I am at school today, so brevity will be the mark of the day's posts.
The Reformation churches debated whether one should kneel at communion. The concern was over venerating the elements themselves. My own theory of worship enlightens this debate for me. I have argued that worship is the path to union with God. In worship we lower ourselves and thus discover the God of Humble Love, which is paradoxically the greatest power in the universe.
Communion makes Christ's sacrifice present to us. It is not itself an additional sacrifice, in my view. Christ is present within not the elements, but in the moment, in a special way. Time is bent and transformed and in communion the crucifixion of Jesus is brought near. Almost a mystical time travel. We are brought near God's vulnerable love. Our own kneeling, then, is just part of the way we draw near that love. We imitate the moment the sacraments make near. We live, for a moment, the self-emptying of God. Thus we can make sense of the kneeling without worrying about us worshipping bread. The value is found not in the elements, but in what they bring near, it is the actions of the Incarnate Christ we mimic, after all.
I love your comparison between the disciples and ourselves when we approach/receive communion. It's a great way to understand the state of mind when we approach the Eucharist. While I walk I meditate on what it must have been to be with Jesus. To have your feet washed, to be served bread/body and wine/blood by the One in which we should serve/care for. And as the Eucharist reaches my mouth, I can feel this sense of time replaying itself over and over again. I am there in this moment of time when God presented Himself as the servant.
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