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
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.
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