Did you bring your token with you today?
Jeff and Heidi Sims served this church faithfully for years. Then one day they moved to Arizona. As Jeff left an open role to fill at the Saturday communion table, several folks decided I should do as I am doing today. As a mentor, Dr. Bond loaned me a few books about communion meditations. One of those books shared this story that I want to share with you now. I researched it again online and it rings loudly in my mind as we watch the news and hear about hate, racism, Nazism, fear, evil, anger, injustice, brutality and suffering in our homeland.
The following is written by Jarrett Banks in his WordPress blog.
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) stirred up thousands of people in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with their writings and sermons. Some people estimate that when Barton Stone held his revival at Cane Ridge, Kentucky in 1801, nearly 30,000 people showed up, 10% of the entire population of Kentucky at the time. (That would be over 443,000 in today's numbers). What were these folks preaching that started a movement that would later become one of the largest denominations in North America?
They simply had the audacity to preach messages that called for a return to taking the message of the Bible seriously. They denounced all man-made creeds and confessions and committed themselves to following Jesus at all costs. And in so doing they were continually bucking the system, going against the doctrinal grains of the Church. They preached against slavery, preached for the inclusion of all Christians at the communion table, stood against the power of the clergy over the laity, the power of Bishops over the clergy and anything that did not jive with Jesus. And for doing so, many were excommunicated, labeled heretics, radicals and fools. In fact, “The Fool of God” is the title of a novel based on the life of our forebear Alexander Campbell.
But here’s the thing, people responded to these fools. And by 1960, the movement they started had grown into a denomination with 1.6 million members. Here’s some troubling news. In 2012 we only had 625,000 members. Since 1960 our denomination has had a 60% decline in membership. There are many complex reasons for this decline. However, I want to suggest what I believe is at least one of the reasons, and here it is: We stopped actin’ a fool. In fact, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has been labeled by many as “a moderate, mainline, mainstream protestant denomination in North America.”
Did you hear that: moderate, mainline, mainstream! Barton Stone, Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell would roll over in their graves!
While Alexander Campbell was studying at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, the time had come for communion at his Presbyterian church. Communion was only observed a couple of times a year, so it was a pretty big deal. His church had a custom, like many Presbyterian churches of that day, to pass out these “communion tokens.” You would line up, present yourself to the minister. If the minister believed that you were worthy that day to participate in communion, he would hand you a token, a little coin. This was your ticket to the table. When you arrived at the table, you would present your coin, and then and only then, could you receive communion. If the minister did not think you were worthy, he would not give you a token, and thus, no communion for you. It also implied there may be no heaven for you either!
With his communion token in hand, Alexander Campbell approached the communion table. When he was handed the plate where he was to place his token, it is said that Campbell, “threw” the coin onto the plate, publically refused the bread and the wine, and then walked out of the sanctuary as a “free man” in Christ.
Now, does that sound mainstream, mainline and moderate to you? Alexander Campbell was anything but a mainstream Christian. He would say that he was an upstream Christian, swimming like a salmon against the mainstream currents of his day. And many said he acted a fool. This is what I believe we must regain as a church. We need more people like Alexander Campbell who are willing to humbly walk with Jesus, kindly love all people and do the justice of Jesus even if it makes them look foolish.
The Apostle Paul very clearly and outrageously writes: “The way of the cross is foolishness” to the world. We proclaim “Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.”
My conclusion:
When Alexander Campbell looked upon the communion table he clearly saw a table open to people of any creed, any color, any gender, any age, any nationality, any culture, any social status or rank, the table is open, it is open, it is open period. You will not be needing any tokens here. Ever.
Edited by Gerald Box
Aug, 2017, Beargrass Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Reference:
Actin' a Fool by Jarrett Banks, Feb 2014 (WordPress blog)