When the Homily is about Immunology

Communion

I really don't know how many non-Orthodox still read my blog, I suspect many have long since given up on me...I know for a fact some have. Took Orthodoxy for an internet test drive and found it wanting. Not surprising, particularly if I was a paramount source of information or an example of Orthodox Christians...Lord have mercy on us all if that were the case. Need I remind people how miserable a sinner I am?

As such, my explanations, my rants, my points, my acne should all be taken as mine alone...the Orthodox Church is so much bigger than me, so much bigger than one particular Parish, so much bigger than Mt. Athos, so much bigger than any Patriarch, so much bigger than any doctrine etc etc etc...

So instead of keeping my trap shut (as I likely should) I'll continue keep on spouting off...who knows I make get lucky and say something profound...if nothign else someone will at least correct my grammar.

A wonderful emergent church friend asked me about closed communion via an email recently. It is a common question because I think it is one of the most profound indicators of our differences...for one it is offensive and for the other it is inconcievable to NOT have closed communion. Anyway, here is the gist of my reply (with some corrections - for in rereading I noticed massive typos):


Sacramental theology was a tough one to get my head around...but once I had committed to stop reading the newest authors and their opinions of Christianity and instead get back to the oldest stuff I could find, it became clear VERY quickly that the ancient Church was sacramental and that they absolutely believed that Communion was MUCH more than a mere memorial service. St. Justin Martyr wrote in essence that no one was allowed to take communion unless they believed the things which they taught...furthermore from the most anceint of times, unbaptized/chrsimated persons weren't even allowed to attend (curiously enough you will sometimes hear a remnant of this in Orthodox liturgies when the deacon cries "Catechumens depart" or "The doors
the doors"...for it was at this time that only those in the Church could
remain.)

So while this has evolved out of the service and everyone can witness
communion, not everyone can take it. The priest is charged with distributing the gifts and knowing (as St. Paul warns us) that it can hurt or even kill people ("not discerning the Body and Blood" a verse that NEVER made sense to me until Orthodoxy), the priest will usually not commune people who he doesn't know or is to some extent unsure of where they are. When one becomes Orthodox, there are a host of statements that they are publically asked to affirm and in so doing we can say with relative confidence that they "believe the things we teach." (paramount of which is that Communion is indeed the partaking of the Body and Blood...something I cannot explain anymore than I can explain the Trinity or the Incarnation.)

Furthermore, communion is an expression of community in which we seek to fulfill Jesus' prayer that we be one as He and His Father is One. The Trinity is the ultimate expression of community and when we gather at the Chalice we recognize (or at least we ought to) that we cannot partake together if we are holding something between us...unity is critical, both theological and otherwise...and Holy Communion is the LAST place that the Orthodox will do a good spirited ecumenical photo-op. It is too sacred, too Holy, too much hinged on unity and community to allow it to express what is essentially a facade.

Yes, it seems exclusionistic and self-righteous, I know...but it requires an understanding of our eccelsiology (and we must recall that the Church is a mystical statement of faith to us...not just a mere gathering of semi-like minded individuals) For you see, most evangelicals outright reject our eccelsiology, and our sacraments, and our hierarchy, and our icons, and our understanding of the Saints...what are we saying in opening the Chalice to all? That these things really aren't important? That we ought to take a reductionist view of the faith and say that all things are expendable except....frankly we Orthodox would not know where to begin such a list.

So I guess I am saying that it is a two-way street. Our understanding of the sacrament and the fact that we are divided, prohibits us from inviting all. On the other hand, for the most part, evangelical understanding of communion is radically different, such that it really doesn't matter if someone partakes and doesn't believe the things that that particular church teaches. In the evangelical mind, there is a lowest common denominator that unites them all...but Orthodoxy takes a much more wholistic understanding of theology, preferring not to do fractions and math. After all, fractions suck, we all know that.

I hope this makes some sense. It is a sad thing - our lack of communion, but devout Orthodox Christians soon learn that just because you don't like or enjoy something doesn't mean that we should consider letting it slide. Personal tastes (like mine for MEAT!!!), to a large extent, often take a back seat.