From David Chilton’s Days of Vengeance:
The Eucharist is at the center of our life, and all of life
flows out of this central liturgy. The “shape” of the
Eucharistic liturgy, therefore, gives shape to the rest of
life, the daily liturgy we follow as we pursue our calling
to exercise dominion over the earth. The “rite of life” is
patterned after the central ritual of communion, which
is itself patterned after the liturgy of creation set forth
in Genesis 1: God took hold of the creation, separated
it, distributed it, evaluated the work, and enjoyed it in
sabbath rest. And this is the pattern of Holy
Communion, as James B. Jordan observes: “When we
perform this rite on the Lord’s Day, we are becoming
readjusted, rehabituated, retrained in the right way to
use the world. For Jesus Christ, on the night of His
betrayal, (1) took bread and wine, (2) gave thanks, (3)
broke the bread, (4) distributed the bread and wine,
naming it His body and blood; then the disciples (5)
tasted and evaluated it, eleven approving of it, and one
rejecting it; and finally (6) the faithful rested and
enjoyed it.
“It is because the act of thanksgiving is the central
difference between the Christian and the non-
Christian that the liturgy of the Christian churches is
called ‘Holy Eucharist.’ Eucharist means Thanksgiving.
It is the restoration of true worship (thanksgiving) that
restores the work of man (the six-fold action in all of
life). This explains why the restoration of true worship
takes primacy over cultural endeavors.”
