Jesus never asked His disciples to remember His birth. But He did instruct them to remember His death and resurrection. He gave the church two visible symbols (called “ordinances”) as reminders of His death. These two ordinances are: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is an object lesson that represents a great spiritual truth for believers.
When I was a child growing up in church, I welcomed the times we took the Lord’s Supper in my little church back in Kentucky. I did not welcome it because I was a super-spiritual teenager. I welcomed it because it cut-down on the amount of sermon from our pastor. I greatly underestimated the importance of this memorial meal.
The Lord’s Supper is so significant that when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin because the first people in history to walk on the Moon, Aldrin celebrated the auspicious occasion by taking the Lord’s Supper. In 1969, Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. was an elder at Webster Presbyterian Church, a congregation just outside of Houston, Texas. He told the lead pastor of his church, Dean Woodruff, that he had “been struggling to find the right symbol for the first lunar landing.” Aldrin got the idea for the communion ceremony while at Cape Kennedy working with the “sophisticated tools of the space effort.” “I wondered if it might be possible to take communion on the moon, symbolizing the thought that God was revealing himself there too, as man reached out into the universe. For there are many of us in the NASA program who do trust that what we are doing is part of God’s eternal plan for man,” Aldrin said.
Aldrin got busy with preparation ahead of the launch. The communion bread was carried in a plastic packet, the way regular inflight food is wrapped. Because there was just enough gravity on the moon for liquid to pour, Aldrin wanted to pour the wine into a chalice from his church. The pastor had presented him a silver cup that was small and light enough that it could be carried in the astronaut’s personal-preference kit.
Aldrin described the surreal ceremony this way: “I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were communion elements.” Before taking the elements he read the words of John 15:5 that he had handwritten on a scrap of paper: “I am the vin, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fuirt, for you can do nothing without me.” Fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong looked on quietly but did not participate. Aldrin later said that taking communion on the moon was his way of giving thanks to God for the success of the mission.
Down south of here at Webster Presbyterian church, the spiritual home of many astronauts, Aldrin's communion service is still celebrated every July, known as Lunar Communion Sunday. Pastor Helen DeLeon told me how they replay the tape of Aldrin on the moon and recite Psalm eight, which he had quoted on his return trip to Earth ("… what is man that thou art mindful of him"). The church still holds the chalice that Aldrin brought back with him.
The truth is the Lord’s Supper is a big deal even if it was never celebrated on the lunar surface.
Today’s Scripture
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
If 1 Corinthians was written before any of the gospels, it’s likely this is the first written account of the Lord’s Supper that we are in possession of today. We should really cherish these words, shouldn’t we?
The observance of the Lord’s Supper is described here can also be found in Matthew 26:26–29, Mark 14:22–25, as well as Luke 22:19–20. All four accounts including the one we just read refer to the following elements: 1) taking the bread, 2) giving thanks, 3) breaking the bread, 4) the words, “This is my body,” and 5) the passing of the cup.
1. It’s A Simple Act
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread…” (1 Corinthians 11:23).
The Bible says that the very first communion, the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed, took bread and broke it. He didn't have some big elaborate ceremony, wearing special costumes and vestments and burning incense and doing all kinds of fancy rituals. The Lord's Supper is a very simple act. He took bread and He took wine and He gave it to the people. It’s not some big elaborate ritual. When we take the Lord's Supper, we don't turn it into a big ritual. We just observe the elements.
1. It’s A Simple Act
2. It’s A Reminder
“and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24).
The whole purpose of the Lord’s Supper is for us to remember what Jesus did on the cross. Paul says in effect, “I received this and I am passing this reminder on to you. It’s a tradition among churches and believers everywhere.” When we take this meal, we are to intentionally remember what Jesus did on the night of His betrayal and on the cross on Good Friday. I attempt to rehearse these mental images each time I take in order to remind myself. I encourage you to do the same.
1. It’s A Simple Act
2. It’s A Reminder
3. It’s a Statement of Faith
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
When you take of the Lord's Supper, you’re making your faith public. Did you know that? You’re preaching a sermon. You’re placing your beliefs on a billboard by the a busy highway for all to see. Taking the Supper is a statement of personal faith. It’s a “This I believe moment.” You and I should take it seriously.
When you take the Lord’s Supper in a few moments, I want you to look forward but also look backward. As you would drive your car by looking through the windshield but also keeping an eye at your rearview mirror, you should look forward and backward.
1. Look Backward
I want you to look backward at the death of Jesus Christ: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
I was grateful to be reminded by a pastor friend of mine that years ago, the Rockefeller Report gave an account of a West African named Acebe, who supplied from his veins the very first blood from which the vaccine for yellow fever was derived. This West African man had contracted yellow fever but miraculously recovered. This made the antibodies in his blood precious to those who were seeking a cure for this deadly disease. This man allowed his blood to be taken for this life-giving purpose. In 1937, the yellow fever vaccine was first manufactured from that man’s blood. The original strain of the virus obtained from that humble man has gone throughout the earth – from laboratory to laboratory, from hospital to hospital – providing immunity for millions. The Rockefeller Foundation stated that through science, the blood of one man in West Africa had been made to serve the whole human race.
2. Look Forward
Yes, look back at the death of Jesus but also look ahead: ““For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
Did you catch those three little words at the end of the verse 26? Your Bible says, “Until he comes.” It’s referring to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Refer to Traci’s slowness when coming out of Old Navy when buying Miles’s pants.
Play off the word “slowness” in the Scripture.
knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
2 Peter 3:3-4
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
2 Peter 3:8-10
There's a forward look and a backward look.
We look forward to the fact that Jesus is coming back and He says do this until He comes back.
And we look back at the cross.
Jesus did not stay dead. He's coming back again.
2. Who Should Take the Lord's Supper?
Only those who are already believers.
When Jesus offered the communion (the Lord's Supper) He didn't offer it to the 5000 where He fed the loaves and fish.
He only offered the Lord's Supper to the twelve disciples whom He knew were true believers.
He didn't offer the Lord's Supper to the crowds.
In fact, the Bible says that when a non believer takes the Lord's Supper he brings judgment upon himself.
We don't want to cause a non believer to sin even more so we don't take it very often on Sunday morning.
The Bible says, "For anyone who eats or drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon himself"
So it's not for unbelievers.
3. How do I prepare myself for the Lord's Supper?
"Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A person ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup."
Anytime we take the Lord's Supper here at this church we always have a time of prayer and self examination before.
We say, "God, is there anything in my life that's between me and You that I need to confess and get rid of before I take communion."
The Bible says that we are to examine ourself every time we take the Lord's Supper.
We do these two things.
1. Look Inward
“Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
1 Corinthians 11:28
a. self examination
“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?”2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB)
b. Confessing My Sins
“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
REPENTANCE IS NECESSARY!
2. Look Outward
“if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment.”
1 Corinthians 11:34
...others - how is our life affecting others?
God’s judgment is not destructive but redemptive!
Sin has consequences now and later.
Sin has Scars!
“ By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
1 John 3:16
