Walking Through Communion - The Dismissal

 

In many places in the Gospel stories, we see people coming to Jesus, listening to his teaching and then, sometimes without a word being spoken, knowing that they are sent out to live in the light of the good news they have heard and seen. The disciples are the supreme example of this.  In their case they were literally called by Jesus to follow him.  After some training and prayer, they were sent out to proclaim the Kingdom. And, just before his final departure from this earth, he sends them out to proclaim the gospel to the world - “go and make disciples of all nations ... and I am with you always”. 

 

So, at the end of the Communion Service, we prepare to be sent out.  There are two prayers, a blessing and then the words of dismissal.  In between we sing a final hymn of praise and worship.  The first prayer, said by the President, usually has a Collect structure and relates the themes of the day to the communion we have received.  Then there follows a prayer that we all join in.  There are several different prayers used here but the one that sums up all that we have just done and all that we are about to do begins, "Father of all, we give you thanks and praise ...".  It goes on to spell out the consequences of God’s grace at Communion. "May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world."  Another equally familiar prayer expresses it thus: "Through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory."  These prayers leave us in no doubt that, if we are prepared to take the risky path to church on a Sunday morning to meet the living God, then we had better be prepared to be sent out by Him to live His risen life amongst our family, friends and colleagues – and that may have a radical effect on how we spend our time, use our abilities and distribute our resources.  For such a task, God does not expect us to do it in our own strength.  We need His blessing not just now, at the end of this service, but that it may "remain with you always." So now we are ready to be dismissed. 

 

All the words of dismissal have three words in common.  They tell us to "Go" – an imperative we dare not neglect. They mention "peace" – shalom – in the Bible a very positive thing.  One writer describes it as “the harmony of a caring community informed at every point by its awareness of God”.  And thirdly, they mention the name of God – "in Christ" or "serve the Lord".  Appropriately these words of dismissal echo the words said at the end of the new Baptism service when the newly baptised and those responsible for them are sent out with their lighted candles with the words, "Go in the light and peace of Christ."  To this everyone replies, "Thanks be to God".

So now our worship is over.  In the company of the saints on earth and in heaven, we have spent about an hour in church. That is about 1% of our waking hours in any one week!  Our prayer is that, for the other 99% of the time, we will be sustained in our journey with and witness to Christ to God’s glory!

Post Script
Imagine that an interested friend has come with you to the Service and, as you chat over a cup of coffee afterwards, asks you two questions.  The first is, "well, what was all that about?"  Of course you would not expect your friend to grasp the depth of meaning of this wonderful act of worship all in one go.  By way of reply you could start by refering him to this website!!  But the second question is more probing: "what does that service mean to you for the rest of the week?"  Perhaps there are as many replies to that question as there are people, but how would you answer it?

I think I would begin by returning to those words at the heart of the Eucharistic prayer – take, thank, break and share.  If your attitude since entering the church has been one of prayerful concentration, you will find that the Spirit will touch you at some point.  It may be something said in the sermon; or the way in which the President said a particular prayer; or an issue touched on during the intercessions; or hearing the words of Jesus in a fresh way, “This is my body, my blood”; or a line from one of the hymns/songs; or a phrase from the Bible.  Whatever it was "take" it into yourself and let it speak to you and your situation.  Then "thank" God for this new awareness of him speaking to you and rejoice in his presence with you as you live this week.  Then allow this new insight to "break" you, as in the sense of "breaking new ground" or how we speak of a horse being "broken in".  In other words let the Spirit "break" open new truth about God, yourself and the world in which you live.  And, as you do so, you may well find that the Spirit wells up within you giving you a desire to "share" with others your experience of God’s amazing love, and to testify how he is dealing with you at this particular moment of your spiritual journey.

Fundamentally, the answer to your enquiring friend, is that this act of worship is a weekly (for some a daily) reminder and remembrance of God’s gracious, forgiving, abundant love revealed in creation, sacrifice, and the power of his Spirit.

 

 

Click here to read the previous article: The Ministry of the Sacrament .

Recommendations for further reading:
Making the Most of Communion By Elizabeth Culling
Why Go To Church by Timothy Radcliffe
Freeze Frame Mass by the Rev'd Dr Richard Major (work in progress)

 

©All material copyright Revd Derek Hinge.  No part of this article may be reproduced in any format without the author’s express permission.