“Take and eat. This is the Body of Christ broken for you.” I say these words every time we celebrate communion during worship, which in our tradition is the first Sunday of the month. I utter them when I share communion with individuals at home or in the hospital. I have never said them to an empty church.
April 5th is Palm Sunday. It’s Communion Sunday. And we are in the midst of forced separation.
Communion is all about community. But our community is scattered right now. We cannot come together. We cannot sing the invitation to Christ’s table. We cannot serve one another the bread and cup. And we certainly cannot offer one another the right hand of fellowship or give a hearty hug as we share Christ’s peace.
How will we celebrate communion while we are absent one from another?
My first thought was that we would skip serving Eucharist until we can do it as we always have done – together, in the sanctuary, passing the communion cups and trays that have been used for generations. But then I realized that nothing is the same and we don’t know when it will be again so it’s time to adapt. It’s time to make room in my heart for the new things God can do in these entirely different circumstances.
I remember growing up in a large Congregational church in Wallingford CT. The deacons asked if they could place some of the communion elements in the balcony to facilitate serving those who sat upstairs during worship. The minister refused because he said the bread and cups had to be on the altar in order to be consecrated (blessed through prayer). This raised a lot of questions in my mind as a child. I remember wondering if God was so weak or feeble-minded that God could not bless the elements on the altar AND in the balcony at the same time. Did we have to make it easy for God and place the communion plates in an obvious location? Would God not be able to find them otherwise? Was the minister’s prayer of blessing not strong enough to reach the top of the balcony? It seemed to me that if we were asking God to bless the bread we were about to receive, God could find the bread wherever it was and fill it with God’s grace.
I’m relying on that ability this week. Everyone will be invited to prepare their own communion in their own homes. Communion in your house might be a bit of bread and some juice. Or it could be a cracker, an English muffin, or even a bagel. Perhaps you will have water or tea to go with it. In our tradition, communion is a symbol of God’s presence, forgiveness, and love. The materials – bread and juice – are not as important as the message – that we are all welcome in God’s presence and that God wishes to feed our spirits.
On this communion Sunday, we will be physically separate, but united by God’s Spirit of love.
fosteringyourfaith 