Communion 5

Acts 2:46-47

A few years back we knew that we would be unable to visit with our families over the Easter weekend. It was just not part of our busy schedule that year and we decided we would simply have a nice Easter Sunday meal at home as a family. We prepared a nice ham and all the side dishes – salad, mashed potatoes, corn and so on. It was a lot of food but we went ahead with our plans.

Then, unexpectedly, my sister and mother showed up at our house. We were excited at that point to have prepared such a large meal of abundance. And we were pleased that someone had come to share it with us.

After the resurrection of Jesus and after he was taken up into heaven, the faithful believers continued to meet together as the beginnings of the church we know today. What did they do? What was their attitude?

The love and grace of Jesus Christ did not stop with his death. It continued on among the faithful and still flows today. The early believers would gather together in informal bands of worshipers. As part of their worship there was the sharing of food.

The believers would break bread together – eat – and they did it with glad hearts. They were pleased to be with one another and they were gladdened by the fact that each of them had a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Such should be our attitude as we celebrate Communion in our places of worship. Communion may be a time when we examine ourselves, where we realize that we are not worthy to receive such grace from God. But it should also be a time of celebration and gladness. We should take part in Communion with glad hearts, realizing that although we are unworthy, still Jesus loves us so much that he continues to open himself up to us so that we might be in his loving presence.

Let us rejoice as we take part in Communion. Let us be glad that Jesus loves us. And let us also take the opportunity of Communion to once more invite the Spirit of God to live in our hearts.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you be certain to have a glad heart when you take part in Communion?