Communion and Reconciliation

Last Sunday we had a worship service that was youth led.  Every part of the service was created and led by youth.  We even had an elder assisting at the table who is in high school.  In the Presbyterian Book of Order, we are told that on a communion Sunday, it is appropriate for us to prepare for communion.  That is, to prepare ourselves for partaking of the meal our Savior has invited us to eat.  Perhaps you do something in particular as you get yourself ready for communion – pray a prayer, read scripture, reflect on your week and patch up a relationship that needs mending, or share with a prayer partner something that is on your heart that might keep you from fully participating in the sacrament.  Of course, even with these things in place, you can still participate – God’s grace abounds.  However, we are asked to be thoughtful about it.

Whether or not you are a Presbyterian, these are helpful words from the Presbyterian Book of Order (W-2.4006):

Around the Table of the Lord, God’s people are in communion with Christ and with all who belong to Christ. Reconciliation with Christ compels reconciliation with one another. All the baptized faithful are to be welcomed to the Table, and none shall be excluded because of race, sex, age, economic status, social class, handicapping condition, difference of culture or language, or any barrier created by human injustice. Coming to the Lord’s Table the faithful are actively to seek reconciliation in every instance of conflict or division between them and their neighbors. Each time they gather at the Table the believing community:a)     are united with the Church in every place, and the whole Church is present;
b)     join with all the faithful in heaven and on earth in offering thanksgiving to the triune God;
c)     renew the vows taken at Baptism;
and they commit themselves afresh to love and serve God, one another, and their neighbors in the world.

In many instances in the world, in our neighborhoods, cities, towns, offices, and classrooms, we cannot imagine this kind of reconciliation.  Sometimes we cannot imagine it even in the church.  Yet, we are called to it by the very One who invites us to the table.  We are invited to ask: Where in my life is reconciliation needed?  Is there someone with whom I need to be in touch, write a letter or, best, to speak face to face?  (Texting, Facebook, and email are not recommended in these instances!)   Is there someone with whom I am estranged?

When I first arrived at the church where I serve, it was surprising to find that the hymn attributed to John Calvin, father of the Presbyterian Faith, was not well known.  The hymn is, “I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art.”  It first showed up in the Genevan Psalter in 1545.  The fourth stanza is fitting for our prayers.  If you cannot bring yourself to offer reconciliation right now in the relationship or situation you find yourself, begin praying for it, and perhaps this stanza of the hymn will serve as guidance:

Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness, No harshness hast thou and no bitterness: O grant to us the grace we find in thee, That we may dwell in perfect unity.

In Christ,

Anne

Open Heart Open Door

Building One Another - Vol. 10, No. 28
Dear Friend, December is often a time of more social gatherings in the life of the church and in our worlds of work, local neighborhoods, friends, and families. Our normal tendency is to gravitate to those we know and to include those with whom we are familiar. Indeed much of the joy of the season is gathering with those we know and love. At the same time, this is an ideal time to open our circles a little. Thus we enjoy the dear one and include the new one.  The open heart leads to the open door. As a matter of fact, this is often the practical key to including people who are newer to us because that very newness may make us a little uncomfortable in reaching out to them. Invite those we don’t know so well to join us with those we do know well. Remember the two friends on the road to Emmaus? “But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them.” Luke 24:29* They had no idea it was Jesus, the sovereign Lord of the universe.  Secure in their relationship, the two friends who knew each other well invited the one they didn’t know so well. It only changed their lives.
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2011 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
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