Church and the Community

Communion: a religious sacrament in the Christian tradition; IE taking wine [or grape juice] and bread as a corporate act of worship and remembrance of the death of Jesus the Christ. The wine being a symbol of his blood, and the bread a symbol of his body; both broken and spilled out as a sacrifice for humanities re-inclusion into Gods ways and love.

Chew on that religion jargon tidbit!

Communion, what a funny word. Half of it seems to be headed towards the words community…commune…things like that; and the other half towards union…unity…etc.

And yet many people think it is an individualistic religious thing. As if the only defining meaning for it was “feeling” spiritual and connected to God. And as if the only filter to taking it [or not] was some vague sense of goodness, worthiness, or having not really screwed up morally lately. The fact that we do it as a group seems so lost at times.

But communion is ALL about community. Not just with God, but with each other. It is a reminder that he dies for US. And that his death would initiate a new community…a spiritual family. This idea stretches way…way beyond being a consumer and deciding what church we like…way beyond just attending some spiritual service….way beyond just being a member of some altruistic non-profit organization. It is a call drawing us to Jesus. To the Jesus who made us and died for us. To Jesus who commanded us to love one another just as he loved us. To Jesus who told us to continue his mission of making followers and disciples.

So then we come to communion very differently if we think about these things. We come to be reminded of who Jesus is and what the cross accomplished for us. We come thinking about how we can love one another more like he desires us to. We come ready to share ourselves…our gifts, money, food, lives, and grace with one another. We lay down selfishness and judgment even as our Jesus did. We choose again to deny ourselves, pick up a cross, and follow him.

To make it simple we choose to love. Not love in some vague feeling sort of way. But love that is blood, sweat, and tears. Love that is costly and precious. Love that is sacrificial and takes the form of a servant.
Love that looks like Jesus.

“And by this shall all men know that you are my disciples; that you love one another even as I have loved you”