31^st July 2013

Sanctorum Communionem, koinonia hagion

The eighth and ninth articles of the Apostles Creed state, "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, The Communion of Saints."
Communion implies a sharing, but what is shared? Are these words intended as an expansion on the preceding phrase? (The Holy Catholic or Universal Church) Does the "Communion of Saints" mean the fellowship all believers share and if it does, is this communion limited to those on earth or does it extend and join us to the Saints in heaven?
The Catholic Church directs prayers to Saints while the Protestant Church holds to Jesus alone as mediator. 1 Tim 2.5
My conclusion here is that rather than a focus on a subjective communion between Christians it describes an awareness that we all of share in the same life of Christ and blessings that flow from that. .

Celtic Christians

Celtic Christians had a heightened sense of the presence of God and the "other world" travelling along with them. The Saints and angels were viewed as immediately present at both the critical moments of life and death and in the ordinary, daily work routine. They were fondly regarded as messengers of God's everlasting love. Of course the Bible speaks clearly of special revelations, occasions such as the transfiguration, angels, the reality of the Host of Heaven.
In "The Celtic Way,".p38, Bradley says, "There was an inter twinning of the natural and supernatural, the material and spiritual carried over when they (the Celts) became Christians. Man was not seen as being alone with other humans and animals with God way up in the sky. When you raised your eyes to heaven you raised them to a great vast host-for God was the Lord of Hosts. The Celtic Christian at prayer was consciously a member of a great company that stretched from the person of the Trinity through the powerful angelic throngs to the least of the spiritual persons, the risen Saints."

Being "In Christ."

In Romans 8: 9-11 It appears that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of him who raised Jesus, is synonymous with Christ Himself. Through the Holy Spirit Christ dwells in us, we share in His life and life is given to our mortal bodies. Because of this communion with Christ, Paul is said to have shared in Christ's sufferings. Phil.3:10. This is an objective participation outside the believers (Paul's) subjective experience. (N.B. Dictionary, p245)

Romans 8: 38-39 says that nothing, not even death can separate the Christian from Christ's love. We are in Him, He is in us and this does not cease when our physical body dies. This means whether we are in the body or out of the body we share in what we might describe as an unbreakable communion or fellowship, a mystical union with Christ and with each other.

Although physical death separates us physically from each other, we continue our connection with those who have gone before because we share a common life and love that transcends death. It can neither separate us from Christ or from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Thus the old hymn, "Blest be the tide that binds our hearts in Jesus love." Does this mean that like Spiritualists we are in contact with the dead? No, the life we share comes only through Jesus Christ and what he has done in his death and resurrection. He alone gives us access to the God-head, Father, Son and Holy Spirit not to some sort of spirit of the dead. The Westminster Confession helps us to make this distinction by saying we are, "united to one another in love and have communion in each others gifts and graces". By saying this I understand that we share in the continuing legacy of the gifts and graces that flow from Christ.

The Lord's Table.

With the above in mind it means that when we come to the Lord's Table as pilgrims we can come in an objective way with a realistic view of death and a consciousness of the power of heaven around and about us. We understand Christ is present in a special way. He is at the table as the host. We have communion with Him but where He is so are those in communion with Him, So this is a universal meeting and communion that transcends, time, race, creed gender, colour, where the church militant on earth is united with the church victorious in heaven. In this moment we worship in the knowledge that we share the gift of Christ's life and the graces that flow from it so as the traditional liturgy says,

"Therefore with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven and on earth we laud and magnify thy glorious name."

In a more contemporary version
,
"We thank you that we do not celebrate this supper alone, but in company with all your people, past, present and to come. With them and all creation we praise you."

Contemporary Prayers for Public Worship, Caryl Micklem (ed). 1967

The new life we share then is not focused on ourselves, human sentiment or on our attachments to each other or those loved ones who have died. In the first place the union and communion we share is with Christ. In this moment, even beyond death we are united with those who have gone before in that we share in His life, His gifts and His graces. We are also united in one combined act, a united act that draws in all the creation, the creatures of earth, the Saints, the Host of heaven and the cosmos itself. This is an eternal act of praise and worship that exalts the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

E.A (Ted) Curnow. July 2013