Latest thoughts part nine - communion

Jesus sought and enjoyed table fellowship with everyone. For him, hospitality over food was an intimate expression of God's grace. So, when Jesus wanted to initiate a remembrance of loving sacrifice, he did so as part of a meal. Gatherings of the first disciples and their converts could remember the practical outpouring of grace that Jesus brought to the world when they ate their meals together. 

It seems that when this remembrance, which became known as the Eucharist, Lord's Supper or Communion, was separated from regular meals, it, in some quarters at least, became pious, inward, exclusive and other-worldly. In the Baptist Church I grew up in, communion was forbidden to a child, and you really needed to have demonstrated a decision for Jesus before you could participate. 

Thus you were under pressure to let the plate and tray go by - grace wasn't for you! Grace only proceeded from commitment ... not preceding it! We know that this doesn't make any theological sense - it's just wrong! Before and after any formal commitment to Jesus, and all along the journey of life, we each need grace. And, to deepen the confusion, we kids could see that some deemed qualified to take communion were not the best examples to put before us. 

I cannot abide anything short of a totally open table - if you are present you are welcome to fully participate. These are symbols of grace targeted at all people. When the apostle Paul told the early church groups in Corinth that they should "examine themselves" before taking the bread and wine, he was not seeking to exclude anyone, but rather seeking them to repent of their unjust social practices before they then participated. 

For me, communion is that moment when I fully identify with Jesus - the person he was and is, where grace led him, and what the impact of knowing him should have on my life going forward. Properly handled, what a magnificent opportunity there is here for people to be transformed on the spot, such that our local communities will never be the same again. But have we, at times, just made it an almost empty religious ritual? 


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