Be Centered.

While I never thought that and Early Church History class at 8 a.m. would inspire anything in me, yesterday morning as we discussed worship in the early church I was reminded about what the center of ministry is. Communion. One would never believe me after cruising through the communion line on a Sunday morning but to the early church the "love feast" was the majority and the center of worship. Each person brought what they could and the community broke bread and drank wine together in celebration of the resurrection. During the last supper Jesus says, "remember me." Are we really remember Jesus and the Christ story together when we file through to receive a pinch of bread and a swig of wine on Sunday morning? When I think about the way we remember people as we celebrate their lives I would say no, we are not remembering Jesus. When we remember others we tell stories, the good and the bad, and these stories about a common loved one unite the people present. Remembering a person creates fellowship and community in honor of that person and what they have done for each persons life. 


Communion in the early church was not a funeral, it was a celebration of life... life everlasting. It is a celebration in memory of the story of Jesus and the risen Christ who lives among us. The celebration of communion was the center and the fabric of early Christian life, it appeals to every aspect of humanity offering the hungry food, the thirsty drink, and the lonely fellowship. When prayer is done in communion the community shares its need with one another and the community is called to be the body of Christ and to meet the needs being expressed. Communion goes beyond basic human needs, however, and reminds all people that not only are they worthy of life now, they are worthy of life everlasting with the risen Christ. Whether or not I am sure about this life everlasting, which is a topic for another post, the gospels say that we are made worthy of it. When people are turned away from the communion table they are being told that they are not worthy of the bread, not worthy of the life. As I remember Jesus I don't remember those words. I remember the center of the Christ story being a love that transcends any social, political, racial, economical, etc. boundaries. Amen. 

God's Peace.