How often do you notice other people during the Lord's Supper? Maybe you have tried looking up during the supper, but like me, you are easily distracted. You see your friend's new haircut, the doodling of the person in front of you, the adorable baby, or a hundred other distractions. So, you just close your eyes during the whole time. Or maybe you see this person who annoys you, or that person who still hasn't invited you to lunch, and you just wish you were by yourself for this time. So, you try to act like it.
But is the meal for you or is it for us? 1 Corinthians 11:26 says, "As often as you (you plural) eat this bread and drink this cup, you (you plural) proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." Proclamation implies you are not alone, and the "you plural" guarantees it. So, who is hearing this proclamation? Some unbelievers, but mainly one another! And we have sadly turned this time into only an individualistic meal of remembrance instead of also being a community meal of proclamation.
After Pastor Mike's message yesterday, I was struck by the communal nature of the Supper. If you did not get the chance to listen to his sermon, please check it out here. He showed how Ephesians 2:19–22 teaches that at salvation, believers are brought into a holy community, the local church. We become fellow citizens and saints, we are part of God's household, and we are part of the holy temple that is all joined to Christ the Cornerstone. We are brought together and called to be holy.
Those same truths of the unity and holiness of the church are all present in the Lord's Supper. 1 Corinthians 10:17 says "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." So not only is Christ the cornerstone, but he is the one bread of life that binds us all together.
The imagery the supper should bring to mind is of many pieces of Matza bread coming from one loaf. So, we are all eating of the same loaf and that same loaf is bringing life and sustenance to us all. What a picture of the foundation of our unity! We have been united together because we are all united to our life-giving savior by faith.
Similarly, we are called to holiness and warned against idolatry because of our union to Christ seen in the supper. How can we unite ourselves to Christ while also uniting ourselves to sin, the world, and its idols (1 Cor 10:21-22).
So, Brothers and sisters, remember that the supper is a proclamation to one another of the death and resurrection of Christ that saves us and unites us. And your holy lives give weight and emphasis to that proclamation as something you are saying not just in the moment but with your whole life. So, lay aside the weight and the sin that beset you, and run the Christian race of holiness so that your presence at the table can remind others of the transformation Christ offers. Be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit within our church family throughout the week so that Sunday morning is a time of joyful reunion instead of cold interaction. It is so good to be together, and the Supper reminds us of that.
Yesterday at Member's Meeting, I was not leading the supper from on stage but on the ground level, and I was surrounded by fellow members whom I love. As I looked into their faces (your faces!), I was filled with joy that not only had God saved me, but he had saved us! And he brought us together as one body. I was encouraged by your sober and joyful faces that I knew represented lives that adored and had been transformed by Christ.
And so, this Sunday during the Supper, take a look around. Look at your fellow members, the ones who annoy you, the ones who distract you, and the ones who inspire you. Christ has brought us together into a holy community. And we get to declare that we are one body because we are joined to the one bread of life, Jesus Christ. Treasure that moment as a taste of heaven!
Comments