Communion Reflection

The following is the communion reflection given on The Feast of Christ the King, 2007.

Colossians 1.15-20 reads like this:

[W]ho is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fullness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.

In these verses there are various points we can observe as part of our Supper observance. The first is found in the first verse of the selection. “Who is the image of the invisible God…” That word image, if memory serves me correctly, is eikon. Jesus is the visible representation of God. If we say we want to see God, we simply have to look at Jesus. At His life, at His death. If we are to live as God, our lives must be eikons as well. These eikons reveal the very being, the very character of God, and it is as eikons of God that Man was made to live. As we remember His body, we must own our obligation to live and die for others, rather than ourselves.

Another observation is in the middle verses. There are numerous mentions of being the creator, the sustainer, the beginning of life as we know it. In Jesus is life. Our very lives as we know them, and real life as it is meant to be lived. Paul will tell us elsewhere that life is in the blood, and so it is true here as well. The blood of Jesus cleanses us, returns us to life with and in God. When we drink the wine of remembrance, we must also remind ourselves that in receiving the life of God, we are called to give life to others. Our lives, our drives, our hopes are to lean toward giving and sustaining life rather than tearing down, and advantage.

Toward the end of the reading we read of peace, of reconciliation, made and given by Jesus’ life and death. In reconciling us to God, Jesus also reconciled us to one another. But not just to other believers, although that is a particularly true example. But even if at a different, perhaps not lesser, level, God reconciled His people to all people, to the Creation. In community we share with one another, and the same is true within the church. But that is not all. Through Jesus, God has sought to reconcile all people and the Creation to Him. We are called to be God’s hands, His servants, His blessing pots to the rest of the world. When we consider our calling to be reconcilers rather than wall builders, our hearts become open, our hands let go of “our stuff,” and all that we have is available for God’s use in this world.

Delivered at Albuquerque, on The Feast of Christ the King, 2007