Yesterday I had the privilege of leading a small liturgical service focused around prayer and Holy Communion/Eucharist as part of Hope for Creation. It was done in partnership with some of the Occupy Auckland movement who were kind enough to welcome us into the space they have created in Auckland’s Aotea Square – a public space.
I had been looking forward to doing it as I have never been involved in doing something like it in such a public space before and the chance to connect it to a protest movement expressing discontent with current power structures had real appeal. In the lead up to it, it felt right – like it was most definitely something I should be doing.
The experience had a profound effect on me and acted as a catalyst for an instant expansion and deepening of my understanding of the Eucharist/Holy Communion. It took me beyond viewing it as a personal devotional act between myself and God in unity with other believers and whilst including those things still, it took me to a space where I now view the act of Holy Communion/Eucharist as vastly political in nature.
For a long time I have believed that Christianity is very political, just not in the way we often imagine politics. It is the identification with, and formation of God’s intention for his world – his Kingdom as revealed, demonstrated and lived out in the life, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and promised return of Jesus. That system naturally pushes against, critiques and challenges the power structures established in the world around us at all levels – often turning them upside down. It gives power to the powerless, voice to the voiceless and calls us to sacrifice for the good of the ‘other.’ What I had not connected to it all was how the practice of Holy Communion/Eucharist forms the center of that being made a reality now.
For the first time yesterday I was struck with how utterly egalitarian the Eucharist is – it has no regard for gender, social status, ethnicity or wealth, yet at the same time it profoundly affirms all who participate in it and it gives space for our humanity – it doesn’t remove our individuality. It centers our attention towards, and places us within, the expression of a sacrifice where God himself was made to be the last and the least and in so doing it challenges any desire for power and puts a spotlight on oppressive forms of power that are about the diminishing of some for the glory of others. In participating in Holy Communion we submit to, are united with, and are shaped towards Christ.
Where the story of sin has resulted in the scattering of people, the disenfranchising of individuals and groups, division, destruction of relationships and the breaking down of communities, the Eucharist offers an alternative space and an alternative political reality. In the Eucharist, unity is obtained, people are gathered back together – the Body of Christ is present and in so being, the entire Church is present. Space and time as we know them fall away and the whole community of believers throughout history is embodied in that moment – God’s Kingdom present and contrasted to all that is around it. Yet that contrasting is not created by looking at the rest and deliberately creating something else as a challenge – it simply exists as it is and in its mere existence it puts the spotlight on all else. This is entirely political.
Yesterday’s liturgy, prayer and communion gathered a small and diverse group of people. In the world around us we represent different levels of power and influence and we came from different social spheres, yet in the practice we participated in we were all equal as we came to the table of sacrifice, brimming with hope in the world promised to come and that breaks forth amongst us. In so doing we said that our hope resides in God’s Kingdom and the alternative it offers. Through practicing liturgy, prayer and communion we challenged the world around us. In this practice we protested against greed and all those things that propagate the destruction of God’s intended shape of His creation – simply because we were united around the table and sharing in the sacrifice of Jesus. Politics at its best.
The Eucharist/Holy Communion therefore is not simply part of the political expression of Christianity, it is the center of it.