Once and Future Kings - "Jesus and Communion"
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Transforming Truth: The King Comes To Forgive
As we begin the advent season, we remember the fact that Jesus was the king who was born to die. By the time Paul was writing to the Corinthians, Jesus had come, lived, died in payment for our sins, and was resurrected to bring new life to those who would believe. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians was delivered about twenty years after the culmination of these events. Paul passes on sacred rhythms for the church to maintain the preeminence of Jesus' coming and his reconciling work as king. As we look into the Scriptures, we will see both the purpose of communion and how to participate in the sacrament in a worthy manner.
The Purpose of Communion
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?” Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said so.” While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Matthew 26:17-30 NIV)
Communion, like the Passover meal which Jesus used to commence the practice, had an element of looking behind and looking ahead. The Passover looked behind to the deliverance from Egypt in the Exodus. This is now symbolic of our freedom that Jesus purchased on the cross for us through the giving of His body and shed blood. We embrace this initially through the sacrament of baptism. We commemorate it through communion. There was, in the Passover, also a looking ahead to the future redemption of Israel, while communion also celebrates this looking forward to Jesus' return.
Communion in a Worthy Manner
In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 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. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 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. 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! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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.” 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.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 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. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions. (1 Corinthians 11:17-34 NIV)
The Corinthian society had festive meals where the elite and poor were separated, and served meals of corresponding quality. The early church met in the homes of wealthy patrons that could seat between 40 and 50 people. They emulated this divisive practice to the dishonor of the gospel. Divisions in the community between married couples and singles, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, hipsters and traditionalists are to be continually broken through communion.
Are you allowing the sacrament to center your life in gospel living?
The sacraments are the great levelers of men since all must come to Jesus in the same way. Through communion, we are to be unified in our remembrance of Christ's sacrifice, celebrating it in a manner where the haves and have nots are thrown out the door. It is as we leave this table that the leveling in our hearts should continue to produce charitable affection and action towards one another and the world in which we live. Baptism is the same as we remember the death that Jesus had to endure for all of our sin. It is only as we enter into His death through baptism that our obedience is made complete and the pledge of a good conscience toward God sets us on course to new living, with a circumcision done by the hand of God rather than men. Those uncircumcised in the old covenant were cut off from the people. It is an outward sign of an inward work.
Life will not become less busy or have less responsibility in the call of God. Part of communion is remembering the joy that is to be found in remembering the fact that we are called to be servants like Christ, laying down our lives for God and others. You are frustrated when you move out of that place of contented love. The sacraments return the joy of our salvation and our daily service to us because we again remember Jesus and His sacrifice, a total life lived for the honor of the Father and the redemption of others.
Communion is a place where we are to judge ourselves and come to repentance so that we will not fall under the judgement of God. It is a place where we take an evaluation of our actual walk with Jesus, to see if we are living wholeheartedly in obedience to His commands or simply playing church. It is an act of kindness that He continually calls us to this place so that we might once again experience His grace.
“No one should be surprised at the difficulty of faith, if there is some part of his life where he is consciously resisting or disobeying the commandment of Jesus. Is there some part of your life which you are refusing to surrender at his behest, some sinful passion, maybe, or some animosity, some hope, perhaps your ambition or your reason? ... How can you hope to enter into communion with him when at some point in your life you are running away from him?” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
The Biblical term "falling asleep" was utilized for those waiting for death until the final judgment of Jesus and the subsequent resurrection from the dead. When Paul says that there are those who are sick and fall asleep because of their lack of esteem for communion, it is because they are making a mockery of the body of Jesus that was broken and the blood of Jesus that was spilled for them in sacrifice. You are to continually return to a place of thankfulness through communion as you remember the price that Jesus paid to demonstrate His love for the Father, for you, and His desire to see you reconciled.
What better way is there to show appreciation during this Christmas season, than to partake of the sacrament of communion where we remember the body and blood of Jesus Christ, shed for our sins?
“We who have turned our lives over to Christ need to know how very much he longs to eat with us, to commune with us. He desires a perpetual Eucharistic feast in the inner sanctuary of the heart.” ― Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
Second City Church- Once and Future Kings Sermon Series 2013