Communion

In April of 1975 I went across the street to a liquor store and purchased a small bottle of wine for $1.00. It contained approximately 6 ounces of red wine in a round, little bottle. I also had a few salt less soup crackers which I had placed in an empty watch case. I then proceeded to scale the front of Garret Mountain and reached the summit in about ten minutes. I sat down on that clear night and gazed at the Manhattan skyline outlined against the starlit sky. I prepared to observe my first communion after I had been born again in March of that same year.
I had taken many communions before, including my first communion after I was confirmed into the Lutheran church. But all those past observances were nothing more than a religious snack. I do not believe there is anything special about the bread or wine, and they are just emblems that represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Eating them does not provide anyone with more grace or favor with God. They are purely symbolic.
However, I do believe that the observance itself provides a seeking and contrite believer with an opportunity for deep fellowship and worship before the Risen Christ. You see, the spiritual element in the Lord’s Supper is not in the bread and wine; the spiritual essence can only be experienced in the heart of a partaking believer. This communion should never be a perfunctory observance which occurs the first Sunday of the month, and is accomplished with the necessary haste so as not to interfere with the regular “service” items, and doesn’t extend the length of that service to such a degree that the “worshipers” are inconvenienced.
This communion must be observed with the commensurate sacredness that reveals the depth of its spiritual nature as well as the reality of the presence of Christ and His Spirit. How often have I been in a communion service where the ushers are well organized, and after a few brief minutes the communion is over and the preacher begins to rattle off some message about finances or morality or even about finding your life’s purpose? And the spirit and subject of that message is so disjointed from that communion observance so as to relegate the Lord’s Supper as having no more importance than the announcements. And Christ Himself is dishonored when His Supper is nothing more than an equal part of a believer’s gathering.
The early church observed communion every Sunday and sometimes more. Why then do we not continue such a practice? It is purely cultural and our services must now bow to the dictates of convenience and the restraints of times. Americans are not given to protracted services, and each service must be well planned, well carried out, and with an acceptable target time for its end. We spend much time preparing the body for church, and when “church” is over we look to satisfy that same body with food, relaxation, and more entertainment. It is a religious cycle that has imprisoned the church and stripped her of God’s power and the reality of the Risen Christ.
And to a large extent we have lost what it mean to receive communion and experience the repentance, the grace, and the worship that accompanies that glorious gift to the church. But it is in concert with almost everything else the church does and does not do. Do we live with the observable behavior that screams the return of Jesus Christ? Do we handle money as if we were God’s sacred conduit and refuse to collect it for our own pleasure? Is prayer the hallmark of the Christian community including weekly gatherings dedicated to nothing but seeking God and interceding in passionate prayer? And with all those indictments it would follow that the Lord’s Supper would be reduced to a nice fit in a once as month church service.

But I exhort you to reignite such a sacred and glorious meeting with Christ, even if it means observing it yourself and allowing whatever time it takes to meet God in a new and fresh way.