Feb
12
Written by:
SNT
2/12/2009 4:01 PM
It was part four the of the Communion Series. We focused on confession - the point in the communion liturgy when we move from belief to action. We do something. Up to this point the prayer is lofty, heady, and maybe a bit elusive. "Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires are known..." When I hear those words, it's easy to tune out, to think that I can't really relate. But then...
"Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor." We're called here to do something. Confess. Don't just to think about it; actually do it. in this act of communion we are somehow prepared for communion - prepared for this physical experience of Christ.
I've been haunted this week by a line from a song that we sang near the end of the service - during communion. I had never heard the song before. It was strong and beautiful. It's called Center and it starts with a simple acknowledgement that Christ is the center of everything and the one that holds all things together. Then there's a plea for Christ to be the center of our lives as well. Then finally there is this:
We lift our eyes to heaven
We wrap our lives around your life
We lift our eyes to heaven, to You
The image of wrapping our lives around Christ's life seems perfect for communion. As we eat this meal - this bread and wine - we are in essence asking to be one with Christ. To have our lives so interwoven with his that the lines get blurry.
And it's in confession, in the acknowledgment of our own brokenness, that we take a step towards these blurry lines.