The simple answer is that the Lord, in His mercy, protects those who cannot yet fulfill the requirements of the table, as partaking without discernment brings judgment rather than blessing. The Lord’s Supper requires, in the language of the Larger Catechism (177) that you must be of sufficient “years and ability to examine themselves.” This is even more stark in the scriptures, 1 Corinthians 11:27–29 “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” This is not only a warning against the types of sins the Corinthians were engaging in, eating selfishly and getting drunk, but a broader statement on the nature of the sacrament. Unlike baptism, that can rightly be administered to covenant children, the Lord’s Supper requires knowledge and discernment to safely partake. Baptism is a sign of ingrafting into the covenant community, communion is a sign of active covenant fellowship, requiring the communicant to examine himself and discern what he receives. Without the required knowledge and discernment the bread and wine become at best a worthless thing and at worst a judgment.

What the Lord requires of our children is to observe, ask questions, and long to participate. Those are the blessings that each and every child from the youngest infant to a child on the cusp of professing faith receives whenever they witness but do not eat and drink during the Lord’s Supper. So let’s unpack each of these blessings in turn.

First, our children observe. In our corporate worship even the smallest infant in his mother’s arms gets to see, hear, and participate according to their ability. The primary blessing in that service is the Word preached, which is available to all, and is applied in miraculous ways to their hearts by the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s supper is a visible sign and seal of the Word preached, a physical confirmation of the promises of God put forth in the sermon. So our children hear the Word and then see the physical elements of bread and wine, hear the Words of institution, and the explanation of what it all means. They see the men and women of the church approaching the table with earnestness, humility, and joy. Before they can walk or talk our children see this sacrament carried out over and over and it becomes part of their character and knowledge of the church. We don’t hide this from them but put it on full display. You cannot overestimate what an incredible blessing this is, to grow up in the covenant community and to see week by week the Lord’s people in worship.

When they are old enough to speak they begin to ask questions and receive answers about what is happening. “Daddy, what is the pastor doing?” “Mommy, why is there bread?” “Dad, can I have some?” Each question provides a glorious opportunity from the Lord to teach and shape your children, to increase their knowledge of the Lord and what it means to be a Christian, to be a part of His body, to commune with Him. This is the same pattern of blessing we saw in the Old Covenant at the Passover. Exodus 12:26–27 “And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” This is one of the inherent beauties of the covenant, that the blessings are not just for us but for us and our children and should be diligently passed on! Do not miss this opportunity to bless your children by joyfully answering those questions. Explain the meaning and joy of the Lord’s Supper, tell them what it means for the Body and what it means for you.

As your child grows, as they see the Lord’s Supper over and over, it is only natural that they would want to participate. That desire is a blessing from the Lord, but even that desire is not sufficient to justify their participation. They need to not only desire it, but understand what is happening and be able to articulate, according to their age and ability, their faith in Christ and understanding of the sacrament. Lots of children will reach for the elements and need to be stopped, but if that desire is from the Lord, if it comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, the desire will persist and grow. It will serve as a motivation to learn more about God, the Word, and our salvation by grace through faith in Him. The Lord makes some ready at 8 and others at 18, but when they finally partake it is the culmination of years of waiting and longing and will serve to teach your child the incredible weight and importance of the Lord’s Supper in the life of the believer.

Every Lord’s Day our children are greatly blessed by the worship service. There is no part of the service that does not hold some blessing for non-communicant members, but those blessings will only increase as your child increases in knowledge and ability. They will move from seeing, to asking, to longing, to participating. At every stage it is the duty of parents, elders, and the congregation to teach, encourage, and pray for these covenant children. The Lord’s Supper is a blessing now and will be a greater one to them once they are of sufficient years and ability to examine themselves and fully and safely partake.

It’s the vital combination of true teaching and lived example that allows generation after generation of Christian to learn, grow, and flourish. Deuteronomy 6:4-8 puts it like this “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” This is not merely Sunday morning Christianity or even daily family worship, it is a life defined by passion for God and His Word that spills over into every corner of life.

This is most obvious in the relationship between parent and child, but it should be the heart and passion of every man and woman in Christ’s church to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission through successive generations of the church. Matthew Henry brings forth the beautiful messianic blessing of Psalm 110:3 saying “The dew of the youth is a numerous, illustrious, hopeful show of young people flocking to Christ, which would be to the world as dew to the ground, to make it fruitful.” We need to not only long for this, and pray for it, but work towards that end. To see the next generation of the church well equipped to live life in this fallen world by pursuing the covenant children, youth, and young adults and young Christians among us for fellowship and spiritual conversation.

In light of all of that I can think of no better “vision statement” for a ministry to young adults, youth or children than Herman Bavinck in the Wonderful Works of God “The Christian, who sees everything in the light of the Word of God, is anything but narrow in his view. He is generous in heart and mind. He looks over the whole earth and reckons it all his own, because he is Christ’s and Christ is God’s (1 Cor. 3:21–23). He cannot let go his belief that the revelation of God in Christ, to which he owes his life and salvation, has a special character. This belief does not exclude him from the world, but rather puts him in position to trace out the revelation of God in nature and history, and puts the means at his disposal by which he can recognize the true and the good and the beautiful and separate them from the false and sinful alloys of men.” That is what we should desperately want for ourselves and for the next generation. Not merely a head knowledge to repeat the truths of the faith, but a heart knowledge that knows joyfully and intimately who God is and what He desires of us. So let’s strive to give that blessing to the next generation, to teach the truth clearly and to model it in our lives.

When I re-joined the PCA and was licensed in Hills and Plains, I took a slightly expanded vow, “Do you promise to strive for the purity, peace, unity and edification of the Church?” (PCA BCO 19-3.3). As best as I can tell the original language goes back to 1789 in the United States and the adding of edification was done in the old southern PCUS in 1867. Obviously, the edification of the church has always been an essential part of being either a ruling elder or a licentiate. Indeed, one of the best ways to strive for the peace, purity, and unity of the church is to strive for her edification. A congregation that has been well fed on the whole counsel of God is well equipped to love one another, to recognize and refute error, and to see their place in the larger picture of the one body of Christ.

Christ loves His church more than any elder ever could. He purchased her purity with His blood, secured her peace by His cross, and unites her in Himself by His Spirit. But you wouldn’t know that unless someone taught you. So Christ has equipped His church with officers to edify and steward His people under Him. He has given His church everything she needs for her health because He wants to see her healthy, strong, and faithful. As Paul puts it in 1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

So the question remains: how does an elder or a licentiate fulfill this vow? In humble reliance on Christ, with diligent preparation and earnest prayer, keeping the ordinary means of grace central in the life of the church. This tends toward the good of the church, and it keeps the man who made the vow centered and well fed, so that he can bless others from the overflow of what God has given him. That is what this vow is getting at: Christ builds and guards his church through the ordinary, steady work of edifying her in the truth. Or in the words of the preface to our BCO “It belongs to His Majesty from His throne of glory to rule and teach the Church through His Word and Spirit by the ministry of men...” If Christ is ruling and teaching through us, His servants, then these vows are a reminder to seek what He seeks for His church: purity, peace, unity, and her steady edification in the truth. For the glory of His Name.

Due to a technical error at the time of recording, the audio and video come out of sync as the video goes on.