Monday/Wednesday

On Saturday before Mother's Day my family met together to celebrate with our mothers at Monument Inn and have lunch. On Sunday, the first day of the week, my family met together for lunch at the Hunan restaurant.

While I can be wrong on any given point, I would question why anyone would read more into the statements above than what is actually said. I mentioned an activity on Saturday before Mother's Day and an activity this past Sunday; nothing more. I am curious as to whether anyone would make the claim some day, because of these sentences, of how I go to Monument Inn every Saturday prior to Mother's Day and spend every Sunday having lunch at the Hunan restaurant?

In my thinking, it seems ridiculous to make a bold declaration of this "assumed" fact based on these statements and yet, for most of my Christian life, I have heard these assumptions proclaimed more times than I am able to count in reference to sharing communion with each other.

I chose the title "Monday/Wednesday" for this post because, to the best of my knowledge, these are the only two days I have not shared communion with someone. I have enjoyed sharing the bread and cup with my own church family and many others outside of my normal fellowship. Oddly, some of my most memorable times to participate in communion have been with those not celebrating the communion because it was the "right" day, but rather because it was the "right" moment.

Having communion available every week, in my fellowship, has become something I enjoy and look forward to as each Sunday comes around. What bothers me concerning my past is how I was taught, using illustrations of statements made in the bible like those I used above, the first day of the week was the proper day to celebrate the Lord's Supper (strange title for something we do before noon) and how any other day of observance was contrary to the will of God. Man has reasoned in his own mind to invent a "legal" policy FOR God and yet totally ignored the statement of Jesus concerning frequency (whenever). In our human reasoning, we have even taken a view of the statements made in Acts 2 contrary to context and tried to explain away the knowledge of the "first" followers meeting every day to "break bread." These Christians did not have a "Monday/Wednesday" in their lives because every day was a celebration of communion.

I look forward to finding a Monday and Wednesday some day to share communion with other Christian brothers and sisters but more important to me is recognizing the moment to share and not simply setting a time and looking once again at communion being something I do because I am supposed to do it. I believe I would rather skip communion than to attend a service with other Christians this coming Sunday and take communion because "it is the day!"

For many still controlled by the tradition I grew up with, the thought of participating in communion on any day other than Sunday is a foreign idea to consider. When I first discovered this concept for myself, I also discovered how many in our fellowship have figured this out for themselves. Many are beginning to offer communion on Sunday and other days desired by the people in the congregation. If anyone is interested in reading comments from an elder/preacher associated with my fellowship who has written extensively on this subject, I would recommend
going to http://www.zianet.com/maxey/reflx30.htm and reading about what is said and not said concerning communion practice. In his topical index of "Lord's Supper," http://www.zianet.com/maxey/topic.htm he has written many other papers discussing this issue and also answering the many questions those wrapped up in the traditions of man are quick to use in challenging any deviation from our past in this matter.