HOLY COMMUNION
1 Corinthians 11:24–25- 24 ‘and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”’
Before we could officially be confirmed as Anglicans, I and a group of my peers first attended confirmation classes, crammed a number of Bible verses and religious concepts, and then waited in anticipation for then Bishop of Kigezi Diocese to he lay his hands on us.
On the D-day, we dressed to the nines. The church was filled to the brim because the bishop was coming and during those days it was a big deal. People would even plant banana stems on either side of the road to welcome him. They’d bring him goats, chicken, matooke…it was a whole thing.
Anyway, after the confirmation ceremony was performed, I was officially allowed to receive holy communion. And because it seemed to be nothing more than a religious rite of passage, I didn’t know its importance to a believer until later in life.
Holy communion is one of the most powerful acts for a Christian. At the last supper, there was an exchange; Jesus broke bread- representing his body and wine representing his blood and gave to his disciples. Right there and then, there was an exchange- he took our sins and we took his righteousness. That’s why at that point it was possible to arrest, torture and mock him because he had taken on a different identity. At once, he became cursed, all manner of disease descended on him, he wore all the shame and guilt, poverty bit him extremely hard…everything was on him. In turn, we received righteousness, peace, joy, glory, perfect health- and all the good things that you can think about. What a beautiful exchange!
Can you imagine for one second, how it would feel like to carry guilt of just 10 people? It would be horrible! All the murderers, the adulterers, the thieves, name it. Add diseases- cancer, HIV, Ebola. By the time you put the shame of poverty, it’s too much to carry. But our beautiful Savior bore all this so we could go free! So we could go free! So we could go free! I would scream in thanksgiving right now if I were you.
Jesus encourages us to have holy communion as often as we can in remembrance of him- not just when we are in church humbling ourselves but also in thanksgiving, when praying for the sick, the broken and those in need of a breakthrough. It doesn’t have to be with wine; juice can also work.
Do this as often as you can in remembrance of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.