This week we wrap up our worship series “This Is My Story.” We have been thinking about our Christian witness, one of the five parts of our United Methodist membership promises.
We have talked about how the Good News is not meant to be kept to ourselves, but to be shared with others. We have talked about being “salt and light” in the world, that the Good News is supposed to be good news. And we have talked about what it means to be “good soil” for the seeds of faith that people share.
This week, we turn to the witness of the table. Specifically, the table of Holy Communion.
The communion table is a witness to the grace of God. The story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus shapes our story, and is visible at the communion table. The act of celebrating Communion is remembering by doing, an idea known by the Greek word anamnesis. We not only remember what Jesus did and said, we enact it in the sacrament.
The communion table is a witness to our essential unity. We share equally and openly at the table, and include all people in that sharing. For United Methodists, the table of communion is referred to as an “open table,” which means that all are welcome to receive the sacrament, regardless of who you are or where you’ve been or what you’ve done.
And the communion table is a witness to the incarnate nature of God in Jesus Christ. God is present everywhere, tangibly present. The flesh-and-blood reality of Jesus is in our midst, and made known in the bread and the cup. Beyond the actual sacrament itself, any table can be a sacramental table, when it is shared in the presence of Christ.
And so this weekend we will celebrate the witness of the communion table, and share in the sacrament together. Partaking in the sacrament is a powerful witness in and of itself, just in the simple act of eating a bite of bread dipped into a sip of juice. I find great joy in Holy Communion, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you!
