Half way through communion last Sunday I had a crazy idea.
I was grateful that the Bread was still being distributed as it gave me chance to stop and think about whether this was just a weird idea or an actual God inspired moment.
The idea was that we would all raise our glasses to Jesus before drinking together.
(In most Baptist churches, communion is shared using small individual glasses rather than each person taking a turn drinking from one cup. At Orchard, we hand out the glasses and once everyone has one we drink together as a sign of our unity.)
Raising a glass or toasting is something that we do at the end of wedding speeches or during other celebrations. It is a way of showing admiration or thanks to someone and in those moments of sharing the bread and grape juice it occurred to me just how appropriate it might be to raise a glass to Jesus. After all, there is no one who we admire more or who deserves more thanks from us.
After explaining what we were going to do I proposed the toast:
‘To Jesus who died for us’
Everyone repeated the phrase as they raised their glasses and then drank.
So was this just a crazy or God inspired?
I’m not entirely sure but I do know it was meaningful for me in that moment as the act of raising a glass put an emphasis on admiration for and thanksgiving to Jesus.
If you want to think some more about why communion is important then you might like to read A Meal to Remember: What was that all about?
If I had thought at the time, I think it would have been ideal to sing this song together:
Honest about my faith 