Bread, Bread and more Bread!

It seems like we have been talking about bread in the Sunday Lectionary for weeks now. (I’m getting rather hungry just thinking about it, as it is lunchtime as I write this message).  Yet the Bread of Life is at the center of what it means to be a Christian (as well as a good Episcopalian!). After all as the Episcopal Church we are a Eucharistic centered Church. We gather as One Body in Christ Jesus each week to partake of the Bread (Christ’s Body) and wine (Christ’s Blood). This is what our Lord commanded us to do as his followers in the upper room at the “Last Super.” Acts 2 reminds us that we are to gather in the breaking of the bread, the prayers and fellowship.

At the heart of the Eucharist is our restoration with God. Like it or not we are all sinners and the nature of sin is to separate. We are constantly separating ourselves from God and one another. In the Eucharist we lay our aside our differences and share in the one, holy, broken and reconciling Body of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not only an act of salvific love and restoration with God; it is an act of reconciliation and unity with each other as well.

When we come to the altar and receive Holy Communion we are asking God for forgiveness of our sins and renewal of our hearts, minds, souls and bodies in Christ. We are saying, “We belong to Jesus” and are willing to live out what Christ calls us to do in this life: love God with all of our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves.

So the story of the Bread that never fails us is vital to our faith. We can’t hear that message enough!