In my church experience growing up, we took communion on the 1st Sunday of each month. For a kid that meant that on those particular Sundays church would run 15 minutes longer and that I wouldn’t get to have any of the “snack” that the adults seemed to enjoy.
As I’ve grown and have strived to follow after Jesus, the participation in the Table has become more central to me.
The beauty of the Eucharist is that it has nothing to do with me. Christ’s work, his salvation, and his Lordship are independent of me. That is good news. I don’t have to “feel spiritual” for God to be close; the Table proclaims that he is. My theology of the atonement doesn’t have to be perfect for Christ to bring death to life; that’s what he does. This Table is marked by what God has done, is doing, and will do.
The Table could stop here; resting solely on God’s accomplished work and it would be complete. Yet the Table keeps going; the Table is an invitation.
At the Table I do not become a passive observer of God’s act, nor do I become a teller of some historical event. Instead I am invited to participate the work that God is doing; I have the joy to “proclaim” it for my life. Here, the Table has not just served as a symbol for Christ’s sacrifice, but a beacon; calling me to share in that sacrifice.
We have been doing a teaching series at Renovate (listen here) over that last few weeks on the Lord’s table. While we haven’t exhausted all aspects of what participating in this sacrament communicates, it has been a good primer for what we are “saying” each time we share of the bread and drink of the cup.
What has been your experience in participating in communion? How have you experienced Jesus? How have experienced the Church?
