HELLO!

Tomorrow morning at 10 am we join most of the world’s Christians in celebrating World Communion Sunday. If you intend on watching the service online, please find a piece of bread and a cup of juice and be ready to receive this Sacrament during the Prayer of Thanksgiving.

One question I would love to ask you, what does Communion mean to you? Communion has long spoken to Christians over these two thousand years of church history. There is a Biblical narrative: “Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body broken for you, Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 And, “When Jesus was at table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.” Luke 24:30-31. Is Jesus present when you receive Communion? If yes, how so? How can we make this service more meaningful for you, for others? I confess there are times when I wonder…most of the feedback I receive about Communion has to do with its speed or it’s organization, rarely anything about Jesus’ presence.

Sacraments (in the United Church, Baptism and Communion) are ritual actions in worship instituted by Jesus. We ask the Spirit to use water, bread, and wine to make visible the grace and presence of God in Jesus. At the Communion table, we acknowledge Jesus is the host and all are guests. The meal uses the symbols of small pieces of bread and a taste of wine or juice to remind us of Jesus’ last supper with his followers and of God’s enduring love. The United Church of Canada practises an open table, inviting all who seek to love Jesus to share in this family meal.

In the sacrament of Communion, also called the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving, Christians hear, taste, touch and receive the grace of God revealed through Jesus. Communion is: a joyous act of thanksgiving for all God has done, is doing, and will do; a sacred memorial of the risen Christ, a living and effective sign of Christ’s resurrection; a prayer for the presence of the Spirit to unify those who partake in the Sacrament, and to restore creation, making all things new; an intimate experience of community in which the whole church in every time and place is present and divisions are overcome; a hopeful sign of the promised Realm of God marked by justice, love and peace.

For me, one less traditional way I have experienced the grace and presence of Jesus is our United Church practice of potluck meals. I will look around me, see the joy, the support, the truth-telling, the laughter and the tears of persons of all ages and backgrounds, brought together in Jesus’ name, to love and be a visible presence of an invisible truth, that we all belong, that we are better together, that we are meant to be as one. This lacks the piety of a formal Communion service, but it carries much of the same spirit. Still, intentional Communion, like the service we will share Sunday, reminds us we are part of an extended table of love.

Peace, Kevin