So I’ve always been a Methodist… I often joke that my mom’s family, got off the boat, came through Ellis Island, and went straight to the Methodist Church, which is only the tiniest bit of an exaggeration. Regardless, the end result is the same: I grew up going to the Methodist Church. All my life. Every Sunday. World without end… Now and ever shall be… And also with you… Et cetera.
As a result, for me, Holy Communion – a.k.a. the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, or, as my boys called it when they were much, much younger, “snack day” – has always had some constants: For one thing, some of my earliest childhood memories are of those little, plastic cups – the ones that make every single person who drinks from them look like a lush at a bar taking another shot. For me, though, those little cups are a part of my faith journey. I have never known communion in any other way.
Another thing that has always been constant for me is the open-table approach of communion. Methodists believe very strongly in the “open table” – in the belief that the communion table is not the Methodist table and that it’s not a table that belongs to the individual, local church. No, instead, we maintain that the communion table belongs to Jesus himself, and he, of course, would welcome anyone and everyone to his table. As a result, we do the same. We welcome everyone to our table – regardless of age, gender, baptism status, church membership, or any other factor. Everyone is welcome. No questions asked.
So, yeah, I’ve taken a good share of communion throughout my life, but it wasn’t until I went to work at a church and went to seminary that I really think I “got” what the whole big deal was. I always enjoyed communion, and I was always deeply touched to help serve communion. Without being able to explain why, I realized that there has always been something deeply personal, vulnerable, and intimate about communion and that the privilege of serving communion is like getting really close into someone else’s personal space and loving on them in a way that you just don’t get to most of the time.
Anyway, I’ve known some communion-related things all my life, but, somewhere along the way, I also realized a few other things. (If I’m totally honest, a few of these things were metaphorically beaten into me by good-intentioned but exceedingly annoying folks like Pastor Stan.) One thing I learned was that communion is one of the two sacraments recognized by United Methodists. (The other sacrament is baptism, which is an entirely different blog post…) The reasons that these two events are sacramental are because Jesus himself participated in both of these activities while he was on earth and because God is the main actor in these two events. When we take communion, obviously we are involved in the whole process of remembering Christ’s sacrifice for us and even finding penance and peace so our lives can be turned more toward Jesus. Even more important than that is how the Holy Spirit works through us during communion. In the end, while we are involved, impacted, and developed through communion, God is – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all together are –doing the heavy lifting.
Another thing I learned in recent years was an awareness of the Love Feast. Last weekend, in celebration of Palm Sunday, we held a Love Feast during all our worship services. (To learn more about this practice, click here for a great article.) Love Feasts have ancient roots, but they are not communion. They still provide a remembrance of the Lord’s Supper, and they still provide fellowship. However, since they are not sacramental, they can be done by anyone, anywhere, anytime. They provide a convenient and really cool alternative to communion when a pastor is not available.
So that was last week, and that was a Love Feast. This week is Holy Week – the week where Holy Communion was born; the week where we celebrate and remember all Christ is; and, this year, the week where we will do communion in a way that we had never even dreamed possible before. We never envisioned communion in our own living rooms with our own bread and our own juice. To quote one sweet family, “it just seems awkward.” And that’s because it is awkward. It just is. In no reality that we ever imagined did a scenario like this one ever enter our minds, but this Sunday, we’ll do it. We will take our places at Jesus’ table, just like we always have. This time, the seat will be in our own homes, but, without a doubt, we will still gladly share together as a church at a table that belongs to our Christ, to our Savior. Through the digital signal of our Smart TVs and iPhones, we will find ourselves bound together by our love for Christ and our love for one another through the sacramental power of Holy Communion.
And if you ask me, the only difference this year will be the size of the cups.
Y’all stay safe out there…
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed,
took bread, and when he had given thanks,
he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you;
do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood;
do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1 Corinthians 11:23b-26