1 Corinthians 10:16-17: Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.
Today, the communion bread is being distributed in pre-cut cubes, but beginning next week, we will distribute the bread in small loaves. Instead of digging through the pile to pick the largest squared-off piece you can find, you’ll each be tearing your own jagged bit from a loaf.
We make this change in our communion practice because it better represents the reality of what is happening at the Lord’s table.
It better represents, on the one hand, the fact that we are a body. We are not a pile of cubes. Paul says we are one body because we partake of one loaf, and though we won’t use a single loaf for the whole congregation, there will be loaves and we will share them.
Tearing off a piece from a loaf also better represents the pledge you make as you share this meal. As Jim Jordan pointed out a few weeks ago, in the Old Testament system it was the worshiper’s job to kill the animal that represented him. It was the worshiper’s job to tear himself in pieces, and to spill his own blood.
So too, as we share this bread, we participate in Christ’s death, the rending of His flesh on the cross. Through this meal, Christ molds our lives into the shape of His death; He makes us cruciform. As you tear the bread, you commit yourself to taking up your cross to follow Jesus. As you tear this bread, you pledge your readiness to tear yourself in pieces and to shed your life’s blood for one another.
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