One day a man and his wife took their 5 year old grandson to Chuck E. Cheese’s for pizza and amusement. When the afternoon ended, his grandmother buckled him into his car seat and said, “Now be sure you say thank you to your Papa.”
While the boy played with the trinket toys that he won, there was no response, no reaction! She thought he did not hear her, so she said it again, “Be sure you say thank you to Papa.” Again, silence.
At first grandpa was passively attentive to the backseat conversation. But then he said, “You know, Papa enjoys doing nice things for his grandchildren, especially when they say thank you.” Yet more silence!
His wife said “Did you hear Papa?” Now they both became a little offended at their grandson.
But then their grandson squeaked uh huh.”
But there was still no thank you. And now grandpa was confused. “Didn’t you like Chuck E. Cheese’s?”
Then this was the grandson’s response: “I’m thankful, Papa; I just don’t want to say it.”
When we don’t remember to keep a thankful attitude that’s when we don’t appreciate other people. For this reason we need reminders to act and do right. That is one of the reasons for celebrating communion.
The sine qua non of communion is to be thankful for what Jesus Christ has done for us and then that should remind us to be gracious and merciful to others. I believe one main purpose of celebrating communion often is to remind us of our relationships to each other. I want to establish this from two key events prior to the Last supper that Jesus used to help the disciples understand and a parable Jesus told them.
The un-merciful man: Matthew 18:23-34. We have been forgiven a great debt therefore we should be merciful and gracious to others just as God is to us.
Foot washing: John13:12-17 “And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
Least to be greatest: Luke 22:24-26 “Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.”
I Corinthians 11:17-26
Communion is the Proclamation of Christ’s Death (v. 23-26)
The Lord’s Supper is first and foremost a remembrance of Christ. Jesus on the night that He was betrayed, and even as He knew His betrayer was slithering through the night streets of Jerusalem took the bread and the cup and left us with an image and picture of what he was about to do.
– He showed us that just as the prophet Isaiah had prophesied His body would be given.
– He showed us that just as the Passover lamb was slaughtered in innocence to temporarily cover sin, He would pour out His blood to cover sin once and for all.
– He left us this supper as a visual reminder that the body of the Son of God was broken and His blood was poured out so that our sin would be forgiven.
Communion is an act of remembrance in biblical times. A remembrance included activities and re-enactments to draw to mind what the people were to remember. This is the intention when Jesus told His disciples to remember Him when they break bread and take the cup.
It’s much like our Memorial Day, a holiday is declared and people gather with veterans at key locations to remember the cost of freedom and independence.
When we take the bread and the cup, we state by our action that we believe and remember the great pain and anguish the Lord paid for our spiritual redemption. When we take these elements we proclaim the powerful message that we believe not only that Christ died, but that He now lives and that His life has significance for all time.
Communion Proclaims our unity in Christ within the Church (v. 17-22)
After a church service a boy had complained to his mother that the adults had all been given a snack, but none had been given to the children. At first she was unsure of what he was talking about, but when she asked she discovered that he had seen communion being passed having a cracker and a drink and he had simply assumed it was a snack. Surely this is a misunderstanding of communion. Maybe we share communion together but do we share our fellowship and grace with each other together as we ought?
The problem at Corinth was the mistreatment of others: I Corinthians 11:17-22. The Corinthians had allowed individualism to take away the meaning and purpose of the Lord’s Supper. They had preferential treatment towards one another and some would not wait for others and some left little for others.
When we take the bread and the cup we proclaim that we have been made part of God’s family, the Holy Spirit has come to live in us and that God is our heavenly Father. Christ’s death created a new covenant – a new way that humans could come into relationship with God. And since I am united to God through faith in Christ and you too have been united to God though faith in Christ, we are joined together as the family of God!! In the Lord’s Supper we are proclaiming our unity in Christ.
Communion is the Proclamation of Christ’s coming (v. 26)
In verse 26 we are reminded of the promise of Christ. We remember His death until He comes.
We celebrate the Lord’s Supper to remember that there is still something more to come, and so as we look back we also look forward to His glorious appearing.
Let us not miss the warning that Paul includes to the Corinthians as he encourages them to examine themselves before they partake – with the realization that on our own we will never be worthy, but through Christ we have been made worthy, let us come with thankful and with gracious filled hearts for the Lord and others.
Would the servers come forward at this time please … and as they come I would remind you that the elements on this table, the bread and the cup that you will soon hold in your own hands, is a tangible reminder, both of our forgiveness found in Jesus sacrifice, and God’s grace that should be extended to every member of His family.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 11:23:
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
To conclude our communion we take a collection. This offering is for needs for our brothers and sisters in Christ and is a tangible way we can show God’s love and grace to others. This is a voluntary offering and we ask that you give as you are led. We base our giving on the Scriptural text:
I John 3:17-24 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.