This Holy Mystery

Dear Friends, 

Once a month in the 10:30 service and weekly in the 8:30 service we celebrate The Great Thanksgiving together. These times are the most holy times in worship for me. They remind me of who we are, who we can be when we come together, and who God is in our lives. These moments of Communion are tender, gentle, and powerful. 

The time of Great Thanksgiving, or what we often call Communion, is a time for us to come together and remember. Through the liturgy of The Great Thanksgiving we remember who God was for God’s people before us, we remember who God became in the person of Jesus, and we remember who God will be in our lives as we continue to carry out the mission of the church. 

The rhythm of Holy Communion goes like this: 

INVITATION 
CONFESSION AND PARDON 
THE PEACE 
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING 
BREAKING THE BREAD 
GIVING THE BREAD AND CUP 

Because Communion is my FAVORITE thing to celebrate with you, I wanted to take this Word with the Pastor as an opportunity to break down the different parts. 

INVITATION 

The invitation to the Table is often ad-libbed by clergy, but the message is the same: no matter who you are, where you’re from, or what you’ve done – no matter who you aren’t, where you’re going, or what you have left undone, you are welcome at the Table.  

And it’s not my table, or the table of this church, or the table of the United Methodist Church. It’s the Lord’s Table. All Christ asks is that you desire a closer relationship and beckons you to come. 

CONFESSION AND PARDON 

This is the part where we say all the things we have done and all the things we have left undone. “Merciful God,” we say, “we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” 

Once we confess the places we have fallen short, we are offered forgiveness by a clergy person on behalf of the God who sees us, knows us, loves us, and urges us to be better. The prayer of confession is one of my favorite prayers in the hymnal because it so clearly names where I have fallen short and allows me to fill in the gaps of my own personal failings. The pardon is powerful because it allows me to move forward, knowing that I have failed before and I will fail again, but it is God who continues to call me by name. 

THE PEACE 

The peace is the thing we do each week in the 10:30 service formally, and informally during the 8:30 service. During the passing of the peace of Christ we acknowledge the humanity in one another, seeking to make the world a more just place and bringing one another into that work. 

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING 

The Great Thanksgiving is the bulk of the service of Holy Communion. During the Great Thanksgiving we praise our creator and, most importantly, we hear the story. We are reminded each time of the redemptive power of Christ at work in the world. We are reminded of the story and remember what happened on the night Jesus gave himself for us. 

Lastly, we bless the elements. This blessing of elements reminds us that who we are for one another and who we are for the world is God’s, and God is with us as we work together in ministry to all the world to bring forth the kin-dom of God among us in its multitude of ways. The words that we say make the sacrament a “visible sign of invisible grace;” God’s goodness manifest for us in the bread and the juice. 

BREAKING THE BREAD 

When we break the bread together, we remember that just as the grains that are scattered throughout the earth come together to make the bread for us, so too are we brought together to make one body of Christ. The tasting of the bread in the juice (or dip, as my daughter calls it) is a sharing in the body of Christ. 

GIVING THE BREAD AND CUP 

Lastly, we give the bread and cup to one another. You may notice that the clergy serve all who are serving at stations first, then they serve each of you, then they serve each other. This is to help your clergy remember the servant role that we hold in the body of Christ. 

There are no special tricks for how the bread is served or the cup is held. There are no special actions that we take. The important thing is that you are able to take the bread, dip it in the cup, and taste the goodness of God. 

When kids come to my line I always ask them if they want a small piece, a medium sized piece, or a big piece. It’s our job as servers to share the abundance of the body of Christ. So when you see a kid leave my station with a piece of bread as big as their fist, know that they are sharing in the grace of God. They will grow up in this place knowing God loves them and God is beside them on the journey. 

Sometimes the adults get big pieces of bread, too – because who am I to ration out God’s grace? 

I so look forward to being around the Table of grace with you this Sunday. It is a tender, holy time. May we come to the Table acutely aware of who we are and whose we are, knowing that God’s love is greater than anything that could ever be contained in a piece of bread and a few drops of grape juice. 

In Grace,
Pastor Rachel