Preparing for the Lord's Supper

3/13/11 Sermon by Minister Michael Johnson

Preparing for the Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians 11: 20 – 19

When I was younger, before I was able to participate in communion, I always wanted to take it. I would watch as all the adults took the bread and drank the juice and I wanted to do it, too. I was told I had to wait until I was old enough to make a public profession of faith and understand the purpose of taking communion. When I was thirteen I told my parents I was ready to do this. In the church I grew up in, once you told your parents you were ready, you took classes after church on what it meant to be a Christian, to participate in The Lord’s Supper and to be a member of a church. After the classes were finished I met with the elders as a group and then stood before the whole congregation and professed my faith in Christ. It was after I completed all these steps that I was finally able to partake in the Lord’s Supper. I was so excited that I got to do something the adults were doing. But you know what? Even after those wonderful classes, I still didn’t fully understand the Lord’s Supper. Have you seen the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci entitled The Last Supper? It shows Jesus and his disciples at a bountiful table. It was this scene that I would usually think about while we were taking communion because I thought the Lord’s Supper was all about remembering the last meal Jesus had with his disciples before He was taken away. But it’s more than that. It’s WAY more than that. Since we’re going to be celebrating the Lord’s Supper today, I thought we should spend this time together delving deeper into what The Lord’s Supper means and the importance of approaching it with our hearts and minds in the right place. Let’s look at the Scripture for today.

I want to split the passage we read earlier into three parts. The first is Chapter 11, Verse 20-22. The second will be verses 23-26. The third part will be verses 27-29. I want to read again each passage as I come to them. So if everyone could turn to the passage I will read Chapter 11, verses 20-22:

Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper. For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

When I first read these verses I questioned whether or not I would include them in the sermon. At first, it seems like it is talking about the location where people should eat their food, in their houses, and it’s saying that we can’t just call something The Lord’s Supper simply because we’re all sharing a meal together. But then I read it a few times, consulted the original Greek language that it’s written in and reviewed a few commentaries. Finally, I realized this is perfect for preceding a conversation on the Lord’s Supper. It is perfect because it lets us know what the Lord’s Supper is NOT. The Lord’s Supper is not a selfish event and it is not a common practice. You see, the people were coming together and eating their meals as individuals or as individual families, but not as a community. People ate only what they brought and didn’t share what they brought with each other. Of course, not everyone was on the same economic or social level. So, some had plenty and others had little. As you can imagine, those who did not have any food to bring with them were excluded and did not eat. This is why it says, “one is hungry and another becomes drunk.” So the one who brings nothing so doesn’t eat, and is shamed, while another brings so much that they bring wine and enough wine to get drunk from it.

You might compare this to the meal after church. Think, instead of everyone sharing from the same provided food, everyone brought in their own lunch every week. Some may only afford to bring rice to eat while others may be able to bring in fish, chicken, vegetables, noodles and rice. In addition, those who had plenty to eat would not share with those who had very little, or nothing. What kind of church would this be? This is the point that Paul is making. While not every meal is the Lord’s Supper we as the church are not to shame those who have less than others by indulging deeply while others are in need. He is also making the point that The Lord’s Supper is not simply a feast for the sake of eating. It is something much more.

Let’s continue to the next section and read verses 23-26:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

We believe the elements hold value representing Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation. It also means we are confirming the reality of what each component of the Lord’s Supper means to us as Christians. When we eat the bread we are agreeing with Christ that He did have His body broken for us. There is a reason we use unleavened bread. Unleavened bread does not have yeast in it. When I was younger, I wondered why the bread, or the cracker, tasted so differently than other breads. In our Western culture, we don’t eat much unleavened bread, if at all. But this is significant because Jesus did not have an ounce of sin in his body and we are to represent that when we take The Lord’s Supper by eating bread that does not have an ounce of yeast in it.

The wine represents Christ’s blood which was shed for us. I believe what is often missed when the Lord’s Supper is explained is the fact that His blood being shed is actually a covenant action. In the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed and their blood was shed to establish covenants between God and His people. Every time we partake in the cup we are symbolizing Christ’s blood which was shed to bring us into God’s salvation covenant. Every time we participate in the Lord’s Supper we are reconfirming the covenant of our Salvation in Christ. We are standing before the Lord and stating we are still the covenant children of God, and that we will continue to obey the rules of the covenant. So, it’s more than eating bread and drinking juice. It is a spiritual act.

The phrase “do this in remembrance of me” is very significant because it means something different than you might expect. An English understanding of the word remembrance is limited compared to its meaning in the Greek. In English the act of remembrance is a mental exercise where we reflect on something that has already happened. You might compare it to remembering a nice vacation with your family. You had a good time, but it is something that occurred in the past. You can’t possibly participate in that vacation today. Jesus’ use of the word remembrance is different. In the original Greek, the word “remembrance” indicates a call to action. That means it is not just a matter of remembering something that happened a long time ago, or having a solemn moment where we imagine ourselves in that painting, sitting with Jesus and His disciples. Instead, when we celebrate The Lord’s Supper, we are acknowledging His work on the cross 2000 years ago, celebrating the relationship we enjoy with Him today and affirming the promise He gave us to spend eternity with Him in the future.

Jesus makes it clear that we are to celebrate The Lord’s Supper more than once when He says, “Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup.” It was never intended to be a one-time event. Since we are to celebrate continually, how often do we celebrate The Lord’s Supper? Scripture doesn’t tell us how often, because that’s not the most important facet. The RCA encourages that we celebrate The Lord’s Supper once every three months. Other churches celebrate it only once a year, while others incorporate it into their weekly service. There is no right answer.

John Calvin, a theologian I admire, viewed The Lord’s Supper as a true spiritual event, one that welcomed the presence of the Holy Spirit. He taught that every time we take the bread and drink the wine or juice we are stepping into real presence of Christ just as the disciples did. We are experiencing the Holy Spirit’s renewing that covenant we made when our eyes were opened by the Holy Spirit to see the Truth of Christ. This is why protestant tradition believes the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace. This means that when we participate in a sacrament we are doing something outwardly that is a way of marking something happening inwardly.

This leads us directly into the final verses. For, if we believe the Lord’s Supper proclaims Christ’s death and if we believe it is a recommitment to the covenant made with Jesus for our salvation then we cannot consume the Lord’s Supper lightly. This leads into the next point. Let me read verses 27-29 again:

For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.

This is an ominous warning from Paul to approach the table for the Lord’s Supper carefully. This is actually called “fencing” the table. I believe these verses are meant to remind people of the seriousness of eating the Lord’s Supper. We must first examine our hearts and be honest about our motivation for taking the Lord’s Super. The Lord’s Supper is meant to be for those with honest commitment to the Lord. It is for those who confess Jesus Christ as their Savior. It is for those who desire His forgiveness. For those who want to worship Him in word and in deed. To approach the Lord’s Supper without these intentions is an abuse of the Lord’s Supper. So we must approach the Lord’s Supper having first asked forgiveness for our sins. We must approach it ready to commit our lives again to the covenant between Christ and ourselves for our salvation. This, again, is why the Lord’s Supper is no mere memorial. It is a continual commitment to serve Him.

When I finally understood what the Lord’s Supper meant I could not believe that I wanted to participate simply because others were doing it. I realized the weight of what I was doing. At first it scared me. I wondered if I had moved too quickly when I professed my faith. Then the Holy Spirit brought me to my senses. I was participating in the Lord’s Supper. I was part of something I was called to do, to worship Jesus with all my ability. To truly live in His salvation. With this on my heart the Lord’s Supper can never become mundane. It is always a privilege and an honor to step in the presence of Jesus and commit myself to Him.

As we step again into His presence while we partake in the eating of the bread and drinking of the juice, remember we are recommitting our covenant with Him as an act of worship. We are truly standing before Jesus, corporately and individually, thanking Him for his sacrifice and recommitting ourselves to serve Him. Don’t be afraid of this unless you do not mean your words. It is a joy to have the Lord bless us in this way. Remember to celebrate while you eat the bread and drink the juice. Celebrate your freedom in Christ. Celebrate His love for you. Jesus loves you! He loves you enough to die for you! Praise His Name! Amen!