Excited About Communion

Communion.  What does that mean to you?  When you hear this word read or spoken, how does the word “communion” make you feel?  What is communion like in your church?  Now every Christian denomination will have its different interpretation of what communion is, but the basic concept is that the bread and wine (or juice) is taken in fellowship with the Triune God and Its believers.  Theology can differ from denominations, but this is what it basically is for all Christians. 

I am not arguing with tradition has interpreted communion philosophy correctly, but I am curious about how communion makes us all feel.  When it is time to take in this sacrament (PCUSA tradition), what are we thinking and feeling? 

Do you sometimes feel that communion is mundane or just some pattern of worship?  Do you feel happy, sad, solemn, or exhausted when you have communion?  Or do you feel excited? 
Communion can be any emotion that we feel.  There are moments in my pastoral career that I felt that communion has hit me with grief and sadness, and at other times felt peace and comfort, and other times it felt exhausted as if it was just another thing that I must do for work.  But I would hate to admit that I rarely feel excited about communion.  It’s not something that I would scream, “HOORAY” about.  But then maybe I should.  Shouldn’t we be excited about communion?

I know my son; Ben is excited about communion.  He absolutely loves it.  And at first, I thought it was so funny how excited he was about communion.  Then it made me think why is he so excited?  When I asked, he simply responded, “I don’t know,” with a big grin on his face going ear to ear.  Basically, all Ben knows is that he is excited.  Maybe he likes the communion bread and juice, or maybe he likes the ceremony of preparing the elements, setting the table, and inviting everyone to gather together.  But he is always excited about communion.  Then I wondered, why am I not sharing in his enthusiasm? 

I mean I should be excited.  We all should be excited!  Think about it.  We do communion about 4 to 5 times in a year, so it’s not too common in our church.  That day a bunch of people gather together.  On that day, regardless of good deeds, economic status, race, sexuality, political beliefs, popularity, or social status, everyone gathers together to be at one table provided by God to be part of His family.  That is GOOD NEWS!  Think about how exciting it is to remember your baptism, what it means.  That is that you who are at the table, are redeemed, saved, forgiven, and loved!  That is GOOD NEWS!  Contemplate, that on communion day, we gather, eat, and drink, and await the day that Jesus will come back!  That is GOOD NEWS!  Communion is exciting!  We should be smiling ear to ear!

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