The theology behind the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, or Communion has been debated throughout church history. However, the continued practice of it shows that it is an essential part of the church’s life. In my experience, Communion has always been about reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice and repenting for sins. Growing up, it was always at a special and solemn service where people would usually take time during worship to confess any sins that they needed to, and then go up to take the elements. I remember that there were times where I was in anguish because of my sin, and I felt that I had to get right with God before I could take communion. Even after partaking in Communion, I still felt that things weren’t exactly right as if communion was God’s way of addressing everything I needed to work on.
As I have grown up and gone to different churches, I have experienced different styles and theologies of Communion. Yet, it wasn’t until recently that I realized that I been focusing on just one part or aspect of Communion. I had always been reflecting on forgiveness, that I am remembering my sin and Christ’s wonderful forgiveness when I take the elements. As I eat the bread, Christ’s body broken for me, and I drink the cup, Christ’s blood spilt for me, I am focusing on my own depravity and Christ has forgiven my sins.
Now, this is all true, but it is not the entire picture of Communion. In fact, I would argue that it is not even the main focus of Communion. I would argue that Reconciliation is a more primary lens through which one ought to view this sacrament (or ordinance). I believe our focus on forgiveness in communion is a direct result of our ideas about what happened on Calvary. What we believe about the cross will affect what we believe about Communion.
Our God is certainly a God of forgiveness, but I’m afraid that most of us stop there. We think about all of the ways we have transgressed God’s perfect Law, and we also remember that through Christ we have been forgiven. This is certainly true, but again, not the whole picture. I believe that many of us who either grew up with this view or still hold to it can easily come to take communion and simply remember the God that was angry, but has now been pacified, appeased, and mollified by Jesus. We then eat this bread and drink this cup in bitter and thankful silence, just hoping that this God won’t get angry at us again, as we sit symbolically at the far end of the table to avoid his gaze. Yet, this isn’t the story of the Gospel.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Colossians 1:15-23)
Our God is a God of forgiveness and Reconciliation. We suffer from Sin’s mortifying grasp, an enslavement to death itself. Greater than this, and I believe primarily, We suffer from a broken relationship with God our Creator and Father. As Jesus, the God with Us, came into our world, he fixed this grave problem. It is through his death, burial, and resurrection that Sin and death were killed, freeing us from their grasp. Yet it doesn’t just stop there—what Christ accomplishes as Immanuel is reconciliation. Through Jesus, our greatest cause of dissatisfaction, hurt, pain, and death which is our separation from our Creator, Father, and giver of life, has thus been remedied. Jesus has restored our broken relationship by reconciling the Creator to the creation– God to humanity and humanity to God. God himself has restored our broken relationship, and He is once again our Father and also our greatest friend.
This is the reality of communion and the Lord’s Supper: God is inviting us to experience his friendship. Communion isn’t just a time to reflect or remember Christ’s brutal death, but a divinely sanctioned opportunity to experience the reality of what that brutal sacrifice accomplished: Reconciliation. He is inviting us, now and especially when we gather to observe this sacrament (or ordinance), to join him at the table. This bread that was broken for you, this cup that was poured out for you symbolize the means, the method, and the measure of reconciliation. It took Christ’s body, Christ’s blood, and Christ’s complete humiliation in order to secure our relationship. Our God is a God who is willing to stoop so low to be friends with us again. And in that moment when your heart is heavy with sin, and your mind is filled with regret, know that he is lifting you up to join him in a meal. So do not hold back from the table in fear, for the Lord’s Table is the evidence of our reconciliation. Draw near and experience his love, his grace and his friendship.
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