R
RevNeal
Guest
The Official Teaching of the United Methodist Church regarding the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of Holy Communion can be found in the published statement of the 2004 General Conference of the UMC: This Holy Mystery. Specifically of note in the statement are the following:
Regarding claims that UMC Eucharistic understanding is just Memorialism or Zwinglianism:
“Holy Communion is remembrance, commemoration, and memorial, but this remembrance is much more than simply intellectual recalling. “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) is anamnesis (the biblical Greek word). This dynamic action becomes re-presentation of past gracious acts of God in the present, so powerfully as to make them truly present now. Christ is risen and is alive here and now, not just remembered for what was done in the past.”
Regarding Methodist understanding the Sacrament as a Sacrifice:
“Holy Communion is a type of sacrifice. It is a re-presentation, not a repetition, of the sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 9:26 makes clear that “he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Christ’s atoning life, death, and resurrection make divine grace available to us. We also present ourselves as sacrifice in union with Christ (Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5) to be used by God in the work of redemption, reconciliation, and justice. In the Great Thanksgiving, the church prays: “We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us . . .” (UMH; page 10).”
Regarding the Spiritual component of the Eucharist:
“The loving God who meets us at the Table gives us the gift of eternal life. Jesus’ presentation of himself as the bread of life in John’s Eucharistic account (6:25-58) makes clear the connection: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (6:54). An early Christian writer, Ignatius of Antioch, described the Eucharist as “the medicine of immortality which is the antidote which wards off death but yields continuous life in union with Jesus Christ” (Letter to the Ephesians, 20). This life in union with Christ is life eternal. It is not only the promise of our being with Christ after physical death. It is also our being in dynamic loving relationship with Christ here and now. It is life that never ends because it is grounded in the everlasting love of God who comes to us in the sacraments.”
Statements on Real Presence (Physical and Spiritual) of Jesus:
“Jesus Christ, who “is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Hebrews 1:3), is truly present in Holy Communion. Through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, God meets us at the Table. God, who has given the sacraments to the church, acts in and through Holy Communion. Christ is present through the community gathered in Jesus’ name (Matthew 18:20), through the Word proclaimed and enacted, and through the elements of bread and wine shared (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The divine presence is a living reality and can be experienced by participants; it is not a remembrance of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion only.”
“Christ’s presence in the sacrament is a promise to the church and is not dependent upon recognition of this presence by individual members of the congregation. Holy Communion always offers grace.”
“United Methodists, along with other Christian traditions, have tried to provide clear and faithful interpretations of Christ’s presence in the Holy Meal. Our tradition asserts the real, personal, living presence of Jesus Christ. For United Methodists, the Lord’s Supper is anchored in the life of the historical Jesus of Nazareth, but is not primarily a remembrance or memorial. We do not embrace the medieval doctrine of transubstantiation, though we do believe that the elements are essential tangible means through which God works. We understand the divine presence in temporal and relational terms. In the Holy Meal of the church, the past, present, and future of the living Christ come together by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may receive and embody Jesus Christ as God’s saving gift for the whole world.”
I have been teaching courses on the United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion as articulated in “This Holy Mystery” since 2004. During these past nearly 8 years I have discovered that there is, indeed, great confusion among UMs on the nature and meaning of the Eucharist and, in particular, on the Real Presence of Jesus. Most United Methodists would, however, agree that the Eucharist is a true and effective Means of Grace, not a Memorial. Some have tried to maintain Spiritual Real Presence, however the “This Holy Mystery” document, combined with Wesley’s teachings on the subject, have made that far more difficult. While ambiguity still exists for some – particularly those who have ignored or argued against the teaching – most of us who have dealt with the issue hold a position of undefined physical and spiritual (body and soul) Real Presence, though the means by which that Real Presence is effected is left to the Mysterious working of the Holy Spirit. When I make the sign of the cross, hold my hands out over the elements, and pray the Epiclesis: “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be or the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood” I have absolutely do doubt in my soul that Jesus becomes Really Present in and through the elements on the table before me. It is the most soul-stirring, life-tranforming experience.
Regarding claims that UMC Eucharistic understanding is just Memorialism or Zwinglianism:
“Holy Communion is remembrance, commemoration, and memorial, but this remembrance is much more than simply intellectual recalling. “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) is anamnesis (the biblical Greek word). This dynamic action becomes re-presentation of past gracious acts of God in the present, so powerfully as to make them truly present now. Christ is risen and is alive here and now, not just remembered for what was done in the past.”
Regarding Methodist understanding the Sacrament as a Sacrifice:
“Holy Communion is a type of sacrifice. It is a re-presentation, not a repetition, of the sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 9:26 makes clear that “he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Christ’s atoning life, death, and resurrection make divine grace available to us. We also present ourselves as sacrifice in union with Christ (Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5) to be used by God in the work of redemption, reconciliation, and justice. In the Great Thanksgiving, the church prays: “We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us . . .” (UMH; page 10).”
Regarding the Spiritual component of the Eucharist:
“The loving God who meets us at the Table gives us the gift of eternal life. Jesus’ presentation of himself as the bread of life in John’s Eucharistic account (6:25-58) makes clear the connection: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (6:54). An early Christian writer, Ignatius of Antioch, described the Eucharist as “the medicine of immortality which is the antidote which wards off death but yields continuous life in union with Jesus Christ” (Letter to the Ephesians, 20). This life in union with Christ is life eternal. It is not only the promise of our being with Christ after physical death. It is also our being in dynamic loving relationship with Christ here and now. It is life that never ends because it is grounded in the everlasting love of God who comes to us in the sacraments.”
Statements on Real Presence (Physical and Spiritual) of Jesus:
“Jesus Christ, who “is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Hebrews 1:3), is truly present in Holy Communion. Through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, God meets us at the Table. God, who has given the sacraments to the church, acts in and through Holy Communion. Christ is present through the community gathered in Jesus’ name (Matthew 18:20), through the Word proclaimed and enacted, and through the elements of bread and wine shared (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The divine presence is a living reality and can be experienced by participants; it is not a remembrance of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion only.”
“Christ’s presence in the sacrament is a promise to the church and is not dependent upon recognition of this presence by individual members of the congregation. Holy Communion always offers grace.”
“United Methodists, along with other Christian traditions, have tried to provide clear and faithful interpretations of Christ’s presence in the Holy Meal. Our tradition asserts the real, personal, living presence of Jesus Christ. For United Methodists, the Lord’s Supper is anchored in the life of the historical Jesus of Nazareth, but is not primarily a remembrance or memorial. We do not embrace the medieval doctrine of transubstantiation, though we do believe that the elements are essential tangible means through which God works. We understand the divine presence in temporal and relational terms. In the Holy Meal of the church, the past, present, and future of the living Christ come together by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may receive and embody Jesus Christ as God’s saving gift for the whole world.”
I have been teaching courses on the United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion as articulated in “This Holy Mystery” since 2004. During these past nearly 8 years I have discovered that there is, indeed, great confusion among UMs on the nature and meaning of the Eucharist and, in particular, on the Real Presence of Jesus. Most United Methodists would, however, agree that the Eucharist is a true and effective Means of Grace, not a Memorial. Some have tried to maintain Spiritual Real Presence, however the “This Holy Mystery” document, combined with Wesley’s teachings on the subject, have made that far more difficult. While ambiguity still exists for some – particularly those who have ignored or argued against the teaching – most of us who have dealt with the issue hold a position of undefined physical and spiritual (body and soul) Real Presence, though the means by which that Real Presence is effected is left to the Mysterious working of the Holy Spirit. When I make the sign of the cross, hold my hands out over the elements, and pray the Epiclesis: “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be or the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood” I have absolutely do doubt in my soul that Jesus becomes Really Present in and through the elements on the table before me. It is the most soul-stirring, life-tranforming experience.