Communion

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
1 Corinthians 11:26

Communion. A moment to remember and commune with the Lord. But we do not only join the Lord at the table. Communion is not about isolation, guilt, or shame. It is about grace and family.

In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:5-6

We understand our salvation through metaphors of individuality. One man or woman broken at the foot of the cross, bought out of the market, set free in the court room. Some days we forget the beautiful metaphor of adoption. We are not just adopted as sons. We are adopted as daughters, sisters, brothers, grand children, nieces, and nephews. We are ransomed from a life and eternity of loneliness into a life and eternity of belonging as the beloved. The adopted does not receive a parent; they receive a family.

As a young woman in church communion was lonely. We were asked to examine ourselves quietly, confess, pray no one saw the thoughts as they formed at the front of our minds. If they knew... I would not be welcome at the table. We passed individual cups in silence, downcast eyes, closed up hearts. Drown out everything but memory.

Memories live in communion. With Him. With others. His death was not only grace enough for me. It is grace enough for my brothers, my sisters, my daughters, and sons. We remember together. We live together. We endure together. And we will reign together.

How could the understanding of your adoption transform this (and these) Christian life (lives)? When loneliness and shame beckon are you brave enough to come to the table?