HYMN STORIES: The Songs We Sing

“One Bread, One Body”

This Sunday during communion we will sing together One Bread, One Body. The song is an appeal for people to get along as those who share in Christ are called to live as his one body. The Spirit gives different forms of service for the good of the whole community.

The text draws most directly on Paul's teaching about Eucharistic participation and the church as one body. First Corinthians 10:16-17 is the song's controlling passage. Paul connects participation in the blessed cup and broken bread with participation in Christ, then draws an ecclesial conclusion: the many are one body because they share the one loaf. Communion and church unity are therefore inseparable in the song's biblical world.

First Corinthians 12:4-7 develops unity without uniformity. The Spirit distributes different gifts, the Lord calls people to different forms of service, and God works through varied activities. These differences are not private possessions or grounds for status; the Spirit's manifestation is given for the common good.

Galatians 3:28 addresses divisions of ethnicity, social condition, and sex by locating believers' primary identity in Christ. The passage does not erase human particularity. It denies that such distinctions determine access to Christ or rank within the redeemed community. Ephesians 4:4-6 reinforces this unity through its confession of one body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and God and Father.

In conclusion, from John 17:20-23 the scripture places Christian unity within Jesus' prayer and mission. Unity is meant to reflect the communion of the Father and Son and to bear witness before the world. The song's Eucharistic and ecclesial themes thus lead beyond the worship service toward a visible life of reconciliation and common discipleship. As we sing and commune together, rejoice in the commonality we all share.

Shared by Lindrew Johnson, Director of Worship