The Act of Communion: Mathew Reames

This is By No Means an Exhaustive Study, but a paper with a limit of 2

pages.

The Act of communion, which was demonstrated by Jesus, appears in all of

the Gospels, as well as Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. When Jesus instated this
practice into the disciples, he had them together for a nice intimate setting. They
were with him having a meal.
This is the first thing I personally feel is important of the act of communion;
Fellowship with Jesus. We ought to be in his presence when we take communion.
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus wants us to remember him, to set
our heart to know him. Not simply to eat bread and drink a cup. Communion should
always be done out of a place of intimacy with Christ.
The second thing I think is important to remember about communion, is our
hearts. In Paul’s Letter to the Church at Corinth, he told them, they ought to
examine their hearts to avoid taking the act of Communion in an unworthy manner.
We are called to a life of Holiness, The Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans
that we should be living sacrifices. Mike Bickle founder of the International House Of
Prayer says this about holiness; “Holiness is The Lords invitation to intimacy, to give
up the inferior pleasures that come from this earth and experience the fullness of
Pleasures and Joy that are in his presence.
This invites us to examine ourselves to make sure that we are truly living
more like Christ. It in essence is an extension of the first and most important point of
Communion; Intimacy with the Lord.
Now on to what you might call the nitty-gritty; how do we exercise the Act of
Communion? There has been many different forms and fashions of the Act of
Communion throughout Church History. In the middle ages, Christians had what
were referred to as the Ecstatic Love Feasts. The church would roll out a giant feast
in honor of the Lord. There would be barrels and barrels of wine, and the ecstatics
would lavish in the heavy Glory of his presence. These feasts sometimes would go on
for days on end.
To a more modern approach, The Catholic Church has what they call, “The
First Holy Communion.” It is a time when they feel you are old enough to truly
understand the sacrifice of the Lord and are able to take the Act of Communion in
worthy manner. One priest holds a cup with the wine, which is the blood of Jesus.
Another holds the bread, which is his Body. The partakers of the act of communion
then approach the priest who then allows them to partake. This is then the model by
which they will take the Act of Communion for the rest of their life.
Another modern approach is where the elders of the church pass out the
elements to the members of the Church Body and they all partake of the Act of
communion together. It is up to the families to decide when a child is cognoscente of
the full meaning of the act of communion.
Many churches are beginning to do communion in a different manner. At the
International House of Prayer, there is a station set up with the Eucharistic elements
available, and you are able to partake whenever you feel the time is right. This is
often done individually, but sometimes can be done in small groups. This makes the
act of communion less a religious practice, but a personal encounter with the Lord
almighty.
There is only one Eucharistic practice that I do not believe is proper to
partake in. This is the practice of Intinction. In this method, the members of the
body come forth and stop at the first station to receive their piece of bread. They
then dip the aforementioned bread into a cup of wine and take it together. While
many people do not have issue with this practice, I personally do. In John’s Gospel,
he describes the moment when Jesus marked Judas as his betrayer. In verse 26 of
chapter 13, it says, “Jesus then *answered, "That is the one for whom I shall dip
the morsel and give it to him." So when He had dipped the morsel, He *took and
*gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.” NASB. Jesus did not dip the bread and
give it to all his disciples, but only the one who was to betray him. For this reason, I
feel the act of intinction is actually a disservice to the Act of Communion.
My personal belief is that the act of communion is a very deep intimate
connection with the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is a time of personal reflection, repentance,
and relation to him. I personally love the idea of having the Eucharistic elements
freely available so that people can go commune with the Lord when he woos them, it
makes a deeper level of connection when you chose to do it rather than being told by
the leadership that you are going to do it.
I do however; love the concept of the Love feasts. I would love to reinstitute
those into regular church practice. A service where, as Phil Wickham writes in his
song Eden, “My eyes can see the colors of Glory, my hands can reach the heavens
before me, Oh My God I want to be there with you. Where our hearts will beat in Joy
together, and Love will reign forever and ever, Oh my God, I want to be there with
you.” With no agenda, no focus of the world, or the demonic, but rather a special
time of sweet communion, a time for visitation; it is a time for focusing on and
Celebrating Jesus Christ and dwelling in his Glory.