Tell Me Again Why We Don’t Celebrate Holy Communion Every Sunday

I say “we” although I’m sure many of you do.

But for many of you, the tradition is somewhere between quarterly and monthly, perhaps more, perhaps less.

Why?

1. Weekly Communion seems to have been the custom in Holy Scripture.

Jesus was the one who instituted the rite to begin with. Himself. The Savior of the world did not institute any other part of liturgy, but he did with the Eucharist. Think about that. Perhaps the letter of Jesus’ institution does not dictate it should be done every week, but it certainly seems to assume a regular occurrence.

2. Weekly Communion has been the regular tradition throughout history.

We see from the biblical accounts in Acts 20 and I Corinthians 16 that this was the tradition. This was the position of the church fathers, as well. It wasn’t until the Reformation that this pattern began to change in many circles, often for practical reasons, such as the lack of available clergy. Others decided, for various reasons, that it was “too Catholic” of a practice, or that it detracted from the centrality of preaching, both of which were still complete departures from our common history.

3. The Table is the high point of the Christian liturgy.

Without it the liturgy is inherently frustrated. The four historical points It solidifies and embodies the Word preached, and gives us the grace and sustenance for the journey ahead.

4. It conveys grace to those who receive it in faith.

So…why, again, should we not do it as often as possible?

But We Can’t Do It Too Often Or It Won’t Be Special

If you are some sort of Baptist, and have somehow come to the conclusion that the Lord’s Supper is only a meal, and that Christ is not truly present and there is no special grace available in it, then I can sorta understand. (I mean, not really, because still why wouldn’t you want that special remembrance which your Savior himself instituted as often as possible?!?) But I was one of these baptisty people for the first 22 years of my life, so I still get the thinking.

But if you hold to any sort of sacramental understanding of Holy Communion, anywhere from juuuust past remembrance all the way to transubstantiation, why in the world would you want to limit it, lest it becomes rote and loses its meaning. Your actual belief is that if you receive it by faith it cannot lose its meaning because its meaning is contained in the sign itself! You are turning down something that can only richly strengthen and nourish you. Forcing yourself to abstain (without a biblical reason, at least) is as silly as telling your doctor, “Well, I know you told me to take my vitamins every day, but I’m only going to do it once a month so it doesn’t lose its meaning!”

Ridiculous, I tell you.

Okay, so what else do you have here. If it is actually possible for your church to celebrate Holy Communion every Lord’s day, why do you still choose not to? I really want to hear in the comments, here and on Facebook. And if you can’t think of a good answer, what are you going to do about it?

We taste thee, O thou living bread,
and long to feast upon thee still;
we drink of thee, the fountainhead,
and thirst our souls from thee to fill.