A Twilight Musing 

           The minority of Protestant Christians who partake of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday (or more often) have a special obligation to make sure that the frequent observance of this feast does not become commonplace.  It is important, accordingly, that we develop a positive “theology of frequency,” rather than merely excoriating those who disagree with us on the matter.  (By the same token, those who partake of  Communion once a month or less should make sure that they are not neglecting its vital importance in the life of the church.)

           Jesus balanced his caution against vain repetitions in worship by also emphasizing the value of importunity in approaching God.  He praised the Canaanite woman for her persistence in asking for the healing of her daughter, and He told parables (Luke 11 and 18) to show that though God is more than willing to give us what we need, it is part of our spiritual development to keep asking Him.  The Lord’s Supper, like prayer, is a special way of acknowledging our need of what God has to give.  We need to see the incremental value in our frequent remembrance together of God’s greatest gift, His Son, and the resulting life that dwells within us.

           Why does any act become commonplace to us?  Because we develop a tolerance for it or fall into a habitual response to it.  We assume that it will no longer surprise us, and consequently we are not alert to anything fresh that it may have to offer.  But we can never exhaust the possibilities of God’s being able to bless us when we come before Him, and especially must we guard against becoming hardened to the inexhaustible meaning in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.  Even when our weakness gets in the way, God is always there, ready to weave even these unsatisfactory times into the whole fabric of growing His will in us.  For, unlike addiction to physical substances, addiction to God, though it increases in intensity, has no annihilating overdose looming at the end: “We are transfigured into His likeness, from splendor to splendor; such is the influence of the Lord who is Spirit” (II Cor. 3:18, NEB). 

Dr. Elton Higgs was a faculty member in the English department of the University of Michigan-Dearborn from 1965-2001. Having retired from UM-D as Prof. of English in 2001, he now lives with his wife in Jackson, MI. He has published scholarly articles on Chaucer, Langland, the Pearl Poet, Shakespeare, and Milton. Recently, Dr. Higgs has self-published a collection of his poetry called Probing Eyes: Poems of a Lifetime, 1959-2019, as well as a book inspired by The Screwtape Letters, called The Ichabod Letters, available as an e-book from Moral Apologetics. (Ed.: Dr. Higgs was the most important mentor during undergrad for the creator of this website, and his influence was inestimable.