A Sacramental Welcome: Using the Sacraments as Models of Radical Welcome
Throughout Scripture, one can see that God is fiercely there for those who are on the margins of society. This is seen when God rescued the Israelites from Egypt to setting up the levitical law code that took into account those on the margins, God has always looked out for the oppressed. This theme continues throughout the New Testament in the ministry of Jesus and his disciples.
Jesus was constantly reaching out to those that society has ‘other-ed’. This included women, children, the sick and lame, tax collectors and Samaritans. His love knew no bounds, and this was practically demonstrated in His ministry. John Navone sums it up nicely when he states that, “in his boundless hospitality, God welcomes all humans into his creation, excluding no one from the realm of his all-encompassing love.” (329) There is no one that God’s love does not radically welcome into His community. This radical hospitality clearly demonstrated in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The reason for this is that the purpose of these sacraments, at their core, are to remind the Church of the hospitality that God has extended to them.
Jesus models for us the sacrament of baptism in the Gospels. At Jesus’ baptism, the trinity is clearly shown through the voice of God the father, the Spirit in the form of a dove, and God the Son. (Matt. 3:13-17) Here, we see the communion that happens within the Godhead, a communion that the Church should embody as well. At baptism, the baptized becomes at once in Christ, and in the Church.
This koinonia that baptism brings us into, points towards the Lords Supper—when the baptized actualizes their identity with the Body of Christ. (Tillard, 6) Through the waters of Baptism, God extends His arm of hospitality. (Navone, 338) Baptism is not only a sign of new life in Christ, but it is “our welcoming the hospitality of God in the self-gift of his Son and Spirit.” (Ibid, 338) At baptism we recognize that God is welcoming us to His table and into communion with Him. Once we are baptized in Christ “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, NRSV) We are now all part of a united family—the family of God. This means that societal distinctions no longer separate or ‘other’ someone.
Since baptism unites believers in Christ, it lays out a foundation for how believers should act. There are no longer reasons to segregate or disassociate from people who are different than us, or who society tells us does not belong. When one enters the Church, we are called to love, accept, and welcome them to Christs table. (Tillard, 10)
The Lords Supper was instituted at the last meal that Jesus shared with his disciples. In Luke 22: 7-23, we read that this was part of the annual passover meal. Jesus was with his disciples, preparing them for the events that were about to take place. In Luke 22: 14-23, we see Jesus taking the bread and cup and connecting them with his death and resurrection. These actions show us that “the Last Supper is the supreme instance of God as host in the self- giving sacrifice of Jesus Christ.” (Navone, 336) In the very act of partaking in the Lords Supper, we are being reminded that we are welcome at His table.
This table imagery is often lost in contemporary churches as we have separated Eucharistic practices from its original context of table fellowship. But if we maintain the context that the first Eucharist was practiced in, we see this imagery of God as host. In the book of Acts the Early Church maintained this context of table fellowship, which most clearly seen in Acts 2:46. This passage harkens back to the last supper when Luke uses the term “broke bread.”
The banquet imagery is beautifully discussed in Revelation 19 :7-9. In these verses we read that we are called to rejoice and be glad because the the marriage supper of the Lamb is ready. This banquet is when the reality of Jesus’ offer to come to the table demonstrates the life-principle of divine and human communion. (Ibid, 337)
This idea of God—the host—extending hospitality to humanity is clearly demonstrated in the Lords Supper. (Ibid, 339) Every time that the Church partakes in the Eucharist, we are living in the eschatological reality of radical hospitality.
Not only does the Eucharist provide a basis for God welcoming humanity into his Kingdom, but, for Paul, it lays out important principles on how the faith community is supposed to live. This is most clearly seen in 1 Corinthians 11: 17-34. In these verses Paul is pointing out the abuses that the Corinthians were promoting during their practice of the Lord’s supper. Paul points out the abuses and how society may be influencing how they participate in community with one another. Paul admonishes them to remember that this meal is not about them, it is first and foremost about Christ welcoming them to His table, and the Church, in turn, participates in this meal as an eschatological sign of God’s hospitality through the blood of Jesus. Every time that believers partake in the Lords Supper, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes and that it means.
In 1 Corinthians, we see conflicts arise and Paul notes that these conflicts stem from the have and the have nots of the Corinthian Church. (Passakos, 195) This causes consternation within Paul because the very act of the Eucharist is supposed to embody the hospitality that God shows humanity in his death and resurrection, and this is not what is happening. Instead, these meals are being used to cause division.
Meals played an important role in the Graeco-Roman context, and Paul here is illuminating the issue. Invitations to these meals demonstrated who was considered an ‘insider’ and who was an ‘outsider.’ (Navone, 333) Through the Lords Supper, the Church is declaring that systemic structures that promote ‘othering’ are gone through Christ. The Lords Supper incapsulates all that God is trying to do in, and through, the death and resurrection of Christ. This new covenant is a new community of believers in Christ, and they are supposed to be known for their radical hospitality.
The very essence of the sacraments is one of welcome. Through baptism and the Lords Supper we see the radical hospitality of God. This radical hospitality welcomes all of humanity. God, who is the host, “reaches out through the hospitality of Christ and the members of his body to invite all humankind to the eschatological banquet that he has prepared for them.” (Ibid, 338) A foretaste of this heavenly banquet is tasted every time the Church participates in the sacraments. These sacraments remind the Church that, just as God is the ultimate host, they are supposed to offer a radical hospitality to those whom society has deemed as unworthy.
Bibliography
Navone, John. "Divine and Human Hospitality." New Blackfriars 85, no. 997 (2004): 329-40.
Passakos, Demetrius C. “Eucharist in First Corinthians: A Sociological Study.” Revue Biblique (1946-) 104, no. 2 (1997): 192-210.
Tillard, J. M. R. "Eucharist, Baptism, Church Oneness And Unity." New Blackfriars 61, no. 716 (1980): 4-15.