The communion service.
Seagull 1. (Arms flapping circling around something)
Aaah aaah out of my way Colin gull.
Seagull 2. You can call me C gull Clara - amyway this is my spot I come here every Sunday.
Seagull 1. What for.
Seagull 2. It’s the bread man - there’s bread in there - I can smell it.
Seagull 1. Yeah that’s what I come for too are you getting tired - the service is still going let’s take a rest on the steeple.
Seagull 2 - (Swaying to music.) Love that tune man - love the words.
Seagull 1 What is it
Seagull 2 Take our bread - that’s what I’m here for- Hee Hee - (they both laugh.)
Seagull 1 Take our bread - What happens in this building anyway - I mean I know it’s a church but how come they have bread - Mmmm smell that bread -
Seagull 2 Well I was talking to my Uncle Cliff Gull - C gull for short
Clarifying communion
LK 24:30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
Seagull 1 Do I know him?
Seagull 2 No he went of in a truck - we never saw him again.
Seagull 1 He got a ride in a truck?
Seagull 2 No he was hit by one - in the grill at 100 kilometres an hour - it wasn’t a pretty sight
anyway - I was talking to Uncle Cliff and he told me that the bread the humans eat
is only part of the story - they drink a red drink as well as the bread, grape I understand.
Seagull 1 Not for me I only drink Puddle
Seagull 2 Me too but seemingly a long time ago - there lived someone called Jesus - God’s
son - God made seagulls as well - well this Jesus came to earth and seemingly they
had made a real mess of things
Seagull 1. I can believe that - they’re crazy - I saw a dead sheep in a paddock the other day =
Farmer didn’t even eat it just left it lying there. He could have at least eaten the eyes.
Seagull 2 Anyway because people had made such a mess of things - this man - Jesus comes to
earth to sort things out - he did a pretty good job too until some people got jealous
and they killed him - nailed him to a cross - and he bled - so because his body was
broken and he lost his blood they take bread and the red drink to remember.
The bread represents his body and the drink represents his body. That’s how they
celebrate communion.
Seagull 1. Doesn’t sound like a celebration to me - he was dead.
Seagull 2. Aaaaah that is where you’re wrong because unlike your Uncle Cliff - who’ll never
come back - Jesus did. He rose from the dead. Seemingly because he did - those who accept what he did - will do the same.
Seagull 1 Really - Seagulls too
Seagull 2 No not seagulls - we only get one shot at life - oops shot bad choice of words.
Seagull 1 Well best to make the most of it - they’re taking too long - I’m off I heard from a
friend of a friend - keep it under your wing mind that there’s a picnic going on at piano flat.
Seagull 2 Well what are we waiting for.
There can be no doubt that there are many different views of communion.
I remember as a child going to our local Presbyterian church and being struck by the sombreness of communion. It looked an incredibly serious business and children were not part of it. Men in sombre black suits would file to the front of the church and serve the elements and I think something of the seriousness of the event was conveyed.
In Mosgiel we would file to the front of the church and take communion and it became a real encounter with God - a place where one was refreashed and renewed.
I remember people being very creative with communion providing time to reflect and think before you took the elements. I remember Anglican communions and catholic ones where ritual and form played a high part - I remember a communion where people who were in rebellion to God were encouraged to partake and I personally felt the pain of having to withdraw.
We all have different views of communion
Possible sharing - what does communion mean to me.
So "What is communion?" Communion is one of the oldest ways that Christians have worshipped.
Even in the earliest days of the church when 1 Corinthians was written, Paul talked about it as
something that was being passed down. It even dates back to Jesus and his twelve disciples.
But Paul also says something interesting. He says that in communion we proclaim the Lord’s
death until he comes again. We think of communion as a way to remember what Jesus did,
but we often do not think of it as proclaiming like a sermon. But it does. In the communion
service we tell the story of how God has saved us through Christ. Through the symbols of
bread and wine we tell how Jesus body was broken and his blood shed for us. We also
show that because of that shed blood we are fed spiritually. In communion we proclaim that
God saves us through Christ’s death. But when we come forward to take part in communion
we also witness to our faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Communion is not just a noun, it is also a verb. It is not just a word to refer to a
ceremony, in is a verb that refers to an action. It is not just something we take. It is
something we do. Because in doing it we proclaim Christ’s death and its power to save
us.
But something more happens in communion. When we gather together to proclaim that good news
that Christ’s blood was shed to feed us spiritually, we are not alone. Christ is in our midst. And that
affects each of us. We say that communion is a means of grace. Through it Christ
ministers to us.
For our reading from Luke I chose the part of the Emmaus story when Christ broke the
bread and was revealed to the disciples. Just as the risen Lord was with those pilgrims on
their journey, the risen Christ is with us. And when we remember how he died to feed his
lambs and how he bled to give us eternal life, it is an opportunity for Christ to minister to us.
We proclaim his death to the world, but his gracious presence is also revealed to us as we
partake. Luke 24:28-31
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
The first thing I notice about the last supper is that it is a time apart a time of healing and restoration with God.
As a Church we need to move beyond ritual to reality.
At the time of the last supper Jesus is found in an upper room with his disciples - they were alone together with the Lord - undisturbed - behind them was a time of great blessing and great turmoil as their ministry had impacted and shaken the Jewish nation. Ahead of them lay a time of untold suffering for Jesus and the disciples - a time of testing - and then more blessing and more blessing.
But for now in this upper room the doors were closed and the disciples were alone with Jesus
Today in the world that we live in the situation is the same - all over the world - men and woman and children join together - in this great meal - to be alone with Jesus - Behind us too are times of great celebration and blessing - ahead of us more of the same and the assurance of the underlying hand of God. But here in the last supper for the Christian Church is that great time to be alone with Jesus. It is a time for the church to recline with Jesus to be alone with him.
What does that mean for you and me individually. for me that means two things.
1. A great reassurance of the love of God for me individually - encouragement that God cares for me and whatever trials and temptations I face in the future he will be there.
2. An opportunity to experience the healing power of God as I come into a place of Grace and love.
|The second thing about communion is that Jesus serves it -
Luke chapter 22 vverse 17ff.
It is an action from Jesus to the disciples -
at the heart of communion is the fact that it is Jesus serving us -
Communion is the only celebration where the entry fee is all your hidden faults - the symbolism in this first communion service is enormous - on the threshhold of his martyrdom - Jesus serves the last supper humbly to his servant - this is a great three dimensional visual aid as to what the Lord Jesus does for us on the cross -
On the cross he serves us - he takes our wretchedness our terrible sins and carries them completely way in a sea of love and willing self sacrifice - the only one in that last supper who didn’t receive forgiveness for his sins was Judas because he held on to his sins.
There is a great difference between a life washed in this way in the fountain of life -
such an example is the life of Ma Moteke (Damaris) who was converted during the Zambesi
ministry of Francois Coillard -
"I took Mrs Bell to see the Christians who live on the station, and among others a very old woman called Ma-Moteke (Damaris). She took hold of Mrs B, by the hand and said to her, ’Sister, cling to Christ; dont let Him go. You must not be astonished if you feel sometimes on your back little strokes as if someone were tapping you; it is not anything that can hurt you, only the Good shepherd pressing you on that you may run to your Father.
Perhaps you think I am old! Not at all. I have grown a young girl since I began to serve Christ. If you doubt just ask Madame, and she will tell you that before I knew the Lord I was very old. I never used to go to dig or weed; I said, "All is over for me in this world," but now I have a large garden of maize which I dig and weed all by myself. I am a young girl, I am quite white (on the inside) I am no longer black. Oh I am so happy.
How are we in the inside do we have undealt with sins we need to give to Christ?
If you feel that you need refreshing in this area from God then listen to these words from Acts 3 verse 19 - Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
In the hymn What a friend we have in Jesus we hear these words.
O what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in Prayer.
Corporately as a church that promise is for us but also as individuals.
We need to carry everything to God in prayer.
Communion is the doorway to peace if you can but see it.
Thirdly in our reading this morning we see the disciples response.
The disciples respond in two ways. Both these ways are ways in which we can reflect on this morning.
Firstly - they receive from Jesus - they receive the cup and the bread from him - Jesus serves him.
Out in the world we try to act as the hands of Christ to the world - here in the communion service it is christs hands that serve us -
In John’s gospel we read how at this celebration Jesus comes to his disciples to wash their feet.
It was the custom that before people went to a feast they bathed themselves. When they came to the house of their host, they did not need to be bathed again; all they needed was to have their feet washed. The washing of the feet was the ceremony which preceded entry into the house where they were to be guests.
In conversion symbolised in our baptism we are bathed in the forgiveness of Jesus -
As we receive the elements of bread and wine here today we may receive it from one of the people serving the communion but also we are receiving it from Jesus Himself.
We are not just washed by the facts of what Jesus did on the cross but it is intensely personal as well - from Jesus to you.
Seccondly - In receiving this gift from Jesus we are acknowledging our responsibility to share that gift with others - In John chapter 14 verse 14 says;- Now that I your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet you should also wash one anothers feet.
We are called to touch one another with a servants heart.
