What would it be like if we shared in communion similar to the way we share in a dinner party? What if it was something like a special dinner party to mark the observance of a wedding anniversary, or a birthday, or a farewell to a close friend who's moving away? What if it wasn't just bread and wine, but butter and cheese and hummus and pesto -- or maybe even a whole meal? Is it sacreligious to think of communion in this way? We could be eating bread and appetizers, drinking wine or juice -- just talking about news and weather and pasttimes... And then someone could tap his wine glass with a fork and call the room to order for a brief moment of toasting the honored guest at the dinner party: Jesus. Someone could take a hunk of bread from the basket in the middle of the table, give thanks to God for it, and break it to be passed around the table. We could check to make sure that everyone's glass is full from the bottle on the table, and then the bread could be chased down with a sip of the wine, saying: "We do this in remembrance of Jesus!"

It sounds like such an appealing remembrance to me. Yet in all my experience of Christian worship, communion has always been a very solemn and ceremonious occasion. It's all about contemplation and contrition. We wear serious looks on our faces. We keep silent. We listen to slow songs about Jesus' sacrifice, and then we eat the bread and drink the wine without making eye contact with any of the other believers in the room. It's an intensely private experience, between each person and God.

Of course, I get it on a certain level. Communion is designed to be a moment of remembrance and reflection on the death of our Messiah, our Christ -- and death is generally a pretty solemn thing. Furthermore, the Bible does indeed explicitly state that, "A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup" (1 Corinthians 11:23-32). Communion is not to be taken flippantly, without any thought abouts its deeper meaning, lest it becomes a religious sham.

Still, does it really have to be solemn, silent, and self-contained?

Wasn't communion originally designed to a communal act of celebration and proclamation? When Jesus first introduced the practice to his disciples, on the eve of his crucifixion, it was in the setting of one of the most beloved Jewish holidays of the year: the Passover Dinner celebration. It was sitting around a table together, sharing food and drink and conversation. Throughout the book of Acts, the followers of Jesus are regularly "breaking bread" in each others' homes -- and the context often makes it difficult to tell if the situation is specifically about observing the Lord's Supper together or enjoying a full meal together (or both). Even when Paul wrote to the Corinthians about self-examination and giving proper recognition to the potent symbolism within communion -- he wasn't dictating absolute solemnity. He was merely seeking to balance out the inequality and excesses of the Corinthians' communion celebrations, which could tend towards gluttony and drunkenness. It seemed like everyone in Corinth understood that communion was supposed to be about fun and fellowship; they just needed to be reminded to not get carried away with themselves and to include the remembrance of Jesus' death within all the feasting. This is how I read the Bible, anyway. To me, it's hard to ignore the fact that communion was designed to be a communal celebration. Wasn't it? Am I missing anything?

My friend Michaël and I were talking about this recently, and ever since I've been feeling inspired to include this moment of remembrance within special church dinners, or Thanksgiving celebrations, or meals at home. With other believers in our house, it could be a moment of mutual reminiscence for a personal acquaintance. Or with non-believers, it could be a moment of proclamation -- perhaps even a potential conversation-starter. I don't know why these thoughts have never really occurred to me before... But I'm realizing more and more that the ways we typically celebrate communion may be more closely tied into medieval power structures (i.e. administering sacraments) than they are to 1st Century Christian practice. And I'm curious to consider the implications of alternative forms of communion.