With the election year in full-swing, we ?re experiencing our country ?s most fractious season. Friends, coworkers, and family members seem to be more willing to ?debate ? their differences, and it ?s not always pretty.
Sometimes Sunday mornings can be just as divided, as Christians with varied backgrounds and preferences interact within the worship service and Bible classes. But even with our opinions and traditions, we are part of one body, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:4-6: ?There is one body and one Spirit ?just as you were called to one hope when you were called one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ?
Perhaps the best place to experience that is in communion, as we celebrate the Lord ?s Supper. Unlike elections, which bring people of opposing viewpoints into a common experience for one day and then allows us to stumble back to our corners to grumble and complain for another four years, communion unites individual believers as one body with a common purpose.
That purpose is not simply an act of uniformity. It is not simply a group-wide acknowledgement of Jesus ? sacrifice. It defines us. To be a Christian is to be ?Christ-like. ? In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, Paul shows how communion does just that: ?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 partake of the one loaf. ? As we celebrate the Lord ?s Supper together each week, let us consider how communion helps us get connected with God, through Jesus ? sacrifice, and with each other.