai pria menikah, maka bapaknya akan membuat ruang baru dalam rumah besar

keluarga. Itulah awal kata “make room”, artinya membuat ruang baru. Untuk itulah Yesus mati bagi kita semua, agar Bapa dapat “make room” untuk Anda

semua dan juga saya. Artinya, kita yang dilayakkan oleh darah-Nya yang tercurah, kita semua

diterima kembali menjadi Keluarga Allah. Ya sebuah keluarga besar. Lalu apakah keluarga kita di dunia tidak boleh masuk? Tentu boleh, jadi

keluarga kita pun menjadi bagian dari Keluarga Allah, termasuk kita di Negara berkembang yang terjerat hutang kartu kredit, cicilan yang tertunggak, dan utang LN sekian ribu trilyun akibat salah urus negeri ini. Dan bahkan, sejumlah besar orang yang selama hidup mereka tidak layak dalam keluarga manapun, seperti anjal dan para pemulung yang tinggal di rumah-rumah kardus, merekapun diterima dalam Keluarga Allah.

Perhatikan karya terkenal seniman Joey Velasco dari Filipina :

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Last Supper With The Street Children (Update: Joey Velasco Taken Ill) 3

3 https://midfield.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/last-supper-with-the-street-children-update-joey-velasco-taken-ill/

Artikel: “ The 12 children in the painting are real people the painter, Joey Velasco, discovered in poor areas of Metro Manila and Quezon City. After treating them to meals, Velasco took their pictures and retreated to his room to start working on the painting.

Velasco said, the children, aged 4-14, reveal a story of a greater hunger than a plate of rice could satisfy. He said, “It was they who touched my soul. Through them, God spoke to me and moved me to paint their

stories and tell others a bout their lives.” The young girl standing at the extreme left, where Judas appears in the da Vinci painting, is 10-year-old Nene. Velasco met her at the Manila North Cemetery, where she and her family lived as squatters among the graves.

Onse, 9, sits at the table, his plate cleaned to the last crumb, he listens to Jesus to feed his other hungers. The child, who scavenges with a push cart, has a father addicted to drugs and a mother who works as a strip dancer.

Itok, another scavenger who at 11 is the family breadwinner, sits at the right hand of Jesus. According to Velasco, Itok spent time in jail after being caught in a number of robberies. Another child in the painting does not live in Quezon City.

Velasco placed a small Sudanese boy under the table eating the fallen scraps with the cats. The artist explained, “The skinny child is not one of the hungry kids who roam our busy streets at night. He is “an imaginary symbolic figure” who in the past “had satisfied himself with unnecessary food, (but) now finds himself under the table seeking spiritual crumbs.”

The children featured in the painting are no longer in the areas where Velasco originally found them. Through his partnership with Gawad Kalinga, an organization dedicated to sheltering the homeless, the 12

children and their families now have homes at Romeo Cabrera Village in Quezon City. 7| Page

5. Makan malam dalam keluarga Karena itu, penulis hendak mengajak kita semua memaknai Perjamuan Kudus sebagai makan bersama (family meal) sebagai Keluarga Allah, dan tidak ada seorangpun yang perlu ditinggalkan. Bahkan Yudas pun ikut makan bersama para murid yang lain, meski dia kemudian mengkhianati Gurunya.

Lalu apakah ada alasan yang kuat untuk mengeksklusi anak-anak dari meja Perjamuan?

Lihatlah 2 artikel tentang memaknai PK sebagai family meal atau family communion.(2)(3)

Dalam hal teknis, saya sependapat dengan Pdt. Joas, bahwa masalah tradisi katekisasi dan sidi dan juga cencura morum memang sudah baik dan tidak perlu dihapus, namun kiranya tidak menghalangi anak-anak untuk ikut dalam meja perjamuan.

Pada intinya, PK mengajak semua anggota keluarga untuk memperlambat ritme hidup yang begitu cepat dalam era digital saat ini, dan kembali menikmati hidup sebagai keluarga yang utuh baik dalam dunia dan bahkan dalam Keluarga Allah. Mari kita belajar berjalan dalam ritme langkah Tuhan, yakni 3 mil per jam. (Lihat artikel tentang Kosuke Koyama, Lampiran 2)

6. Beberapa usul praktis untuk liturgi PK

a. Pengaturan meja Pada hemat saya, sedapat mungkin sebaiknya meja ditaruh di tengah ruangan, dikelilingi oleh bangku-bangku sehingga jemaat dapat menghayati

The children’s stories are featured in the book “They Have Jesus: The Stories of the Children of the ‘Hapag ng Pag-asa (Table of Hope).'”

Note: This piece was emailed to At Midfield by Danny Gagelonia, my Kuya.”

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b. Pengaturan bangku: jika memungkinkan, bangku dipinggirkan dan diganti bersila dengan tikar, ini akan menumbuhkan suasana “selamatan” yang khas Indonesia.

c. Pengaturan cawan Atas alasan higienis, tentu tidak baik jika anggur diminum dalam cawan besar untuk semua, meskipun hal ini yang paling ideal.

Usul penulis, mungkin perlu dipikirkan bukan sloki seperti yang biasa dalam PK, namun gelas yang biasa untuk minum anggur, dengan tujuan satu keluarga satu gelas. Hal ini akan menegaskan kebersamaan dan makna family meal dalam PK.

7. Simpulan dan Penutup Dalam artikel ini, penulis mencoba memberikan pemaknaan Perjamuan Kudus

sebagai family meal, kiranya hal ini akan membantu menjawab pertanyaan boleh atau tidaknya Perjamuan Kudus bagi anak-anak.

Hal-hal yang lebih teknis dicoba digambarkan dalam bagian 6. Semoga tulisan ini dapat membantu GKI dalam menggumuli persoalan ini. Tulisan ini dibuat berdasarkan pesan Roh Kudus beberapa hari lalu, lihat

Lampiran I.

Referensi: (1) Pdt. Yusak Soleiman. Penjelasan singkat tentang makna dan praktek Sakramen.

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(2) Mathew Kustenbauder. Rediscovering the eucharist as communal meal: African contributions to the World Christian Church. The other journal, 6 aug. 2005. (3) Russell Moore. Family Supper: reclaiming community through communion. Url: www.desiringGod.com (4) G.J. Baan. Tulip: 5 pokok Calvinisme. Penerbit Momentum. (5) Adam Grant. Give and Take. Gramedia Pustaka. (6) Erastus Sabdono. Menemukan Kekristenan yang Hilang. Rehobot Ministry, 2014-2015. (7) Erastus Sabdono. Pembenaran. Rehobot Literature, 2018.

versi 1.0: 3 agustus 2018, pk. 9:58

VC

Endnote: * judul ini diambil dari judul buku kompilasi tentang berbagai artikel tentang Baptisan anak, disusun oleh Murray Kline and Vern Poythress, For you and your children, the best articles on infant baptism from Westminster Theology Journal. **Penatua di GKI Blimbing. Penulis bukanlah ahli teologi sakramen dan bukan ahli liturgi GKI, ada banyak Pdt. Senior yang jauh lebih mumpuni. Yang penulis sampaikan di sini adalah perenungan secara biblika maupun dari pengamatan sehari-hari. ***terimakasih kepada Pnt. Satyo Laksono atas diskusi yang berharga. ****kalau mau jujur, hanya 2 elemendalam ibadah GKI yang masih ada unsur spontanitasnya (tidak terduga), yakni "salam di antara jemaat" setelah berita anugerah dan khotbah. *****lihat pemaparan pdt. Joas Adiprasetya tentang hal ini di youtube.

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---- Lampiran 1:

Makna perjamuan kudus

Pesan Tuhan pagi ini (1 ags 2018): "Tuhan rindu agar anak-anakNya bergaul karib dgn Dia, mengalami hadirat Tuhan, dan hidup dlm damai sbg keluarga dan masyarakat."

Dua aspek: individu dan komunal.

5 Makna yg perlu dihayati: - PK memberitakan pendamaian..jg dlm keluarga - PK mengembalikan sukacita dlm makan bersama...spt sukacita bermain (play).. homo-ludens - PK adalah menyatu dgn Allah Trinitas..in communio (unio mytica) - PK berarti memakan Firman yang hidup. Mengijinkan Yesus Sang Firman itu mengubah hidup kita...menjadi daging dalam hidup kita - PK berarti kita sedang menantikan kedatangan kembali Sang Anak Domba Allah dgn segala kemuliaan-Nya..suatu pengharapan eskatologis yg menerobos ke dalam realitas kita kini.

Kesalahan saat ini: Terlalu menekankan aspek individu dlm keselamatan..jd egois. Padahal berita aslinya: "kamu dan seisi rumahmu". Keselamatan dr Tuhan itu untuk dibagikan.

Mlg: 1 agustus 2018, pk. 03:54 Diberikan oleh Holy Spirit

---

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Lampiran 2:

Shalom, all brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Do you realize that our life can be summarized in one word: faster. Anything we do, we do that faster and faster. Read fast. Eat fast. Speak fast. Walk fast. Drive fast. Pray fast. And so on. Sometimes we forget that God want to walk with us at 3 mile an hour speed. As

a Christian blogger wrote recently:(1)

John 9:1 says, "As he passed by, Jesus saw a man blind from birth." What if he was driving, running, or in a hurry? Instead, Jesus moved with a pace at which

he could "see." He saw the man. He saw his need and he had compassion.

A Japanese theologian named Kosuke Koyama wrote a book called Three Mile an Hour God. In it he wrote: "Love has its speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It goes on in the depth of life at 3 miles per hour. It is the speed we walk and therefore the speed the love of God walks." Jesus walks at the speed of love. He's our 3 mile-an-hour Savior. And he sees you. He sees your secrets and baggage, your pain and fear. He sees death and dung, and still chooses to walk among us. To forgive, to heal, to help.

Would you adjust your pace? Would you slow down so that you can "see"? See God's work in the world. See how you might join in on what He's doing. See the people around you. Know their needs. How can we be unhurried, undistracted, and attentive to the world around us?

Go for a walk. Sit on your front step in the evening. Redefine how you use electronic devices. Remove a few unnecessary items from your crowded calendar.

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Set aside a few quiet moments every day to read God's word. To commune with him in prayer.

"As he passed by . . ." Jesus sees you. He's your 3 mile-an-hour Savior.

Here is a story of a man who chooses to walk for Jesus, and people whom he met along his walk:

William C.Heller Jr.6/21/2018 05:32:24 pm

This is my brief true story of a time in my life when I took a walk for Jesus.This journey began at highway 55 and Butler Hill road. I began walking up the ramp and praying to God this prayer. God you know I cannot walk to where ever you wish me to go. Would you please send me a ride and the person you desire me to talk to. Half way up the ramp a young man of college age stopped and offered me a ride.He then began to tell me all about his life and the church he attended which is the First Baptist church Of Festus. The next thing he told me is how he was worried about his final exams in college.

I told him how I once had to take my exams for my GED and asked God to help me take the test and that help came in the sense of calmness.The next thing I said to this young man was, You go to church, Have you asked God for any help in your life? He looked at me as if he new what to do next. By this time he was pulling off the side of the road right in front of the First Baptist Church which sits on the side of the highway.As I got out of his car he thanked me for my help.there was now a calm about him as well.

I sat on the guard rail for no more than fifteen minutes and began to walk as I prayed once more the same prayer as before. Right away I heard air brakes on a truck behind me and looked back as this man was only a few feet away and motioned for me to get into his truck. I am John Murdock a dairy driver from Madison, Wisconsin. I said my name is William Heller and I am walking for

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Jesus.He then told me about a young lady he had met on the road the week before doing the same thing.John would ask me about all things he had questions about the Bible. As he made his deliveries for the day and the day ended he invited me to stay with him and he bought me dinner and breakfast. I spent three days with John and he left me off on Highway 75 leading down to Atlanta. His last words were, I going to go home and read my Bible this weekend. This is only a small part of my walk for Jesus.If you like to hear more let your fingers do the walking and write me.

My prayer in this sunday morning (22/7/2018, pk. 7:23)

"Jesus, forgive me for trying to do things faster and faster. Meanwhile, teach me to learn how to walk and work and talk and pray at a lower speed. Teach me to meet and greet people whom I see along the walk. Thank you for Your forgiveness and patience on me. Amen."

Versi 1.0: 22 july 2018, pk. 7:24 Victor Christianto The Second Coming Institute, www.sci4God.com

Reference: (1) http://www.sixthgen.com/the-blog/three-mile-an-hour-god

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J ULY 2 3, 2 01 2

Family Supper: Reclaiming Community Through

Communion

Article by Russell Moore President, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

In recent years, sociologists and educators across the political spectrum have encouraged families to do one simple thing to maintain connection with one another: eat. The issue isn't just eating, of course. That's a non-negotiable for all biological organisms. The issue instead is to eat together. The family dinner might seem cute and outdated in a mobile, crazy-busy current age, but there's something of importance here. Parents often wolf down, in a car seat, a bagged meal they've ordered through a clown's mouth, in order to get to another soccer practice. Children often eat dinner from a desk, alone, in their rooms, texting friends and playing video- games. A family dinner, though, creates a connection. As Christians, we ought to know this, from the church.

Too often, when we speak of "creating community" in our churches, we're talking about some new program, a new set of small groups we've copied from some other church doing such things well. The Bible, though, says little or nothing about "small groups." The focus of community is instead more often around the table, around a common meal. The Apostle Paul, from start to ﬁnish, warned the church at Corinth about their divisions, divisions that didn't just inhibit their mission but also proclaimed something false, at the most primal level, about the gospel itself ( 1 Corinthians 1:10–13 ). That division showed up signiﬁcantly in the perversion of the communion table (

1 Corinthians 11:18 ). The people were using the Lord's Supper to

feed their own individual appetites rather than caring for one another (11:20–21). When this happens, the act of communion becomes something other than "the Lord's Supper you eat," the apostle warned. To restore their fellowship with Christ and with one another, the church had to gather at the table, the way King Jesus invites.

This has everything to do, I think, with the alienation and loneliness we see among so many Christians today. For too long, many American evangelicals have deﬁned communion inordinately in terms of what we don't believe about it: that the elements metaphysically become the body and blood of Christ, and so on. We've emphasized the "remembrance" aspect of the Supper (which is signiﬁcant) without emphasizing the communion aspect of the Supper. But an overemphasis on memorial can easily turn the Supper into an act of individual cognition. The believer sits, alone, in the privacy of his own thought world, trying to think about the gospel of a broken body and poured out blood.

But there's something in the way that God designed us that won't allow us to evacuate our need for a communitarian supper. Evangelical churches that "celebrate" (and, if you've been to very many of these typical services, you'll know why I put quotes around that word) a curt communion every three or four months will try to ﬁnd something to replace it. There might be a "Family Night Supper" before a mid- week service, or a Sunday after-church "Dinner on the Grounds." At the very least, there will be coffee and doughnuts before the Sunday school classes, and gatherings But there's something in the way that God designed us that won't allow us to evacuate our need for a communitarian supper. Evangelical churches that "celebrate" (and, if you've been to very many of these typical services, you'll know why I put quotes around that word) a curt communion every three or four months will try to ﬁnd something to replace it. There might be a "Family Night Supper" before a mid- week service, or a Sunday after-church "Dinner on the Grounds." At the very least, there will be coffee and doughnuts before the Sunday school classes, and gatherings

Part of the problem is with the way we present the elements themselves. Most contemporary evangelical churches distribute chewing-gum size pellets of tasteless and oppressively-textured bread along with thimble-sized plastic shot glasses of grape juice. This practice hardly represents the unity maintained by a common loaf and a common cup. It also strips away at the reality of the Supper as a meal for a gathering, not just a prompt for individual reﬂection. The meaning of the Supper would go a long way toward recovering a biblical focus on gospel community if we asked our churches to tear apart a common loaf of bread and to drink from a common cup, practices that were common in New Testament communities.

Now, I recognize that such a thing would prompt wrinkled noses from many in our pews. They would ﬁnd it "gross" to get that close to someone's saliva and whatever germs might dwell within. But that's precisely the kind of Western individualism communion is meant to tear down. The church isn't an association of like-minded individuals. The church is a household of brothers and sisters. Indeed, the church is an organic system, a body connected by the nervous system of the Spirit of Christ himself.

As we serve the table of Christ's communion each week, we are calling the church to a different kind of community. The kind of community that cannot be dissolved by petty conﬂict or disagreement. As we eat together around the table of Christ, we're called to

a recognition that we are at the table of a kingdom. And we are called there to recognize the presence of the King — not so much in the elements themselves or in our individual spiritual reﬂection but in the body he has called together, a body of sinners like us. Only then will we really get what the Scriptures mean when they call us to "fellowship."

Perhaps if our churches intentionally recovered the communitarian focus of the Lord's Supper, we might have less and less need for professional conﬂict resolution experts called in to consult with us on how to overcome our divisions. After all, for Jesus and for the Apostle Paul, the starting point for unity in the church, and for the sanctiﬁcation of the Body together, was a common gospel and a common table. It could be again.

In order to get community right, we must reclaim communion. ________ Recent Articles:

A Broken Past and the Miracle of Sanctiﬁcation (Ed Welch) Jumpstart Your Stalled Sanctiﬁcation (David Mathis)

Russell Moore ( @drmoore ) is the President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the moral concerns and public policy entity of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. He is the author of Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel .

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6: AFRICA ISSUE

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REDISCOVERING THE EUCHARIST AS COMMUNAL MEAL: Editorial Advisory Board AFRICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLD CHRISTIAN

CHURCH

Sections

Theology Creative Writing

By Praxis Matthew Kustenbauder

August 8, 2005

Art

Trends in World Christianity

Film

A fact of our time is the rise of Southern Christianity. Its emergence heralds the birth of a truly dynamic world Christianity, marked

by the axial shift in mass and direction of the religion’s center from North America and Europe to Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Perspective

the Pacific, a phenomenon that has occurred only in the second half of the twentieth century. [1] In 1900, over 80 percent of

professing Christians were European or Euro-American. Today, over 60 percent of professing Christians live in the non-Western From the Editor

world. [2] Those ecclesial bodies that operate on a global scale have already felt the resultant tremors of these tectonic movements. In

the Anglican Communion, where Nigeria and Uganda represent the two countries with the largest number of practicing Anglicans, Issues

Southern hemisphere bishops comprise a staunch conservative majority, regularly voting down their liberal Western counterparts on

issues of doctrine. In the Catholic Church, it is estimated that a majority of the cardinals eligible to vote in the next papal election will Issues 1-5

hail from Southern nations, making the prospects of a future African or Latin American Pope not unlikely. The demographic shift in

Christianity has propelled a fundamental revolution in religion, politics, and culture by dismantling the Western philosophical and 1: Theodicy

metaphysical edifice. The result is that the West has ceased to be the exclusive culture of reference for the rest of the world. Philip

Jenkins describes the pervading character of this emerging revolution: 2: Postmoderinism Worldwide, Christianity is actually moving toward supernaturalism and neo-orthodoxy, and in many ways toward the ancient world 3: Human Traffick- ing

view expressed in the New Testament: a vision of Jesus as the embodiment of divine power, who overcomes the evil forces that inflict calamity and sickness upon the human race. 4: Politics 2004 [3]

Despite this reality, observers in the West fail to see—or prefer to ignore—the ways in which Christianity is growing and mutating. 5: Capitalism

The Western theological enterprise has perhaps been slowest to consider the implication of Christianity’s most diverse and complex cultural phase in this present age.

Issues 6-10

African Contributions to the World Church

Christianity’s most vigorous growth is in Africa, where today there are well over 380 million Christians out of a total population of 810 million. With roughly 47 percent of the continent professing Christianity (compared to only 25 percent in 1965) and a current yearly growth rate of 2.4 percent, Africa is well on its way to becoming a Christian continent. [4] Christ’s seed of faith, cultivated in fertile soil, has sunk deep roots in the collective African consciousness. With this in mind, I want to explore the main issue at stake in this article: how African understandings of the Eucharist as a communal meal might enrich and deepen the world church’s own theology. In Africa, Christian theology and liturgical rites have been dynamically enriched and informed by African traditional religion. [5] It is my hope that the witness of a vibrant African Christianity will inspire hope and infuse life into the world church, especially in the West where Christianity is in decline.

African Meal

A meal is perhaps the most basic and most ancient symbol of friendship, love, and unity; food and drink taken in common are signs that life is shared. In Africa it is rare for people to eat alone—meals are communal activities. Hands are washed before the meal begins, usually by a child who pours water over the cupped hands of the adults in the group. Everyone sits around a common dish of cassava, maize, or plantain. Each person takes a portion, shapes it into a ball, and then dips it into a single dish of relish, soup, or greens. If there is meat, the best portions are first offered to visitors or elders in the group. Drink, also, is often served from a common bowl or cup, which is passed from one to another. The meal concludes with another hand washing. Eating a meal together is the most basic way of sharing common life; it restores what has been lost and gives strength for what lies ahead. [6]

African Culture and the Eucharist

While the rich diversity of the African cultural landscape makes it difficult to generalize about particular African cultural and religious practices, failure to examine the broad continuities that exist on the continent has prevented Western theologians from learning anything at all from Africa. Particular beliefs and customs may be diverse, but the depth dimension of the African worldview is strikingly consistent, a fact that is apparent to anyone who goes to Africa. This is the deep level of culture. In collating responses to the Lineamenta on the Synod of Bishops, Special Assembly for Africa, Chukwuma Okoye observes that there is a striking similarity in descriptions of the African traditional religion coming from all countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Probing beneath the surface layer of diverse practices, a careful observer finds similarities in the models, meanings, and interpretations of African life. [7] Because the Eucharist deals with this depth dimension of meaning rather than the superficial level of practice, it is possible to identify “communal meal” as a root metaphor in African celebrations of the Eucharist. For instance, the Ndzon-Melen Mass of Cameroon incorporates aspects of Beti culture and is a celebration of shared word and meal within a reconciling assembly. African theologian Elochukwu Uzukwu describes this experience as “the totality of the human person/community (in all its tensions) in dynamic union with its universe, choreographing before the giver of life to whom the fruit of life is joyfully presented.” [8] This description reveals that the symbol of gathered assembly, with its accompanying notions of human community, divine-human communion, and thanksgiving to God, is deeply rooted in African consciousness. [9] African spirituality may therefore contribute toward a more communal understanding of the Eucharist in the West.

A Meal of Covenant: Sharing in the Eucharist

Perhaps the greatest problem of the church in respect to its mission has been its endless fragmentation. The desired unity among Christians has become an illusion. By sharing in a final meal with his disciples, Jesus united them in a covenant relationship with himself and with one another. Sharing in the sacred meal establishes unity and communion with the one Lord. Nlenanya Onwu argues that Africans think of relationship in covenantal terms as well. He cites the Igbo people’s use of a common meal to cement Perhaps the greatest problem of the church in respect to its mission has been its endless fragmentation. The desired unity among Christians has become an illusion. By sharing in a final meal with his disciples, Jesus united them in a covenant relationship with himself and with one another. Sharing in the sacred meal establishes unity and communion with the one Lord. Nlenanya Onwu argues that Africans think of relationship in covenantal terms as well. He cites the Igbo people’s use of a common meal to cement

A Meal of Unity and Peace: Achieving What it Signifies

Church historians have pointed out that the Reformation made possible a religion that could be practiced in private, rather than in community. The Enlightenment in the West has fashioned in its own image a Christianity distinguished by individual choice, privatized religious belief, and abstract intellectual and philosophical concepts. In contrast, African Christianity most often resembles the pre-Reformation churches, insisting that faith must be framed in a communal context. In the Orthodox Church, the Holy Spirit functions to actualize the unity of all things in Jesus Christ. For this reason, the Eucharist must be understood communally, not just in terms of Christ and the individual. “By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Eucharist at once actualizes, symbolizes and anticipates the unity of all things in Christ.” [11] The Eucharist reminds us of our interdependence and unity as children of God. Catholic Bishop Joseph Ukpo of Nigeria suggests that African Christianity offers a unique perspective – one informed by traditional African values and experience – that can enrich the world church’s understanding of unity. In his address to the Second Nigerian National Eucharistic Congress, he said:

Jesus celebrated the last supper within the context of a community meal [. . . .] The love manifested in the traditional breaking of Kola nuts can enrich the Christian understanding of the Eucharist as a communion, as agape. We can offer the world a Christianity that is operational in Africa as a communitarian family where unity and peace reign supreme in justice and love. We can offer [. . .] the African understanding of mutual dialogue where every individual is challenged not only to justify everything but to deliver the best and most profound communitarian values. We can offer the world authentic feeling for the sacredness of human life and offer for purification and adoption our cultural values of kindness, simplicity, openness, hospitality, burial ceremonies, collective labor, festivals, visits and co-operation in social works and among members of the extended family, the sick, the aged, chiefs and elders. This may be our humble, but authentic approach to the realization of [. . .] a Church that is truly Christian. [12]

African Christians take the covenantal and communal dimensions of the Eucharist seriously. Because the Eucharist has the potential to become both blessing and cursing for the participants, this heightens its gravity and significance. As Onwu has observed, “Participation in the Eucharist makes believers not only more committed to their Lord but also more responsible for one another in mutual service, love and unity.” [13] In his book, Christianity Rediscovered, American Roman Catholic missioner Vincent Donovan relates how he “rediscovered” the gospel message among the Masai in Tanzania. Their faithful observance of the Mass moved him deeply. Donovan recalls how he never knew if the Eucharist would emerge from his visits to the villages. The elders were the ones to decide. “If life in the village had been less than human or holy, then there was no Mass. If there had been selfishness and forgetfulness and hatefulness and lack of forgiveness in the work that had been done [and] in the life that had been led, [they made no] sacrilege out of it by calling it the body of Christ.” If the grass (a Masai sacramental sign of peace) had stopped being passed, if someone in the village had refused to accept the grass as the peace of Christ, there would be no Eucharist. More often than not, however, there was the will to overcome the community’s weaknesses. They would ask the Spirit to come and change the community into the body of Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit they could say together, “This—not just the bread and wine, but the whole life of the village, its work, play, joy, sorrow, the homes, the grazing fields, the flocks, the people—all this is my Body.” [14] Such recognition—that all elements of life are interconnected because they belong to God—illustrates the powerful moral imperative that under girds our celebrations of the Eucharist.

A Meal of Reconciliation: Identifying the Communal Implications of Sin

Another aspect of the African celebration of the Eucharist as communal meal that may enrich the church is the way in which sin is understood communally. Western definitions of sin are often individualistic, focusing on self, salvation, and one’s own relationship to God. American liturgical scholar Ruth Duck points out that even our corporate confessions of sin “sometimes focus so much on human relationship with the divine (and salvation of the soul) that a short act of confession appears to be a substitute for changed human action and relationships.” [15] As seen in the example of the Masai above, African notions of sin are focused on relationships with others in the community. For this reason, individual sins become matters of communal concern. After watching a video on the Paschal (Easter) feast of the Zion Apostolic Church in Zimbabwe, one Western divinity school student was disturbed by what she perceived to be a violent intrusion upon the privacy and individual conscience of the participants. Before the Eucharist meal, a prophet or prophetess publicly scrutinizes each member of the community. The people are not allowed to participate in the Pascha until they confess their sins to the elders. The belief is that those who do not confess their sins will be enemies of God for an entire year, until the next Pascha. [16] Despite the Western observer’s discomfort, she admitted that there is something refreshing about identifying sin. She wondered if perhaps, by accepting cultural values that privilege individual freedom and privacy over community, we have forfeited the ability to name sin in our Western churches. In African traditional understandings, the public naming, condemning, and breaking of sin emphasizes the relational aspect of human moral behavior, grounded in the bedrock of life’s interconnectedness. In this sense, the reconciling power of Christ in the Eucharistic assembly works to reconsititute human communities disaggregated by sin. Broken relationships are made whole again, a concrete symbol of people’s daily struggle against sin within the community. [17]

A Meal of Mystical Power: Experiencing the Real Presence of Christ

In 1997, I studied at Daystar University near Athi River town, a short drive heading southeast by Mombasa road from Nairobi, Kenya. The then Vice-Chancellor of the school, Dr. Stephen Talitwala, spoke to the assembled students and staff at the opening convocation. My Western sensibilities were assaulted as he related the events preceding the university’s establishment. After land was purchased and before construction of buildings could begin, school officials and several pastors from Nairobi scouted the entire area in order to consecrate the ground as sacred to the Lord. When they discovered locations where they sensed the presence of evil spirits, they baptized the earth with water and joined together in prayer, driving away the spirits by the power of Christ. To conclude his convocation speech, Talitwala enjoined the entire assembly to pray for the continued presence of Christ, which would protect from all evil and attacks of the Devil. The African tradition offers the West an enlivened sense of the real presence of Christ as mystical power. According to Chukwuma Okoye, “Africans inhabit the universe with spirits; invisible mystical forces, powers and spirits of ancestors.” [18] The universe is imbued with a powerful energy, which may be tapped by spirits, medicine men, witches, priests, and rainmakers. Africans espouse a worldview in which communities can be brought into relationship with invisible forces and powers. Not unlike those in the New Testament who reckoned with Paul’s “principalities and powers,” Africans tend to find spiritual forces actively at work in the world for good and ill. African traditional religion and culture combine and open outward to the mighty presence of the risen Lord in the Eucharistic assembly. The unmediated presence of God receives great emphasis in Africa because it is the very thing that creates the assembled community. [19] The Eucharist, however, is not to be considered a thing endowed with mystical power on its own. Instead, its significance lies in the action of an assembly suffused with the presence of Jesus. What the assembly does with the elements representing Christ’s body and blood conveys the deepest meaning of the Eucharist. This is because, in the African consciousness, a strong sense of mystical power is attached to the human action of sharing a meal together. There is a deep longing in the West to experience a sense of mystical power, as evidenced by the increasing number of people drawn toward eastern religions in recent decades. Such longing, however, has yet to produce a significant rise in Christian church attendance, where prayers, hymns, and sermons are often little more than intellectual exercises. The Eucharistic meal is bland and unfulfilling in solemn assemblies of people who do not really believe that a resurrected Christ rolled away the gravestone. German theologian Michael Welker makes a Western argument for coming to grips with the mystical power and real presence of Christ, who is alive in the Eucharist. He writes:

In the celebration of Holy Communion the “whole Christ” is present – as the pre-Easter Jesus whom we remember, the Crucified One whom we proclaim, the Risen One to whom we bear witness, and the Human One whom we expect and await! This [. . .] makes clear that “real presence” is not about a mere object of sense-experience, and still less about a Christological principle. In the sacramental event of the celebration of the Supper, the gathered community is permeated and surrounded by Christ, by the entire richness of his life. The “real presence” of Christ surrounds the community and the entire church as Christ is made present, remembered, experienced, and awaited in ways that are readily accessible to the senses. [20]

The Eucharist is a communal meal in which Christ is celebrated, and in which Christ gives himself in the form of food and drink. It is this self-emptying, kenotic power of the New Testament—amplified by the African worldview—that reverberates through the African church, offering the West an opportunity to reclaim a meal of mystical power; to structure our celebrations of the Eucharist so that it is clear that here is no mere meal, but a communal act joyfully celebrating the Risen Christ in our midst and giving thanks to God the Father.

A Meal of Participation: Including Everyone in the Ritual Action

The African church may also enrich world Christianity’s notions of who participates in worship. Objects offered in the African assembly are from the local community. Where food is offered, it is from the house, the labor of one’s hands. During the Eucharist, members of the assembly often bring the elements to the table with celebration, dancing, and rejoicing. The Eucharist meal is not something that the priest or minister prepares alone. Traditional patterns in Africa call for greater participation and less rarified matter for the Eucharistic elements, including local symbols of nourishing food and festive drink. Bishop Peter Sarpong draws upon Ashanti culture to involve all the people in the Catholic Mass of Kumasi, Ghana. The symbols of African life, pre-loaded with meaning, are used to communicate the message of the church. Young women dance through the assembly toward the altar carrying chickens, traditional symbols of sacrifice that will later be given to the poor. Hymns and responsive litanies are sung in the vernacular to traditional tunes. Young men beat drums, providing the rhythms that drive the constant movements of the whole assembly. [21] Consider the well-known Zaire Mass, which also highlights the co-offering of the people through a simple offertory rite in preparation for the Mass. Gifts for the needy are brought to the altar; one of the bearers exclaims: “Priest of God here is our offering! May it be a sure sign of our unity.” Making a sign of gratitude, the priest accepts the gifts. Two people present bread and wine, saying together, “O priest of God, here is the bread, here is the wine; gifts of God, fruit of the earth, they are also the work of man. May they become food and drink for the Kingdom of God.” [22] In both the Ghana and Zaire examples, the Eucharist is centered on the active participation of the entire community. The real presence of Christ – “This is the Body of Christ” – becomes true only through full participation. African Eucharistic celebrations have a way of preserving individual distinctions while maximizing the participation of all in common worship of God. On this point, African theologians do not tire of telling us that the African assemblies are nearer to the worship of the New Testament and exemplify the communal life of the early church.

A Meal of Hope: Proclaiming Christ’s Resurrection until He Comes

The African church celebrates the Eucharist as a communal meal of hope. In African worship, the gospel promise is alive and the sense of expectation is palpable. Throughout East Africa, I have witnessed eager crowds pressing to get into church. Many African prayers voice the hopeful expectation of the coming Lord. A bold proclamation of Christ’s resurrection and firm hope in his return may be found in The Anglican Church of Kenya’s A Kenyan Service of Holy Communion (1989). Excerpts from the dialogue and preface of the Eucharistic prayer and from the closing sentences of the benediction demonstrate creativity and freedom in adapting the Anglican prayer book using traditional African forms of communal address and tribal prayers:

Is the Father with us? He is. Is Christ among us? He is. Is the Spirit here? He is. This is our God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are his people. We are redeemed. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God [. . . .] In these last days you have sent your Son, your perfect image, Bringing your kingdom, revealing your will, Dying, rising, reigning, Remaking Is the Father with us? He is. Is Christ among us? He is. Is the Spirit here? He is. This is our God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are his people. We are redeemed. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God [. . . .] In these last days you have sent your Son, your perfect image, Bringing your kingdom, revealing your will, Dying, rising, reigning, Remaking