Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving. People all over America sat around a table eating with family, friends, or maybe even strangers.  At JOY, we gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving together and had a feast!  This reminds me of our weekly gatherings to break bread together at the Lord’s Table, celebrating a “foretaste of the feast to come.”  The first Holy Communion was instituted by Jesus, and took place with Jesus and his disciples around a table as they ate together. Jesus took ordinary, common bread and wine from that day, broke it, blessed it, and shared it. Jesus said: “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-29)
As Lutherans, we have only two sacraments. The first is Holy Communion. In his small catechism, Luther addresses the question: “What is the benefit of such eating and drinking?” then answers: “The benefits of this sacrament are pointed out by the words, given and shed for you for the remission of sins. These words, along with eating and drinking, are the main thing in the sacrament. And whoever believes these words has exactly what they say, forgiveness of sins.”   

In the act of Holy Communion, Jesus Christ is present with us. God uses the ordinary things of everyday life to be with us in a tangible way. God uses the physical elements for our sake because God knows we need the assurance and reminder of God’s love, forgiveness, and presence. The sacraments are visible and tangible signs of God’s promise to us. As we gather at the altar, or in the aisle way for communion, we are brought together as a community in Christ, and are reminded of God’s love and forgiveness for us. The symbolism of breaking bread together also reminds us that we’re a family and, therefore, are to love and forgive one another.

Yet, the primary act of communion is God’s.  We come to the Lord’s Table because we need what God offers there. We do not earn a right to receive communion, but instead take communion because of our need for God. In the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Spirit forgives our sins. It’s God’s gift to and FOR US. In receiving Holy Communion, we receive both God and God’s forgiveness. In this act, we are made whole; we are are made clean.  In Holy Communion, we find God in the promise and signs of bread and wine. It is as if God is saying to us, “Here you find me!”* In Communion, God draws us into closer unity and relationship with God and others.   Read Matthew 26:26-29, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally!

Annie

Today’s reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26:26-29

* Lois Malcolm, “Martin Luther on the Holy Spirit,” Martin Luther: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion (New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming), 9.