June 24 ~ Acts 2:7
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
Scripture taken from the The King James Version present on BibleGateway.com, which matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States.
This morning I visited my grandmother at her Assisted Living Facility. She wanted to go outside and sit on the porch, but it was already 93 degrees in the shade, so I suggested we go to the dining room. “Would you like to hear me play some hymns?” I asked. “YES!” she said enthusiastically. I positioned her beside the piano in the dining room and began to play some of her favorites. Soon, several residents had joined us, and one lady sang virtually every hymn I played. She sang strongly and knew all the words. I tried to play each hymn through at least twice to give her time to really recognize it and sing along.
As I played the hymns, I considered how some of them remind me of Holy Communion, as they are often played during this service. “Nearer My God to Thee,” “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds,” and “Faith of Our Fathers” come to mind as some of the “Communion hymns” I recall. So I asked my grandmother, “Would you be interested in taking Communion again?” The answer was “Yes!” and I talked with her and a table-mate, who belongs to my church, about receiving Holy Communion.
When I rose to leave, a man at a nearby table motioned for me to come to him. He asked, “If you are going to have Communion, are you going to serve it once a week, like the Bible says?” Another man at his table looked at him, perplexed, and said, “Where does it say that in the Bible?” The first man said he didn’t know the exact verse, but the Bible says that they gathered once a week at the church to “break bread.” “What else could that mean?” he asked. Man #2 and I almost simultaneously replied, “… to share a meal!” I can’t repeat what Man #1 said to that, but it was not nice… and he was not happy! I wished them a good day and left, feeling like I might have started a religious World War III!
After I got home, I did some Google searches for Bible translations of the phrase “break bread” – and the Greek meaning of these words. I discovered several websites that address this very question, but I particularly liked this one… http://www.zianet.com/maxey/reflx168.htm ... check it out if you like. I don’t know the author, Al Maxey - a Church of Christ pastor in New Mexico - but he addresses several verses in Acts that refer to the breaking of bread. He notes that many newer translations have decided that this means “Holy Communion.”
But Maxey concludes: "Thus, are we reading back into the text what we want it to say, or need it to say, in order to fit our practice?!" Sadly, I think that is very often exactly what is taking place…we impose our theology upon the text, rather than drawing our theology from the text.
The blunt reality is -- and many seem very reluctant to face this -- we simply have insufficient data with regard to the phrase "breaking bread" to insist upon any one interpretation or practice over another. Yes, we all have our personal convictions, and that is good. We have also embraced certain traditional practices based upon those shared convictions, and that also is fine. What we must never do, however, is assume that all those who differ with us are godless wretches with dishonest motives and darkened hearts who are bound straight for the torments of hell. This is the perspective of militant factionists and sectarians, and does not reflect the spirit of Christ Jesus. We need to rise above such ignorance and ignominy.
We are children of God ... we can do better than that! Love demands it; Unity demands it; our Witness to the world demands it. May God help us all to live and love outside the guarded gates of our dogma, for when we do so we enjoy the blessings of the expanded parameters of God's household of faith. ‘Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread’ (1 Cor. 10:17).”
I could not say this any better. We twist and turn the words of the Bible to suit our needs and our circumstances… and “breaking bread” is the tip of the iceberg! And as Rev. Maxey says, we are not serving as the hands and feet of Jesus by doing this! I honestly don’t believe that God is keeping a count of how frequently we take Holy Communion… particularly in comparison to how we behave the rest of the time! This experience reminded me to check my own thoughts and actions and see where I might be putting my desires and influences on God’s word for my life, rather than truly hearing what He is saying to me. I probably should do this more frequently… and I would invite you to do the same.
©2012 Debbie Robus
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