A Sacramental Hermeuntics of
1 Corinthians: 10-12
As a child I was ever excited to
be early at the church to see the incense filled, candle lightened, and
multicolored Madbaha of my mother
parish. May that be compared with the standing of the people of Israel at the
valley of Zion, when God’s presence brooded the entire mountain, with awe and wonder?
I believe those childhood formations instilled in me an urge to search the
sacramental world little by little. This article is an attempt to study the
sacramental world of St.Paul as narrated in the 1 Cor. 10-12.
St.Paul, a Jew converted to
Christianity continues the mystic experience of the Judaic tradition. He also
focuses on the relevance of the incarnation in history. These two combined, mystery
and history, to produce the basis of the sacramental hermeuntics of St.Paul.
This is very expressive in the case of accounts on Baptism and Eucharist,
especially in the Corinthian correspondence.
Corinth was a centre of trade and tour. It was
the intellectual hub of Gnosticism, which celebrated carnality. Therefore Corinthian
community considered freedom as the religion. As a multicultural community,
symbolic presence of many cults and religions were part of the city. The social
body was so divided that the divisions were visible in the temple, court,
house, market place and any other gatherings.
In such a context how people can
be built as the body of Christ? Is the body of Christ is in opposition to the
social body of the Corinthians? Is it same as the Corinthian social body? How
the body of Christ can be constructed, imagined and texted in relation to and
distinction with the Corinthian social body? These are the questions sand
witched in the letter. The questions are converged in the exposition of the sacraments.
The body of Christ is built by the sacramental relations. Sacraments are apexes
in the Holy Eucharist. It is well depicted in 1Cor 11: 23-33.
The passage is read mainly at
two occasions of the Eastern liturgies: 1) First communion service 2) The
Passion Week. The former is a key occasion in a person’s spiritual life and the
later is the focal point of the liturgical year of the church. The passage is
related to the total debate of the Corinthian texts and especially to that of
the chapters 10, 11 and 12.
Manna
– Eucharist
Chapter 10: 1-3 gives the
account of manna .The food is given from
above in the desert .In eastern sacramental theology , desert signifies
spiritual formative journey. There the usage of the sojourner is very dear to
the Christian spirituality .The manna was not given in the cannan or in Egypt
.Rather It was given in the desert. It was given on a journey from slavery to
freedom. It cannot be preserved, rather to be taken on a daily basis. It is
beyond slavery and settlement that is why it was neither given in desert nor in
canan. Manna is the experience of eternity. The new manna for the church is the
Eucharist .Through the Eucharist eternity is embodied into everyday. Everyday
experiences are elated to the eternity in the Eucharist. Therefore Paul begins
the discourse on Eucharist with an introduction of the account of manna in
chapter 10.
Memorial – Eucharist
Jesus said “do this in remembrance
of me” at the time of the institution of the Eucharist. Memory is a key word of
the bible. In the first testament more than 2000 occasions the word to remember
is used. To remember is to give priority. To remember is to orienting our
organizing of life. We live with memory and forgetfulness. We seldom lack the
agility to distinguish between worthy memories and the unworthy ones. The beginning
sentence of Jesus can also be translated as “do in remembrance”. The Eucharist
is time in which we heal the wounding memories, cherish the redeeming memories
and dream the hopeful memories. In the Eucharist Jesus memory become the meter
to gauge, spectacle to gaze and the paradigm to pattern our umpteen numbers of
everyday memories. Therefore Eucharist is the time of sanctification of the
memories .This is why the words of Jesus remembrance is so effective and
evocative.
Dinning – Eucharist.
The way we dine is the way we live.
The nature of the web relations is visible in the way we dine. The Corinthian
community was very much layered as per the layers of education, finance, trade
and the like. This was visible wherever they gather. The same social relations
are reproduced in the house church gathering too. Paul says that the occasion
of the church gatherings /sacrament is not to reproduce the relations of the world
( 1 Cor 11.20 v). If the social relations of the world are repeated in the church,
then it is no more sacramental. The sacrament is to distance from the world, to
the symbolic world. Luke Timothy Johnson says that “the symbolic world is not
an alternative ideal world removed from everyday life. To the contrary it is
system of meanings that anchors the activities of the individual and the
communities in the real world”. The Eucharist is to constitute persons called symbolically
transform the nature of the relations of the world, based on capacity, capitals
and clusters.
Missionary
Meal- Eucharist .
The
food is taken as part of taking the responsibility. Before taking up of any
responsibility bible recommends a food together. Passover starts with a food.
The post-resurrected community gathered around food. This is not hang out, fun
or outing as in the metro sense of the term. Rather they are dining with the
divine to be partakers of the kingdom. The prayer in our thaksa after receiving
the Holy Communion says thanks for making recipients one with the body of the
missionaries. The Eucharist is to be missionary .It is to continue the mission
of Jesus, building the kingdom of God. The ceremonial food before the idols was
a part and parcel of the Corinthian community. Paul distinguishes that this not
such a carnival food, rather it is the responsible food. Do this in remembrance
of me also means to continue the work of Jesus, be the extension of Jesus.
Thereby by we escape from idolatrous worship of the son to co workers with the
son.
Covenant –Eucharist
Co working is possible only
through a covenant relation. The bible is the book of covenant. Sacraments are
the occasions to renew the covenant. Rev 3. 21 says that Jesus enters into a
covenantal relation with the belivers.The covenant never counts gain /lose,
appreciation/ depreciation, winning/failing. The covenant is the joy of
togetherness for God . I Cor 11. 32 uses the eucharist as the new covenant. As
God descended on Mount of Zion , the new covenant is being grafted in the
Eucharist.Convenat is only constituted by mutuality .The logic of eucharist is
the logic new set of covenantal relations. God enters into a covenantal
relation to the world through the son (John3.16).God in Christ , by the spirit
renews the covenant with the world in
every euchairst.This makes us courageous and accountable. We are courageous
because of the companionship of God. We are accountable because the trust of
God in us. Therefore St.Paul warns us that we are accountable to the Eucharist.
Body of Christ - Eucharist
St.Paul converges the narration
on Eucharist as in to constitute the body of Christ ( 1 Cor 12. 12-vvv). The
Eucharist work as the manna makes the pilgrimage of the church possible. The
pilgrimage of the church is the first step to be the body of Christ. The
pilgrim community should have a new variety of memories. Through the Eucharist
the pilgrim community is blessed with blissful memories. The sanctified
memories make them molded for new social relations. Thereby the body of church
is constituted in the world, not of the world. This body of Christ becomes
responsible to continue the works of Jesus, the mission.The mission become
possible until the convenant nature of the relations are renewed by the
Eucharist. Hence the Eucharist is the key in constituting us in Christ;
therefore we collectively constitute the body.
you are on the table, you are in the
chalice , you are this body with us, for collectively we are this body, we
drink from the same chalice because we live by the same life .
ST.AUGUSTINE