As they were eating, Jesus took some bread. He offered a blessing over the bread, and then He broke it and gave it to His disciples.
Jesus: Take this and eat; it is My body.
And then He took the cup of wine, He made a blessing over it, and He passed it around the table.
Jesus: Take this and drink, all of you: this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I tell you: I will not drink of the fruit of the vine again until I am with you once more, drinking in the kingdom of My Father.
Matthew 26:26-29 (The Voice Bible)
Today at church we did as we always do on the first Sunday of each quarter (January, April, July, October) we have Communion. This is a sacred and solom time. It is a time to reflect on the huge sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
This morning before Dwight gave Communion he said some very beautiful words about this holy institution. You can hear his words at http://youtu.be/U8riJmUMevw. As Dwight was talking it got me to thinking about Communions that I have partaken in my life.
I can remember going with my Grandma and Grandpa Rittenour to Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Rio, WV and taking Communion. As a child I went up and stood next to Granddaddy and was blessed. When I joined my church they allowed me to take Communion. They used Communion Wafers. Those things were awful. They tasted like plastic. So after I was given on I pretended to put it in my mouth. I ended up putting this in my pocket. This went on for years until my Grandma caught me.
After church she explained to me how important it was for us to take this seriously. Also at my Grandparent's church they used Communion Wine that was so awful that I almost wanted to make faces when I drank it.
As Dwight talked today I thought about how right my Grandma was. We should take Communion seriously. This is not something that we do lightly. It is something that represents Jesus death and suffering on the cross for us.
In our church we use bread and grape juice. It is the same concept as what was used at my Grandparent's church and I know that every church does something different. That is their right. There is no written rule about what to use for Communion.
The bread of Communion represents the body of Christ. When he broke it in front of the disciples he was telling then that his body was going to be broken for them very soon. The grape juice of Communion represents Christ blood that was shed for us when his body was broken on the cross. Jesus was trying to tell the disciples in a very simplistic way that he was going to give his life to save them from their sin and the sins of the world.
I don't think that the disciples understood the brevity of what Jesus was trying to tell them. They didn't understand the significance of this simple act. I think that is still true of Christians today. I think a lot of Christians just go through the motions like it is no big deal. It is a big deal!
Communion is all about remembering the biggest sacrifice that anyone has ever done for us. That is to die for us on a cross so that one day we could live in the greatest place imaginable forever. How cool is that?
So from now on I challenge each of you to take Communion a little more seriously. To really think about what the elements symbolize for us as Christians. Think about the ultimate sacrifice the Jesus did for us that is evident each time we take Communion. Don't just go through the motions. Make it the big deal that it is.
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