1. The Communion and Christian Friendship
The Lord's Supper that is commonly known today among Christians as the "Holy Communion" is more than the institution it has become.

It is an invitation of Christ to friendship. It is his holy invitation for us to come, not just to eat with him, but also to partake of his body and his blood. For greater love has no one than a man who would lay down his life for his friends. And this supper is the occasion of his expression of a desire - a willingness - to lay down his life for those whom he calls friends.

In understanding the friendship of Christ, the table must bring a deeper sense of significance. The repeated act of coming to the table of grace is a sacred remembrance of his very presence at the table, bidding us to come to partake in a deep and sacred friendship with him.

We must do away with the monthly mechanical ritual of the Holy Communion that no longer expresses the inviting friendship of Christ and replace it with a Holy Communion. There is an immediate need to restore that experience of awesome grace that captivates the hearts of the invited and draws them towards the table of grace. For the host is a friend. And he bids us "Come, my friends, eat with me so we can remember this moment".

I am wondering...what if there was someone in the midst of the disciples in the Upper Room that night who was not yet a friend of Jesus? Would Jesus have said "Please stay away from the table, because this is a 'friends only' session", or would he have said "Come join us, please, for I want to be your friend"? Whatever the conclusion may be, this is certainly something worth thinking about, because it certainly shows in the way invitations to the Lord's Supper are issued in our faith communities today.