Communion Technicalities
Does God care about technicalities?
A Connections article I wrote some time ago, about Communion, brought an unusual number of responses. Almost all were enthusiastic. Several readers liked the whole issue so well that they made copies and distributed them to church groups they were in.
In that article, I wrote about my most memorable experiences of Communion on three very different occasions.
The three experiences this reader was referring to were:
Alone at home, one day, immersed in a book written by a kindred spirit whose words had greatly expanded my view of God and heightened my awareness of God’s presence. My bread and wine were a cracker from the pantry and a glass of orange juice from the refrigerator.
At a restaurant one night after an evening worship service, with three laywomen friends. We had met and become friends in a life-changing two-year program that was soon to end. Our Communion elements were wine, coffee, and dessert, and no one recited a ritual, but we were fully aware that we were observing Communion together.
High up in the balcony of a huge barn-like convention center at an event attended by several thousand methodists. Servers were stationed all over the main floor and balcony, and we took Communion standing in the nearest aisle.
None of these experiences was in a church building. I didn't kneel at any altar. On one of the occasions, no one else was physically present. On two no clergyperson was present, and the traditional words, bread, and grape juice were missing. Yet for me, these experiences, more than the hundreds of times when I’ve taken Communion in traditional settings, were true Communion. I think God was present in all of them. What do you think? When has Communion meant most to you? What makes Communion Communion?
One reader, however, objected to my calling some personal experiences Communion. He wrote, "Of the three significant spiritual experiences you listed, only one would qualify as Communion." The others, he said, in which no clergyperson officiated and the standard words were not spoken, "were not in the technical sense Communion."
Jesus wasn't prescribing a method. I doubt that "the technical sense" matters to God. When Jesus said "Do this in remembrance of me," I don't think he was defining a precise method for us to follow. We don't know the exact words he said, and they were in a language we don't speak, so their basic intent is all we can hope to duplicate. He evidently used the ordinary food and drink that happened to be available, and an ordinary room. And he often berated groups like the scribes and Pharisees for emphasizing procedural technicalities instead of intentions.
Christian tradition includes variety
Christian tradition includes a wide variety of religious practices, and there's no reason to see tradition as a universal or perpetual rule. So although we need some consistency in how we present Communion in our worship services, I don't think God cares whether our individual experiences qualify as Communion in what anyone else defines as "the technical sense."
Have you ever had a profoundly spiritual moment in life that seem to have stuck with you much more strongly than “technical” church sacraments?