The Feast of the World's Redemption: Eucharistic Origins and Christian Mission - Book Review

Currents in Theology and Mission, Oct, 2002 by John H. Tietjen

The Feast of the World's Redemption: Eucharistic Origins and Christian Mission. By John Koenig. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2000. xvii and 301 pages. Paper. $25.00.

We all agree (don't we?) that one purpose of Christian worship is evangelistic outreach. Does Holy Communion get in the way of that purpose? Isn't Holy Communion something special for the in-group of believers, whereas worship that is mission-minded should be crafted for seekers? In The Feast of the World's Redemption John Koenig argues winsomely and lucidly that from the beginning the meal we call the Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist has been at the heart and center of Christian mission outreach. It was so for Jesus, for the first disciples, and for the New Testament church.

Koenig is Sub-Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of New Testament at General Theological Seminary in New York. He writes as a New Testament exegete but seeks to cross the line for conversation with those in the church responsible for worship and for outreach.

Koenig argues that there was indeed a Last Supper at which Jesus intentionally instituted a communal meal that promised fulfillment of God's covenant of redemption through his self-giving. Key to his argument is the word of Jesus about not drinking of the fruit of the vine until he drinks it with his disciples in the kingdom of God.

Koenig sees continuity between the Last Supper and the earliest meal practices of Jesus' followers after his resurrection. The meals were for the purpose of invitation and outreach to incorporate first Jews and then Gentiles in God's covenant of redemption. In separate chapters Koenig deals with the evidence in the writings of Paul and the General Epistles, and in the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation for the practice of communal meals (Koenig says the best term for them is eucharistic) and for their missionary purpose. Koenig offers special insights in explaining how passages such as Romans 12 and 2 Corinthians 8-9 have allusions to eucharistic meals and how 1 Corinthians 11 through 14 are all descriptions of eucharistic practices of the Corinthian congregation.

In a lengthy concluding chapter, "The Call to Eucharistic Mission," Koenig presents the implications of his study for both worship and mission under five perspectives: promise, presence, practice, abundance, and co-missioning for redemption. Anyone who takes him seriously will want to find ways of incorporating into contemporary worship New Testament emphases on sharing spiritual gifts and of reinterpreting our understanding of the Eucharist as the missionary means of incorporating people into the feast to come. If you are serious about the Bible, about worship, about mission, you should read this book.