Colossians part 3
Tell me about the Lord’s Supper
This is the third week in a series on the book of Colossians
Week 1 we looked at how Paul was addressing the issue of Gnosticism. That is, the people were blending some Christian truths, Jewish legalism, Greek Philosophy and Eastern mysticism.
Week 2 we looked at Five strategies for knowing God:
1) to decide to accept Christ’ priorities for my life.
2) I must depend on Christ’s power as I spend time in prayer with him.
3) I must dedicate myself to a continuous process of getting to know God that will last for the rest of my life.
4) I must deepen my understanding of crucial principles.
5) I need to develop my connections with other people.
This week we are looking at Colossians and the Lord’s supper.
Some have approached me and asked for an explanation of the meaning of The Lord’s Supper, or at least to help better understand how it can help us in our spiritual walk. Today, I am again going to depend heavily upon scripture, John Wesley’s sermon “The Duty of Constant Communion” is also a good reference.
Every Christian ought to be ready to stand up courageously and unashamedly for the Lord.
In the 1700’s there was a great German empire called Prussia and it ruled most of northern Europe. Frederick the Great was the emperor. The German empire was so cruel and wealthy, people described it as Sparta during the day and Athens at night
On one occasion Frederick the Great invited some notable people to his royal table including his top-ranking generals. One of them by the name of Hans von Zieten declined the invitation because he wanted to take the Lord’s supper at his church. Sometime later at another banquet Frederick and his guests mocked the general for his religious sense of right and wrong and made jokes about the Lord’s Supper. In great peril of his life, the officer stood to his feet and said respectfully to the monarch, “My lord, there is a greater King than you, a King to whom I have sworn allegiance even unto death. I am a Christian man, and I cannot sit quietly as the Lord’s name is dishonored and his character belittled.” The guests trembled in silence, knowing that von Zieten might be killed. But to their surprise, Frederick grasped the hand of this courageous man, asked his forgiveness, and requested that he remain. He promised that he would never again allow such a mockery to be made of sacred things. In ways like this, the gospel is passed from one to another.
1) Communion is a time to thank God
2) It is a command of Christ
3) It is a reminder to confess our sins
Let us read
Colossians 3:1-3:11
1) Communion is a time to thank God
“This sacrament awakens a holy memory of what Jesus Christ has done for us and for the whole world. It fixes our mind on the fact of our sin and on our need for forgiveness. It communicates God’s love for each soul. And mysteriously, through the bread and the cup, the Holy Spirit moves in our midst to bring home to us, both personally and in community, the effects of the great work of Christ in our behalf. Therefore this sacrament is a celebration of God’s redeeming love and empowering grace. It means our grateful acceptance of God’s gift of forgiveness and new life. It means renewed commitment and resolve.” (Bishop Mack Stokes, American Methodist Bishop)
When Paul wrote his letter to the people in Colossae, he was also in a roundabout way speaking of The Lords Supper. His statement “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God,” (verse 2) calls us to reconsider where our priorities are. If we are indeed “hidden with Christ in God” then we have the duty to communicate with Him constantly.
A back drop for this passage is:
1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2Let the redeemed (those bought and set free) of the LORD say so,
whom he has redeemed (purchased) from trouble
3and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south. Psalm 107
What do you suppose the Psalmist was referring to when he wrote these lines? If we consider these words, we can readily see that we are to thank God constantly.
A true story, a friend of mine ‘John’ was new at a company. He was told be careful with the new photocopier it gets hot and can melt overheads when you put them through the photocopier. So treat it carefully.
On his third week there he stayed back late and absent mindedly put 10 overheads through the machine. One of them melted and jammed up the whole machine. All the mechanical parts of this expensive machine melted together and welded shut. ‘John was devastated’. The office manager was a short man who liked to pick on other people and john knew he would be in trouble. He knew he had done the wrong thing.
John panicked, he would lose his job. He tried and tried to fix it, but the plastic had melted everywhere. Not knowing what to do, he just left.
He comes into work the next day and sure enough the office manager is grinning and john knew he was going to get into trouble. Suddenly the company owner comes in and john thinks it can’t get any worse. In front of everyone the office manager starts to yell at john. The owner looks at the office manager calmly and says ‘There is no need to yell at john, I have already called photocopy repair man and the company will be covering the bill’. As the office manager slinks back to his desk, the boss turned to john and simply said, at least now you know how to treat the photocopier. I know personally that John truly liked his boss.
We are all like John, God tells us not to do something and we mess it up. We are selfish, rude, we don’t read our bibles, we don’t pray, we don’t think of others and it goes horribly wrong. The devil gets ready to taunt us and make us feel really bad for the things we have done wrong. But Jesus, who is God and human, paid the price for our sins and now just wants a relationship with us.
We can give thanks to the LORD in many different ways, and we have every reason to do so. The psalmist tells us “He is good,” and we can agree with that because of all the blessings we receive from God. The psalmist continues by saying, “for His steadfast love endures forever.” One of the ways God shows His love to us is through the celebration of The Lords Supper. This taste of bread and wine are but a small taste of that time when we will all be gathered around the LORD’s table celebrating with Him in all His glory. We are “the freed people of the LORD,” freed through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; and by sharing in this meal we are saying so.
2) It is a command of Christ
Anyone in management who works with complex people all the time, learns very quickly to trust those managers who are more advanced than you. You learn that you don’t know everything and sometimes you have to trust their advice even when you think they are wrong. If we do that with other managers who are flawed human beings, surely God is even more worthy of our trust.
Sometimes we just have to trust his commands.
Luke 22:19
19And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
“The first reason why it is the duty of every Christian to do so is, because it is a plain command of Christ.” (John Wesley)
We can also consider the LORD’s Supper as a show of God’s mercy toward humanity. In His mercy He has given us certain means of obtaining His help. The Lord’s supper is where we consider the benefits of receiving forgiveness for our sins and the strengthening and refreshing of our souls. Our world is a world of sin and temptations.
“Whatever way of life we are in, whatever our condition may be, whether we are sick or well, in trouble or at ease, the enemies of our souls are watching for the slightest opportunity to lead us into sin.” (Outler, Albert C.)
When we then realize we have sinned against God, what better way to seek forgiveness than, as the bible says,
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1
Just as our bodies are strengthened by bread and drink, so are our souls by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lords Supper is food for our bodies which reminds us to live the Christian life and serve others, and it reminds us this is only possible in Christ’s power. By this ceremony we are reminding ourselves to grow deeper in our love for Jesus.
3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3: 3- 5
Can we think of any better reason to continually communicate with our God? Through prayer, singing, bible reading and the Lord’s supper.
Another concern of participating in the Lords Supper is that it becomes meaningless, just another ritual to observe on Sunday morning. This may be so, but so what if it is? No where in scripture does God tell us it is alright to disobey His commands if for some reason we feel we are losing amazement for them.
Do you stop praying because it no longer feels amazing; do we stop bible reading because it no longer gives us high? No we keep doing it because it is what a Christian should do.
The command to the disciples from our LORD on the night of His betrayal was fairly explicit,
“26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom."
30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Matthew 26: 26 - 29
3) It is a reminder to confess our sins
To walk away from our old ways of doing things to the cross of Christ.
One of the hardest parts of the gospel is confession. Most human beings like to deny the things that are wrong and hope they go away. Rather than call someone we have a problem with, we send them an email. Rather than sort things out, we give people space until it all blows over. Confession, even to a total stranger like a counsellor is difficult.
But God says the path to freedom, is to confront the things that are wrong in your life and confess them to him. In confessing them, we take away their power. When things are no longer hidden in the darkness suddenly they lose power over us and it becomes ok. It becomes manageable. So God wants us to make confession part of life.
Our only requirement to come to the table is the repentance of sins and a mind focused upon Christ as Saviour.
“5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” Colossians 3 : 5 – 11
In 1818 one out of six women who had children died of something called "childbirth fever." A doctor’s daily routine back then started in the dissecting room, where he performed autopsies, and from there he made his rounds to examine expectant mothers. No one even thought to wash his hands...at least not until a doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis began to practice strict hand washing. He was the very first doctor to associate a lack of hand washing with the huge fatality rate. Dr. Semmelweis only lost one in fifty, yet his colleagues laughed at him. Once he said, "Childbirth fever is caused by decomposed material conveyed to a wound...I have shown how it can be prevented. I have proven all that I’ve said. But while we talk, talk, talk, women are dying.. I’m not asking for anything world-shaking, only that you wash your hands." Yet virtually no one believed him. And Jesus is not asking anything earth shaking from us. John writes,
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
We only need to confess our sins, to regularly wash our souls before God. It’s essential. The failure to confess our sins will result in spiritual infection that will hold back our spiritual journey.
As a Christian we turn again and again to the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Hebrews 10:1
“One of the enduring values of this sacrament is its unalterable focus on Jesus Christ and Him crucified as a central [truth] of the Christian religion. Sermons may or may not do this. The music may or may not do this…But in this sacrament God’s action in Christ is the central reality. Therefore, let all who sincerely repent and are in love with their fellows, or who long to be, come to the Table of the LORD!” Stokes, Mack B. (Retired Methodist Bishop)
In closing today i would like to review
1) Communion is a time to thank God
2) Communion is a command of Christ
3) Communion is a reminder to confess our sins
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT…AMEN
