Sitting or Reclining

Sharing Options

You have heard many times that there is no neutrality, not anywhere, and not in anything. This is not the same thing as saying there is only one way to do something, but it does mean that we should think about everything that we do.

For example, we are seated as we partake of this Supper. That is not an incidental detail. There are other possible postures that would be fine, and there are postures that would not be. If we knelt as we took the Supper, that is a posture of reverence and prayer that is not fitting when we approach bread and wine. There have been times and places in the Church when the elements have been inappropriately adored, and posture was part of that.

But when Jesus instituted the Supper, He and His disciples were reclining at table—the custom in that generation. Sitting was the more ancient biblical practice, while reclining was a Hellenistic custom—the posture of the symposia—that the Jews of that day had picked up. The fact that Jesus did it means that it was okay, obviously, but it was different from sitting. Nevertheless, it was the posture for eating a meal, and there was more than one such posture. This is an example of “no neutrality” not excluding various approaches and options.

So when we gather, the fact that it is a spiritual meal does not keep it from being a meal. But the fact that we are with Christ in the heavenly places does not mean that the posture of our bodies is irrelevant. Rather, it means that we are eating a meal of communion with someone, and not adoring an object. So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

 

 

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