I Am Thankful For ... Holy Communion

The Early Church focused on four things – the Apostle’s teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer.

+The Apostle’s teaching of course is what we now find in the New Testament

+Fellowship is sharing life – sharing stories and building community.

+Prayer of course is just that prayer – intercessory prayer, praying in the spirit, spending time with God in corporate prayer.

+What then was this “breaking of bread”?

The “breaking of bread” meant two things. It meant sharing a meal together. People would get together and have a fellowship meal. And it meant that they would sometime during that meal; usually at the end of the meal, they would share Communion.

Communion was not something that only happened in Church because frankly at this time there were no established churches. The Early Christians would meet in one another’s home or when they were allowed in a synagogue.

When two or three people or more got together to study the word, to spend time sharing life and to pray for one another and others they would take Holy Communion. It was something that was alive for them. It was active. It was a means of God’s grace.

Communion was a vital part of their daily and weekly lives. They took Jesus’ words to heart – “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." (1 Corinthians 11:25).

“Whenever you do drink it, in remembrance of me”

Let those words sink in – Communion was never just a Church thing in the Early Church. Whenever disciples of Jesus got together – be it a couple, a family, a group of friends they would take the Lord’s Supper together.

Why? Because those Early Christians saw Communion as a means of grace; that is why it is called a sacrament.

The Early Church believed that Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 53:4-5 were talking about Jesus:

“Surely He (Jesus) has borne our grief (malady, anxiety, calamity, disease, grief and sicknesses) and carried our sorrows (pain – physical and mental); Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted, But He was wounded for our transgressions (our sins – all our sins), He was bruised for our iniquities (our rebellion, our carnality), the chastisement of our peace (the peace of Christ, the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that comes through the Holy Spirit), and by His stripes (bruises, wounds) we are healed.”

When the Early Church took communion and when they took the bread they understood it not only as a symbol but as a means of grace – a grace that opened the door for healing – for sozo of heart, mind and soul.

One of the things Jesus loved to do here on this earth was to bring healing; to bring wholeness to humanity. In Communion that love and desire is still to be expressed. Jesus is the Healer. By His stripes, Jesus says we can be healed. By his broken body, we can be made whole.

I believe in many churches and in perhaps many people’s lives Holy Communion has been undervalued. It has not been appreciated for its fullness. In taking Communion we are in effect asking God to bring healing and wholeness to our bodies, to our minds and to our spirits. Jesus wants to touch us!