Lord of Life Lutheran Church
Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Why We Share One Cup at Communion

In early April I told the altar guild to begin using one communion cup on Easter Sunday.  A single cup of alcohol-free wine replaced two cups of wine and grape juice.  The main reason for the change was to simplify distribution. Servers frequently selected the wrong cup and/or wrong station and that confusion disrupted the flow of worship. And visitors —even with written and oral instructions— were often confused by two cups.  I thought that if we share one cup it would simplify the distribution. Since we need an alternative for those who can’t drink alcohol I asked some members active in A.A. about alcohol-free wine. They said it is safe to drink.  Hence, the change. We all share the same cup. Simple.

A few people spoke to me because they were concerned that we are not using wine. We are. We are using traditional wine from which the alcohol has been removed.1 After explaining this they were comfortable with this knowledge and accepted my pastoral decision.

More reacted to the taste of the new wine: it is not a rich, sweet-tasting wine to which we were accustomed.  We have now tried three different types and the current “red-blend” is a little sweeter than the first two, but it is still dryer than the “port” wine that we previously used. Spoiler alert: we also had complaints about the taste of the previous wine!

This raises a good question: how do we make decisions regarding worship?

There are three criteria: theology, tradition and taste. We might call them the three “t’s”.

Theology is the most important criterion. What did Jesus do? Regarding communion the Bible says that:

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.          I Corinthians 11:23-26

Communion (Eucharist, Lord’s Supper) is central to worship. We call it a “sacrament” because Jesus told us to do this to remember him. We believe and teach that the bread and the wine are the body and blood of Christ. Not just symbols, but the real presence of Christ. That is our theology and it is the most important part of communion.

Jesus used unleavened bread because it was Passover and wine because it was the customary —and safe—liquid to drink. We continue to celebrate communion using bread and wine because that is what Jesus did. It is the tradition. For nearly 2,000 years Christians have shared in the meal in this way. Where theology doesn’t dictate tradition often speaks.

Tradition is important, but traditions can and do change over time. Churches sometimes use a loaf of leavened bread. Or bake their own loaves or wafers. At the Synod Assembly in June the Grand Canyon Synod will use rice wafers because they are gluten-free; everyone can share the same bread!

As we have become more aware of the effects of alcohol, some churches changed from wine to grape juice, or —as we did for many years— a combination of the two. This is tradition, not theology. Tradition allows congregations to accommodate needs of the community.

Pastors are charged with leading worship in a way that is “consistent with the faith and practice of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America”.2

You have been called to be among us to baptize, to teach, and to forgive sins.
You have been called to be among us to proclaim the good news.
You have been called to be among us to preside at the Lord’s Supper.
                                                                           Order for Installation of a Pastor

The third criterion is taste. Of the three “t’s”, taste is the least important but can be the most emotionally-charged criterion. Is the music old or new? Is the carpet red or blue? Do we pray that “thy” will be done? Do we clap to show appreciation, or do we display devotion silently?

These are all matters of taste for which there isn’t a “right” or “wrong” answer. What’s right is what we like. But, to twist a verse of scripture, “where two or three are gathered there will always be four opinions!” And sometimes what we prefer is outweighed, not by other preferences and tastes, but by tradition or theology.  All three criteria guide our decisions.

I don’t want the taste of the wine to be a stumbling block to anyone, but we have different tastes and whether the communion wine is “too dry” or “too sweet” is not the most important criterion.

Prior to making the change I did some research. I thought that people would react to the type of wine, rather than the taste of the wine.  I expected to be asked: “why don’t we use a wine like Jesus used at the Last Supper?”  Here’s what I learned about the kind of wine that would have been served at the Last Supper:

The makers of the Vivino wine app wanted to know the answer to this question, so they went to religious expert Father Daniel Kendall of University of San Francisco and Dr. Patrick McGovern, scientific director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum — and better known as the Indiana Jones of Ancient Ales, Wines, and Extreme Beverages.  Their best-educated guess is that the wine would have been similar to modern-day Amarone, an Italian red wine made from grapes that have been dried before fermentation.3

Amarone, is a typically rich Italian dry red wine. In Italian, the name Amarone literally means "the Great Bitter"; originally, this was to distinguish it from the Recioto produced in the same region, which is sweeter in taste. 4

So, the answer is —except for the alcohol content— the wine we are using may be very similar to the wine that was used at the Last Supper!

I hope this lengthy explanation makes the whole subject a little more palatable. :) 

  One bread, one body, one Lord of all
One cup of blessing which we bless
And we, though many, throughout the earth
We are one body in this one
 Lord.

 

 

1 According to the manufacturer, “a small fraction of a percentage of alcohol remains—less than one-half of one percent (<0.5 %).” FMI see https://www.frewines.com/faq/
2 Manual of Policies and Procedures for Management of the Rosters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America As adopted November 11, 2018
3
https://www.mnn.com/food/beverages/blogs/what-wine-did-jesus-drink-last-supper
4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarone