Day 8: the Table of Showbread part 2

Today we gather around a communion table and talk of the blood and the body but rarely stop to think just how far back this table and bread stretches. God knew when He gave the instructions for the entire Tabernacle and this should be as no surprise, tho we think little of it.

When I was young the church I attended celebrated communion every Sunday. In our church, there was a hymn, a reading, a prayer, the men passed out the little crackers which we ate. Then another prayer and the individual cups were passed out. In between was time of meditation. An offering hymn, the offering and finally the sermon. And over the years I have noticed that the timing has gotten quicker and quicker. First dropping the second reading then passing out the bread and cups together, then skipping the meditation completely. What used to take a goodly part of the service has been relegated to just another quick part between the last praise chorus and the preacher’s first joke of the sermon. Some churches I knew of did this once a month, some quarterly, depending on the ‘bylaws’. One church I attended ‘forgot’ and did 3 communions in December just to fulfill what they had decided was right for ‘their church’. Not the Bride of Christ, but their own group of congregants. It seems that as we go along the whole concept of ‘communion’ has turned into just another ritual, and the quicker we get through it the quicker we can get out and beat the Methodists to Cracker Barrel.

As a kid I didn’t think much of it. Yes, I knew what it was for and accepted the blood spilt, the body broken but missed the part of fellowship. Of diving into the relationship. More than just the crucifixion, but the desire God has to bring us nearer to Him. I now sit in services almost dreading the ‘communion’ part, because I know I won’t have time to immerse myself in it. To think not only of the cross, but of the fellowship it offers. To sit quietly with other believers as we join with each other to share this meal, letting the Spirit have this quiet time to speak softly to us, to comfort and calm our souls. For that is something as I get older I come to crave-just a few minutes sitting with my fellow priests, like Paul outlined so eloquently in the 10th chapter of I Corinthians, ‘for we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partners of that one bread.’ Illuminated with the light from the Spirit, with Christ offering us the bread of life, as Christ said ‘I am the living bread come down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever…’

So maybe we can slow down our communion service. See if we can get back to more regular times, teach ourselves it is not a ‘ritual’ to be observed, but a generous gift to be fully enjoyed. Maybe drop a praise chorus, ask the pastor for one less joke-heck, even let the Baptist get to the best desserts at Golden Corral first and allow ourselves a few more moments to stop and ponder and welcome the fellowship that comes-truly comes-when we seek communion with God.

Scripture reading for today:

Deuteronomy 12:18
But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

Genesis 31:54
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.