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As Christians we talk about “breaking bread” together, which is a funny way we have of saying we’re eating together. This goes back to the Last Supper when Jesus was literally breaking bread with his disciples. He took bread in his hands, broke it and said, this is my body broken for you. As often as you do this, remember me.
We often think of “as often as you do this” as the taking of communion, the bread and wine at a church service. But what if we took the opportunity of any meal as a time that we can remember him?
How many times a day do you eat? Three square meals a day, snacks, some fruit on the go, a smoothie after working out, some fast food from the drive thru? How often is eating a social experience? As Christians we like to eat together. Often. It’s how we “fellowship.” But how often do our conversation at the table center around Christ?
Do we take the time to share what God has been doing in our lives? What He has been teaching us? Ways He has used us recently? Do we mention the Sunday sermon only to criticize? Jesus said, as often as you do this… Is it just around the bread and wine of communion that we remember Him, or did He want something more for us? Did He want his sacrifice to be something we remember only on special occasions, or something that is part of our daily lives?
When Jesus broke bread for his disciples it was something special. The meal was a celebration of the Passover, but Jesus transformed it into a memorial of his work on the cross. In the same way our simple meals, alone or together with others, can be transformed into something more than just a meal. It becomes an opportunity to remember Christ, to remember his death for us, his transforming work on the cross.
So when we get together to eat, whether it’s at your work in a break room, at a local restaurant, or at home with our families, wherever we are when we share a meal together, we are in some part memorializing what Christ did for us on the cross. Take it as an opportunity to reflect and share and encourage one another.
So remember him, and remember what he has done. Remember that we need him inside of us to sustain us spiritually, just as we need physical food to keep our bodies going.