January 29

The Promise of Communion

                When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him.  He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”  Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”  Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Luke 22:14-20

            If you have been in the Church for any substantial period of time, you have most likely experienced the institution of communion.  Different churches have different traditions. It’s wine.  It’s grape juice.  Pick a wafer.  Pull off a chunk of bread.  It is all a symbol.  The elements become flesh and blood in your mouth. You are served in your seat.  Come forward to receive.  It is almost always somber and reflective.  And it is almost always full of nonverbal, social cues that bewilder our literal thinkers as they try to engage with the Church.

            There were times that I dreaded communion.  Would my son be able to stand still and quiet?  He never had before but maybe this time would be different.  Would he knock something over?  Would he be able to eat the bread or would the church staff forget the gluten free option this week?  Would he decide to just take the elements from someone else instead of waiting to get his own?  Would he slurp the juice and then loudly ask for more…repeatedly… for the rest of the service?  Communion is supposed to be a time of reflection and prayer, but there are a lot of eyes on you when you are receiving the elements and holding up the line.  Some of our fellow church members smiled.  Some shook their heads and frowned at how disrespectful we were.

            At its heart, communion is a set of promises that we are remembering.  We remember Jesus’ sacrifice, but more than that we remember why He sacrificed.  Communion is a promise that there will be suffering and death in the days ahead.  A life of faith will involve sacrifice and pain.  Jesus was broken and poured out and we too will be broken and poured out.  Communion is also a promise that resurrection comes as well.  Jesus was not killed just so that He could suffer for us.  He died so that He could live with us, restoring the broken relationship with the Father.  As He was resurrected from death, we will be too.  The promises are intertwined; you cannot have redemption and resurrection without suffering and death.  It is a powerful, powerful promise.

            How do you communicate this to someone who just knows that he has to stand in a long line to get a tiny snack at church?  At its heart, everything in church can be boiled down to “Jesus loves you,” so we would remind our boy of that when we made it through communion.  This bread is to remind us that Jesus loves us.  This drink is to remind us that Jesus loves us.  It was a helpful reminder for me as well.  Even though he had just struggled with social cues and I saw anger in the eyes of others, Jesus loves this boy with a deep, passionate, unquenchable love.  And that is worth remembering.

                                        

A moment to reflect:

How do you explain communion to your child?