Aristotle, Plato, Communion and the Internet

A few posts ago there was a mention of our time’s preference to the Aristotelian ideal over the Platonic ideal. That is a fancy way of saying that we put the emphasis on the material (what we can see and measure) over the transcendent. Recently the UMC is engaged in a conversation about the viability of online communion. Online communion is the idea that an elder can invite someone at their home who is participating in worship via online/television to grab some bread and juice and take communion at their home.  

Needless to say people weighing in on the validity of the sacrament via the internet. I wonder if our resistance to online communion is rooted in the idea that what is real is what is material. "Real" community is those who are in the same physical space breathing the same physical air. "Real" community is that gathering of people that can be touched, counted, measured and seen. Could it be that our understanding of community is influenced more by Aristotle's teaching of what is "real"?

In a conversation with my friend Kyle he mentioned that the online communion conversation sounds something like reverse Gnosticism. Whereas Gnosticism elevated the Spirit over the material today we elevate the material over the Spirit. 

Elevating the Material or the Spirit over the other is neither helpful nor loving. 

If the Body of Christ is mystical, if we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, if we are all tied together in the single garment of destiny, then can we really say the sacraments are only valid in the material or the Spirit? 

I want my kid to understand the sacrament before they participate

As a pastor I hear this a lot from parents. Parents want their kids to understand communion or baptism and want me, the pastor, to explain it to them. 

The ability to explain communion or baptism to a 3rd grader is so important that many people who are moving toward ordination are asked this question in ordination interviews. As though 3rd graders are the only ones who do not understand.

But in all honesty, you cannot explain the sacraments - no one can. 

The sacraments are holy habits that Christians participate in. They are the things that shape us as a community.

I cannot being to share with anyone what the sacraments mean because they are not something that I do. The sacraments are a part of who I am. It is like asking me to describe what the color of my eyes mean or the shape of my hands mean. I cannot tell you, but these things help make me who I am.

We are all called to participate in the sacraments, some people heed the call and allow these holy habits to shape them and form them into the people who they are. 

Others are busy trying to understand them as though a good working knowledge of the sacraments matters more than participating in them.

I can explain why someone would participate in the sacraments much easier than I can explain all the different meanings of the sacraments - even to a 3rd grader.