Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:14-17)
As I write these words Wednesday night, we await the final counts for the election. Regardless of the result, our nation remains riven by politics, rhetoric, and conflicting ideologies. In the midst of this division, we have a unique gift—the sacrament of Holy Communion.
In the passage above, written to a deeply divided community in Corinth, the word “participation” is a translation of a Greek word familiar to many of us—koinonia, a word also rendered as “partnership,” “fellowship,” “communion.” When we come to the Table, our divisions dissolve into communion: communion with Christ, and communion with each other.
Holy Communion “is always a meal of the community hosted by Christ as an event wherein we both declare and experience the grace that we are peace with one another (Col. 3:15). The unity of the community of faith is always vulnerable and tenuous, and the common act of eating together sustains and nurtures this unity” (Gordon T. Smith).
When we gather together this Sunday to “partake of the one bread,” our Communion is proclamation, experience, and intercession. Whether at Gray’s or via livestream, I invite you into this Holy participation in the body and blood of Christ on behalf of our neighborhoods and nation, and as an expression of the true identity of Immanuel Anglican Church.
Your Pastor in Christ,
Travis+
P.S. I commend to you Bishop John’s letter ) and the article that he references written by the Rev. John Yates.
P.P.S. Remember that you can contact Terry Barratt to have consecrated bread brought to your door!
P.P.P.S. Keep reading below for an update from our Move Team regarding our Mission Outpost on Hoadly Road.
P.P.P.P.S.This is my last post script.:-)