O.K…time to share with you what happened at worship on Sunday.
I said that worship was awesome on Sunday. Two things contributed to that: (1) My wife and her team of singers lead worship with the guitars (with me playing as well…which I really enjoy); and (2) continue reading below…
…The Gospel text was from John 6:1-14 (The Feeding of the 5000). This is one of my favorite miracle stories (next to the Resurrection of course). I talked about the miracle as something that the people (the 5000 present) did not really get. I mean…after they had eaten and realized what happened they thought Jesus was the prophet who had come into the world. They probably likened him to Elisha who fed 100 in 2 Kings 4 (the OT text on Sunday). In any case they wanted to take Jesus and make him king by force, but that is not what Jesus came to do. They missed the point…they did not get who Jesus really was.
From that I moved to talking about Holy Communion…another great meal that we a lot of times miss. We come forward for Holy Communion in a ritualistic kind of way and totally blow off the words that are being spoken. I mean think about it…Holy Communion is about the death and resurrection of Jesus and the promise of the forgiveness of sins, but how many times do you REALLY really think about that when you receive the bread and the wine? I urged the people on Sunday to think about this.
Then I went on to say:
“When you come here to Salem on the 1st or 2nd Sunday of the month you expect to receive Holy Communion. You know that Holy Communion happens towards the end of the worship service. You know the liturgy and how to respond. Well…I am going to throw you off guard today. It may be the 4th Sunday of the month but we are going to celebrate Holy Communion right now. I did not get permission from the altar guild, the worship/music committee, the deacons or the church council. We are just going to do it.”
I did not use the “normal” liturgy…actually I didn’t use any liturgy. I went on to invite people to come forward whenever they felt ready to encounter a miracle. I urged them to listen to the words “The Body of Christ broken FOR YOU…the Blood of Christ shed FOR YOU“. I urged the people to listen to these words and hear the miracle…the forgiveness of your sins. I invited them to pray before hand and confess if they would like and then come forward. There was going to be nothing that was ritualistic about this celebration of Holy Communion.
Everyone came forward (except for one person) to partake in this miracle. And after the worship I got so many comments from people who were very appreciative of what happened in worship (Praise be to God!). I think people liked it because Holy Communion was not ritualistic. Maybe some people were hearing for the first time the miracle of this sacrament…I don’t know…but what I do know is that is was powerful for me (and for my wife who was helping serve communion and obviously for a number of others).
Worship was awesome on Sunday. And all I can say to summarize it is: “PRAISE BE TO GOD!”
-edh-
The Heart of a Pastor 
Way to be lead by the Spirit. Awesome.
Hi there,
Sounds like it really worked out to God’s Glory. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
A fill in pastor we had once did the communion “liturgy” not as a ritual, but as if he was telling a story that he had witnessed. Actually, mostly he didn’t change the words, but rather just how he said it, the tone of voice, etc. I was just amazed. It did seem more like telling of a miracle. I commented to him after the service about this. He said that a pastor should be able to tell that story without reading it from a book.
I agree with you. When I use the liturgy for Holy Communion I never look in the book. Pastors should be able to lead this without looking at the words. And I like the description of saying the Word of Institution as if one were telling a story (because we are telling a story). I am going to remember that…thank you.