Meaning gets attached to food all the time. When my kids come home from college, we fix their favorite food (White Chicken, Rice, and green beans). In our house it is comfort food. In some homes, on your birthday, you get to name your meal. Certain foods are expected on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. If those foods are not on the table, something is wrong. The meal doesn’t mean the same to us.
In the Christian tradition, everyone in the church family eating a bit of bread and wine/juice has meaning attached to it. It symbolizes taking Jesus’ presence into us. Consuming/digesting these elements of an ancient Hebrew Passover meal has meant something to the followers of Jesus ever since that last Passover meal that Jesus shared with his friends. The bread and juice also symbolize starting over; re-booting; pushing the re-start button on our souls. So anything we’ve done that we regret, or wish we could re-do can be left at the altar and given over to God when we come forward for communion. And after we’ve taken the bread and juice, we can return to our seat as a new person; a more Godly/Jesus kind of person. It has that kind of meaning.
Today, hundreds of different kinds of Christian churches from all over the world are celebrating holy communion with us. We may not agree on juice or wine, bread or wafers, but we’re all recalling that last passover meal that Jesus shared with his friends. We’re all attaching some meaning to this symbolic meal. In taking communion, we’re all saying Jesus means something to us. And without him, our lives would have less meaning.
Happy World Communion Sunday.
Grace & Peace,
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