Communion

The Session of Michiana Covenant Church believes that, for the spiritual well-being of the body and for proper worship, communion should be observed every Lord’s Day.

Christ clearly commanded us to partake of communion (Matthew 26:26-27); however, frequency of this communion is not explicitly stated in the scriptures. The two views which have been judged among the Reformed churches to have the most biblical support are the quarterly (or seasonal) view, which draws a connection between communion and the Old Testament seasonal feasts, and the weekly view, which argues that communion is an integral part of the regular corporate worship of the church.

Critics of the weekly view argue that weekly observance of communion diminishes the special character of the sacrament. However, the same argument could be made for the other means of grace. Does weekly preaching and prayer make them any less special or effective? Even so, the Session intends to honor the quarterly communion view by calling for a seasonal communion celebration for churches in our region.

Our advocacy of weekly communion stems chiefly from our confession that communion is indeed a means of grace “whereby Christ communicates to his church the benefits of his mediation” (WLC 154). We confess that in the Lord’s Supper we “do . . . really and indeed . . . receive, and feed upon, Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death” (WCF 29.7) to our “spiritual nourishment and growth in grace” (WLC 168). For the health of the body of Christ, we judge that this means of grace should therefore be exercised frequently.

Weekly communion was a common practice in the early church and was revived during the Reformation by Strasbourg and other Reformed churches. Following their example, we seek to conform our worship to the model set forth in Scripture. As we have affirmed elsewhere (see “The Pattern of Worship at Michiana Covenant Church”), the heavenly pattern of worship demonstrated repeatedly in Scripture consistently culminates in the partaking of a covenant meal.

Accordingly, the sacrament of communion as commanded by Christ should be more than just an occasional addition to our worship service. Rather, it is the culmination or fulfillment of our worship every Lord’s Day. With it, we take with our hands, and eat with our mouths, the covenant meal which signifies and seals to us the eternal promises of God.

The session of Michiana Covenant Church holds that the use of wine in communion, having been instituted by Christ, is fitting and proper. The use of grape juice, while not sinful, deviates from Biblical practice. In support of our position, we offer the following:

Wine, properly used, is a blessing from God
God provides “wine which makes man’s heart glad” just as He gives “food which sustains man’s heart” (Ps 104:14, 15). God promises His obedient people that He will bless them with an abundance of wine (Deut 7:13, 11:14; Prov 3:10). Misused, wine becomes a curse (Prov 23:29-35). The Bible uniformly condemns drunkenness (1 Cor 5:11, 6:10; Eph 5:18; Gal 5:21).

Wine, as referenced in the Bible, contained alcohol
The Bible draws no distinction between wine and grape juice or between fermented and unfermented wine. The same wine (Hebrew yayin) that made Noah (Gen 9:21), Lot (Gen 19:32-35), Nabal (1 Sam 25:37), Ahasuerus (Est 1:7, 10), and others (Isa 28:1, 7; Jer 23:9) drunk, was given to Abraham by Melchizedek (Gen 14:18), kept in the storehouses of the kings of Israel (1 Chr 27:27; 2 Chr 11:11; Neh 5:18) and permitted to all God’s people (Deut 14:26).

Jesus used wine at the Last Supper
The Last Supper was instituted with wine, not grape juice. Unfermented grape juice would have been unavailable in ancient Palestine in the spring of the year, many months after the grape harvest. Lacking refrigeration or pasteurization, the juice would have quickly fermented. Jesus spoke of “the cup” as filled with “the fruit of the vine” (Matt 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18), which designated wine partaken at the Passover and on the evening of the Sabbath. There is no indication in the Bible that our Lord performed a miracle and created fresh grape juice for the first Supper. It is plain that the apostles taught the use of wine in communion to the church from the fact that some became drunk at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:21).

The significance of wine in the Supper
Wine, much more so than grape juice, symbolizes the blood of Christ, which was shed for our sins. It is the glorified body and blood of Christ that brings us the blessing of the eschaton. Wine’s resemblance to Christ’s blood is found not simply in its color, but most importantly in its power to gladden man’s heart.

That is why wine’s alcoholic content, the result of transformation by fermentation, is significant. The “alcoholic glorification” of the grape juice has theological and eschatological significance. In the same way that meager grape juice gives way to the wine of blessing, the old gives way to the new and better covenant. Grape juice is dead, but wine has passed from death to life through fermentation.

Pasteurization, the manmade process by which grape juice is manufactured, interrupts the God-ordained process of fermentation by killing the agent of that transformation. There is a connection between the modern unnatural manufacture of grape juice and the modern extra-biblical hermeneutic that requires it for communion, both of which are 19th century innovations. By stunting the development of grape juice into wine, we truncate the biblically ascribed meaning of this cup of blessing.

Therefore, the session has determined to return to the practice of using wine in the Lord’s Supper. Nonetheless, for the sake of those with tender consciences, the session will also retain the use of grape juice for the present.

The Frequency of Communion

The Use of Wine in Communion