Value 5- Week 2 Communion
Word: “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him;” Luke 24:30-31
Reflection: Experience
Last week we talked about the importance of memory to relationships and how in the sacrament of communion Jesus offered us a shared memory as the foundation for our relationship with him. While memory is critical to relationships, it is however difficult for memory alone to sustain a relationship forever. Over time we hunger for a renewed experience of the relationship, not just to remember when we were together, but to be with each other again. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were struggling with so much grief and loss of hope that they were struggling to remember anything beyond that. With what appeared to be nothing left but memory of what was, they had no joy in the present and little hope for the future. The tragedy was that even though Jesus was with them in the present moment on the road that day their lives were so preoccupied with the pain of the past and uncertainty of the future that they could not recognize him and were robbed of the joyful experience of him in the present. Life is often like that even for the most devoted follower of Jesus. Our lives can become so full of past hurts, present demands, and anxiety over the future that though we know Jesus promised “to be with us always”, we can find it very hard to recognize and experience his presence beside us. The memory of his love for us can warm our hearts and sustain us for a time, but we get hungry for a new experience of his presence. As an act of worship, communion is more than an act of remembering, like the first disciples at the Emmaus table, it is an opportunity for our “eyes to be opened” and to “recognize him” with us in the “breaking of the bread”. At the table we don’t just hear and remember, we experience through touch, sight, and taste. As we rise, walk, kneel, receive, eat, and drink it becomes an intimate experience of His presence. As the old story of the little boy asked if he knew what communion meant so simply and profoundly puts it, “It is when the Jesus on the outside becomes the Jesus on the inside.” It is when the Jesus of our memory becomes the Jesus of our present moment. The first disciples discovered that though the experience lasted but a moment, that moment was enough to renew their faith, recover their joy, restore their hope so they could begin their journey once again proclaiming the timeless truth, “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.” So we come to the table every time expectant that we will meet him there and our relationship will be renewed and it will sustain us for our journey.
Practice: Come to the communion table this week with a focus on expectancy. Look for the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread, the face of a child or older adult at the table with you, the touch of a hand. Listen for his voice in the words, prayers, or silence of your hearts as you kneel at the table.
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