There is a movement among God’s people that stretches across denominational borders and is drawing many, through the mist of time, to our most ancient roots. Some call it the Emergent Church or describe it as convergent worship. Whatever its name, it expresses our deepest desire for intimacy with God through practicing older Christian traditions. Certainly the oldest of these is the observance of Holy Communion, also called the Lord’s Table, the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist. Many Christians are awakening to its timeless significance and therefore, are recovering its weekly practice.

At first I resisted this drawing of the Spirit, and wrestled with Jesus’ instructions to His disciples on the night He was betrayed: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). He did not suggest it for their gatherings. He did not make it an optional element — if they could fit it in. He commanded, “Do this.”

As I researched church history, I found that the early church obeyed His command and made Communion a regular part of Christian worship. Paul addresses the weekly practice in 1 Corinthians 11, where he rebukes misuse of the elements. We also find historical support for weekly Communion in the Didache or “Teaching” that dates around A.D. 100, and in Justin Martyr’s explanation of Christian worship to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, in The First Apology (circa A.D. 150):

“And on the day called Sunday there is a meeting in one place … And as said before, when we have finished the prayer, bread is brought, and wine and water, and the president similarly sends up prayers and thanksgivings to the best of his ability, and the congregation assents, saying the Amen: the distribution and reception of the consecrated [elements] by each one takes place and they are sent to the absent by the deacons.”

The Lord’s Supper continued as a weekly part of Christian worship until the 16th Century, when the Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli initiated its quarterly practice. Many churches today continue to follow Zwingli’s model.

Eliminating Communion from the weekly service is disturbing, because Communion alone visibly portrays Christ’s passion, the very reason you and I are not sitting in a synagogue on Saturday morning or in a mosque on Friday night. Although other religions may have prayers, a reading of their scriptures, and a teaching, they will not celebrate Holy Communion because it is uniquely Christian.

We give many reasons why we set it aside. Some are concerned that it might lose its significance when practiced frequently. However, by not partaking of Communion weekly, we have already given it less significance. Others ask, “How will we fit it into an already tight service?” How strange that we do not feel the same about preaching, the Scriptures, prayer, or congregational singing.

Some might wonder, “Why bother? What is the benefit in partaking?” The benefit lies in the spiritual reality attached to it — similar to the spiritual reality attached to the Garden of Eden’s Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Materially, the two trees and their fruit were probably no different from any other in the garden. However, because of their spiritual connection, they became a means of receiving either life or death. The same is true of the Communion elements. They have a spiritual reality attached to them.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him” (John 6:53-56). This spiritual reality is an act of worship that brings us into intimate union with Christ. We are in Him and He is in us, making available to us all the riches of Christ.

For the past year our church has practiced the Lord’s Table weekly. At first it felt awkward, and we had to adjust our format. Now we have become not only comfortable with it, it has become a profoundly meaningful part of our service.

We have used a variety of simple ways to celebrate Communion, and have placed it at different times in our services. Sometimes after passing the cup and bread, we pray for the person we have just served. At our Maundy Thursday service, we partake of the Communion elements after we have nailed our names to a cross. During the Advent service, one of our children carries in a loaf of bread wrapped in a baby’s blanket. It is carefully placed in the manger. When it is time for the Lord’s Table, the words of Jesus, “This is my body” take on a special meaning as each member reaches into the manger to break off a piece of the loaf.

Each time we celebrate Communion, we are proclaiming the cross. Paul tells us, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). All of our churches are likely faithful in proclaiming the Lord’s death through the preaching of the Word. However, are we as faithful in making that proclamation through our observance of Holy Communion? May we ever be. Let us return to our ancient roots, where the community of Jesus gathers around His table to remember and to proclaim His passion.