How often shall I Commune?

How often shall I Commune?

Actually, that is rather a strange question! One may ask, "How often shall I kiss my mother?" "How often shall I tell my husband that I love him?" or "How often shall I talk with my family and friends?"

Just as someone else cannot answer these questions for you, so also no one can dictate to you how often you should attend Holy Communion. Yet, we Christians can help one another to re-think the nature of the sacrament, the Lord's invitation, our need, God's promise, and the joys of communing frequently. Such re-thinking may help each of us to reach a decision that is pleasing to God and of great blessing to us

God Acts

Let us recall what Holy Communion is, and what happens when we celebrate this sacrament.

God is at work. The miracle of Holy Communion is that God is present and active. By a mighty act of God, we receive the body and blood of our Lord, who suffered, died, and rose from the dead for our salvation.

God Gives. In this sacrament God offers and gives all that he has done through Christ for us men and for our salvation. The benefits of Holy Communion are 'forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.'

God assures each individual personally that He loves him and forgives him for Jesus' sake. Christ's own words tell us this, "My body and blood are given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

God invites and encourages us to come to His Supper to receive His free gifts through the body and blood of Jesus. Jesus says, "Take, eat . . . Drink of it all of you . . . for the forgiveness of sins."

The Christian Responds

This sacrament is a means the Holy Spirit uses to strengthen our faith. His power is at work in us so that we accept the love and forgiveness God offers and gives. If we are God's people, we will joyfully respond to God's invitation.

We eagerly desire the blessings offered in the Holy Supper. We need forgiveness; we need stronger faith; we need God to work in us through this means of grace. We come to the Lord's Table with a hunger and thirst for the sacrament.

We worship and adore the Lord who comes to us in this sacrament. We praise God and give thanks for His saving work and His precious gift.

We confess our faith. By celebrating Communion, we tell the world, "We believe in Jesus as our Saviour. We are members of His Church, the communion of saints."

We are connected with Christ and through him with fellow-believers in a most intimate fellowship - a holy communion.

We proclaim Christ's death. St. Paul says, "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."

We long for the Lord's return. Holy Communion points us forward to the heavenly feast we shall share with our Lord.

How Often?

How often should a Congregation celebrate Holy Communion? Jesus has given us no rule, no time-table; He simply says, "Do this . . . keep on doing this." The early Christians celebrated the sacrament perhaps every day, and certainly weekly! When we consider what the sacrament is and what God does through it, surely Congregations would do well to make it normal practice to celebrate Holy Communion every week.

How often should individual members commune? Again, God has given us no hard and fast rule which says that you are sinning if you don't receive the sacrament once a week, or every time it is celebrated. On the other hand, God certainly does not speak about communing too often!

As God's people, we do not fall back on rules to decide how often we commune. The frequency of participation in the Lord's Supper is rather, an expression of our relationship with our Lord, and acknowledgement of our need of His grace, a joyful celebration with fellow-Christians of Christ's death and resurrection, His presence with us now, and His return in glory.

Remember, this sacrament is pure Gospel. God is acting, giving, strengthening, assuring, comforting, and forgiving, every time Holy Communion is celebrated. And He invites you not simply to be a spectator, but to share in all he offers and gives. He encourages you, "Take, eat . . . Drink of it all of you."

Martin Luther says, "True Christians who cherish and honour the sacrament will of their own accord urge and impel themselves to come! . . . The Lord's Supper is given as a daily food and sustenance so that our faith may refresh and strengthen itself . . . Christ did not institute it to be treated as a spectacle but commanded His Christians to eat and drink and thereby get forgiveness of sins."

Why stay away?

If we truly repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, is there any reason why we, as communicant members of our Congregation, should not partake of the sacrament whenever it is celebrated in our Congregation? Should we stay away because we don't feel like communing at a particular service? Because we don't feel worthy? Because we haven't spent enough time in preparation? Because we don't feel any strong sense of need?

We must be careful not to let our feelings decide whether or not we commune. The devil can easily mislead us through our feelings. We need to look away from our feelings to Him who has prepared this Supper for us and invites us to come. We need to focus on His Words, "This is my body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

"The Lord's Supper is pure Gospel. It is the Gospel in its purest and most concentrated form. As such, it is a constant source of nourishment for the Christian life. What food and drink are for the body, the Lord's Supper is for the spiritual life of the Christian . . . the faith and spiritual life of the Christian is constantly in need of nourishment. As little as his physical life can survive without food, so little can his spiritual life. For this reason the Christian needs regularly to feed on the Word of God and frequently to partake of the Lord's Supper." (H. Hamann)

How often shall I commune? As often as God spreads His Table for me. As often as I need forgiveness and stronger faith. As often as God invites me to come.

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