In the Breaking of the Bread

“On the night in which he gave himself up for us he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread gave it to his disciples and said: ‘Take eat: this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

“When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples and said, “Drink from this all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

These are powerful words. These are words that we all know in our very heart of hearts. We probably recite them along with the pastor on communion Sunday and can do so without looking at page 14 of the hymnal. These words are more than just “Part of the sacrament of communion” though. Through these words, Jesus gave his disciples the communion meal for the very first time and therefore gave them a method of remembrance—so that when they met again, they would know it was him. These words are Jesus' way of telling the disciples, “You will see me again”. These are precious, powerful words.

Just a day after he offered these words, he was crucified.

Three days after he offered these words, he rose from the dead.

And as his disciples walked a very lonely and painful road—a road that would take them away from the pain and confusion and mystery of those days, Jesus appeared to them and offered them a chance encounter with the living resurrected Christ. And it all happened in the breaking of the bread.

You see, this chance to have a physical encounter with the Risen Christ is why for me personally, communion is the single most important part of worship. For those of you who don’t know, I grew up and am ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Every single time the community was gathered to worship—whether it be on Sunday morning, Wednesday Evening, during a retreat, during a funeral, or during a wedding, communion was served. We invited the presence of the risen Christ into our midst in each of these activities by breaking bread together. I grew up encountering Christ around the table and because of this upbringing, today’s scripture holds special significance to me. I have come to understand that my clearest recognition of Christ comes not from scripture, not from preaching, not from music, but through the breaking of the bread.

In that moment, in sharing with his disciples, Jesus provided 3 very important things. He provided recognition, restoration, and remembrance.

He provided recognition. He had prepared the disciples for this moment, by telling them that he would share the communion meal again with them once he was in his Father’s Kingdom. He had prepared them for this moment by sharing food with them along the journey before crucifixion. Jesus had set the stage prior to this moment by sharing many meals. He ate with sinners and tax collectors, he ate forbidden grain on the Sabbath, he fed the multitudes, he shared a final meal with his disciples. In so many of the significant moments in Jesus’s life, he shared meals with those around him. Why would this moment of recognition be any different. His followers would certainly have those experiences and moments fresh in their memories as they welcomed the stranger to the feast. Of course he broke bread with them. HE knew that they would recognize him in that moment. They had experienced those special meals, the memory alone would help them realize who he was, but it was the action of breaking the bread that truly opened their eyes.

This act of recognition was all the more important because there were certainly those among them who had doubts. We know all about Thomas and his need for proof. We have to assume that all of the disciples needed some sign, some way to know that this resurrected Christ was the same Jesus they had lovingly served before his death. While Jesus didn’t necessarily have to prove anything to anyone, providing such a physical and tangible form of recognition had to affirm that the resurrection had indeed occurred. Just a few days prior he had told them that whenever they broke bread they should remember him, and here he was standing in their midst, breaking bread. And because of that action they COULD remember and they could recognize who he was. His physical presence along the road to Emmaus was not enough. His disciples needed the SPIRITUAL presence of supper with their Lord in order to fully recognize him as the risen Christ.

Jesus provided the disciples with restoration. In the breaking of the bread he restored the community that had been damaged by the events of the previous days. He gave them a re-union with one another around the table.

I don’t know about you, but in my family, the annual family reunion is a big deal. All of my grandmother’s living sibilings and all of her nieces, nephews, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and everyone elses grandchildren and great grandchildren gather around a huge table laden with food. The purpose of this meal has nothing to do with nutrition (how could a meal made of mayo casseroles and fried chicken really be all that nutritious). This meal is about re-union. It’s about coming together as a family around the table and telling the stories and remembering the moments that unify us as a family.

This moment with Christ provided the same kind of re-union. It restored those memories and solidified the moments that unified the disciples as Christ’s family. It is through his physical presence that Christ restores the fellowship that was broken by death. This is a restoration meal!

He also provided a restoration of hope. They had lost all hope though the events of the crucifixion. The resurrection restored hope, but it wasn’t until Jesus appeared to them that they could claim that hope and move forward in faith. This was a moment of re-membering. All that had gone wrong was made right, the community was restored, and fear had given way to peace. Through the breaking of the bread, and the sharing of the one loaf, the risen Christ provided a new unity and restored the broken community.

The risen Christ provides remembrance. Just as he stated at the last supper, he reminds the disciples again that the sharing of a meal is a way to remember his life, death and resurrection. In breaking the bread, he not only helps them recognize himself and helps to restore their unity, he gives them an act of remembrance that they can both share in that moment and carry forward into the years to come. It is this act of remembrance that is most important for us to carry forward as Christians.

It is this act of remembrance that John Wesley speaks of again and again in his sermon, “The Duty of Constant Communion.” In this sermon, Wesley says that we should “neglect no opportunity of receiving the Lord’s Supper” and that we “learn that the design of this sacrament is the continual remembrance of the death of Christ, by eating the bread and drinking the wine, which are the outward signs of the inward grace—the body and blood of Christ.”

It is this act of remembrance that we take up each time we approach the bread and the cup. This is a meal of remembering! It is a reminder. No, we don’t sit down and have a full feast—we’ll have that eventually when we dine with Christ in God’s kingdom, but we get a foretaste of the feast. The sacrament feeds our impatience for that day and reminds us of Christ’s presence with us in the here and now.

I can look back on many special communion services I’ve participated in over the years. I remember the first time I served communion alongside my father at the Bedford Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. I remember when I had communion for the first time after being baptized. I remember the first time I had communion at camp, there underneath the stars hearing God whispering to my heart though the wind in the treetops. I remember the last time Gary Crowe presided over communion at my home church and how my heart ached at the loss of his ministry to us. I remember Christmas eves walking up the center aisle of the Carrollton Christian Church to dip my bread in the cup and form a circle while Ashley Howard sang oh holy night. I remember standing with a group of teenagers around the table of First Christian Church Jeffersonville as we shared the words of institution together at our first “Post Mission Trip Youth Sunday”. I remember presiding over the table for the first time as a newly ordained minister and breaking the bread for my family and friends to share. I remember the first time I presided over communion here at CSUMC—during a Sunday service when Keith was on vacation. I remember sharing communion with a group of youth in a ski cabin somewhere in Wisconsin.

Why do I remember these moments so clearly? It’s simple. Because in the breaking of the bread, was when I most clearly recognized the presence of the Risen Christ in my life.

That’s why it matters to me. That’s why I can’t imagine Easter without communion. How could I celebrate the Risen Christ without his presence at the table? How could I celebrate Christmas Eve without having the Risen Christ there in the room? How could I celebrate the confirmation or baptism of a believer without having the Risen Christ present in that moment?

In the breaking of the bread, Christ is here with us. In the communion meal, we have a physical encounter with the Risen Christ and we have his presence among us. He welcomes us each time we come to the table. He reminds us of his presence in our lives, provides us with hope and restoration, and most of all reminds us to remember his spiritual presence with us. And all he asks of us is that we simply do as he asks when he says, “remember me.”