Communion Sunday

I've already spent a lot of time thinking and preparing for communion this Sunday, the first time I'll be presiding over the Lord's Supper. I'm very excited about the opportunity, and am weaving some eucharistic theology into my sermon. Apparently, West Newton UMC doesn't celebrate communion that often, and I'm not sure why. But usually it's due to a lack of understanding or a misunderstanding of what this sacrament is, what it represents, and how it is supposed to transform us. Part of me wants to just read J-Dub's "On the Duty of Constant Communion" sermon so the congregation can get some exposure to his works, but of course that would make for a very boring and unfulfilling time of worship. In any event, I'm thrilled that we'll be celebrating the Lord's Supper this Sunday, and I hope that I can show the congregation why it's meaningful.

That's something I've been thinking a lot about lately. We use the terms relevant and meaningful, particularly with regards to worship, but what do we mean when we use them? Are we trying to make irrelevant and meaningless scripture and liturgy come to life and become relevant and meaningful, or is it already relevant? In talking with my seminary pal Lance, I began to understand why I've always been uncomfortable with talk about "making worship relevant." We don't make it relevant. Worship, scripture, liturgy, prayer, singing old and new hymns...all these things are already relevant and meaningful. The problem is, we don't see how it's relevant and meaningful for us. That's what we should be striving for -- to show the meaning already present in these things. We're not doing congregations any favors by pretending that we have some magical key that attaches meaning to otherwise meaningless aspects of God and worship of God.