January 01, 2015
Taste and See
As I visit all the churches in town I’m sampling
many different types, shapes and sizes of unleavened bread. Last Sunday the
wafer was more heavily infused with olive oil, which left a lingering taste in
my mouth long after the elements were consumed. Unlike the cardboard taste of
many commercial wafers, the experience placed a pronounced emphasis on the body
of Christ. “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes
refuge in him” (Ps 34:8 NIV).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----Our church uses really good tasting bread. Yeast is a big part of good bread flavor. And I sit there, staring at the soft morsel and thinking that only so much can be taken from its symbolism. All of the various wafers made for communion have no leaven for what meaning the Bible presents of it. Giving the neatly cut little bread cube a couple squeezes in admiration of its delicious sponginess, I wonder why those in charge of such things at this church stop short of filling the ceremony with all of the meaning the Bible places into it. So I stop thinking about the unleavened aspect of what the Lord instituted at His last supper.
-----This just doesn’t seem to be a good place to leave off thinking. And I know it isn’t much of a thought, but its recognition goes beyond just doing it the way Jesus did it. If the bread really does represent His body, then why do we want His body represented by something containing what represents sin within the context of communion‘s origin? Unless we are not to take away any meaning from the symbols, in which case I suppose there shouldn’t be a necessity of presenting any symbols at all. It’s like placing the starting gates of a horse race immediately in front of the finish line, “Do this in remembrance of Me without remembering much!”
-----But like I tell Char, nothing is perfect in this world. Everything we do involves some aspect that could have been better planned. Every church inevitably has some flaws. So, giving that spongy little morsel another couple squeezes, I can think of the sin in me He took upon Himself. I know the Bible never placed leaven in the Passover bread to represent our sins taken up by Him. But at least the idea pours a bit more meaning into what is otherwise left empty.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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