Showing posts with label Sacraments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sacraments. Show all posts

Monday, September 21, 2026

The Mass in Mass? | An Invitation to be Curious about Christ


Washington Cathedral 3rd Station: Resurrection "The Walk to Emmaus" by Rowan LeCompte + Irene Matz LeCompte

 

A Christian is the one who,

wherever he or she looks, 

finds Christ and
rejoices in Him.

+ Alexander Schmemann, 

For the Life of the World


Five Ancient, Yet Fresh Words


For many when they consider Jesus, they think of a religious building's space and all the negative, neutral, or curious things that happened there. After all, a service of worship, or mass for most people in Massachusetts, can be a bit of an odd, mysterious thing. 

Why do people do this religious stuff
like gathering together on a weekend
to pray, listen, and maybe even sing?

Why is it called a mass?
What is it for?

Is it just a tradition,
a means to brainwash a person
into a certain set of morals or sayings,
or a time to receive good advice for life?
Or is it more?

Five ancient, yet fresh words – 
liturgy, ekklesia, catholic, sacrament, and mass
 – have helped me engage the questions above.

Liturgy
means the
"work of the people"
(John 6:29).

Ekklesia
This Greek word for church means
"a public gathering of people
for a service to society"
(Matthew 16:18-19).

Catholic
The word means
"according to the whole,"
showcasing that who we are
and what we do is in
connection with Jesus' Church
who came before us and
who are around the world today.
We are a multigenerational
multiethnic, multicultural,
and global family.
We believe in humble harmony
with people who have
followed Jesus as Lord and Savior for
the past two millenia and who have
passed down His apprenticeship
to us through scriptural writings,
teachings, traditions, and practices.

Sacrament
The "mystērion" or sacred reality that
present and active in this world
by His Spirit who hovers over
and works in and through
(Genesis 1:2; Job 11:7; 
Originates from the Latin phrase
ite – missa est,
which means “go – you are sent out”
(John 20:21-22).

In understanding a bit more
of the meaning of these five words,
I have begun to grasp more of what Jesus
is actually inviting us to trust Him with 
when He meets us on our roads
and we come
cautiously, curiously, and courageously, 
to explore faith with Him and others.

According to Jesus in the story of the Bible, faith is trusting in the Gospel or Good News that God created a very good world to be with us in and invited us to bring forth its potential. And even though we rebelled and invited in the selfishness, erosion, and destruction that we see in us and around us, God continued to pursue us and made the way through Jesus – via His whole-making life, death-defeating death, and victorious resurrection and ascension – to heal and save us. He came to restore everything that is broken in us and around us and to make all things new for those who put their trust in and give their devotion to Him. 

So the goal of an ekklesia 
or congregation
that believes in Jesus
is to share the story 
of Him and His people
that is catholic
as we reveal the meaning of life
found in the Story of God.

We do this so that we
and people we love encounter
God's presence and action
in Jesus by the Spirit through
His people who obey His Word in
the Scriptures and 
partake of His sacraments
during the liturgy of each mass.

As our lives are centered
on Jesus and His Way, 
we remember, learn, rehearse,
believe, and participate with God
in His good work of blessing others
on the go as we are sent
into the everyday places of life,
redeemed and redeeming,
being transformed along the way.

It's true. A service of worship with Jesus’ Church is a bit of a curious thing. But it's also full of a story worth sharing and living into. 


The Road to Emmaus by Daniel Bonnell


An Invitation for You to Be Curious


After reading the words above, if you have grown in your curiosity to connect with someone who can share more about Jesus with you, we'd love to meet you. Or if you're not quite ready for that yet, feel free to email us at info@emmauscitychurch.com and we'll respond.

Depending on your history or background, you may still be wondering why you're even considering Jesus. It's OK. Whatever your story, God knows it and He has been walking with you even if you don’t believe in Him. Why? Because that’s so many of our stories.

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus met two people who thought He was dead after being crucified, and they were walking away from any connection to Him. But He pursued them and met them where they were even when they didn't recognize Him. He walked with them, talked with them, and stayed with them. And when they invited Him to come in and eat a meal with them in the town of Emmaus, He broke bread with them – and then they realized it was Him. After this stunning moment (which included Him disappearing from their sight at that time), they returned to Jerusalem immediately (in the middle of a doubtful and dangerous night no less), racing to tell their friends that somehow death had been defeated and nothing would be the same. They experienced a history-altering and personally-transforming moment with Jesus, and then they walked with a faith, hope, and love that changed their lives and others. And when they shared this good news, Jesus revealed Himself with them and ministered to all who were present (see Luke 24:13-49).

We are praying for you
that you will also come to experience
this type of encounter
with Jesus so you will 
know Him as holy, good, and true
and understand the great grace
that God provides for all
who meet Jesus on their journey of life.

Bonus Reflection:


Washington Cathedral 3rd Station: Resurrection "The Walk to Emmaus" by Rowan LeCompte + Irene Matz LeCompte


Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

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Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Friday, September 5, 2025

Living Under Water | Baptism as Jesus' Way of Life for Us


The Cleansing by Edwin Lester

What if baptism
is designed to be
not an event
but the deepest part of our identity,
the central, guiding reality
that defines our lives?


Living Under Water: Baptism as a Way of Life ranks up there as one of my favorite spiritual reads of the past five years. Living Under Water is a wonderful resource in helping us focus on the meaning of our baptismal identity (i.e. who we are as the family of God sent to love, serve, and witness) that we get to live into each day. And complementing Living Under Water, Fr. Alexander Schmemann's modern classic, For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy, is also included.

The meaning of our baptismal identity is as powerful as the exodus, as being recognized as part of a royal lineage. N.T. Wright captures the heart of this:

This is the new Exodus,
the ultimate release from slavery,
the moment when God says
of all of Jesus the Messiah’s people
that He said through Moses to Pharaoh:
“Israel is My son, My firstborn.”
What God said of Israel then,
He said of the coming
Davidic king
in Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14;
this national and royal title
was then spoken over
Jesus Himself
at His baptism (Mark 1:11 and parallels);
what God said of Israel,
the king, and then Jesus,
He now says of all
who belong in the messianic family …
All sons and daughters of God
in Messiah Jesus
Baptized into the Messiah,
Clothed with the Messiah,
All one in Messiah Jesus,
Belonging to the Messiah,
Therefore Abraham's seed
and promised heirs.

+ N.T. Wright
based on Galatians 3:36-4:7

Baptism joins one to many, and
the Lord’s Supper makes many into one.

+ B. Robin

For this post, below are some excerpts that stood out to me about baptism as the way of life with Jesus. I love the gift of baptism, and Living Under Water by Kevin Adams is full of beautiful stories, a bevy of historical and ecumenical highlights, and may be the best book I've read yet in unpacking this sacrament for all of us, young and old, seasoned and new to walking with Jesus. If this post intrigues you to engage more with the mystery, beauty, and power of baptism, you can read Living Under Water: Chapter 1: The Script for Our Truest Selves for free.




Living Under Water:
Baptism Brings Us
into the Biblical Script

Baptism brings us into a particular story by which we make sense of our lives and find meaning and joy for them. Anglican bishop N.T. Wright says about this script,

"The point of the Scripture narrative
is to say that baptism
draws together all those stories
about creation and Exodus,
about Jesus,
but also about the life
of His Church in the world.
When we baptize someone,
we are participating in that same narrative.
We are saying, 'We are on this journey,
this is our story,
and it is now your story as well.
And if you stick with us,
we will help you live
that story with us.'
That's what baptism is all about."


Wright summarizes what Christians for centuries have understood: that baptism encapsulates the entire Bible, starting in Genesis with creation, when God's spirit "moves upon the waters," and ending with Revelation's closing image of the river of life flowing through the eternal and electric city of God. In between is a life-shaping thread of baptism stories: Noah and the ark (Gen. 6), Moses and the Israelites' escape through the Red Sea (Exod. 14), Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh. 3), Jonah swallowed by a huge fish (Jon. 1-2), and the prophet Ezekiel sprinkling the people as they receive new hearts (Ezek. 36), to name a few. Jesus tells a religious outsider, a Samaritan woman, he can give her living water (John 4), and later promises that those who believe in him will have "rivers of living water ... flow from within them" (John 7). The early church believed that the saliva Jesus used to heal a blind man was a reference to baptism (John 9). Sometimes the connections between baptism and the biblical story are obvious. Acts tells us about a converted jailer and a businesswoman named Lydia, both baptized and dramatically switching scripts. But if you were to read through the Old Testament with early Christians, you'd see baptism stories everywhere (ex. take, for instance, the Old Testament story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5).

Living Under Water:
Living Out Our Baptism
Together as God's Family

William Willimon, former chaplain of Duke University and now a United Methodist bishop, remembers assisting with two baptisms one Sunday morning. The first was a three­-month-­old baby girl whose parents were active in that Methodist congre­gation. The pastor read the prescribed forms, asked the parents baptismal vows, and baptized her. Then he took the child in his arms and said, 

“Mary, we have baptized you and have received you into the Church. God loves you and has great plans for your life. But you will need the rest of us to tell you The Story and, from time to time, to remind you who you are and to keep you in God’s family. We are especially going to appoint some members to guide you and watch over you as you grow in faith. And all of us promise to adopt you as a sister in Christ.” 

Next, the minister baptized a thirty­-year­-old man who had recently converted to Christianity. After the man made prom­ises and received his baptism, he stood before the congregation alongside the minister, who said,

“Tom, we have baptized you and have received you into the Church. God loves you and has great plans for your life. But you will need the rest of us to tell you The Story and, from time to time, to remind you who you are and to keep you in God’s family. We are especially going to appoint some members to guide you and watch over you as you grow in faith. And all of us promise to adopt you as a brother in Christ.”


Living Under Water:
Baptism Gives Us
Our Identity and Sets Us Free

What if baptism is designed to be not an event but the deepest part of our identity, the central, guiding reality that defines our lives? ... What does your baptism mean to you? What if you had not been baptized? What difference would that make? 

Baptism is a countercultural way of viewing race, sex, money, and everything we see. In a world with a hundred groups to join, a thousand songs to sing, and countless tantalizing stories promising the good life, baptism initiates Christians into an alternate story offering an inherited identity, a sense of belonging, and a set of lenses through which to see God at work in our sin-damaged world. 

For example, Father Silouan grew up Roman Catholic, rebelled against everything he learned at home, and then became a Hindu monk. One day, as he walked in Manhattan's Lower East Side, he picked a flyer off the ground inviting people to believe in the Virgin of Guadalupe. Somehow, in reading this simple tract, his heart turned a corner. It didn't just encourage him to faith; it started his life in a whole new direction. To him it signaled far more than a heartfelt love for the Virgin Mary and her divine son. In his deepest self, he sensed, "This is it." So he became a Roman Catholic parishioner, then an Orthodox monk, and eventually an abbot. As we walked, Father Silouan shared, "Baptism is about ontology. It's a state of being ... baptism is about our identity." He said all this as a gentle but clear admonishment, frequently turning to look at me, his eyes flashing for my acknowledgement. 

"If people in the early church talked about their identity, if they asked, 'Who am I?,' they would answer, 'I am a person who has died and risen with Christ.' ... To answer questions of identity with 'I am baptized' is a summary of that reality. Life, then, is about knowing who we are. ... 
When we are baptized into the church, we become part of it, a part of something bigger than us as individuals. In a sense, we don't exist on our own anymore. We are dead and have been raised with Christ. ... People tend to live in fear. We are afraid of losing our self, but we will all die, and we have already died in Christ, so we can let that fear go." 
Because of baptism, we can live in the kairos (Kairos is a Greek word that means "the right time" or "an opportune or decisive moment") ... in the present moment. 

Living Under Water:
Biblical Baptismal Images
Are Colossal

Baptism is washing.
Baptism is dying and rising.
Baptism is the start of a new life.
Baptism is joining a community
of fellow believers.

Baptism, braced by these life-altering images, is designed to be the central pivot of life, the hub through which every spoke of piety – praying, giving, fasting, selfless serving, communal living, mission – links to and works with the others. 

Baptism is the lens through which a believing person sees all the daily and weekly and lifelong rhythms of devotion more clearly. (We can) visualize baptism as an anchor for a lifetime of faithful living.

What if baptism were the fountain of a Christian life ... rather than one more spiritual episode among a thousand? 
What if baptism became not just an expression of faith but a source of deep reassurance in times of doubt or failure, a sign of God's abiding presence even when we stagger through the emotional chaos of grief or prayerlessness or overwhelming doubt? 
We receive life. In the same way, baptism begins a life of faith. Every subsequent act of Christian obedience depends on (i.e. is rooted in) and flows from this beginning. 
The baptized still struggle to be decent human beings. We are still tempted to be less than God created us to be. But in Jesus, God gives us spiritual power to choose a higher and better way. Because of our baptisms, we live inside the promise that we are loved and can live love. 
Every baptism is a renunciation. And it's an anointing, a call to live as prophet, priest, and king. Baptismal identity is a gift, a grace we receive. And it's also a gift we put into action as called people in the often tangled and thorny work of life. 
Baptismal living always includes a renunciation, an anointing, and a "putting on." We wear our baptism in a way that makes us new – including the way we speak and think and rearrange our finances and value people in a racially charged world, etc. 
Baptism redeems, sanctifies, purifies, loosens, forgives, illumines, renews, and heals. 
To live our baptism is live our truest, deepest, most life-giving selves. It is to push away temptations to do life as performance or show or theater. It is to live life as an unwarranted gift.

 


God has chosen through baptism 
to create a people who are
His Kingdom representatives
to the kingdoms of the world.
This is why Paul writes about
how those who are one in Christ
through baptism 
are now no longer Jew or Greek,
male or female, slave or free. 

Baptism sets apart a dynamic community
of people of all ages
that challenges and critiques
the social hierarchies of this world. 

Baptism makes Jesus' Church
a family of Kingdom servants
and ambassadors where
the age, ethnic, and class distinctions
of ancient Rome; or historic India or China;
or the modern U.S. no less; no longer matter. 

Bonus Reflection on Baptismal Water:

Baptism forms the real content,
the "existential" root of what
we now call "religious education."

(It) is the revelation of the
wonderful things that have "happened"
and happen to us in the divine gift
of the new life.

Water is the "prima materia,"
the basic element of the world.
It is the natural symbol of life,
for there is no life without water, but
it is also the symbol of destruction
and death, and finally, it is
the symbol of purification, for there is
no cleanliness without it.

Its blessing at the beginning of the
baptismal rite acquires thus a truly
cosmic and redemptive significance.
God created the world and blessed it
and gave it to man as his food and life,
as the means of communion with Him.
The blessing of water signifies the return
or redemption of matter to this initial
and essential meaning.
By accepting the baptism of John,
Christ sanctified the water – made it
the water of purification and
reconciliation with God.

As we stand before the water, the matter
given to us by God, it is an all-embracing
eucharistic movement which gives
the baptismal liturgy its true beginning.

Once more the world is proclaimed
to be what Christ revealed and made
it to be – the gift of God to man,
the means of man's communion
with God. This water is manifested
to us as "the grace of redemption,"
the remission of sins,
the remedy of infirmities. 

A sacrament is always a passage,
a transformation. Yet it is not a 
"passage" into "supernature,"
but into the Kingdom of God, 
the world to come,
into the very reality of this world
and its life as redeemed and
restored by Christ. ... 

The act of blessing may mean
the revelation of the true "nature" and
"destiny" of water, and thus of the world
 – it may be the epiphany and the fulfillment
of their "sacramentality." By being restored
through the blessing to its proper function,
the "holy water" is revealed as the true,
full, adequate water, and matter 
becomes again a means of
communion with God. ... 

A sacrament therefore is not a
"miracle" by which God breaks,
so to speak, the "laws of nature,"
but the manifestation of the
ultimate Truth about the world
and life, man and nature,
the Truth which is Christ.

+ Fr. Alexander Schmemann,
For the Life of the World,
pgs. 83, 88-89, 123, 156, 124

Bonus Songs:

We the Kingdom &
Tasha Cobbs Leonard,
2020 A.D.

God, I'm on my knees again,
God, I'm begging please again,
I need You, Oh, I need You.
Walking down these desert roads,
Water for my thirsty soul,
I need You,
Oh, I need You.

Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey on my lips,
Like the sound of a symphony to my ears,
Like holy water on my skin.

Dead man walking, slave to sin,
I want to know about being born again,
I need You, Oh, God, I need You,
So, take me to the riverside,
Take me under, baptize,
I need You, Oh God, I need You.
(Chorus)

I don't want to abuse Your grace,
God, I need it every day,
It's the only thing that ever really 
Makes me want to change.
(Chorus)

Ike Ndolo, 2013 A.D.

My bones are weak in me 
And my eyes are closed
Because of what they've seen.
I'm stuck in smoke and fire 
And it's getting hard to breathe.
My spirit chokes in me 
And now I cannot stand,
I'm on my knees.
Hope is coming again!

Come on down to the riverside! 
Come on down and get baptized!
Come on down to the riverside 
'Cause we've got to die 
To make it out alive.

This water brings me life, 
Renews my soul
And returns my sight.
My heart was cold as ice 
But You made it beat again.
My days had turned to night 
But You called my name
And gave me back the light.
You're bringing hope back again!
(Chorus)

I've seen the sum of my tragedies, 
Cripple me, so come and set me free!
'Cause everyone needs a remedy 
Love can bring,
Let it wash us clean! 
(Chorus)

More on Baptism:


With presence and peace,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan


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Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Table of Hope | The Beauty and Power of Communion


Hapag ng Pag-asa, "Table of Hope" by Joey Velasco


An invitation for the hungry who are skeptical, seeking, or wondering about the life-transforming mystery of encountering Jesus at the Table


 One of the most powerful ways Jesus invited us to remember Him and His beautiful sacrifice and service for us is by coming together hungry to be with Him, encountering His presence, receiving from Him at the Communion table with others, and then living life like this table is always before us for others and the life of the world.

Baptism joins one to many, and
the Lord’s Supper makes many into one.

+ B. Robin 

Holy Communion, Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper is the meal Jesus joined with His disciples in eating and drinking before His crucifixion (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25). It's the meal His first followers across culture and society joined together in the "breaking of bread" to enjoy together (Luke 24:35, Acts 2:42). It's the meal Paul passed along to people across ethnicities and socio-economic status to share and declare Jesus' Kingdom together by remembering His death and resurrection as the beautiful means for reconciliation until He comes again to make all things new (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). 

And it's the meal of the Story of God. I love how Presbyterian pastor and theologian Peter Leithart puts it in his book, Blessed are the Hungry:

What happens in holy communion? I wish to say: “We, as children of Adam and Eve, are offered the trees of the garden; as sons and daughters of Abraham and Sarah, we celebrate a victory feast in the King’s Valley; as holy ones, we receive holy food; as Israel, we feed on the land of milk and honey; as exiles returned to Zion, we eat marrow and fat, and drink wine on the lees; we who are many are made one loaf, and commune with the body and blood of Christ; we are the bride celebrating the marriage supper of the Lamb ... at the Lord’s table we commit ourselves to shun the table of evil.” The Lord’s Supper is the world in miniature; it has cosmic significance. Within it we find clues to the meaning of all creation and all history, to the nature of God and the nature of man, to the mystery of the world, which is Christ. It is not confined to the first day, for its power fills seven. Though the table stands at the center, its effects stretch out to the four corners of the earth. + pgs. 11-13 

 The Names for the Meal Jesus Gave Us

Anglican theologian N.T. Wright in The Meal Jesus Gave Us provides background for the multiple names for this meal in Chapter 7: Putting the Story Together Today:
(1) The first was simply "the breadbreaking." The early Christians in Acts 2:42 met together to "break bread," and presumably this doesn't mean simply "to eat together." This was the breadbreaking which spoke of Jesus and his death.
(2) The second phrase was "the sharing (i.e. Communion)," which is the English translation of a Greek word you may have heard, koinonia. Another translation of that same word is "communion," which means that we are communing, or sharing, in the death and risen life of Jesus (as well as communing with one another as we do so) like it is used in Philippians 2:1-2 (i.e. having the same love) and 1 Corinthians 10:16 (i.e. participation in the blood and body of Christ).
(3) The third name was "the thank-you meal (i.e. Eucharist)." Jesus always said "thank you" to God; the Church, in breaking the bread and pouring out the wine, says "thank you" to God for what he did in Jesus. The Greek for "thank you" is eucharisteo (perhaps you've heard modern Greeks say this, pronounced efaristo), and some of the earliest Christians therefore called the meal "the Eucharist" in reference to how Jesus gave thanks for the meal (Luke 22:19) and blessed it (Luke 24:30) and how Paul calls it the cup of blessing that we bless (1 Corinthians 10:16). This is perhaps the most common word for the meal in use among Christians around the world today.
(4) The fourth name was "the Lord's Meal," or "the Lord's Supper." "Supper" sounds rather strange in some ways today, because that English word now normally refers to an evening meal, whereas this meal was and is celebrated, often enough, first thing in the morning. However, since Jesus' original meal was an evening one, and our Jesus-meals look back to that event it has its own point to make. Paul also referred to it as the table of the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:21).
(5)  The fifth name, "Go – you are sent out" (i.e. Mass), didn't come into use until a bit later. When Christianity reached Rome, and when the meal became regularly celebrated in the Latin language (most Christians in Rome spoke Greek as their first language until well into the second century at least), the end of the meal would be signaled by the person presiding saying, "Go – you are sent out." This, as we shall see, is a powerful part of the whole event, as those who have fed upon the death and risen life of King Jesus are equipped to serve him in the world. The Latin for this phrase is "ite – missa est." From this there developed the word "Mass," the meal that ends with this sending-out, this commissioning as we see with the disciples after breaking bread with some in Emmaus, eating with them in Jerusalem, and then sending them with power to be His witnesses into the world (Luke 24:30-49).

 Wright sums up all of the above when he writes in Chapter 10: A Taste of What's to Come:

The Jesus-Meal brings together sacrifice (Lord’s Supper), feast (breaking bread, Communion), and thanksgiving (Eucharist) so we can live as His sent ones (Mass). This is the food that assures us we are on the right road, and that the God who began a good work in us, and now feeds us with his own life, the life of his own Son, will bring that good work to completion when all things are made new and we stand at last in the presence of Jesus himself. This meal is designed by the Father, by Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, to bring a taste of things to come, fresh grapes from the land of promise for those at present wandering in the dusty desert. “As often as you eat this bread,” said Paul, “and drink this cup, you announce the Lord’s death until he comes.” Held secure between past and future – God’s past, God’s future – we go forward on our journey strengthened and given hope. And between faith and hope we are given love, because we are given Jesus’ own presence. + pgs. 52, 58 
When we consume the Eucharist, we become what we eat: a body given to others, and blood poured out for others. Your Christianity is not for you; it’s for the world. + Fr. Robert Barron

Themes Displayed at the Communion Table


I've also found that when encountered together every week, there are powerful revelations that Communion unveils in how Jesus is with us and drawing us into His story again and again:


  • Redemption: Jesus meets us where we are and invites us to be welcomed home and eternally valued as we turn from the mirror and turn to the One who was without any flaw and revealed our eternal value to God by covering all of our flaws (Luke 5:32; 2 Corinthians 5:21). When we turn or repent from the things that are temporary that we have used to attempt to satisfy our deepest desires, and turn to Jesus, the One who lived and died for us, who broke His body and poured out His blood for us, our shame and sin is covered and washed away and we are made new in Him. He has redeemed us, not only buying us back from everything we've sold ourselves out to and the deathly toll we have been paying to isolate ourselves, but setting us free from our slavery so that we can step into the light and truly be loved and love in return.
  • Reconciliation: At the table, we not only see visibly the good news that Jesus lived and died for us, but that He made a way for us to be reconciled to the One who made us and loves us. We also see that if we have been forgiven this much, then we need also to forgive. Jesus taught us to pray, " ... and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us ... (Luke 11:4)." The table not only speaks to how God has reconciled us to Him, but that we need to offer our tables in our ministry of reconciliation to those who have been hurt by us, or who we have hurt, and offer the same grace across relationships, cultures, and ethnicities, as well as where racial divides have occurred (2 Corinthians 5:17-19; Ephesians 2:13-19).
  • Restoration: We all need food to live. Our strength and energy will be sapped without it. But the food in this world only provides temporary relief. Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). In Him, we find fulfillment to know who we are and how to live. We know that we are loved because He gave His life for us (1 John 3:16). In knowing Jesus and what He did for us, we do not need to thirst or hunger after other things to fulfill us, but can receive from Him to live abundantly in and through the restoration He gives us (John 4:13-14). 
  • Renewal: Jesus told the disciples that He would not drink of the cup of the new covenant again with them until He returned with His kingdom (Luke 22:17-20). In the meantime, He is preparing a place for us, interceding for us and making us new to reflect Him as we continue to celebrate the first Lord's Supper (John 14:3; Romans 8:34; 2 Corinthians 5:17). And when He comes again, we will be joined with Him at His Marriage Supper of the Lamb when He finalizes His work of making all things new (Revelation 19:9; Revelation 21:5).

 For seven words to help further explore the themes above, while also expanding into even more of the wonder offered in this table of hope, check out A Holy Meal: The Lord's Supper in the Life of the Church in which Gordon T. Smith powerfully reflects on The Lord's Supper as a gracious means of (1) Remembrance: Memorial; (2) Communion: Fellowship with Christ and One Another; (3) Forgiveness: Table of Mercy; (4) Covenant: Renewal of Baptismal Vows; (5) Nourishment: Bread from Heaven; (6) Anticipation: Declaration of Hope; and (7) Eucharist: Joyous Thanksgiving Celebration as we participate in personal and communal understanding and embodied experience of Jesus providing for us from Himself.

This Meal is to Empower, Enrich, and Enable Us to Embody the Life of Christ for the Sake of the World


This wonderful meal also provides a fulfillment and a focus for why God is restoring us as Reformed theologian and professor Michael Goheen shares in his classic, A Light to the Nations:

The Lord's Supper is another means by which Christ gives His Kingdom life to His people by the work of the Spirit. ... At the time of Jesus, this meal's significance was interpreted by most Jews as not only looking back to what God had accomplished in Egypt but also looking forward eagerly to what God was going to do with the coming of the Kingdom. ... If we put this in the context of the unfolding story of Israel, we see that, like baptism, the eucharistic meal is charged with eschatological and missional significance. It is a meal that is to nourish restored Israel in its kingdom life. It is the means by which God's people are empowered and enabled to embody the life of Christ for the sake of the world as they participate in what was accomplished in the crucifixion. This is so because Christ Himself is present in the meal and gives His own life to His people. + pg. 142

Five Prayers for Those Considering Communion 


 Below are five prayers adapted from Worship By the Book that provide invitation for trusting in Jesus during the meal, and give voice to the longing in our hearts to be welcomed at this gracious table of God.

Prayer for those searching for beauty and goodness
Lord Jesus, if what You claim is true, please guide me, teach me, and open to me the reality of who You are. Grant that I might be undaunted by the cost of following You. As I consider the reasons for doing so, give me an  understanding for You that is wondrous, convincing, and that leads to the life that You promise. Amen.

Prayer of trust
Lord Jesus, I admit that I am weaker and more needy than I ever before believed, but, through You, I am more loved and welcomed than I ever dared to hope. I thank You for loving me, bearing my shame and guilt on the cross, and offering me forgiveness and new life. Knowing that You have been raised from the dead, I turn from my striving to find life elsewhere and receive You as my Savior and Redeemer. Amen.

Prayer of commitment to Jesus
Lord Jesus,  You have called us to follow You in baptism and in a life of committed to You, to Your family, the Church, and to others throughout the world. Grant that I may take the necessary steps to be one with Your people, and live in the fullness of Your Spirit. Amen. 

Prayer for those struggling
Lord Jesus, grant that I may see in You the fulfillment of all my needs, and may turn from every false satisfaction to feed on You, the true and living Bread and drink of You, the Vine of the best wine. Enable me to lay aside the temptations and sins that cling so closely, and run with You and others the journey set before me, looking only to You, the Author and Finisher of my faith. Amen. 

Prayer for the believer
Father, I come now to Your table, to partake of Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion. I ask that You would search my heart and show me what I may repent of so that I may turn to You and embrace Your promises anew. Although I am unworthy of such free, powerful, and loving grace, You have made me worthy. Though I am often two-faced, You have turned Your face to me and covered all my betrayals and lies by Your very own body and blood. May You be glorified in our partaking of Your sacrament together as hungry and thirsty children who are welcomed at Your table. Amen.

Considering the prayers above, which resonates with you the most in your life right now? 

 Would you consider praying one of the above in a small step of faith even if you're not sure you believe in God and don't really know Jesus? Or if you've been distant from His Church, would you consider reconciling, as He has reconciled Himself to you, and connect with His family again? For those who partake of Communion with Jesus and His Church, Lutheran Dietrich Bonhoeffer speaks beautifully in Life Together: 

As (we) are united in body and blood at the table of the Lord so will they be together in eternity. Here the community has reached its goal. Here joy in Christ and his community is complete. The life of Christians together under the Word has reached its perfection in the sacrament. + pg. 122

With Emmaus City Church, we ask you to join with us sometime and consider, "Why are people so thankful that God has shared His life with them through Jesus in this meal?" Author Ann Voskamp provides a thoughtful answer that I'll close this post with:
There might not be a bone in your body that wants to deal with today. And the kids might be darn grumpy or you'll go to be with the church and then it's somebody else's kids falling apart and the pastor or priest has had a hard week and he's winging it a bit and it's all falling flatter than he'd care to admit. And you're straggling in feeling, honestly, a bit disheveled and bruised from a week that's got you swinging on the end of a fraying, thin thread of faith alone, and it doesn't matter if you're wearing your brokenness bold for the world to see today, or if this is the the week you, or anybody else, is burying the brokenness under pressed and ironed clothes. Every single one of us is The Busted who needs a space of grace. Every single brave, beautiful one of us is The Busted who needs a space at the table to feast on great platters of grace and heaping dishes of mercy and brimming pitchers of hope. So, let it happen, this swinging open of the doors of the sanctuaries, this making the Table of the Lord longer, this laying out a spread of grace - The Busted who are the Beloved just coming together for a washing of wounds and a communion of refreshment and endless draughts of great grace.

 Christ is all,

 Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

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Location: Worcester, MA, USA
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