Over the past several posts, I’ve explored the story of Suzanne Collins’ first Hunger Games novel (and the excellent film adaptation). We’ve seen that while we identify with Katniss, we have much more in common with the Capitol. That our culture distracts us from injustice with pleasure and entertainment just like the Capitol does. That just like Rome and the Capitol, our culture seeks to control our bodies, to convince us to devalue our bodies. And last time, that Katniss and Jesus both use their bodies as the primary site of resistance against the Empire’s evil actions.

So what do we take from Katniss’ example in The Hunger Games? How do we imitate Jesus, resist Empire today, using our bodies?

In the New Testament, Worship is how Christians wage war on Empire, and the center of Christian worship is the Communion Meal.

Appropriately, the meal is an embodied act that regularly reinstructs us how we can resist the story our Empire tells us and live in the reality of God’s story. Communion teaches us how to resist the Empire’s claims on our bodies and souls.

Here’s how:

1. Communion affirms that our bodies are essentially who we are.

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