"Take eat. This is my body broken for you.
Take drink. This is my blood shed for you."
The presence of the risen, living Lord Jesus in, with and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion is received by faith. This is not ordinary bread, although it tastes like ordinary bread. This is not wine, although it tastes like ordinary wine. These are the elements consecrated through the re-telling of the great story of life and love and sacrifice of Jesus. These are bread and wine joined to God's great self-giving in Jesus. These are the risen, living Jesus.
All of this is received in faith: faith in the one who first gathered his followers together and taking a common meal gave it new meaning. First were the words: my body and my blood. These were joined to the ancient words of covenent and promise and then blessed with the gift of forgiveness. Then there was the embodiment in the sacrifice of love.
Each time we call on the name of Jesus and tell again this story, each time the elements of bread and wine are blessed we become the body of Jesus. The body is made of all who share the meal at that moment and all who share the meal, whether in our little gathering or across the globe, are the body. We are washed with forgiveness and nourished for the work of Jesus' body in the world: healing, feeding, forgiving, and making peace.
Every time we gather at the communion table, we re-member the body: make the body anew, refreshed and strengthened for the tasks ahead. We are joined to Jesus and Jesus to us. In bread. In wine.
As we approach the meal we carry our mustard seed of faith with us, praying that we will once again receive the very gift that has been promised and for which we thirst.
....and we give thanks that no more than a mustard seed of faith is necessary.
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