Well, read on!
In
just a few moments we are going to pause and receive communion together.
Before we do so,
I want to answer an important question: Why do we observe the Lord’s Supper?
ILLUSTRATION- A little girl asked her
mother one Sunday morning as she was preparing lunch: “Mommy why do you cut off
the ends of the ham before you cook it?”
The
girl’s mother turned and looked at her and said: “Oh, sweetie, I’m not really
sure why, but I suppose you cut the ends off the meat so that it can absorb the
juices and the spices and make it more tender.”
“Maybe you’d
better ask your grandmother, since she was the one I learned it from. She
always did it that way.”
The
little girl called her grandmother later in the day and asked her the same
question.
The
little girl’s grandmother responded: “Oh, I’m not really sure. I think it is so
the juices will be absorbed better. Call your Nana. She is who I learned it
from.”
The
little girl began to get a little frustrated with the whole idea, but decided
to call her great-grandmother anyway.
“Nana”,
she said, “mom was preparing lunch the other day, and she cut the ends off of
the ham before she cooked it.
“I asked her why,
and she said that she did it because the juices would absorb better, making it tender.
She told me to ask Grandma to make sure, since she learned it from her.”
“Well
I called Grandma and she said the same thing about the juices and all, but that
she learned it from you and said I should ask you.”
“Nana:
why do you cut the ends off the ham before you cook it?”
There
was a long pause in the conversation and then the little girl heard what
sounded like laughter coming from the other end of the phone.
“What’s
so funny Nana” the little girl inquired.
“Oh,
dear, I cut the ends off the ham before I cooked it because my pan was too
small.” (from my
files)
Do
we observe communion just because we’ve always done it?
Why do we eat
the small pieces of bread, and drink the small cup of grape juice… what is the
significance?
Does
the Bible give us any indication as to why we are to observe this Meal? If so,
what does it have to say?
Turn
with me to 1 Corinthians 11 as we seek to answer some of these questions.
In
the 2nd half of this chapter, Paul was addressing an issue that had
arisen out of the Communion service that the Corinthian church was observing.
“When you meet
together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.
21 For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing
with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk.
22 What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking?
Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor?” (1 Cor. 11:20-22a, NLT2)
It seemed that
the church of the day was having a hard time with what communion was truly
about.
Some of the
people were getting drunk on the wine; other people were gorging themselves
with food; still others had nothing to eat or drink.
So, Paul was
reminding the church the real reason they were to observe the Lord’s Supper.
He told them
that it was more than a meal; it was: #1 a time to remember.
Look at verses
23-25:
“For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself.
On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24
and gave thanks to God for it.
Then he broke it in
pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember
me.”
25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper,
saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement
confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” (1 Cor. 11:23-25, NLT2)
While Paul
wasn’t present on the night the Lord Jesus shared this meal with His disciples,
Paul had received a message of what had taken place.
On the night of
His betrayal, Jesus sat down with His disciples and shared the Passover Meal
with them.
This was a meal
that God’s people were required to observe every year.
But in Jesus,
this very old meal, was about to take on a very real—and new—meaning.
Exodus chapter 12
tells us that a Lamb was to be sacrificed. John chapter 1 tells us that Jesus
is: “…the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NIV)
Exodus 12
reminds us that the Passover meal was to include bread baked without yeast.
John chapter 6
reminds us that Jesus is: “the bread of life” (John 6:35, NIV)
Jesus was
interpreting the old meal, while instituting a new meal.
He reminded His
disciples how He was the fulfilment of the Old Testament Festival.
He was the
Passover Lamb. Every aspect of the Passover feast/celebration was confirmed in
the life of Jesus.
He was the One
who would be sacrificed; His blood would be shed; so we might have our sins
covered.
We observe the
Lord’s Supper to remember what Jesus endured to purchase our freedom.
We observe the
Lord’s Supper, not only to remember, but #2 to rejoice.
1 Corinthians
11:26 says: “For
whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death
until he comes.” (NIV)
To “proclaim”
means: “to
announce, to declare, to make known, to publish, to declare publically, to give
outward indication of, to praise or glorify openly or publically.”
When we observe
the Lord’s Supper, we declare, make known publically, announce the death of
Jesus.
We proclaim
that: “…he was
pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment
that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
(Is. 53:4, NIV)
When we observe
the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim His death, but we also rejoice that He is our
soon coming King!
“…every time you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until
he comes again.” (1 Cor. 11:26,
NLT2)
Do
you believe that Jesus is coming again? We should!
The Bible
teaches that Jesus is coming; no one knows when He will return, but the fact of
the matter is; He is our soon coming King.
Of
course, this speaks very clearly to His resurrection. A person can’t return if
they are dead! Of course, a person can
return from the dead, which Jesus has done, becasue Jesus isn’t dead.
He is very much alive, and He is returning
very soon.
We
observe the Lord’s Supper to remember and rejoice.
But we also observe the Lord’s Supper to Repent.
Verses
27-29 say: “a
person who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is not
worthy of it will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the
Lord.
28 Look into your own hearts before you eat the bread and drink
the cup, 29 because all who eat the bread and drink the cup without
recognizing the body eat and drink judgment against themselves.” (NCV)
When we share in
the communal meal, we are commanded to take some time to look within. We are to
pray, as David did:
“Search me, O God,
and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point
out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting
life.” (Psalm 139:23-24, NLT2)
We should,
before partaking of the Lord’s Supper, take a few moments and ask God to search
our hearts, to forgive us of our wrongdoing.
But we should
also ask God to reveal to us any wrongdoing that we may have against our
family, and our friends.
The Lord’s
Supper is a time for us to repent of our sin, and receive God’s forgiveness.
Jesus is God’s
answer for our sin problem. He came into this world to break the power of Sin.
The Bible says:
“For God made
Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we
could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:21, NLT2)
In observing the
Lord’s Supper:
· We remember the punishment that
Jesus endured to pay the price for sin;
· We rejoice because death could
not hold Jesus and that He is coming again;
·
We repent of our sin and receive His forgiveness. A forgiveness
that enables us to be free from guilt, shame, condemnation, sin and death…..
We don’t observe communion just
because we’ve always done. We observe communion because Jesus instructed us to.
I want to let
you know that it’s all right for you to not partake of the Lord’s Supper.
This meal is for
those who have surrendered their life to Jesus. If you haven’t done so, or if
you and God aren’t exactly on the same page, it’s ok to let the elements pass
you by.
You can take
this time to talk to God and ask Him to speak to your heart; ask Him to cleanse
you; to mold you; to hold you… whatever you need from God, you tell Him now, as
we take a moment or two for silent reflection.
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