In the religious wars following the Protestant Reformation one of the things people fought over was Communion – also known as the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper.   Even though participating in this rite has been a regular part of the Christian life for Christians around the world for the last two thousand years, no end of ink (and at least during the religious wars, blood) has been spilled over what it actually means and who should participate.

This rite, ritual, or sacrament is based on something that took place at Jesus’ last meal with his disciples as found in Mark 14:12-26, Matthew 26:147-30, and Luke 22:7-23.

Here is the central part of Luke’s take on it:

¹⁴ When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

And since that night, followers of Jesus have been doing just that – breaking bread and pouring wine (or grape juice) in remembrance of Jesus.

Most of the controversy in years past regarding what this means has centered on the phrase, “This is my body.”  Does the bread really become the literal body of Jesus and the wine his blood?  If so, at what point?  When it’s broken or poured or at some other time?

At our church, we just assume that Jesus was using symbolic language and inviting – urging – his followers to do the same thing that God did hundreds of times throughout scripture – “remember me,” “remember me,” “don’t forget me.”  It seems to be a cry from the very heart of God.

So at our church, before we take Communion, we say that it is a reminder of at least three things:

As a reminder of Jesus’ wrongful crucifixion it is a symbol of our solidarity with the oppressed, the mistreated, and those who suffer under the weight of injustice.

It is a reminder of our acceptance of the call to die to ourselves and take up our own cross in order to follow Jesus, and pursue God’s Good Kingdom.

And, lastly it is a reminder of the significance of our sin, and the great expense God has paid to set things right between us and within us.

It is a way for us to respond together to Jesus’ “remember me” by saying, “we remember you.”  We remember who you are, what you have done for each of us and all of us, we remember who we are and whose we are.

Though the specific beliefs vary, for pretty much all Christians, Communion is a way of drawing closer to God and to other Christians.

The last, and maybe the biggest question for many churches and Christians related to Communion is who can participate.  Who should this rite, this ritual, this bread and wine be offered to?  Who should be invited to this drawing closer to God and to other people event?

For Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and a few Protestant Denominations, only those who are in good standing with the specific church and have participated in their first penance or confirmation are allowed to participate.  In these contexts it is often offered to older children or young teenagers and is seen as a rite of passage.  Orthodox churches offer Communion to infants.

Most all other Protestants fall into one of two groups – 1) those who include only those who have made a personal decision or commitment to be a follower of Jesus and been baptized and 2) those who offer Communion to everyone as sign of God’s love and grace and belonging to everyone.

What I think is most fascinating is who Jesus offered Communion to.  Both Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of that night make it clear that Judas was right there with Jesus that night and Jesus offered him the bread and wine.  Judas was certainly not a faithful Christian.  He had already made arrangements to betray Jesus, and Jesus knew it.  He wasn’t just someone on the sidelines, he had become an active enemy of Jesus, willing to sell him out and everything he stood for in exchange for some coins in his pocket.  Also, there was no organized church for him to be in good standing with.

So if Communion is a way of drawing closer to God and others – a way of deepening our sense of belonging by responding to Jesus’ invitation to remember – and Jesus offered this gift to his known adversary, is it wrong for followers of Jesus today to withhold this gift from people, whatever their reasons might be?  Evaluating how our beliefs and practice match up to the way of Jesus is the constant work of the Christian and the Church.

So what do we do at our church?  I’m not sure we’ve got it completely right, but we explain what Communion is and let everyone make their own decision.  We say:

Everyone who is a follower of Jesus is welcome to participate – I invite you in just a moment, whenever you are ready, to form a line to my left and your right.  As you come by you will take a piece of bread and dip it into the cup and then eat it. 

We hold out the love, belonging, grace, and high calling of Jesus and his Church to everyone and allow them to accept the invitation if they want to.  For all of us, it is a way of us taking a step closer towards God – or at least edging closer.

We don’t even “hinder” the children from coming to Jesus in this way (Matthew 19:14).  Partly we don’t because Jesus never discouraged children from being close to him or being a part of what he was doing – quite the opposite actually.  Partly we allow kids to participate because we know that one of the strongest urges in a child’s life is to belong and we would never want them to feel like they had to make some sort of faith decision in order to have that strong desire and need met.  When they are old enough to be able to decide for themselves if they want to be a follower of Jesus, we hope they’ll make that decision out of a love for God and not for any other reason.  Finally, we don’t turn away children because we recognize that love and commitment sometimes happens in an instant like love at first sight or a dramatic conversion experience, but for many people love and commitment is something that grows slowly over time until one day we realize that “This is who I am, this is who I love, I’m all in!”

There are a number of precious little people in our church who I’ve had the pleasure of watching this love growing slowly in their lives over time, and when the day comes that they tell me, Pastor Carrie, their children’s minister or their mom or dad that they want to make it public and official that they are a follower of Jesus, I know that moment will be there in part because of all the moments they had already said yes to God as they came and took a simple piece of bread and juice.

Offering Communion to people and watching the procession of precious faces full of meaning and feeling as they remember and draw close to God has become one of my greatest delights as a minister.