“An age which has already reduced God pretty much to a meaningless cipher, a sentimentality characterized as ‘love in general,’ cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that this sacrament is the Lord’s Supper not ours. He gives it. He is the gift. We are indeed to give thanks for this unspeakable gift. But the thanksgiving must be quite distinct; it must not displace the gift itself. When the Lord’s Supper becomes the Eucharist everything is run together and confused and the sheer gift of the gospel is obscured, if not lost.”

– Gerhard Forde, What’s In a Name? Eucharist or Lord’s Supper

Question:

As we come out of a holiday in which we focus on our giving of thanks, how do Forde’s comments about the Lord’s Supper bring us back to a proper focus? Do you agree that it is dangerous to refer to the Lord’s Supper as the Eucharist (which basically means “to give thanks”)? What troubles arise when we begin to focus on our own actions at the altar as opposed to Christ’s work for us?

Share your thoughts in the comments below