Buzz Aldrin Dinner
In 1969, astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins arrived on the Moon during the famous Apollo 11 expedition. Aldrin was a Christian and a member of the Webster Presbyterian Church in Texas, USA. But it’s not the first time
- Unlike the previous expedition (Apollo 8).
- Which had only circled around lunar orbit.
- Neil Armstrong.
- Aldrin and Collins walked on the moon’s surface for two hours and fifteen minutes on June 21.
- 1969.
- A new important page was written in world history.
- On this day.
There is another reason why this Apollo 11 expedition was unveiled around the world: Buzz Aldrin’s celebratory dinner. During the time they were on the surface of the moon, waiting a few hours to regain strength before descending from the module, Aldrin celebrated the Lord’s Supper. He was the first man in history to do that. Men had already prayed in space, but Aldrin went further in the celebration of this sacrament. The astronaut read John’s passage 15. 5, ??? I’m the vine, you’re the pammpanos. He who remains in me, and I, in him, bear much fruit; Why can’t you do anything without me?[1] (NAA). Soon after, he took the elements. See how he described this experience himself:
I put wine from a sealed plastic container in a small cup and waited for the wine to fall as it rotated to 1/6 of Earth’s gravity on the moon. Would you like to ask for a few moments of silence? And invite everyone to listen, where and to whoever, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the last hours and thank them in their own way?I read the Bible silently passage as I ate the cookie and wine, and offered a private prayer for the task I was doing and the opportunity I had been given. [2]
Aldrin also reported that his partner Neil Armstrong observed this moment with respect and without comment.
Without a doubt, this story is unique and exciting. Maybe a dinner has already marked you for some reason, but can you imagine having dinner looking out the window of nasa module and contemplating one of the most beautiful stars we know, the moon itself?What a unique moment!
While the event is overwhelming, the question is whether this celebration of dinner on the moon was correct Is it that the purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to be a meal for important moments in life?Is there a biblical basis for such events?If Aldrin’s use of dinner in space is correct, shouldn’t it also be right for Christians to use this sacrament at other important events, such as parties, diplomas, weddings, etc. ?
Speaking of marriage, it can be an opportunity for Christians to celebrate the Lord’s Supper more often outside the local church. It is common to hear stories of couples who have decided to include the dinner event in the liturgy of the ceremony. Once I was invited to administer dinner at a wedding, although the timing can be beautiful and help with the couple’s photo album, we still have to ask ourselves: is it fair to administer the Lord’s Food at weddings?What does dinner represent right now?Can only bride and groom or all guests participate? Many questions can be asked about this practice.
There are pastors who not only support the celebration of dinner at weddings, but teach how to do it, as is the case with Michael L. Willians and his wife Pamela Rose Willians, Michael’s secretary and ceremonialist, in writing on the subject, Pamela says. that the Lord’s Supper Table should be prepared in advance. During the celebration, the groom must take the bride to a side table. The minister may or may not be guiding that moment. The groom first serves the bride, then is served by her. After dinner, the groom prays to God for the grace to lead this family. [3]
Similarly, another site with Christian content and reformed theology, the Reformed Cult, says that although marriage is not a sacrament, it is still possible to celebrate the sacrament of dinner. In such a case, as Hoksbergen states, “the Last Supper must follow the vows of marriage, serving as a symbol of the first meal the couple shares in marriage and their union with the body of believers. “Note that one of the reasons for the wedding dinner is that it serves as a “symbol of the first meal the couple shares. “But was dinner supposed to be the symbol of a meal at a social event?If this logic is correct, could parents give dinner to very young children when they can eat stronger foods to record in their history?it was the first solid meal! There is little biblical basis to support this argument.
Against this practice is Pastor Marvin L. Weir, Rowlett Church of Christ, Rowlett, USA, Who wrote an article titled “The Lord’s Food Should Not Be Mixed with Social Events. “He says:
The truth is that there is absolutely no biblical authority to participate in the Lord’s Supper in a wedding ceremony. The Word of God allows us to participate in the Lord’s Supper only on the first day of the week (Sunday) in the worship assembly. of the saints on the Lord’s day. To do otherwise is to take a sacred act of worship and treat it in a selfish and frivolous way, to satisfy a human whim. [4]
Note that for Weir, the practice is incorrect not only because there is no biblical support, but also because it does not happen on Sundays. Surely Weir will have some difficulty with Luke’s writings, especially the book of Acts, where he says that the first Christians broke bread every day?(Acts 2. 46; see 2. 42; 20. 7, 11; 27. 35). If my interpretation of these passages is correct (as I will try to explain later), Christians are free to celebrate dinner any day of the week. It seems that Weir, in trying to defend the right practice of dinner, has reached another extreme.
It should be clear here that I am not suggesting that there is no picture of the pact (marriage) at dinner, but quite the opposite!Dinner is a beautiful symbol of Christ’s marriage to his Church. Thomas Watson (1620–1686) compared the Christian’s motivation to attend dinner with that of a woman who was to find her husband, just as the woman fainted with love for her husband in the Song of Songs (5. 8), so too must the Church meet Christ at dinner with a strong appreciation for affection [5].
Leaving aside this theme of dinner for social events, we must mention another current problem in Brazilian evangelical churches: contempt for this ordinance. To illustrate this point, I’m telling a story that some of my colleagues in the department have lived through. Invited by a missionary base to attend a conference for a few days, there they attended the services and in one of them there was a celebratory dinner, what they said was amazing. The service was already above normal when they decided to dine, during dinner the drummer started doing a solo for a while (a few minutes), as if it were not strange at the time, another brother decided to jump on the table. of the elements, they took the bread and threw it away. The bread ended up in the awning of the shed where they were. My friends didn’t understand what was going on. All this was done in the name of “freedom of the Spirit,” according to the basic missionaries.
Surely the Apostle Paul would give these brethren the same rebuke that was given to the Corinthians: “I cannot praise thee, for you gather not for the better, but for the worse” (1 Corinthians 11:17; ANA).
Another mistake in the practice of supper has been the promotion by some evangelical churches of the Jewish supper. Influenced by a radical continuity vision between the Old and New Testaments, these predominantly Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches overestimate Jewish symbols and customs, returning to the practice of the Jewish dinner, which includes unleavened bread, bitter herbs, different types of cups, etc. (as described in Exodus 12). The basic biblical argument of these pastors is that the New Testament dinner was the same as the Old Testament people of God practiced. According to them, the last supper in which Jesus participated with his disciples (Luke 22. 14-23; Matthew 26. 26-30; Mark 14. 22-26; John 13. 1-30) and the dinner that Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians (5. 7- 8; 11. 17) -33) were the same foods prescribed in Exodus 12. Although the historical context of Jesus and Paul may have been the same, the question we will answer later is whether there is an order of the two (and other authors) for the Passover meal should be performed in Exodus 12. If not, are we required to reproduce exactly this historical context?
Note that at that first moment my role was as an interrogator, I wanted to cite some examples to show the difficulty of the topic we are addressing, do not be disappointed!I promise to bring biblical light to these and other problems, one thing is certain, we are not the first to fight with the practice of dinner, if we look at the history of the Church, we will see that dinner has always taken precedence. in the ministry of God’s great men.
That’s what we’ll see in the next article
[1] All biblical quotations in this book use the new updated version.
[2] ALDRIN, B. Magnificent Desolation: The long journey back from the moon. First edition. New York: Harmony Books, 2009, not paged. Available in: https://books. google. com. br/books?id=ZJeRAVN9m1kC
[4] WEIR, the Lord’s Supper should not be mixed with social events. Available in:.
[5] WATSON, T. La’s Supper, 1st edition, Kindle. Edition of the Puritans, 2015, 770th place in 1306.