3/26/23 The Ordinance of Communion

“The Ordinance of Communion”

1 Corinthians 11:23-32

So every year when NFL schedules come out, Green Bay Packer fans always circle two very important dates. The first date is when the Chicago Bears come to Lambeau Field and the second date is when the Minnesota Vikings come to town.

There are home games every season…and then there are those two special home games every year! The Bears and Vikings contests are always the most intense, most heated, most anticipated games of the season…at least for the fans. If you purchase tickets for a game at Lambeau Field, you will spend more money for the same seat if it happens to be the Bears or Vikings on the field.

All home games are exciting, but these two contests are always memorable because of the added significance tied to them. These teams have always been Green Bay’s rivals – these teams elicit an extra dose of emotion from fans in the stadium as well as those watching on tv.

As Christians, we also circle two dates on our calendars – those of Christmas and Easter (Or, Resurrection Sunday) For the believer in Christ, these dates ought to carry a whole lot more meaning and significance than some game featuring grown men crashing into each other while moving a little brown ball around, right?

Christmas and Easter are special dates on the believer’s calendar because of the added significance attributed to the events that each of these Holidays commemorate.

Christmas is of course when we celebrate the miraculous birth of the savior of the world, while Easter is when we celebrate His this same savior’s resurrection from the dead. If Christmas celebrates the kickoff of the life of Jesus, Easter celebrates His game-winning touchdown!

Jesus has defeated His opponent that goes by the name of “Death.” This victory did not occur in a stadium with thousands of spectators, but on a lonely hill with only a small group of people in attendance. Little did they know they were witnessing the greatest victory the world will ever know.

Its this time of year that we turn our attention to the events of Holy Week – the days leading up to, and including, Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Holy week is saturated with deep emotion.

Good Friday demands that we feel the weight of our sin as we consider the pain and agony Jesus endured on the cross for each of our iniquities.

While Sunday brings excitement and joy as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and his eternal victory over Satan and death.

Many denominations refer to the 40 days leading up to Easter as “Lent” – you’ve most likely heard of that term. For some, Lent is a time of extra prayer and fasting in observance of the 40 days that Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness.

Many Christians commit to self-denial and to the sacrificing of certain luxuries during this season leading up to Easter as a way of expressing their gratitude for what Jesus has done for them.

Even though our church has no official ordinances or regulations concerning the season of Lent, there is certainly nothing biblically wrong with practicing a heightened form of self-denial this time of year. In fact, I would recommend the implementation of personal sacrifice if it enhances your walk with the Lord. There is nothing unscriptural about that – so long as you don’t make it a requirement for others, as we see no mandate in scripture to that effect.

Today, we are going to look at the Thursday of Holy Week and why the events that took place on that day are so important to believers.

Have you ever heard the term “Maundy Thursday”? Maybe you’ve even participated in a Maundy Thursday service before.

The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word “Mandatum”, or commandment, reflecting Jesus’ words in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Jesus uttered these words after sharing a meal with his disciples in the upper room on the last evening that he would be with them before being arrested later that evening and dying on the cross the next day.

The meal they shared is known as “The Last Supper” – perhaps some of you have a copy of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting hanging somewhere in your house – It is one of the most famous paintings of all time.

I even have The Last Supper on a guitar strap!

An extremely important event took place during the last supper between Jesus and His disciples – something that would be replicated within the church throughout the entirety of its existence until the return of Christ. We refer to this event as “Communion”, or “The Lord’s Supper.” Other Christian faith traditions refer to it as “The Eucharist.” Regardless of its title, it represents the second of two ordinances that Jesus commanded of his followers.

Last week we looked at the ordinance of Baptism. This week we examine the ordinance of Holy Communion. If you recall from last week, an Ordinance is “A God-ordained ceremony involving a symbolic reenactment of the gospel message.”

Communion is what Paul is describing in our passage for today. The letter of First Corinthians is one of the earliest books of the New Testament (Perhaps written even earlier than the gospels) and here Paul provides a detailed description of what Communion is and why we are to participate in it. This was most likely the first biblical record of the Lord’s Supper (Communion)

Communion is rooted in the Jewish Feast of the Passover. For those of you who recall your Old Testament history, the Passover commemorates the night when the death angel “passed-over” the houses of the Jews in Egypt whose homes contained blood from a lamb on their doorpost. Every house that did not contain blood on its doorpost was subject to the death of the firstborn child living under its roof. Admittedly, this his sounds harsh by today’s standards but we must remember that God gave the Egyptians plenty of opportunities to repent from their evil practices, and Pharoah was given numerous chances to release the Israelites from slavery.

Verses 23-26 in our passage for today (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) should sound very familiar to you. We hear these words each month while participating in the ordinance of communion.

Verse 24 states that Jesus broke bread with his disciples and announced that the bread was his body which was given for our benefit. Scripture contains many references to Jesus being the “Bread of Life.”

For instance, a good portion of John chapter six records the words of Jesus as he describes himself using the symbolism of bread.

Beginning in verse 47 of John Chapter 6 it reads: “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life, your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from Heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from Heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:47-51)

So many rich spiritual truths are contained in these 5 verses, including the singular salvific importance of faith, Jesus as our spiritual sustenance, The invitation to all people to either accept or reject Jesus’ offer of salvation, and the eternal significance of the cross.

Jesus uses the simple act of eating to communicate profound spiritual truth. This analogy of eating contains at least 5 spiritual lessons:

1)     Just as food is useless unless it is eaten, spiritual truth does no good if it is not internalized. We must not only know the truth, but act on it as well.

2)     Eating is prompted by hunger; those who are already full are not interested in food.

Have you ever gone grocery shopping after eating at Pizza Ranch? Nothing looks good, right, because you have just consumed a day’s worth of calories at one sitting! People lost in the enjoyment of their own sin have no hunger for spiritual things – they simply do not look attractive. But if they are awakened by the Holy Spirit to their lost condition, then they will have an unquenchable appetite for forgiveness, deliverance, peace, love, hope, joy, etc. Is this you?

3)     The food we consume becomes part of our physical body. Spiritually, if we consume the message of the gospel – if we internalize it – we will become one with him.

4)     Eating involves trust. If you order a butter burger from Culver’s and begin to eat it, you are demonstrating faith that the food is edible and unspoiled. The metaphor for eating the bread of life implies belief in Jesus.

5)     Eating is personal. You cannot eat food for someone else. There is no such thing as eating by proxy….Nor is there salvation by proxy. We each must make the choice to partake in the bread of life. We must each individually make the decision to follow Christ.

Verse 25 of our passage for today (1 Corinthians 11:25) transitions from eating to drinking. Here Jesus holds up his cup (It would have contained wine) and proclaims a new covenant - A new covenant contained in his blood that will soon be shed for all mankind. The wine that the disciples were about to drink would symbolize the shed blood of Christ.

During our communion services here at Lavalle Advent Christian Church, we use juice rather than wine to symbolize Christ’s blood. It’s not so important as to the chemical composition of the liquid that is being consumed during communion, but rather the symbolic importance that the liquid carries along with it.

Depending on the specific church one belongs to, there are various interpretations as to what is actually happening during the Lord’s Supper.

Catholics hold to something called “Transubstantiation” – the belief that during the Lord’s Supper (Or the Eucharist, as they call it) the elements actually change into the literal body and blood of Jesus, just leaving the actual appearance of bread and wine. Just as with infant baptism, this belief carries with it the idea that God extends saving grace to those who participate in the Eucharist.

Lutherans, on the other hand, believe that the body of Jesus Christ coexists along with the elements. This has traditionally been called “Consubstantiation”, however most Lutheran theologians prefer to use the term “Sacramental Union” when describing the spiritual mystery surrounding the elements during the Eucharist.

Most evangelical churches, such as ours, hold to a view that although the elements do not undergo any mysterious physical or chemical changes during the communion ceremony, the presence of Christ does manifest itself in such a way as to become spiritually palpable during the solemn communion ceremony.

Many of you have undoubtedly felt the presence of God in an intimate way as we go before the Lord in communion – this is no coincidence. It is a sacred time in which we are to lay our souls bare before God and commit to living in obedience to Him. It is also a time for us to pledge ourselves to love and unity amongst our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Communion is a time to carefully examine ourselves – to hold a mirror up to our soul and be brave enough to accept the reflection of what we see. I don’t know about you, but sometimes If I’m honest, my spiritual reflection can look pretty ugly.

Maybe I’ve got a poor attitude about something, or I need to apologize for something that I’ve done – or neglected to do. Maybe I have unrepentant sin that is driving a wedge between me and my savior. Does this sounds familiar….?

The ordinance of Communion was of utmost importance to the early church. It is not to be entered into lightly or trivialized in any way.

There really is something powerful that happens when the church comes together in unity to partake in the consumption of the elements. It involves more than just a cognitive recollection of what Jesus did on the cross - it involves communing with him on a spiritual level.

In verse 25 (1 Corinthians 11:25) Jesus commands us to partake in the Lord’s Supper and to do it in remembrance of him.

There is much involved in that remembrance:

We remember Christ’s work on the cross.

We partake of Christ’s spiritual presence in the fellowship (not the elements themselves)

We commune with the saints

We worship in holiness

We proclaim salvation in Christ,

And we anticipate the return of the Lord along with His coming kingdom.

Lastly, Paul gives us a chilling warning about communion as well. He informs us in verse 27 (1 Corinthians 11:27) that it is possible to eat the bread and drink the cup in an unworthy manner.

By so doing, we sin against the Lord (V.27) and bring judgment upon ourselves (V.29) Paul tells us that coming to the communion table in an unworthy manner can even cause us to become physically ill - even to the point of death! (V.30) 

Did you catch that? This ordinance is so important to God that by approaching it in an irreverent or flippant way can affect us physically.

These are sobering words.

So, what does it mean to participate in communion in an unworthy manner?

There are numerous ways in which we can approach communion in a way that brings judgment upon ourselves.

1)     By participating on a level of ritual rather than renewal. If you are simply  partaking in communion because it’s “Just what we always do”, if you are just going through the motions rather than investing any emotion, you are participating in an unworthy manner.

2)     If you approach communion expecting God to extend salvation to you simply for participating - the belief that the ceremony itself, rather than the sacrifice it represents, will save you - you are then doing it in an unworthy manner.  

3)     If you come to the table harboring bitterness or hatred in your heart toward a fellow believer, or if you participate with purposeful, unrepentant sin – that is doing it in an unworthy manner.

4)     If you are someone who has not accepted Jesus as your personal Lord & Savior, you are approaching the table in an unworthy manner. Like baptism, this is an ordinance designed specifically for those who have publicly expressed faith in Jesus Christ.

5)     Lastly, if you approach the communion table in a spirit of disunity, rather than unity, you are bringing judgment upon yourself. There is simply no room for dissention, quarreling, conflict, and the like within the local church body. If you have an argumentative spirit or a heart full of jealousy toward another believer, those must be addressed before ever participating in the Lord’s Supper. Not only does it affect you personally, but it affects the entire congregation.

Paul states in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.”

In conclusion, Communion is a sacred ordinance of the church – and Jesus commands our participation in it.

Regarding Holy Week, sometimes the events of Thursday can get lost in the enormous shadow of Friday’s atonement and Sunday’s resurrection.

But Thursday’s events are extremely important as well.

The ordinance of Communion orients the soul toward thankfulness, obedience, and unity in Christ. It reminds us of who we are and who we serve.

It also provides us a glimpse of the future when all believers will be breaking bread together at the marriage supper of the lamb. We will forever be celebrating Christ’s victory over sin and death – we will be home, where we’ve always longed to be.

If you haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord of your life, do so today. What a wonderful time of year to choose Jesus – It will be the best decision you will ever make.

Let Jesus permeate that aching hole in your heart that nothing else can fill.

Let’s Pray.