Communion is the Reminder

Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church has said, many times, "I truly believe that the Church is the hope of the world." That thought used to stop me short. "Wait a minute," I'd reason, "isn't Jesus the hope of the world? Where does Billy get off putting that mantle on the Church?" I still think I'm right, but I also think Hybels is right. Christ is the hope of the world, and the Church is the hope of the world. The problem is, we tend to forget the relationship between the two. Communion is a reminder of that relationship.

In John 14:20 Jesus tells his disciples that they are, essentially, one with Christ, one with the Father. By the power of the Holy Spirit, those of us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ are invited into fellowship and union with God. This is reinforced in 1 Corinthians 10, where Paul writes, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf." We are one with Christ, we are one with each other.

And that is important. We are now active agents in bringing Jesus to the world. We have been empowered to proclaim the good news until Jesus comes again. Communion should remind us that because we have found Jesus to be the hope of the world, we can offer hope to the world.

This is especially important today, as we cast our votes for our next president. Politics can prompt heated discussions, strong feelings, accusations, even divisions. But wait! We are one body. We are different branches grafted into the same vine: Christ. No matter our differences, the roots of who we are is the same: Christ living in us. More important to our identity than Republicans, Democrats, or Independents is our identity as the Church. Today as we await the count of the ballots, we are the Church. Tomorrow, when some are ecstatic and some are despondent, we will still be the Church. Make sure to treat one other accordingly. Again, remember the words of Jesus: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you" (John 15:12).

On Sunday we sang one of my favorite hymns, featuring the following verses. Meditate on these words this week, and especially today. Remember that we are one in Christ, one with each other:

Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed:
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
Their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song.

Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee.