I like wine.
I don't really like to drink it. I haven't acquired the taste. And I don't think there is anything wrong with drinking wine. Jesus drank it. His first miracle was making it. And no, I don't think it was grape juice. Sin is in drunkenness, not in drinking. The same way that sin is in gluttony, not in eating. Sin is in the misuse of the good things God has given us. Sex isn't wrong, sex outside of marriage and adultery are.
Anyway, back to my topic...
I first had wine for communion at the Anglican church we attended, and I liked it. The church we've been going to offers both wine and grape juice.
Here's why I like wine. It symbolizes the blood of Jesus. The blood of the New Covenant. And the blood of Jesus is not impotent. It has power. The blood of Jesus has the ability to change your behavior. Wine has the potential to change your behavior. Not for the better necessarily, but it is not neutral. Grape juice can only make you fat, it has no other power. There is power in wine and there is power in the Blood. Wine tastes alive.
I am not against using grape juice. I just found that there was a great significance to me when I tasted the rich, tangy wine as the person holding the cup said to me, "This is the blood of Christ which was shed for you." Last night at communion the man said, "This is the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation."
