Saturday, June 20, 2009

Whining about wine

With Ange and i coming back from wine country i have been pondering, without much resolution, about having wine for communion.

It was first raised at the evening service and has been bouncing around my head even since.

I should clarify that i think the issue isn't one that ought to cause division. Really, the importance of communion is uniting a body of believers together with each other and what God has done in an act of remembrance.

But still... Wine or Juice?

I trawlerd the net and didn't find any solid answers, just the two sides of the arguement. Some said it must be "fruit of the vine" to stick with the manner that the Lord's Supper was instituted and that wine is a powerful Biblical symbol.

We are to be attatched to the vine. Wine was a sign of God's blessing and a gift from God to be enjoyed. Wine is a superior symbol of the sacrafical blood of Jesus.

But, as long as you have communion with the propper mindset, is grapejuice acceptable? With people who struggle with alcohol consumption, the administration of communion to children and those with various allergies, why not use juice? Why bring up potential obsticales to those people partaking in communion?

Personally, i only choose wine on special ocassions such as Easter or Christmas. Partly because it is at these times they are garunteed to be offered, but also because we particularly focus on the central gospel message. Wine seems to focus me more on these seasons and theis significance.

Do i really think it matters? Not really... As long as the sacrament serves as a reminder of what Jesus did and connects you to the local and wider church and it's mission.

But, would i go so far as replacing wine with Coke? No way...

1 comment:

kim said...

you know how i feel about communion, i just don't get it. you do it to remember Jesus, but why can't we do other things to remember Jesus. Jesus did lots of things besides eating and drinking with people. and wine or juice? i hate wine. it tastes like ass. i've tried it on numerous occasions and i don't think i'll ever like it. does that mean i can't remember Jesus? why is wine so important? i thought its just what they drank coz it was safer than their dirty water. if coke was their safest drink then maybe we'd be drinking coke for communion. i think our next communion (if we have to eat and drink) should be timtams and hot chocolate...