“What We Believe: About the Lord’s Supper”
Introduction:
A young boy was part of a group of young people from his church who, as a service ministry, took the Lord’s Supper to homebound or hospitalized members of the church. He and his friends visited one elderly gentleman in particular who was in the hospital--nothing serious, just a minor illness--and these young people were disappointed to find that the gentleman was fast asleep. Nothing they did, it seemed, could stir him from his sleep.
Well, they were crestfallen; they hated to leave without performing their duty. So, one of the eleven-year-olds pointed out that the gentleman’s mouth was open. The young boys looked at each other, as if to say, "Why not?" and they broke off a tiny little piece of a wafer, and placed it in the elderly gentleman’s mouth, and poured in a tiny sip of grape juice; and sure enough, the man swallowed.
He never woke up. Neither do many people today.
I believe that there are many people who go through the motions of taking the Lord’s Supper, but really are not in communion with the Lord.
Every week here we devote a portion of the worship service to the parking of the Lord’s Supper. Why do we do that? Is this just some church tradition that we have, or is this a Biblical principle? I believe that many people have a problem with the Lord’s Supper because they do not understand what it is. I hope that through this study this morning we can learn the importance and purpose of the Lord’s Supper and then be changed by the way in which we partake.
For some people they are doing no more than eating a piece of bread and drinking some juice.
If anything in the church has been dumbed down and forgotten about it is the Lord’s Supper. I would be willing to wager that many people in the Lord’s Churches don’t even know why they are taking Communion. For many people they just take it because they have been offered it and know nothing different. I think it is shame that there are so many people ignorant of this issue. I believe that the Lord’s Supper is a central part of our weekly worship and should be central. We know that in Acts the reason why Christians met together was to take the Lord’s Supper. They didn’t meet together to hear a sermon or to sing songs, even though that is an important part of worship, they met together to take the Lord’s Supper. Maybe we have forgotten the importance of this institution which the Lord has left us.
Some churches don’t take the Lord’s Supper, but once a month or quarterly…how do we know that we should take it weekly. First, we have a example set before us of how the Apostles did things. Apostolic example is just as good as a command of Jesus.
Church, if nothing else can motivate you to come together to Church on Sunday morning, if nothing else will get you out of bed in the morning, then looking forward to this memorial should motivate us.
Suppose you had a child that died to save someone. Imagine being at his funeral and everyone talking about how he is a hero. People probably would come from miles around to honor him, but imagine if the person he died to save was not at his memorial service…that may aggregate you and upset you a little. You may think that he was un grateful and your son should not have died for him. Maybe that is how God feels when we miss the memorial of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is the memorial of the death of Jesus, and we have been invited to remember. Some say it becomes common place after we do it week after week, some say it looses it’s meaning, but those people who say that do not understand the purpose of the Lord’s Supper. Those who simply chew the bread and drink the juice don’t understand the seriousness of this institution.
Let us examine the scriptures to see what the Lord’s Supper is and why we should partake of it regularly.
Text: Matthew 26:17-30
I. The Lord’s Supper is an act of Obedience
I have heard many people say that taking the Lord’s Supper is no a command that is found in scripture, but I believe that it is.
I Corinthians 11:24
Partaking of the Lord’s Supper is a command given by our Lord. He said to “do this”. Why are there so many churches that don’t see the importance in the Lord’s Supper? Why is it that people do not obey this command of the Lord, in fact the so blatantly disobey these commands. I do not know how you can look to scriptures and not see that the Lord’s Supper was an integral part of their worship. The reason why they can do that is because they put equally as much weight in the opinions of man as the do the authority of the Bible. Years ago Martin Luther came on the scene preaching that we need to go back to the Bible and the Bible alone. A few hundred years later Alexander Campbell came on the scene saying that we need to go to the Bible and the Bible alone as our only rule for faith and practice. I think that those are great ideals, but they need to be preached again. I believe that people have lost that idea. The Lord’s Supper is an issue which separates churches and divides them, but it is a command to partake from our Lord, and we have the example of the early church recorded in scripture that each Lord’s Day they meet together in obedience to the command to take the Lord’s Supper. Why do we take the Lord’s Supper each Sunday? One reason is out of obedience to our Lord Jesus.
II. The Lord’s Supper is an act of Remembrance
I Corinthians 11:24-25
In our nation’s capital the Washington Monument reaches high in the sky, in memory of the first president of the United States. In the same city another memorial stands to another great president, the Lincoln Memorial. A few miles away in Virginia is the tomb of an unknown soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. It is placed there in memory of those unknown military men who gave their lives in the country’s service. These are the ways that man erects monuments so that those who pass by may call to mind the one in whose honor it was built. All such memorials crumble and fall, but the memorial of the Lord’s Supper that Jesus left will never crumble or fade. Jesus didn’t expect the substance of the bread and juice to last forever, but the meaning behind those elements.
The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of his death, burial and resurrection. When you partake of the Lord’s Supper I want to encourage you to mediate on the death of Jesus, because that is the redeeming act. I like to try to get a graphic picture of the sufferings of Jesus, perhaps read Isaiah 53, or Psalm 22, which describe Jesus’ death. We need to remember his sacrifice for our sins, because when we remember what he did for us it forces us to live in obedience to His commands.
I do not know how a person can remember what Jesus did for them and still go on sinning. I don’t understand how someone can accept the forgiveness of sins, and be baptized, and never come to church again. I don’t know about you, but I am sick of seeing people “come to Jesus”, and never come to church. We need to confront those people of that, and cause them to remember what Jesus did.
When we are taking the Lord’s Supper regularly and remembering what Jesus did for us we are much less likely to fall into sin.
III. The Lord’s Supper is an act of Thanksgiving
I Corinthians 10:16
Not only is the Lord’s Supper a time of remembrance and memorial, but it is also a time of thanksgiving. In many of the early church documents, we learn that the Lord’s Supper was referred to as the Eucharist and in some churches that name still exists. That word comes from the Greek word that means thanksgiving. We through remembering the death of Jesus do indeed have something to be thankful for. The Lord’s Supper is a thanksgiving feast. Even though thanksgiving is going to be celebrated by Americans on Thursday, we Christians have a thanksgiving feast every Lord’s Day. When taking the Lord’s Supper need to remember what we have to be thankful for. Every time I partake of the Lord’s Supper and old the bread and the juice I am reminded that Jesus’ body was broken and his blood was spilled for our sins. I don’t know about you, but I am thankful for that sacrifice. Without that sacrifice for my sins, I was lost, and so were you. We have something to be thankful for. Surely this thanksgiving isn’t only limited to the time of Communion, but the Lord’s Supper is a great time to spend in thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us, because it is in that time we vividly recall Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins.
IV. The Lord’s Supper is an act of Proclamation
I Corinthians 11:26
a. The Lord’s Death
Many churches are trying to take the Lord’s Supper out of their churches. I have heard of several churches that have moved the communion table to a back room and allow people to come after the service. They do this because they don’t want to offend anyone by having the Lord’s Supper. I think that they miss the point that in the Lord’s Supper the gospel is told. The bread, Jesus tells us represents His body that was broken for us. When we remember what Jesus went through here one Earth then we are thankful. The break of communion symbolizes that body, and it tells of His death. The juice that we drink is not merely grape juice, but it is symbolic of the blood that Jesus spilt on the cross for us. I am not a medical genius, but I know that if a person went through what Jesus did he would have bleed quite a bit. Jesus received 40 lashes with a cat of nine tails, which is a whip with nine different strings; on the end was tied glass or other sharp fragments. When the whip would hit, the glass would dig into the flesh and rip it apart. When we take the Lord’s Supper we are proclaiming the Lord’s death to people around us.
I heard a story of an unbeliever who came into a church. He had never been to church before, and when the communion time came he was confused. He had never seen anything like this. As he observed people he began to figure out what it meant. He observed the sincere meditation on people’s faces, and the repentance for their sins in their eyes. He understood the symbolism and a passage of scripture were read. He heard the gospel through the Lord’s Supper.
b. The Lord’s Return
As we take communion, surely it looks backwards towards Calvary and Jesus’ death, but we should also look forward to the time in which our faith is made sight. Paul says we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. The Lord’s Supper is an institution which we partake with until Jesus returns again. We are proclaiming that Jesus will return one day.
V. The Lord’s Supper is an act of Examination
I Corinthians 11:27-29
It cannot be forgotten that the Lord’s Supper is a time of examining yourself. It is important for us to remember that we must examine ourselves when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. I like during Communion time to meditate on the past week and to see where I have fallen short. I think that the reason why many people never grow in their faith is because they never examine their hearts to see where they stand with the Lord. When they don’t examine themselves they never feel guilty for their sin, and they never change for the better. We need to be in constant examination of our hearts, seeing where we stand with the Lord. It would not do any of us harm to search our hearts, and see where we have sinned. I like to look at my life during communion time, and spend that time repenting of my sins of the past week. When we examine ourselves, and look to see where we have fallen short, it gives us the opportunity to first of all see what struggles we have in our lives. Secondly, it reveals to us where we need to improve. Third, it shows us how great the grace of God is that would cover over our sin. We should never forget that we need to regularly examine ourselves to see where we are headed.
Examination does no good where there is not repentance. It does no good to simply know where we have fallen short and not change the way that we live. We are Christians, and I know none of us have it all figured out, none of us are perfect or without sin. None of us made it through the week sinless, and we need to see where we have fallen short, but also strive to do right. One reason Christians never grow or mature in their faith is because they try to justify their sin. The call adultery or fornication messing around. They call lying fibbing or simply kidding. They think of excuses for not coming to church, not praying, and not regularly digesting God’s Word. We need to stop justifying our sins, and examine ourselves and repent. The Lord’s Supper is an act of examination of our lives and where we stand before God. A healthy examination will help us to grow, and to mature into the servants of God that we need to be.
