Looking Forward to April 7, 2019 -- Lent 5 -- Communion

This week we conclude our series looking at Practices of the Church with a look at Communion (or the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper).

The Scripture reading for this week is Mark 14:22-26
We will also reading chapter 9 from the Didache, one of the writings of the Early Church.

The Sermon title is The Table of Faith

Early Thoughts: A simple ceremonial meal.  A bit of bread, a bit of juice. What does it mean? Why do we do it?

One short answer is "because we always have". Another short answer is "because Jesus told us to". As far as we can tell gathering at the table to remember the story where Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and shares it saying "this is my body, broken for you" and takes a cup, blesses it and shares it saying "this is my blood, whenever you do this remember me". One of the earliest attestations we have to this practice is in Paul's letter to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). The Didache, from which we are hearing this week is an early piece (late 1st century, early 2nd century) of teaching for the early church and includes instructions on how to celebrate the central meal of faith. Christians have been gathering around table since the first Easter.

But that only seems to be part of the answer.  After all, many of us consider "because we always have" to be a problematic answer when asked why we are doing something. At the very least we want to look at whether we should still be doing the activity, does it still have meaning and purpose?

Over the centuries there have been many discussions about this Sacrament. People have debated how it should be celebrated, who should be welcomed to the table, who should preside at the table, how often it should happen, and what does it mean. More recent debates have included what kind of bread to use in a world where we are so much more aware of food allergies/sensitivities/intolerances. It is somewhat ironic that if planning an ecumenical worship it is much much easier to NOT have communion because of the various understandings that are out there.

SO what does communion mean to you?
What happens when we gather together at the table of faith?
ANd if breaking bread together is so integral to Christian faith what does that mean about the potluck dinner?
--Gord