What Would a Communion Meal Look Like?

What would a communion meal look like?

If you have been following this blog, you may agree with me that the preponderance of Scripture supports the idea of having a meal of communion within the Lord's Supper. You may also be asking yourself, “What would that look like?” “How could a church pull this off?”

Admittedly, this would be difficult. Frankly, a meal within the Communion and Worship Service might be best carried out in the context of a small church. One church I could see experiencing this communion and fellowship would be a church I know that has been engaging and dynamic ministry for years. 

For the past 14 years, they have been sending buses out into the town and bringing in children of all ages. They do so every Wednesday night at 5:30. They feed these children a meal, followed by Bible classes offered at 7 PM.

The meal is free. It is available to everyone in the community. Volunteers prepare the meal and clean up.

This church takes the ministry of Jesus very seriously. They practice what theologians call incarnational ministry. That means the people of their town see Jesus in the skin of these members. 

Although this is a small town, their ministry corresponds more to inner-city ministry. There is a high percentage of minorities, particularly Hispanic, and many of these children come from broken homes of low socio-economic income brackets.

It is safe to say that for some of these children, that week’s best meal, and the most love they receive, will occur simultaneously on Wednesday evenings.

I believe this church would have the opportunity to impact its are with the rich teaching that is found in Scripture concerning sustenance from God, spiritual forgiveness, hospitality, fellowship, and worship. To them I would suggest: why not practice the Lord's Supper as the church of the first century practiced it? Look to the roots of the Old Testament. Remember the Meal of Shalom, the Passover Meal, and the Burnt Offering, and the Sin Offering, and the Cross.

Move the Wednesday night meal to Sunday. Place it in the context of your worship service. Move your worship service from the church auditorium into the fellowship hall. Bring in the children.

Everybody gets their plates of food and drink and sits down and eats. Everyone sings and fellowships together.

Tell all the air that this meal is being offered to the community because Christ lives within you. Tell everyone that you're worshiping God because your sins has been forgiven, and because of that, God is in your presence.

Tell them you have brought them in and offered them hospitality of the Lord because the Lord offered you hospitality first. You're simply offering to them what God offered to you. Proclaim the gospel. Proclaim God’s Word. Read it aloud.

Pray prayers, and at some point in the assembly that alternates between formal proclamation in informal conversation, bring in the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine and present it to the members of the church and to anyone else who considers himself worthy to participate.

Take time in meditation and prayer and silence to reflect upon Christ and his sacrifice. If you do this week after week, you will inextricably link your ministry with the cross. And I predict the byproduct will be many more people responding to Christ and conversion.

This is but one example of impacting a local work with a communion meal as practiced in scripture. What about your locale?

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. It is nice to see so many pay tribute to John Wooden. He was a great man as well as a marvelous coach. He published his last book at age 99. The book was on mentoring and was very good. I hope to publish my first book before I am 99. The most amazing thing about Wooden is that I am not so sure he was more relevant his last week of life than he was a coach thirty-five years ago.

2. If I remember correctly, Wooden served as a deacon at his church for several years in Santa Monica.

3. I saw my first 3-D movie the other day with my son. I spent the first half of the show watching the special effects instead of paying attention to the plot.

4. Recently, I discovered the collateral damage of having parents ask you to tell them what you want when they die. My wife’s folks recently sent all of their kids a list of their possessions asking them to identify what they desired upon their passing. My own mother did this a few years ago.

            Last week, our youngest daughter, Annie, who is 8, said to me, “Daddy, when you die, can I have your treadmill?”

            I asked her, “Do you know something I don’t?”

            “No,” she replied. “I just figure you’ll be dead by the time I get to be Haleigh’s age (a senior in high school.)

            She may be right!

5. Congratulations to you, Timothy Edge. Your baseball team won the East Tyler league championship.