For this divine friendship, O GOD, we are thankful. Help us to remember that this friendship is possible only because of YOUR love and mercy. Bless this loaf and cup as we partake in this bond of friendship made possible through the grace of our LORD, in whose name we pray.
As I have said on this blog before, many people treat Christianity as a social club. They don't understand the difference between going to church and having a relationship with GOD. Communion is something that is supposed to help bind that relationship, draw us closer, help us to remember JESUS' sacrifice for us.
Many churches do communion at every service. Some, once a month. At The Cool Church, we partake in our small groups, which I feel has more meaning. It takes it out of the liturgy of a service and forces us to make it personal, as it should be. The Bible doesn't even tell us how often we should take communion, just that we should, and that it should not be taken lightly. But this is the first time I've seen it described as a "bond of friendship." To me, that seems too light. We have a song at TCC explaining how JESUS and people "can't just be friends." I'm sure if I sat down with Grandpa and gone back with him through the Bible and the Last Supper and the deeper meaning of it, he'd probably tell me he was getting at GOD wanting a relationship with us, not just one hour of one day of the week.
Or maybe it's because we've redefined friendship so many times over so many years that it lost its luster. Think about it: how many of your Facebook friends do you really consider to be friends? Would you treat all of them in real life the same way as you do on the net? Would you un-friend them as quickly if they got under your skin? Would you do that to GOD?
Grandpa certainly wouldn't.
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