Communion – Together and Apart
Invitation
We gather round this table, our tables, representative of
this table - some of us in person, some of us online, some of us just at home.
We gather around this meal of bread and wine to celebrate
life. We celebrate the life of God in the world.
The Word became flesh and moved into our neighbourhood, and
as we have scattered in our community, the Word has continued to dwell here.
This bread and this wine are representative of the Word –
the bread is Jesus' body, the wine is Jesus' blood – and as we participate in
this meal, His story finds its rightful place at the centre of our story.
We come to remember that His body was broken, just as we are
broken, but that through His brokenness healing and reconciliation,
transformation and salvation, deep love and forgiveness all comes.
It is Him who has been there when all seems silent, speaking
in a whisper “all will be well”.
It is Him who has been there when we have wandered the quiet
streets, our companion and our guide, leading us on.
It is Him who has been there when the situation has felt
impossible and through the words of others has brought us peace
It is Him who has been there when the house normally teeming
with life has been emptied and has made sure we are never alone
It is Him who has been there in the cries of injustice as
the inequalities of society have been laid bare. He shouts in the protests,
this is not my way.
It is Him who invites us, again and again to His table, ‘come
sit down, I’m here, come and laugh, come and talk, come and cry, come and be’.
It is Him who gathers us here and there today, it’s His
story and we remember all he has done.
It is in Him that the church is held together, this community,
in His breaking, is able to live, for we are called to be the body of Christ.
And so this table, our tables, is a place where we remember
our calling to be His body, and that as His body we must walk with and watch
over one another as we seek His way.
Thanksgiving
So let us give thanks
Lord God, we give thanks for this bread and this wine, a
reminder of all that Jesus has done for us. A reminder of body broken, of a
life rejected and scarred, yet of an unstoppable life.
A life that will not be ended by death, will not be stopped
by the purposes and ways of the world. A life that isn’t halted by war and injustice
and pandemic. A life that brings transformation and abundance…..so much
abundance.
As we eat the bread and drink the wine we give our thanks.
We thank you that you accept us as we are, however we’ve been recently and
however we’ve behaved. You accept us with gentleness and grace and you
transform our shame into honour and dignity. You love us into an abundant life.
We thank you that you look at us and see great potential in
us, for you have made us in your image and you call us to be partners in your
kingdom vision for this world.
As we eat the bread and drink this wine we call on your Spirit,
in this room, in our rooms, to come alongside us, so that as we continue to
walk together, as we gather from our scattered places, we might give ourselves
anew as participants in your story. So we might restore and renew our places,
our parts in your body, and live the life you call us to in this world.
Amen
Feasting
This story we are invited to participate in is a story of
hope and celebration amongst brokenness and despair. We hear this story again and
again, and we pass it on to one another as Christ passed it on to his disciples,
as Paul the apostle passed it on to the churches, as the churches passed it
down the generations and as we pass it on in our scattered community. This
story says that on the night Jesus was betrayed by one who was meant to be his
friend, he took bread, and he gave thanks and he broke it saying:
“This is my body that is broken for you; do this in remembrance
of me”
It is in the breaking that we find wholeness.
It is in the sharing we find community.
It is in Jesus we find life.
Let us break our bread and share it now.
The body of Christ broken for you.
Pause for distribution
After supper, Jesus took the cup saying “This cup is the new
covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me”
It is in the cup we find God’s promises
It is in the cup we find forgiveness
It is in Jesus we find restoration.
Let us share the wine and drink (in the building we will all
drink together)
The blood of Christ shed for you.
Pause for distribution
Prayer
We have taken this bread and wine into our bodies. We have
taken his promises, his restoration, his forgiveness and accepted them as our
own.
Let us Pray
Lord, may you through this meal, draw us back together, draw
us ever closer, gather us in.
May we be a community centred on Christ. May our hands be his
hands in the world, our feet be his feet, and in the places where we go, the
people we meet, may Christ be seen in our lives.
May we be the ones who in the silence, speak His words of
wellness.
May we be the ones who amongst the lost, point out the
directions
May we be the ones who stand with those finding life
impossible and bring peace
May we be the ones who sit down with the lonely, welcome in
the wandering, walk with the justice finders.
May we be the ones who say come and join us, you are welcome
here.
May we be the community Christ calls us to be.
As we move from our scattering, we pray for unity.
Lord gather us in.
Amen
Here is the communion led through on video:
