This Sunday we will be sharing in the Lord's Supper together at both Morning and Night Church.
For many of us the frequent sharing the Lord's Supper has been part of our regular church experience for many years. For others of us it might be something new or not really done all that often.
Have you ever stopped to ask the question of why do we have this ritual involving a little bit of bread and some juice from a comically sized cup?
The Lord’s Supper finds its roots in the Passover meal from the time of the Exodus. Jesus celebrated this meal with his disciples the night before he was crucified. In doing so he was showing them (and us) that he is the true Passover lamb who would die so that God's people will no longer be enslaved to sin and death. The bread and the cup point to his broken body and shed blood and they are symbols of the New Covenant we have in Christ. We can read about this in Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25 and Luke 22:19-20.
Paul gives instructions the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 which indicate that sharing the supper should be an ongoing practice for God's people. So it is no surprise, then, that from the establishment of the church at Pentecost, the believers “devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).
So what purpose does the Lord's Supper have? What is going on when we share this meal together?
I think there are at least four important things taking place as we eat the bread and drink the cup.
The first is that we are, in some way, giving physical expression to a spiritual reality of being save by Jesus through his death in our place. The eating and drinking itself is not what is required for salvation but they are an external sign of an internal reality of what happens when we put our trust in Jesus.
(Protestants have disagreed over the nature of the meal when it comes to nature of our 'participation' in the body and blood of Christ. Is Christ spiritually present in a special way during the supper or is it only a memorial meal? If you're interested you can chase that down here and here and here.)
Secondly, sharing the supper is an act of remembering. We can so easily forget or become distracted from what is central and of first importance and this is a way Jesus has given us to remember him and his death for us.
Thirdly, as we share this meal we show our unity that comes from being in Christ. I think one ways the disunity of the Corinthians church was expressed was in the way they abused the Lord's Supper. Some were scoffing while others went hungry. Paul expected that the unity of the church in Christ ought to be physically evident as they were gathered together around the table at the Lord's Supper.
The final this that is taking place is that we are proclaiming the good news of Jesus death on the cross to one another and to the world who is watching. By the symbolic meal we are telling the story of Jesus' sacrifice that defeats sin, death and evil once and for all.
It is great to prepare ourselves before we share this meal together and you might find these words helpful. And if you're wondering where to look during the Lord's Supper, this might help too.
Grace & peace,
Andrew
If you're wondering about our thinking as to how often we share the Lord's Supper then have a read of our eNews from 16th March last year.