The God Who Communes
10/23/05
Note: CofC=Churches of Christ. The introduction is somewhat specific to practices of communion in the Church of Christ.
Introduction: What have we lost in communion?
1. Lord’s Supper in CofC.
I knew a couple when I attended the Huntsville CofC that showed up for the Lord’s Supper and took off for Vegas immediately after! There has been a time or two when I can remember visiting someplace and taking communion and hitting the road. Why is that? On one hand, it is a good thing. We value the Lord’s Supper to the point that we believe we should take it every week, if at all possible. We focus on the technical correctness of making sure we remember the body and blood of Christ through the emblems. OTOH, we make it a legalistic requirement and forget the true meaning of the word communion. It becomes a check on our list. We don’t even see the contradiction in someone dropping in for communion and the fleeing shortly thereafter. If we think that is what God is after in the Lord’s Supper, we are sadly mistaken.
2. Our God is the model of communion.
Before we can just jump into the NT passages about the L.S. we need to understand where communion derives from, that is, the nature of God. God has always been a God of communion and he has graciously extended his loving fellowship to us. The L.S. is simply a realization of that communion. Whether in creation, the exodus, the cross, or the future kingdom, God’s purpose has always been to possess a people that he could share his love with.
Move 1: Creation, fall, and sacrifice.
1. The eternal communion of God (Gen. 1:1, 2).
We know the opening words of the Bible well, but the Bible doesn’t tell us God’s motivation for creation, more specifically his motivation for creating us. That is something that we learn from the nature of God himself. Notice 1:26. Who is God talking to? Genesis doesn’t spell it out to us, but we learn from later revelation that though God is one, he is three in one. God by his very nature is a God who communes in eternal love and fellowship as Father, Son, and Spirit. God didn’t create us because he was lonely. He created us to share that fellowship with us.
2. The loss of fellowship (3:8).
If only things could have remained as they were. But Adam and Eve were deceived by a powerful rebellious creature. This verse is particularly sad. If you have a child, imagine the child hiding from you because of fear. Adam and Eve lost their intimacy with God because of their sin. They would be banished from the garden and bring the curse of death to mankind.
3. The God who seeks to restore fellowship (3:21; 4:2-5).
God could just write them off and kill them instantly (he had told them the penalty for their sin before they made the tragic choice). Why doesn’t he? It is not his nature. He seeks to restore what was lost and though not completed he begins immediately. He makes them clothes from skins. But notice; there is already a price. Where did God get those skins? The price of continued fellowship comes with sacrifice of innocent animals.
- By the fourth chapter we have animal sacrifice as a norm (read 4:2-5). Able sacrificed the first born of his flock. There is a price to pay at the altar to be able to come to the table of God.
Move 2: God seeks a people for himself.
1. God cuts a covenant with Abram.
God enacts a plan to restore full fellowship with man. It reaches a pivotal stage with Abram. He is not special, except that he was chosen by God, and that he was past the possibility of having a child in his old age (Sarai, too). When God tells him that his descendants will be as the stars in the sky, Abram asks how he can know this. Read Gen. 15:8-21. In v. 18, it literally means “cut a covenant.” It is easy to see how that term came about. A covenant implies fellowship, and always was sealed with blood. Here is a very graphic picture. Abram brought a heifer, goat, and a ram and cut them in half and made an aisle. At nightfall a blazing torch and fire pot passes through. This meant that if someone failed to keep their covenant that they would become like the animals. Certainly, God cannot die, but neither can he break his covenant, and this was the most profound way that God could make this point to Abram.
2. The next stage of the covenant is fulfilled (Ex. 24:8-11).
Israelites were the descendants of Abraham. God’s next act of divine communion is to call a people his own. He rescues them from Egypt and they remember with the Passover, marked by the sacrifice of a lamb, but also the eating and celebration with each other and God. Eating became a way of communing with God. First the altar, but then the table. In this text it says, “…they saw God, and they ate and drank.” The implication is that God was with them as they ate. He was a participant in the meal.
Move 3: The sacrificial system of the Law demonstrated God’s continual fellowship.
1. Understanding the sacrifices of the OT is essential to understanding L.S.
Pagan gods were sacrificed to simply to appease. But the point of the altar of sacrifice in Scripture was not simply appeasement. Yes, sins were serious and life had to be taken to atone for them (something very important in understanding the death of Christ), but they were also a means to an end. God wanted to fellowship with his people and this was represented in the meal of the sacrifice. Most sacrifices were eaten by the priest and his family, but fellowship offerings were eaten by the worshipper as well.
2. God’s presence is manifested after the fellowship offering (Lev. 9:18-24).
This follows the sacrifice of the sin offering. The people did not eat the meat of this offering, but only the priests. Lev. 7:11ff describe the fellowship offering, which the priests and the worshippers ate. The fat is burned to the Lord, so God participates in this fellowship meal, which starts with a sacrifice. Notice the ending to our text and the response of the people. Joy.
Illustration: Three times a month, Jermaine Washington and Michelle Stevens get together for what they call a "gratitude lunch." With good reason! Washington donated a kidney to Stevens, whom he described as "just a friend." They met at work where they used to have lunch together. One day Michelle wept as she spoke about waiting on a kidney donor list for 11 months. She was being sustained by kidney dialysis, but suffered chronic fatigue and blackouts and was plagued by joint pain. Because Washington couldn’t stand the thought of watching his friend die, he gave her one of his kidneys. Eating together is away to share fellowship and gratitude. That’s exactly what God invites us to when we commune with him. We remember what he’s done for us.
Move 4: Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for the ultimate fellowship (Heb. 9:11-14).
1. Christ is the ultimate sacrifice.
For hundreds of years, believers offered animal sacrifices, but they could not ultimately take away sin. We could not offer a sacrifice unblemished enough, so God did it for us through his Son. This was the ultimate “once for all” sacrifice (cf. 10:10). This makes it possible to enjoy the eternal fellowship of God.
Move 5: The table and the future Messianic banquet.
1. Christ instituted the L.S. to invite us to the table of God (Lk. 22:17-22).
This is during the Passover meal, which recalls God’s redemptive act of saving Israel from slavery. Now Jesus will be the Passover Lamb of God. His own body and blood will be on the cross, the ultimate altar of God. By this supper the disciples will not only recall what happened but affirm the reality of its effects in their lives mainly that we are able to come to the table of God. When we share the communion, Jesus is present as host of the table. It is a supper that celebrates the God who communes. The cross is the altar that makes the table possible.
2. The L.S. points to an even greater banquet (Matt. 8:10-12).
The Jews understood the importance of eating with each other and with God. To eat with someone was to have meaningful fellowship with them. They believed that the Messiah would host the ultimate banquet in his kingdom. Jesus picks up that idea and applies it eternally. Heaven is described as the ultimate eternal banquet where Jesus is host and servant (Lk. 12:37). Revelation and other places pick up this language from Is. 25:6-8, “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheets that cover all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.”
Conclusion: What does all this mean for the L.S.?
1. God is the initiator of communion.
When we eat the meal of the L.S. it is God who has made it possible, because it was his nature to do so. He did so in creation. He did so in the redemption and promises to Israel and made it possible for eternity in the cross. Don’t trivialize communion as a checklist item. For you are invited to the very table of God through the blood of Jesus Christ! Imagine that. God so loved us that he wanted communion with us so much, he gave the most precious gift imaginable. Do you still want to eat and run?
2. We come to the table not the altar.
The altar is the cross. The table is not possible without the altar, but the altar was a means to end, fellowship with God. We remember the altar at the table, but it is an occasion of joy and fellowship with God and each other, just as the fellowship offerings were in the OT. Paul draws from this same understanding in the Corinthian letter. It is okay to smile, to have joyous thoughts of victory, to look at each other when you commune. It is not a solemn, solitary meal. Passover was an occasion for joy and as Christians living in the reality of the risen Christ, so is the L.S.
3. Look forward to the Messianic banquet.
When we take communion it is an occasion to look back, but also to look at the present reality of Christ in our life. It is also an occasion to anticipate that Jesus promises one great eternal banquet with him. The LS foreshadows a greater reality. I don’t know what kind of food you can eat in heaven. I just know who is going to be host!
Invitation: Come to the table through the altar.
Everyone is invited to that future banquet, but it is clear that not everyone will accept. First, you must accept the sacrifice of Christ on your behalf. Don’t be fooled. God will not allow sin at this table, only forgiven sinners. Jesus made it possible to be forgiven, so that we can have fellowship with God. Accept him, today.
