Jesus: Suffering Serving part three
COMMUNION
Small group devotion
The purpose of this small group discussion is to get your group discussing what communion is, and why it is central to the life of the Church.
Opening discussion: What has been your experience of Communion? Is it important to you? Why or why not?
Look at the painting below by Jacopo Tintoretto of the Lord’s Supper. Jordan showed it on Sunday. What do you notice? What similarities or differences are there between your group’s experience of Communion?
What do you appreciate or struggle with with the way Communion is celebrated today?
Watch the Living vlog posted on the Living Room facebook page on the 9th November. Jordan talks about some of the formalities around Communion. Do you agree or disagree with him? Why?
Read Mark 14:17-26, which we heard on Sunday. Focus on the “what” — what is Communion all about?
What is Communion for? Why do you think we still celebrate it today?
Based on your discussion, get practical. What do you think Communion could look like today? How can we stay true to what Communion means while engaging younger generations with this important meal?
Draw up your thoughts and send them through to Jordan! He’d love to hear how Communion can continue to play a central role in our life together.
Leader’s Notes:
- Some things to notice in the painting: the positioning of the table (the way it almost jumps out at you); the halos around the disciples; Judas (which do you think he is?); the heavenly host; the prominence of a woman washing up; the craziness and busyness of the scene.
- Extra information to accompany the vlog: The traditional order for Communion looks something like this:
1. Invitation to the Table: reminds us that this is not our table but Jesus’ — a gift from God for us.
2. The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving: places us in God’s big story of salvation starting with God’s creation, his covenant promise with Israel, and the fulfillment of that covenant in Jesus Christ (through whom we’ve been invited in). It reminds us that this story is bigger than us. At the heart of the Communion meal is thanksgiving for what God has done.
3. Intercession: even as we give thanks, we pray for our world which is not yet as it should be. The Communion meal is not only about remembering, it is also a witness in the present of God’s future breaking in by the Spirit.
4. The prayer for the Holy Spirit: to recognise that these elements of bread and juice are more than they appear. They are signs, symbols, seals of something that can’t be seen: the grace of God by the presence of his Holy Spirit. As we share the elements we become God’s new community.
5. Words of Institution: reciting Jesus’ words at the last supper. This is not something the Church does of its own accord but something instituted by Christ himself.
6. Communion itself: we share the prayer.
7. Post-communion prayer to say thanks to God.
As you can see, there are a number of really important elements in Communion that are there for really important reasons. It is not enough to just have the actions with no words. - In #2 above, I outlined the order of Communion which explains some of the reasons. But here are some of the main ones:
1. A remembrance of the meal that Christ instituted (and told us to keep doing) and a reminder of everything God has done in Christ.
2. Forgiveness of sin as we share in Christ’s death and resurrection by the Spirit.
3. A transformation by the Holy Spirit as the people of God. The barriers that divide us are broken down and we become united as the body of Christ, a perfect priesthood called to serve God in the world.
4. God’s future breaking into the present. A taste of the fullness of life that we will receive at the completion of time.