Smack-in-the-face

You ever have one of those smack-in-the-face moments?  After ignoring God and putting Him off, He always finds a way to give you that smack in the face that you need (not literally, but sometimes it feels pretty close to a real smack in the face).  It’s always at just the right time too.  That was me this past Sunday in church.  Sundays tend to become so routine and don’t mean as much as they should.  In college group, we watched a Francis Chan video about communion.  What came across to me from that, was the fact that communion becomes such a routine; going from when i can first remember to now, being in church, communion has been a once a month ritual that is followed.  Why do we do it?  What does it mean?  Why is it once a month? Am i really following what communion should be?  These are just some of the questions I started asking myself during college group.  I’ve always thought that communion was a ritualistic thing done in church, silently and held in to myself.  Are we doing communion right?  Is there a right way to do it?  From what i see, communion almost seems better fit to be done in homes or in small groups, rather than in a large group setting where there isn’t a fellowship type bonding.  

Just some of the definitions of communion (defined by dictionary.com) are as follows:

1. Association; Fellowship

2. The act of sharing, or holding in common

3. The Lord’s Supper is so called, because in it, there is fellowship between

Christ and His disciples and of the disciples with one another.

In the Bible, the idea of communion is sharing, fellowship, and remembrance.  It is the breaking of bread and drinking of a cup.  This was not done in solitude, but in a relatively small group, around a table.  Not that it’s wrong to have communion in a church of a couple hundred people but maybe we should rethink what we are doing for just a minute.  Does it really serve a purpose if people are just taking part in a ritual they don’t completely understand.  Maybe we should try doing something different, changing things up, making it more about fellowship with Christ, remembrance of what Christ did on the cross for us, and fellowship with the believers around us.  Maybe it’s just me over thinking, or maybe it’s something that we should really think about.  Communion doesn’t have to be anything fancy and it doesn’t have to be something done with one person leading and us just following along.  It should be done as a body, as one.  We are the body of Christ, the church, and this is something we should take part in together.  Should it be a time of individual remembrance of Christ? I think yes.  I also believe that it should be taken as a time for the church to remember what Christ did for sinners as a whole.

When we remember what Christ did for us on the cross, it’s almost impossible to do without seeing how broken we are.  We are so messed up and we fail God time and time again.  It’s in these times of brokenness that God shows His grace and faithfulness that much more.  This grace is poured out on wretched, undeserving sinner- it truly is amazing grace.  For someone like me, and i believe this goes for everyone, it is impossible to show this kind of grace and faithfulness even to a close friend or family member.  Nevermind forgiving someone one time or just every once in awhile; we reject God constantly and constantly push Him away.  Why would he keep forgiving us?  We are told to love others as we love ourselves.  If we truly did this, think of how much better our families, friend groups, church, school, city, state, and country would be.  We can see just how much God loves us, it’s only right that we show this love on other people as well.  What better example of love to follow, than that of Jesus Christ being sent to a sinful and messed up world, and dying a painful death on the cross for undeserving sinners.  

As with most of my future blogging, most of my thoughts and topics will be based on song lyrics or verses that i’ve heard or read recently, or thought of.  This post was brought to you by a relient k song, called “Be My Escape”.  

"I’m giving up on doing this alone now

Cause I’ve failed and I’m ready to be shown how

He’s told me the way and I’m trying to get there

And this life sentence that I’m serving

I admit that I’m every bit deserving

But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair"

So, as i was saying before, it was a smack-in-the-face kind of Sunday.  It was one of those Sundays where i could have just gone through college group and the music and would have been alright without a sermon.  It was a much needed reminder for me and hopefully it will be a good reminder for you as well.