A THEOLOGY OF CHILDREN AND THE LORD’S SUPPER

By Rev. Raymond Coffey

February 2007

During these weeks in Epiphany our focus is on the Scriptural perspective of children and their place in the covenant community. Covenantal thinking is not new to us as a Reformed community. It is the foundation and framework for our understanding of Scripture and informs our thinking on the baptism of our children and, as we shall see, the admission of children and young people to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  The idea of children and youth being admitted to the Lord’s Supper is not new to the Reformed tradition and it is gaining a fresh hearing in a number of circles including the Christian Reformed Church.

At the most recent Synod the CRC voted to admit children and young people to the Lord’s Table. This vote is to be ratified at the upcoming Synod of 2007 and will be implemented in both the polity and practice of the church. This of course affects us as a congregation within the CRC. I am personally grateful for this decision by Synod on behalf of the denomination. It should result in a stronger and healthier church. The larger issue, however, is whether or not Scripture speaks to this subject. The questions that are raised are ultimately settled by appealing to the teaching of scripture. From Scripture certain theological conclusions are derived that govern our worship and life within the church.  

My purpose in this note is not to present a full-blown exegetical or theological argument for the practice of “paedocommunion” but to raise and attempt to answer certain questions that are associated with the teaching or practice of child-communion in the church. My hope is that we are deepened in our understanding of God’s covenantal design for our families and that we nurture our children in the faith once delivered to us. It is our desire that our children grow to know Christ in all of his grace and power. A number of excellent studies on the subject are available and we will be placing several of them in our church library. I especially recommend the book The Case for Covenant Communion, edited by Gregg Strawbridge. In this book a substantive case is presented by several authors from different backgrounds on behalf of the practice of paedocommunion.  

The central issue is the place children have within the covenant. Scripture provides us with numerous references to children being included in the covenant community, both in the Old and New Testaments. Genesis 17:7 and Acts 2:39 are central to any discussion on this topic. As such they enjoy the physical and spiritual blessings of being within the sphere of the covenant and thereby participate in the life of the covenantal community. This is illustrated in the Old Testament where children were admitted, by reason of their being members of the covenant community, to the feasts and offerings of Israel and were allowed to eat and partake of these covenant meals. This was true of the Passover meal and of the Peace offering. When Moses answered Pharaoh’s question concerning who would be allowed to leave the land of Egypt for the purpose of worship he said, “We will go with our young and old, our sons and daughters…because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.” The children and youth were included in the covenantal life of the community because they belonged to the people of God.  

The requirement for inclusion was that all the men of the family including servants, be circumcised. Exodus 12:48 In the new covenant community of the church the requirement is that of baptism. We believe that baptism is the sign of the new covenant and is equivalent to circumcision under the old covenant. Such is stated in Colossians 2:11-12, where Paul speaks of the “circumcision done by Christ” which is indicated in baptism. It speaks of inclusion within the covenant community and is applied to our children as infants. Admission to the table is based on membership in the covenant community which is signified by baptism. It is our position that children who have been baptized into Christ and are therefore partakers of the covenant blessings of Christ, are to be invited to the table where they are nourished and taught in the faith.  

At this point several questions and objections are usually raised that are legitimate and worthy of consideration. One major concern is the understanding of the child or youth. Do they really comprehend the meaning of the Lord’s Supper? Do they appreciate what is involved in coming to the table and partaking of this covenant meal? Do they, in the words of the apostle Paul, “discern the body” and “examine themselves” properly? Now these questions are valid and must be answered. But the primary question that is often missed is this: Have they been baptized in the name of the Triune God? This question must be asked first. From this question flow the answers to the other questions. In reality we are asking about the meaning of baptism with the context of the covenant.  

Young people do not fully understand the meaning and significance of the Lord’s Supper. But understanding is not the prerequisite for coming to the table. Faith is foundational. And covenant children do have faith in Christ. God works this in their hearts from conception. We find this in the case of John the Baptist. In Psalm 22:9,10 indicates that even nursing infants have faith in God. This faith is the work of the Holy Spirit. This is the biblical teaching of covenant succession. We believe that God will fulfill his promises to save our children. We act on those promises by fulfilling our responsibilities as parents in teaching them the Scriptures. We do want children to grow in knowledge and in understanding, even as we desire this for adults. But this growth comes through nourishment.  If a rationalistic understanding is the condition for participation in the table then those who were mentally handicapped or the aged who have experienced diminished intellectual powers would not be able to partake of the Supper. 

Actually, we as adults do not fully understand the meaning of the Lord’s Supper! It is a mystery that defies full comprehension. We continually learn of its truths each time we study and partake of the meal. It can be understood by children in simple faith and it challenges us as adults to grow in appreciation of its depth as it directs us to the cross of Jesus Christ. As for “discerning the body” and “examining” oneself, the passage in I Corinthians 11 refers not to trying to ascertain the intricacies of the meaning of the elements on the table, but rather to the church, the body of Christ. The church at Corinth was not discerning the body because of their exclusionary practice when it came to the Lord’s Supper. By way of application we fail to discern the body when we forbid children of the covenant from coming to the table of the Lord to be nourished and fed by Christ. We fail to prove ourselves, which is what the term ‘examine’ means, when we exclude a part of the covenant community from the table. This was the problem that Paul was addressing in Corinth. And we are to follow the same exhortation: prove ourselves by not excluding those who belong to the covenant community.

 Doug Wilson’s comments illustrate what this means in a practical sense. “A few years ago, when one of my grandsons first shared in the table, he was beside himself. His parents had taught him a basic catechism with signs because he could not really talk. He answered the question “Are you baptized?” by patting his own head. I was administering the Supper, and he was sitting in the front row with his parents and grandmother. When he got his bread, he held it up to show me. Now this could be dismissed as simply a grandkid doing he cute thing, not really understanding what was happening. But he turned and patted his mother’s head and his grandmother’s head. We are all baptized. He was discerning the body. To the extent that he understood the Supper, he was discerning the body. To the extent that he did not understand the Supper, as the rest of us do not either, he was learning, just as we are. We speak English to our children before they know English, and it is not a fruitless waste of time. That is how they become native speakers. In the same way, we are “speaking grace” to our children by including them in the Supper. And what impact doe it have to speak grace to children so early? We do it so they might become native speakers of that same grace.”

 But, someone will ask, what about profession of faith? Should not a person profess faith in Christ in order to come to the table of the Lord? The answer is found in determining what we mean by profession of faith. It is important to state that our goal is to see our children grow to confess Christ as Lord of their lives. This profession is a declaration that one has trusted in Jesus Christ and indicates such by uniting with the church as an “adult” or mature believer in Jesus Christ. That is why we have traditionally known young people to make their profession of faith around ages 16 and up. There are of course exceptions to this but the typical age is somewhere around this period. By ‘profession of faith’ we do not mean that is the time when a young person has come to believe in Jesus for the first time or in terms of a conversion experience. This has been the “revivalistic” pattern of Arminian theology and of much of the broader evangelical church, and is not in accord with a “reformed” understanding of covenant nurture and succession. 

God has given to the church and to the family means of grace by which we nurture, train, and form children so that they grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We trust that God will use these means that he has appointed to bring our children to a saving knowledge of himself. These means include prayer, teaching, catechism, and the sacraments. The Lord’s Supper is a means by which we nurture and nourish our children in the faith. To exclude them from the table is to deny them a means of grace. It would be like withholding food from our children and asking them to grow and be healthy. So we invite, with instruction, our children to the Lord’s table and there they strengthened in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior. It is believed that children who are nurtured in the covenant faith will come to profess Christ as Lord of their lives. And this is accomplished by the faithful application of the Word of God to their lives and their participation in the meal that feeds their souls.  

The apostle Paul particularly warned against eating and drinking in an “unworthy manner.” This referred to how they observed the Supper, not to whether or not they were worthy recipients of the Lord’s Supper. Our observance is to be reverent, informed and according to the words of our Lord Jesus when he established the covenant meal. To that end we should instruct our children and use the occasion of the Lord’s Supper to teach them what is being done and why this is so. What a wonderful opportunity is given us as parents to train and catechize our children in the doctrines of the death, resurrection and return of Jesus Christ. And with this comes the further opportunity to prepare them for worship and for participation in the liturgy and in the Supper.  

Other questions are raised that flow from these observations. What about a child who grows into adulthood and does not profess faith in Christ? Are they then excluded from the table? We would respond by asking why an adult, who does not believe in Jesus Christ, would desire to partake of the table of the Lord. It is a communion with Christ that is experienced in partaking of the meal. Would a non-believer or one who is a covenant-breaker want to share in this communion with Christ? And would they want to eat and drink judgment upon themselves? The table itself becomes the means of grace or of judgment. It calls all of us to faith in Jesus Christ.   

It is my desire as a Pastor to see our families join together in joyful participation in the Lord’s Supper and to see this meal enrich our lives spiritually. The benefits are immense. The blessings are real. God does and will nourish our bodies and souls as we partake of the meal Christ has given us. It is our peace, our sustenance and our life. And as we grow in our knowledge of his grace given us through the Word and the Sacraments, we will see his continued blessing on our life together as a covenant community.  

My prayer is that we as a community will be renewed in our understanding of the Reformed perspective on the covenant and place of children within this biblical framework.