Communion has been a part of my life as long as I can
remember. But it hasn’t always been a
part of my life I understood. For many
years it was just ceremony.
Growing up a Mormon it was served with white bread and
water. It was something that only a
Priesthood holder could lead (if you don’t know the LDS priesthood view, I’m
not going to explain it here). There was
something special about it. While I recognized
this, I didn’t truly know why.
I also experience the Catholic version through my
Grandmother who was very passionate in her faith and even more passionate in me
having my own faith, not just parroting hers.
In the years of my transition out of Mormonism into
Christianity I didn’t go to church or take part in communion. As I was exploring Christianity trying to
find a religion that was actually Biblical, communion wasn’t something I
thought much of. It held no importance
to me. I was so focused on the cerebral
theology of it all that I missed the obvious blessing of what Christ had
instituted.
Eventually I did find a religion/church that was
Biblical. And it was a church that was
passionate about truth, but also about the sacrament of the Lord’s supper (communion). It took me by surprise the first Sunday when
the Pastor “fenced the table” and warned of taking communion in an unworthy manner. Talked about things like being a ‘member’ of
a Bible believing church. And then they
served wine… in Church.. growing up
Mormon this was very odd to me…
It took me a while to understand the Biblical warnings
regarding communion. But it didn’t take
long for the significance and power of communion with Jesus, with his sacrifice
for me to take hold of me. Nor did it
take long to appreciate the importance of communion in the manner Christ
instituted it (bread and wine).
To hold the bread of His body and cup of His blood even
for a few moments, to understand the depth of my sinfulness, the price paid by
a Holy God, a sinless innocent man, on my behalf, became the most precious
moment of my life each week. A time when
the distractions of life are gone and it’s just me humble and grateful before
God that for some reason beyond my comprehension, He chose me before the foundation
of the earth. That even though I had
just spent a week in sin, He only saw me through the blood of Christ, cleansed
and Holy. It truly is just a few moments
of time, but a time I looked forward to every week.
I’m a cerebral, logical passionate thinker. Many would call me cold and without
emotion. But through the Sacrament
Christ prepared before His death, I’ve come closer to understanding my relationship
with God, than through all the countless hours of study I’ve spent in God’s
Word. It truly is food for the starving
soul in need of salvation. It brings the
sacrifice off the pages into your hands and then into your body and soul.
For 4 years now I’ve lived in a place where at best, the
frequency of the Church offering sacrament to its members is once a month and
at worst quarterly or semi-annually. The
argument is that if you have the Sacrament weekly it becomes less special. An argument that still just baffles me. How can the meal instituted by Christ as a
Holy Sacrament to remind us of Him be made less special?
And so the blessed meal that I had grown to love each
week was not available here.
Starving is the only word to describe the hole this has
left in me these four years. Because
even at once a month, you could miss that week and now it becomes two month, or
longer. And I can say with all honesty
that my walk with Christ has suffered because of it. My acknowledgment of my need for Christ has
diminished absent of the reminder that Christ provided.
Now I am engaged in church plant. Soon Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church will
welcome into membership its congregation and we will partake in the glorious
sacrament of communion. And then week
after week, that precious moment where I sit and remember how much I truly need
Christ as my savior will once again be a blessing in my life. And I pray that God will continue to bring me
to my knees in reverence by His Grace and grow my understanding of the depth of
my need for Salvation.
“This is the body, was broken for you, this is the blood
that was shed
This is the body now risen to glory, this is the wine and
the bread
This is the body now wounded for sin
This is the blood that did flow
This is the body, now risen eternal, this is the seed
that was sown
‘Do This in Remembrance of Me’
Remember His work and His life and His sacrifice
‘Do This in Remembrance of Me’
Remember His joy and His pain all for sinners gain
These are the scars on Your hands and Your side, this is
the now empty tomb
This is the garden You suffered alone, will of the Father
to do
This is the wood of the cross raised up high
These are the nails of Your hands
This is the body, was broken for you, Lord, Son of God,
Son of Man
‘Do This in Remembrance of Me’
Remember His work and His life and His sacrifice
‘Do This in Remembrance of Me’
Remember His joy and His pain all for sinners gain”
