Don't Talk About It, Be About It: Communion

When I was playing football in college, our coach divided our practices into segments. Many college, professional, and even high school teams plan practices down to the second to try and cover as much as they can and get the players every possible rep.

But what happens when time runs out and we are right in the middle of a drill? Or when we need to take additional reps to perfect a new play?

In my experience, it was simple, we adjusted the schedule.

But if we can just adjust the schedule and cut a segment, then how important was that segment in the first place?

In other words, were we trying to cram too much in a short amount of time?

WHAT IS YOUR PRIORITY?

Many of us have felt the pain of trying to do too much in a short amount of time. Some people claim they like this kind of pressure and this is where they thrive – but in reality, they make a mess out of everything because they did not plan properly.

Poor planning is often an expression of our lack of priorities. When everything is important, nothing is important.

Just this past week, I was in a meeting where our chairman, when discussing a possible opportunity, asked our team, “how many times can we slice the same pie?” The suggestion was not bad but was it our priority?

This same question can, and should, be asked in our local churches.

CHURCH & COMMUNION

In most churches, Sunday mornings are a whirlwind, and many people have no idea how much goes into making one worship service happen.

There are even companies creating products to help churches organize and plan every minute of their worship services (just like my football practice).

The problem is everyone is fighting for the same time. Every team/group wants to make an announcement. The pastor obviously is going to preach. The choir or praise team wants to add an additional song. And a simple greeting becomes a mini-sermon.

Not to mention that Sunday where we have communion – where we celebrate Jesus' death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

Communion can also be called “The Holy Eucharist” or “The Lord's Supper”. It can take place every week, once a month, or even once a quarter (every three months). There is no hard and fast rule about this.

People have gotten in all kinds of debates about frequency, symbolism vs. literal, wine vs. grape juice, gluten-free bread, wafer/juice combo cups, methodology, and who can actually administer or partake in communion during a given service.

The main problem many people have faced, including me, is the thought, “Oh, great, it is communion Sunday. There's an extra 15 minutes...”

Unfortunately, that is not a happy, peppy “great”. It is a reluctant, impatient “great”. You know, with a sigh and maybe even an eye roll.

However, communion should be one of, if not the best, moments in any worship service. Instead, we treat it as an inconvenient, add-on.

I have even heard of a pastor who did not want to have communion on Easter Sunday because of “everything else they had going on in the service.”

A NEW TWIST

So what is, or was, communion, originally?

In Matthew 26, we are given the account of Jesus partaking in the Passover meal with His disciples. The Bible refers to this as the Last Supper (literally the last meal Jesus would eat with His disciples before His death).

But the meal itself represented something much bigger than just an evening meal of bread and wine (or a grape juice cup). The several course meal recalled the Passover – when the Angel of Death came through Egypt and killed the first-born sons of all in the land except those who had the lamb's blood on their doors.

It was a time of remembrance, gratefulness, and celebration of God's power and provision for His people.

Jesus gave this meal a new twist. He connected Himself to its meaning.

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.””

                                                                                                                    -Matthew 26:26-28

NOW WHAT?

Communion is supposed to be a celebratory moment. A moment when we remember how much God loved us by sending Jesus to die on the cross for the forgiveness of sin. A moment that had to happen in order for us to have eternal life through Jesus' resurrection.

Instead, many churches and individuals have made it just another element of an already crowded worship service.

We talk a lot about communing with each other (literally, an act or instance of sharing), but we tend to forget the importance and power of sharing with God. Sharing in His love. His grace. And His majesty.

So, here are four suggestions to help you rediscover the power and wonder of communion:

1. Pause to Pray

Instead of just wolfing down the little cracker and grape juice cup, take a moment to pray. Thank God for His love and His gift of Jesus and for His forgiveness. Imagine what Jesus and/or His disciples may have been thinking/feeling that night.

2. Take a New Posture

This one will make some of you uncomfortable, but instead of just sitting in your seat when taking communion at church, change your posture. Consider kneeling at your seat. It is amazing what a simple change may do for your focus and mindset.

3. Change Locations

Who says communion can only happen at church? Pick a day and a time where you prepare your supplies and change locations. Take a walk through the woods. Walk on the beach. Sit on a dock. Anywhere you want. Read Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and/or John 13-17 before you take communion.

4. Include Others

Often in church, communion is an individual thing. We take our piece of bread and our cup and eat and drink at the appropriate time. But what if you included others?

Consider participating in a Seder meal with some friends. Consider a Moravian Love-feast.

In Scripture, communion seems to be a way bigger deal than simply eating a cracker and drinking some grape juice. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul had to correct the Corinthians' practice because they had gotten so out of hand.

Bottom line: consider gathering a group together and sharing communion just like Jesus and His disciples did: take one loaf of bread and break a piece off. Pass one cup around and everyone drink from it (or pass a jug around to pour into smaller cups).

Be creative. Communion was intended to be way more significant than an inconvenient add-on to an already crowded worship service.

These four suggestions can help us “be” more about communion instead of simply talking about it.

Anyway, I was just thinking...

FUN SIDE STORY

In some churches, they practice communion by intinction, the act of dipping a piece of bread into a communal cup of wine/grape juice, and the individual then eating the bread.

Over the years, I have heard many people tell crazy stories about things that happened when they did intinction.

A couple of years ago, I had my own crazy moment. While doing intinction during a Christmas Eve Service, my job was to greet those taking communion and offer a simple “God bless you ___.”

Well, an older lady came down the aisle and came to my station. She picked up her piece of gluten-free bread and proceeded to dip it in the cup. Next thing I know she had dropped the whole piece into the cup. She looked up at me and whispered in a desperate, nervous voice, “Should I get it?” I quickly said, “no” and instructed her to simply take a new piece - which she did.

The funniest part of all this was my wife and our minister of music's daughter (who was in college at the time) were sitting on the front row because they heard me tell stories about such things and wanted to make sure they went first. Therefore, they saw, and heard, the whole thing...

It has become a moment we still refer to this day.