An Illustration on Missions

"We go, and thinking it's loving, we do what people can do for themselves... That is not loving. That is not kind. And that is not the way that God, through Christ, asked us to give His message to the whole word."

Communion of Saints

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

-from the Apostles' Creed

Sometimes my friends' children come sit by me during the praise & worship part of our church service. I enjoy this time spent singing, clapping, and dancing with them, and then it always comes time for communion. As soon as my little friends realize what's going on, they excitedly whisper to me, "Oh, I have to go take communion with my family now!" And off they go to participate in the most holy meal..

Some churches celebrate communion weekly. Some monthly. Others quarterly.
Some remain seated and pass the elements while others form a line and walk to the front.
Bread or wafers. Wine or grape juice.
None of that really matters. What matters is that week after week, month after month, year after year... we take communion.
We remember. 
We receive the elements, and we receive fresh grace.

It's a uniquely individual yet entirely communal experience.

It's symbolic of the gospel for me.
A time of personal reflection, confession of sin, receiving of mercy, and considering God's saving grace in my life.

But it's also symbolic of the gospel for the Church as a whole.
The line forms, made up of brand new followers of Jesus, and those who were practically born in the church, and everything in between. It's the line, the lineage of God's children, that connects us to one another eternally.
It's the line that contains my parents,
     my grandparents,
             the Chinese martyr,
                  and the persecuted woman in the Middle East.
It's the same line that contains Calvin and Luther,
     Paul,
             Peter
                  and Jesus himself.

Each Sunday, I join the line that began forming 2,000 years ago. Today it keeps moving toward to the table of grace, and it will continue pressing forward until Jesus returns, and we commune with Him in person.