A few years ago, a respected church leader and his wife joined us for dinner. As it began to get late, this leader looked across the table, thanked us, and said that they must go. He then said, “Before we go, may we break bread with you and pray with you?”

His question caught me off guard, as no one had ever asked us to break bread in a home setting outside of our more formal church meetings. But, of course, I couldn’t say no to his thoughtful request, even though I didn’t know if we actually had any crackers or juice in the house. Fortunately, my wife was able to locate the elements for us, and we proceeded to pray for one another and then break bread together. It was a truly special moment, but it didn’t end there.

Since that evening, the Lord has been revealing to me both the wonder of breaking bread and the importance of doing so more often.

In Remembrance of Him

In the early church, Paul and the disciples passed on the act of breaking bread that they had received from the Lord Jesus. Jesus had instructed them to do this act in remembrance of Him. It had such an impact on the disciples that in Acts chapter 2 we read that the early church was devoted to the breaking of bread and did it every day, from house to house. “They devoted themselves…to the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42, CSB) and “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house” (Acts 2:46, CSB).

Seeing the importance of this act to the early church and having experienced the beauty of it with that leadership couple, my wife and I began to prioritise breaking bread in our home every day. We would do so when friends visited for a meal, as well as when it was simply our family eating together with one another.

In a world that is ruthlessly trying to pull our attention away from being aware of Jesus…we have found these moments of intentionally pausing to reflect on Christ…extremely powerful and profound.

In a world that is ruthlessly trying to pull our attention away from being aware of Jesus and following Him, we have found these moments of intentionally pausing to reflect on Christ, and what the bread and juice represent, extremely powerful and profound.

Jesus told His disciples, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” (John 6:53–56, CSB) 

This hard teaching from Jesus offended many of His disciples at the time, causing them to turn back and no longer accompany Him. The course of this world is continually pushing us towards living our lives in reliance on our own strength and in our own wisdom, even when we are attempting to do good deeds and live for Him.

Jesus, however, calls us to remain in Him and to follow Him. The beautiful promise, if we do remain in Him, is that He will also remain in us. Breaking bread reminds us of the importance of being in Him as we eat His flesh and drink His blood. Jesus even cautioned His disciples against not remaining in Him: “If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:6, CSB)

To Examine Ourselves

Breaking bread is also a great opportunity to examine ourselves. A couple came to visit us once, and I felt led to encourage them to begin breaking bread more regularly together as a family with their children. The woman looked concerned by my statement, and then proceeded to ask me if she must repent of her sins before breaking bread, likely recalling Paul’s sobering warning in 1 Corinthians 11:27–30, 

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.”

While I encouraged her to repent of any sins revealed by the Holy Spirit whenever she does break bread, I also encouraged her not to wait until she breaks bread before repenting of sins revealed to her. We must respond to the Lord’s voice daily when we hear Him speak to ensure that our hearts don’t harden.

Rather than refraining from breaking bread, we should instead respond to the Lord in repentance and receive His grace

I’ve seen Paul’s warning cause others to refrain from breaking bread due to sin or unforgiveness that the Spirit has highlighted in their hearts. Rather than refraining from breaking bread, we should instead respond to the Lord in repentance and receive His grace, mercy and forgiveness, which is offered because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

To Elevate Our Perspective

Finally, breaking bread also helps us to elevate our perspective, away from our light and momentary troubles in this life to an eternal perspective. Scripture is clear – Jesus is coming soon. We are called to be prayerfully alert and sober-minded as His return draws closer. Paul recognised that one of the ways we can do so is by regularly breaking bread: 

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26, ESV)

That church leader who broke bread in our home with us went home to be with the Lord two years ago. However, his profound impact remains as we pass on what we received from him by devoting ourselves to breaking bread and praying with others from home to home.