Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "Our Time to Remember Jesus." I read from 1 Corinthians 11:17-29 (NIV). All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) and are used with permission.
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
As we read this part of the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Corinth, we are unsettled by his stern words as individual Christians and collectively as the church. None of us wish to receive a letter like this one—"your meetings do more harm than good." In their observance of the Lord's Supper, they were injuring the faith of their brothers and sisters in the Lord and failing to remember Jesus' sacrifice for their sins. As the Apostle Paul recalls the events of Jesus' last supper, we do have a picture of the disciples observing a traditional Passover meal that included Jesus breaking the bread and drinking from the cup to remember His body offered on the cross and His blood poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. This traditional Passover meal, scripted over millennia, was unknown to the Gentile Christians; their tradition was to revel in a pagan feast, and so they did. We hope they benefited from the Apostle Paul's instruction. In all my years of observing the Lord's Supper, I have never witnessed the spectacle described by the Apostle Paul at Corinth or a failure to call attention to the fact that the bread represents His body and the cup represents His blood shed for us. And despite the potential for conflict among Christians, the Lord's Supper should always be one of the elements of our worship that draws us together. I believe we have learned from the example of the Christians in Corinth. As we assemble today, let us draw near to Christ and to each other as we partake of the Lord's Supper. Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father. As we assemble around the Lord's Table this morning, we certainly remember you, our dear Lord Jesus. You are the Son of God and had every right to turn your back on all who turned their back on You, yet You did not see it that way. You offered your life on the cross that there would be forgiveness of sins and reconciliation for those who put their faith in You. You decided that we were worth the price and worth saving. We have learned from the example of the Corinthian Christians and have set aside this time to eat the bread and drink from the cup to draw near to You and each other. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26:26-28 (NIV).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
