Thoughts About Communion


As a young lad I was raised in a Methodist church.  The sacrament of communion was perhaps a monthly event, but I had no idea what it was about and what it meant.

Then, at age 19 I joined the Roman Catholic Church, and part of the instruction and weekly ritual included the sacrament of communion, which was central to each Mass (gathering).

I continued in the Catholic Church for seven years until the day after I asked Jesus to come into my heart to be my Savior and the Lord of my life.  That watershed moment had a unforeseen result.  The next day my wife and I went to our Catholic Church simply out of custom, and we found that we no longer felt a sense of belonging there.  The very next Sunday we were again on our way to the Catholic Church when we were literally intercepted by someone I had never met who told me my name and invited us into the little non-denominational Christian chapel on the campus of the university a block away from our home.  It was our first experience of what I might describe as extreme Charismania, but we were intrigued and felt that this little congregation of college aged people was right for us at the time.

So, for years we engaged in the sacrament of communion in whatever church we attended, without much thought given to its full purpose and intention.

Then, years late, during a routine physical exam I discovered that my cholesterol was 280 - rather high in my physician's opinion.  So he prescribed that I meet with a nutritionist to adjust my nutrition to reduce the 'bad' cholesterol.  As a result of that consultation the nutritionist suggested that I drink a cup of grape juice each day (do you see where this is leading?).

Eventually it dawned on me that I could add some unleavened bread to my cup of grape juice and use it as an act of communion!

So, I have been having communion with God as I drink my cup of grape juice and portion of unleavened bread each day - remembering Jesus and proclaiming His death to the spirit world until He comes again.

Eventually I realized that the sacrament of communion is one of those spiritual points of contact which I found in the Christian Bible, such as the laying on of hands for healing, anointing with oil for healing and deliverance, cloths taken from the Apostle Paul's body and laid on sick people with the result that they were healed and/or delivered from evil spirits.

More recently I have realized that 'doing this in remembrance of Jesus' is can be more than just a reminder, it can be a focus on 'knowing Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death that I might attain to the resurrection of the dead'.  Philippians 3:10-11

And that brought me to a realization that there are two deaths mentioned in the Bible - physical death and death to self.  It is apparent to me that the Apostle Paul was not writing about suicidal tendencies in that passage of Philippians referred to above, he was writing about getting rid of the pride and selfishness and waywardness of human existence in order to become freer each day to live for God rather than for me!

From the first day of my 'born again' experience of receiving Jesus into my heart as Savior and Lord, I began to realize that our relationship with God through our Lord Jesus is not only for my benefit, it is for the benefit of anyone whom God wants to touch through me!  I began to become more aware each day of other people and their needs.  I also began to become more aware that not everyone wants us to be vessels through whom God can speak and work - we have an adversary!

Then I 'stumbled' across a verse of Scripture which beckoned me into a new area of investigation.  It was 1 John 1:3 (GNB)  What we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (GNB)  What we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  I(GNB)  What we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

In this verse the word 'fellowship' is used, and other verses which mention the 'communion' of the body and blood of Jesus, the Greek word 'koinonia' is the original  word of God.  So I began to seek growing fellowship with our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus and other members of the Body of Christ through the sharing of the fruit of the vine and the unleavened bread.

So, at the point of my writing this on 1/11/17, my daily practice each morning, if possible, as this:
1.  I bow my knees before our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit to humble myself in His sight, to beg His continuing mercy and grace for me and every other creature who needs His grace and mercy,;
2.  I drink my cup of grape juice and eat two portions of unleavened bread (one for me, one for everyone else so that no one is left out), claiming the cross, death, burial and resurrection life of Jesus as mine and for whomever else may need to die daily to self to live daily for God;
3. I thank Father, Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit for Their holy goodness, love, faithfulness, and for all that They have done to date and will do each day and forever;
4. I ask God to optimize my life and every other creature's life for His plans and purposes, and to work in all of us that which is pleasing in His sight;
5. I pray for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells for God's pleasure and for our pleasure when He cleanses His creation of all sin and unrighteousness!

Each day becomes an adventure as a result of dying to self and living for God, and I invite you, dear reader, to join in an adventure with The One True God, and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent!