Not for the Faint of Tongue
- davidwperk
- Mar 12, 2024
- 7 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, March 12, 2024
The week of the fourth Sunday in Lent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s epistle reading:
20When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. 21For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. 22What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 955)
AM Psalm 97, 99, [100]; PM Psalm 94, [95]
Gen. 49:29-50:14; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; Mark 8:1-10
Today we celebrate the Feast of Gregory the Great. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
Frederick Buechner’s observations about the meaning of Holy Communion came to mind while musing on today’s epistle reading. "The next time you walk down the street, take a good look at every face you pass and in your mind say Christ died for thee. That girl. That slob. That phony. That . . . fool. Christ died for thee. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for Thee." *
The Corinthian believers, at least some of them, had forgotten this basic assumption lying beneath the eucharistic meal—we all need God and one another equally. Christ died for us because we all share the same plight, the same entanglements in evil, addiction, and habit. Underprivileged and wealthy, clergy and laity all receive Christ’s presence in bread and wine at the same table and in the same fashion and with no preference given to rank or status.
However, in Corinth the wealthier members were arriving at the house church gatherings early and eating and drinking before the slaves and working class members arrived. By the time these people arrived, those who had preceded them had consumed most of the food and drink and some even had become intoxicated. What was to be a gathering of all for worship, communion, and remembrance of Jesus’ death and resurrection had degenerated into gluttony, drunkenness, and quarreling.
Each Sunday, Holy Communion brings the saving death and resurrection of Christ into our time and space; we remember by reentering the events; we experience again the forgiveness, love, and transformation of Christ through his real presence in bread and wine. The power of his saving life, death, and resurrection come to us in bread and wine. We all experience those realities. And, we experience our need for one another. Christ feeds each of us through bread and wine and through his indwelling presence that we all share.
Children, adults, men, women, people with social status, people with none—we all must receive the same bread and drink from the same cup. Our shared need for God and for one another crumbles the towers we build to elevate ourselves above one another and the walls we erect to separate ourselves from one another. Christ died for each of us, not for some of us, because we all were equally without strength (see Romans 5). Sharing in Holy Eucharist not only brings us back to that fundamental need for Christ’s ongoing saving love but also to that fundamental likeness we share.
The paper liner on an Altoid tin once spoke to me. “Not for the faint of tongue.” I thought of Holy Eucharist. In one sense it IS for the faint of tongue; Christ’s presence in bread and wine goes to each communicant without regard to their level of perceived maturity or status. But, in another sense, eating and drinking together demands a responsible receiving and a willing embrace of all others eating and drinking with us. In that sense Eucharist is not for the faint of tongue.
Buechner has more to say about this.
“To eat any meal together is to meet at the level of our most basic need. It is hard to preserve your dignity with butter on your chin or to keep your distance when asking for the tomato ketchup.
"To eat this particular meal together is to meet at the level of our most basic humanness, which involves our need not just for food but for each other. . . . I need you to help fill my emptiness just as you need me to help fill yours. As for the emptiness that's still left over, well we're in it together, or it in us. Maybe it's most of what makes us human and makes us brothers (and sisters).” +
* Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (New York: Harper, 1973), p. 53.
+Wishful Thinking, pp. 52-53
Collect of the Day, The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 219)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome and doctor of the church (died 12 Mar 604 CE)
Collect of the Feast of Gregory the Great
Almighty and merciful God, you raised up Gregory of Rome to be a servant of the servants of God, and inspired him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve your Church in the catholic and apostolic faith, that your people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Collect for Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent
O God, with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light: Quench our thirst with living water, and flood our darkened minds with heavenly light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, p. 55.)
A Collect for Peace
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)
All the Good I Can
Dear God, guide me to
Do all the good I can
By all means I can
In all ways I can
In all places I can
To all people I can
As long as I can.
Bill Pittman and Lisa D., The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2: More Twelve Step Prayers and Inspirational Readings Prayers (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2007.)
A Prayer for Light
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Epistle, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
17 Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. 19Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. 20When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. 21For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. 22What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ 25In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. 28Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. 30For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. 32But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 33So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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