Communion Message #5

Photo by Geda Žyvatkauskaitė on Unsplash

The word communion doesn’t occur in most Bibles. This word that we use to describe a tradition that we participate in, was not named as such by Jesus. The word itself is a French term that was derived from the Latin communionem which means “fellowship, mutual participation, and sharing”. If you think about everything that the actual act of communion represents, fellowship and sharing would probably not be the average Christians assumption.

When we come around the communion emblems what we often think about is sacrifice and salvation. We think about the blood as we are implored to do. We think about the flesh similarly, as we are implored to do. We consider with deep earnest contemplation the sacrifice He partook of, that we might live forever. But maybe because of our own slant toward independence and self-sufficiency, we don’t consider fellowship, mutual participation and sharing as the crux of the communion ritual. Even though we may conduct communion amidst a larger congregation, it is often a very private moment. It’s possible that we forget then, that whilst our relationship with God is personal it is still in the context of a greater fellowship with the Body of Christ and with Him.

And yet the sacrifice of Jesus indeed means this also. It was upon His sacrifice that we all were given this astonishing opportunity to commune with God. To fellowship with Him, mutually participating and sharing in a relationship with each other. It is a fitting terminology for this ritual we undertake. Not only do we fellowship with Him through the bond of the Spirit, but we get to fellowship with each other as followers of Christ also bonded by the Spirit. Not only do we get to mutually participate in the spiritual benefits of His death, and how wonderful and multitudinous they are...we get to mutually participate in the life of the Spirit. Not only do we share in His goodness, but we get to share in His life and even His suffering.

It is through His death that we commune with Christ in every way made possible.