“While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” –Matthew 26.26-28
“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” –1 Corinthians 10.16,17
Matt Logan
Director of Discipleship and Young Adult Ministry
Last summer the worship committee went to the session to propose a few very intentional worship changes. That seems like a very long time ago.
One of the aims was to celebrate communion more frequently. One of the intended consequences of celebrating communion more frequently is to put the Sacraments at the heart of what we do and who we are. This makes our embodied worship practices inform who we are.
You may have heard me refer to these as “constitutive practices.” Things that we do that constitute who we are. This is how what we believe ‘walks around’ with us.
Most of the worship changes were well received. Some were not. One of the overwhelmingly well-received changes was celebrating communion every week in our 8:30 service. As the 8:30 service began to fill up, both with numbers and vibrancy, we started to hear from our early worshippers. They had been craving the sacrament.
Crazy and true
I received a text message out of the blue a few weeks ago. A good friend asked, “Do you think I am crazy?” I responded, “How prepared are you for me to be completely honest?”
My friend was writing a church school lesson on communion. He replied, “It is crazy to say that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven, therefore we spiritually ascend to meet him at his table in communion. But it’s true.”
They were right. Crazy and true. These are not mutually exclusive. Jesus has promised to give us his body and blood with the bread and wine. Then, as we receive the Sacrament, we are assured that this one bread is eaten by many. The many become one. Jesus mediates our communion.
Crazy holy proclamation
To say that Jesus mediates our communion is a description. It is also a holy proclamation about all things.
And, it is crazy.
And, it is true.
God is the mediator of our connectedness. All our relationships, our experiences, the love we have for others, the tenderness we show towards those we love — all of it is mediated by God. We come to church to be reminded of this and we all “spiritually ascend” to experience it.
It grounds our being. It constitutes us. That is a promise.
Isolation and connectedness
Maybe some of us have never known how to feel about communion.
During this time of isolation, I invite you to reflect deeply on the experience and the reminder that communion offers. We are connected to all things, through Christ our Lord.
As you walk down the aisle to eat the bread and drink from the cup, it is okay if your knees get shaky. That shakiness will be overcome by a sense of joy that passes all understanding as we ascend to meet Christ. All of us, together.
Connection beyond communion
I have been craving the Sacrament.
I have yet to fully grapple with the fact that this Easter may be the first Easter, since my first communion, that I will not take communion.
Trust me, I am not trying to impress you with my piety. For those of you who know me well, you know I think piety is overrated. However, this really should impact us. In this time, above all others, I need to experience the connectedness ushered in by God.
I need to be reminded that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is a promise.
My cravings for connectedness remind me of the one that makes it possible. The God who created you and I make this connectedness possible through the giving of himself.
If you are like me. If you are craving the sacrament, let your knees wobble. The time approaches when the presence of Christ will bring you joy and connect you to him, and as such, to all others.
From an email devotional shared with young adult small groups on April 2.
