Growing up, the last Sunday of every month was my least favorite—communion Sunday. I didn’t really understand the implications or purpose of communion. I just knew my pastor’s accompanying reading delayed my Sunday afternoon freedom by at least ten minutes and the “bread” tasted far more like sandpaper from my dad’s garage than anything resembling my favorite carbohydrate.
Now though, those last fifteen minutes of every church service are my favorite. No matter how much (or little) the worship songs happen to speak to me or what life-applying truth I glean from the sermon, I anticipate the one constant—feasting at the communion table with my church community.
In a new House Studio project, theologian Stanley Hauerwas says this on communion, “I’m for repetition. And it’s not like you’re just keeping things the same because everything around you is changing, so what you’re doing is different though it is the same.”
As I’ve been working on this project, Hauerwas’s words have remained with me. There’s something beautiful, something that seems to me to be firm and unshakable in coming back to the Last Supper every week. And every week, it really is different for me because my life, my Christian journey looks new and different from the last time I took the bread and drank from the cup.
Do you agree? Do you find comfort in, do you experience Christ through, repetition, or do you prefer to come to church and be surprised each week?
Photo courtesy: Jonathan Assink
Thank you for your post! It was funny reading your first paragraph, because that was pretty much my experience as a kid. I grew up in a free church/low church context in which communion was done quarterly and was tacked on in the middle of the service, almost like it was shoved in as an afterthought. And, yes, it made that Sunday just a bit longer. I did like the little tiny juice cup even though I always wanted more than one.
As an adult I love communion and go to a church where it is done weekly and the service pretty much leads up to it (I go to a non-denom church, but we rip off the Book of Common prayer quite a bit). However, until reading your post, I had never really thought about how the eucharist, while basically done the same way each week, is a different experience, because what confronts it–namely us, embodied in a changing world and changing lives–is always at a different place and time. That is a very helpful reflection. Thanks for sharing it.
I appreciate the constant nature of communion. It is the fact that everything else changes and goes crazy that makes me appreciate how Jesus is a constant, loving Savior. No matter how bad things get , communion is the celebration of how the Living Word of God is always beaconing me to a greater life. It is basking in the love of God.
The first question we must ask is 'What is the purpose of Communion?' Jesus tells us that it is for the forgiveness of sins.(Matt 26:26-28) The focus is to be on Christ and forgiveness. There is no Biblical prescription for the frequency that Communion is to occur, but there is for the attitude in which we approach the Lord's Table.(1 Cor 11:27-29) The Bible does not speak clearly of the "community" aspect of Communion, therefore I am having difficulties understanding this line as chief purpose. Prior to Communion there should be a time of self-reflection and examination of our sins. When the Word is joined with the bread and wine, that is when we have forgiveness, salvation, life, growth in our faith.
I agree with you completely on the purpose of communion. And certainly churches don't have to to do it every week. My church does, and I wanted to share that I've come to look forward to this weekly chance to connect with our Savior that as a teenager I didn't really understand. It's a constant that pulls me back into the reality of Jesus's coming no matter what has happened that particular week.
My focus wasn't meant to be on my church community but on Christ, but this is where we disagree–the Last Supper took place in community, so I do believe the Bible set a precedent for the importance of experiencing communion together.
We're excited too! Look for it in March.