The Sacraments: The Table
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Introduction
Sacrament: word + thing + action = sacrament
Two sacraments: Baptism and the Lords Supper
Baptism:
forms the covenant community
It unites us to the new creation by uniting us to the resurrection of Jesus
and its calls us to right living: we are to live according to our baptism
The Table:
We feast with the king as men and women, boys and girls, who have been brought into his presence by his work on the cross.
At Exodus we practice Communion every week. And the reason we do so is because we believe that the table is that important.
However, practicing communion every week is not a popular thing to do. And because of that as a culture we do not have a good understanding of the supper, for if we did, we would do as often as we could.
The early church practiced communion together at least once a week. Every time the church gathered they would take communion.
However for us, its not that big of a deal.
We have failed to realize the power of communion
We have failed to realize how important communion is for the church.
We have failed to understand communion in its biblical context.
And because of all of this, we have become unimpressed by communion.
Have you ever thought?
“communion really doesn’t do anything for me”
“communion is odd, and i don’t really know whats going on”
“God is looking at me with a magnified glass during communion, so I better confess as many sins as I can before I take it”
“communion is important, which is why we should not do it every week. Its more important and has more emphasis if we do it once a month, or once a quarter”
Lets apply that logic to other important things in your life
Eating with your family is important, should you do that only once a month so it won’t lose its significance?
how about brushing your teeth?
“I value my teeth so much I will only brush them once a month”
I would hate to lose the importance of kissing my wife, so I only kiss her once a quarter. so she knows how important i think she is.
Same with my kids, I only hug them once a month so they never forget how important i think they are.
To do something less does not make it more important - very few things in life actually function that way.
What we find when we study communion is that it is so important, so meaningful, so powerful, that we should partake in it as often as we gather together - once a week.
The OT anticipates communion in some powerful ways
The NT people are formed by communion
communion is in fact one of the chief ways we are able to understand the gospel.
Think about that, when Jesus was in the upper room with his disciples before his death, and he wants to tell them about what was about to happen, he does not give them a theory, he does not sing them a song, he does not preach them a sermon, he gives them a meal.
The greatest theme in all the bible is food.
We see that the bible begins and ends with God giving his people food.
When God calls people into his presence he eats with them
And in some mysterious way Jesus pulls into the bread and the wine the greatest stories of the OT, the greatest saving act of God in Israel’s history, and all the realties of our future glory of feasting with Christ, and presents that for us in the sacrament of communion.
So as we work through this sermon I pray that there will be a trajectory set for you in your life to come to the table each week in awe of who God is.
So what sets the stage for communion in the OT?
All the feasts of the OT find their fulfillment in communion
and the greatest feast in the OT is the Passover feast.
When you read the gospels leading up to the death of Christ and the institution of communion you’ll see that the passover is mentioned multiple times in the context.
So we will begin by looking at the passover
Passover
Passover
Tell the story of the passover
The passover was the feast that Israel celebrated as a memorial to God for his redeeming them out of Egypt. The night of the passover marked the 10th plague in Egypt. Where God would send his angel of death to destroy the first males of both man and beast.
Imagine being a family during this time.
Mother and father who after years of trying to have kids finally has a baby boy.
You have been watching the plagues God has been raining down on Egypt for sometime.
The nile turning to blood was awe inspiring
The frogs were annoying, but kind of humorous
The gnats and the flies were terrifying
when the livestock died it really started to get real
Then, the boils came. The boils were horrific and the pain of the Egyptians was sickening
The hail and fire from heaven devastatedEgypt
The Locusts looked like something from a nightmare
And the darkness only added to the nightmarish reality of the plagues.
But when you heard about the 10th plague, all of a sudden, what was a nightmare in Egypt became fear induced nightmare for you.
Moses tells the people of Israel God’s plan.
That he is going to send a destroyer to kill the firstborn males of every house. Both men and beast will be struck down.
Yet, for God’s people he has made a way of escape.
Then Moses explains what Israel is to do.
You are to take a lamb into your home for four days (treat it like a pet)
It needs to be a one year old spotless male lamb
After four days you are to kill the lamb at twilight
take some of the blood from the lamb and put on the doorposts and the lintel of your house
then roast the lamb and eat it.
Don’t let any of the lamb remain until the morning.
If there is some food left over you are to burn it.
Also, as you eat it, be ready to go.
This is going to be the night that God deals the death blow on Egypt. and rescues his people from slavery.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:12
Could you imagine the fear.
The fear of losing their son
What if God forgets what he said and he come in and takes away our child.
The fear that they may end up just like the Egyptians.
You see, the safety of your son was not in the quality of your faith to remember what God had said, but it was in the quality of the blood and God remembering his promise.
The fear
God says, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you”
When God sees the blood he is reminded of the promise he made.
And sure enough, no matter how anxious or fearful you might have been on that night, your safety was wrapped up in a God who remembers.
This night, the Passover, would then turn out to be one of the most formative events in Israel’s history
And God wanted it that way.
14 “And this day will become a memorial for you, and you will celebrate it as a religious feast for Yahweh throughout your generations; you will celebrate it as a lasting statute.
And as we see Israel’s history unfold we see that the passover was a celebration that lasted a week long, and the people of God were to reenact the passover.
The other Feasts in the OT find their origins in the exodus story as well. But the greatest feast was the passover feast.
It was a celebration that formed the people of God.
It was not a somber experience where God called his people to ponder their sins, rather it was a celebration that lasted a whole week.
There would be lots a food to eat, wine to drink, games, music and so on. This was a celebration for all that God had done. and they would sacrifice to “re-enact” that first passover sacrifice.
During the feast The Passover lambs were sacrificed as part of the Temple ritual, and their blood was sprinkled onto the altar, rather than painted onto doorposts.
They would feast on the meat, and eat bread and drink wine.
The wine represented the blessings of the covenant
The lamb represented that the sacrifice that provided their redemption
They would separate the blood from the body of the lamb both having a specific symbolic meaning.
each aspect of the passover celebration had symbolic significance that tied the meal back to the Exodus story.
This idea celebrating through re-enactment is common place even for us even today
This idea celebrating through re-enactment is common place for us even today
thanksgiving - is all about food. It is to re-enact the dinner the pilgrims had with the natives when they first came to America
4th of July - fireworks are set off to re-enact the war that was fought for independence
Christmas - giving gifts to re-enact the greatest gift that has been given to us, Jesus Christ
So for Israel to re-enact the passover once a year was to celebrate what God had done for them in the Exodus event.
Yet it was not just a celebration among the people, it was to be a celebration that included God himself.
says this was a memorial - so what does that mean?
Well, if we look throughout the OT on covenant memorials what we find is that the memorial sacrifices and rituals were actually a way for the people to remind God of what he had done, and to remind him of the promises he had made.
We see this in the passover as God says to put the blood over the doors
13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
God says, “when I see the blood I will pass over you”
In other words, when I see the blood I will remember the covenant I made with you.
Noahaic covenant
2 and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
Another covenant in the Bible is the covenant made with Noah after the flood.
Gen 9:12-
God promises that he would would never destroy the world again by a flood. And he put the rainbow in the sky as a sign or a reminder of this covenant.
But who was the sign for?
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
The point of the rainbow is not for us to remember the covenant, but for God to remember the covenant.
This is the point of memorial offerings in the bible - to remind God of the covenant he made with us.
We see these covenant memorial offerings throughout the book of Leviticus
Its not that God is a forgetful God, but he is so united to his people that he promises his people that he will not forget his promises, and he has invited his people to remind him of his promises. (We see David doing this in word and song all throughout the psalms)
Its not that God is a forgetful God, but he is so invested with his people that he promises his people that he will not forget his promises, and he has invited his people to remind him of his promises.
So when Israel would celebrate the passover they would re-enact that great day thus reminding God of his covenant to them.
So for the generations to follow the people of God would celebrate passover reminding God fo his covenant, they would remind him again and again also asking him to do it again. For as the years passed, they were in need of another exodus.
So this is the OT background the prepares us for the Lords supper
All the feasts of the OT were connected to the Exodus event
The feasts were about God redeeming his people
They were about God’s faithful covenant keeping promises
The passover pointed back to what God had done in the past on behalf of the people, yet the passover also point forward reminding God and asking God to do it again.
The Passover was the greatest feast of them all, and was a memorial to God reminding him of the covenant he made to his people. It pointed back to what God had done in the exodus, but also pointed forward to what God would ultimately do with the whole world.
he Passover lambs were sacrificed as part of the Temple ritual, and their blood was sprinkled onto the altar, rather than painted onto doorposts
Tyndale Bulletin Volume 53 III. The Passover Celebration
This was a pilgrim feast, centred on the Jerusalem Temple; the Passover lambs were sacrificed as part of the Temple ritual, and their blood was sprinkled onto the altar, rather than painted onto doorposts
They would feast on the meat, and eat bread and drink wine.
The wine represented the blessings of the covenant
The lamb represented that the sacrifice that provided their redemption
They would separate the blood from the body of the lamb both having a specific symbolic meaning.
each aspect of the passover celebration had symbolic significance that tied the meal back to the Exodus story.
each aspect of the passover celebration had symbolic significance that tied the meal back to the Exodus story.
This is the celebration Jesus and his disciples traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate. to re-enact
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper
Jesus and his disciples traveled down to Jerusalem for the passover feast. Now, if we read the gospels we know the real reason Jesus travels to Jerusalem, was not only to celebrate the passover, but he has come fulfill the passover.
14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 22:14-
Jesus was really looking forward to eating THIS passover with the disciples. He then says that after this, he will not eat it until IT is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God”
What is to be fulfilled? the passover itself.
Look what Jesus does here,
17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.
Luke 22:17-
Jesus reinterprets the Passover in light of himself and what he is about to do.
Jesus takes the bread and broke it (just like the lamb was broken in the sacrifice)
He then says, this is my body, which is given to you!
Jesus is now saying, the lamb that was slain back in Egypt, which represented your redemption, is no longer something you are to re-enact.
This is no longer a memorial to remind God of what he did in the Exodus.
This bread is now to be understood, not as the lamb in Egypt, but to be understood as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
And as the lamb was sacrificed and died to bring redemption to the people, so Jesus, the lamb of God, was sacrificed and died to bring redemption to the people of GOd
This tradition that has lasted for 1500 years is now finding its fulfillment in the person of Christ!
The passover has been pointing toward something in the future, and now it has been fulfilled
Jesus is the Passover lamb who redeems the world.
He then takes the cup and says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
Jesus is now calling their memories back to the blood of the lamb that was painted over the doorposts of their houses.
That lambs blood which would be a sign to God to passover the people and not judge them.
This lambs blood which symbolized the covenant God made with his people. That he would not bring harm to their homes as long as the blood was on the doorposts.
Jesus now takes the wine, and re-interprets its covenantal significance, as now referring to the new covenant of His blood.
It is the blood of the passover lamb of God that is brings about the new covenant.
It is the blood of Christ that covers us and keeps us from judgement
Just as the passover lamb was slain and its blood was painted on the wooden doorposts in order to save God’s people from judgement
So Jesus was slain and his blood was painted on the wooden cross in order to secure God’s people from judgement.
So when Jesus reinterpreted passover he also instituted what we call communion, or The Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist
As Israel was to celebrate passover as a memorial to God. Now Jesus is telling us to celebrate communion in the same way as a memorial before God.
We often think of communion as a time for us to remember what Jesus has done for us in his sacrificial death.
I remember as child and a young believer trying to hard to focus my mind on the cross of Christ during communion
I would think about the famous pictures of Jesus
Ones of his face,
ones when he was on the cross
and I would get discouraged if my mind would wonder.
I felt like it was my job to remember in that moment the cross of Christ
And this is because of the phrase, “do this, in remembrance of me”
We think of this phrase as we would a photograph that we look at to help us remember an old friend
Yet what we find is that this phrase is structured in a very similar way as the OT memorial before God.
The most literal translation of this phrase is, “Do this in order to remind me” or, “Do this as my memorial”
When we take communion, God remembers his covenant, Jesus remember his covenant, he remembers that he has done everything to bring you into fellowship with himself.
This is a powerful truth
God has given us this rite, this sacrament, and we can have confidence that when we take communion God is acknowledging the saving covenantal power of the cross.
We are re-enacting the gospel when we take communion.
When we eat the bread we enter into the presence of God and we tell God to look at us in light of Christ body being broken for us.
When we drink from the cup we are enter into the presence of God showing God that the only reason we are there is because of the new covenant found in Christ blood
So often we think that we have to have the right mindset before entering communion, because we have to remember rightly
we think their is a particular intellectual ability that must be present to take communion the right way.
But this is not the case.
For those who have faithfully walked in their faith for years and then suffer from alzheimer’s, are they allowed to partake in the Lords supper?
for many may not remember what the bread and the cup represent
They may not remember the basics principles of the gospel
Yet, because God remembers, they can come to the table in full confidence and partake in the sacrament of communion.
Those who struggle with mood disorders or depression can come to the table no matter how they feel at that moment.
When you feel really down and don’t feel like you can take communion, you are to still come, for God remembers the covenant he made with you
If you are depressed, come to the table and be assured that God remembers you. and he loves you and feeds you.
If you are conflicted, or confused, or even feel guilty, come to the table, and partake of Christ - for God remembers his promises - no matter how you feel, his promises are secure
We serve a God who is faithful to his promises
Your moods don’t affect his faithfulness
your guilt won’t affect his faithfulness
your ability to feel right emotions won’t affect his faithfulness
If you are in Christ, then come into the throne room with confidence and feast with the King for he has made a place for you, and thats all that matters.
And when you come to the table, you are to come as a celebration
We often think of communion as a time of confession.
we have already done that as a body of believers before the service, we have confessed our sins before God
We have been assured of our pardon
And now in full confidence we come to the table to feast with Jesus - this is a celebration
1 cor 11:
17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
The Corinthians forgot the basics tenants of the sacrament.
in their celebration, which was correct, they neglected one another. They did not act in unity.
Jesus came to make his people one, to unify his people, which is why he gives a meal as a sacrament. To eat together is to be at peace with one another.
The Corinthian church enjoyed the celebration, but did not care for one another. some ate all the food and drank the wine so there was none left for the rest of the people.
This shows that they actually despise one another and humiliated those who had nothing.
This is antithetical to the gospel.
So Paul calls them back to the right order of the supper
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
1 cor 11.23-25
He reminds them that the bread represents the body of Christ broken for you
He reminds them that the bread represents the body of Christ broken for you
he reminds them that cup represents the new covenant in Christ blood
He reminds them of the memorial aspect of the meal
Finish typology
He then goes on to give them warning and instruction on how they are to take the sacrament.
English Standard Version Chapter 11
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1 cor 11.26-
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
So what does it mean to examine yourself and to discern the body?
The context of Paul’s argument in 1 cor. tells us what he means. Also, the nature of the OT memorial meals gives us context on what Paul means.
What he is not saying is that we are to use the table confessional booth. When he tells them to examine themselves and to discern the body what he is saying is to look at the community around you and make sure you are unified in the faith.
That there are no divisions among them, no roots of bitterness, no hostility thats keeping them from breaking bread with one another before God.
To discern the body is talking about the corporate body.
Paul understands the importance of the Lord’s supper and he wants us to know its importance as well.
So why is it such a big deal?
Why do we do this every week at Exodus?
Why does it really matter?
Communion calls us to right fellowship with one another
Communion calls us to right fellowship with one another
Communion unites us to the death of Christ and His new covenant
Communion is coming before God confident that He remembers His covenant.
Communion is the proclamation that the King is on the throne, and you are His child.
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1 cor 11:26
Look we with me 1 cor 11.26
When we take communion we enter boldly into the presence of God because Jesus has made us sons and daughters.
Have you ever stayed the night in married couples house, and something came up and you need to knock on their bedroom door.
You see, there is something about that marriage covenant that keeps you from wanting to disturb them after bedtime. Doesn’t matter how close of friends you are with the husband or wife, there is a timidity about knocking on their door. -
We have had people live with us for months at a time, and I cannot remember onetime someone knocked on our door after bedtime.
However, my kids are a different story
Tell story of Piper
We come to the kings throne with boldness because we are his children
We don’t come timid, we come with celebration.
And when we do, we proclaim his death until he comes
How is it that a meal proclaims the Lord’s death until he comes?
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
How is it that a meal proclaims the Lord’s death until he comes?
Finish typology
In some mysterious way, when we take communion together we are both looking to the past seeing Jesus as our sacrifice and at the same time we are proclaiming the hope we have for the future feasting with God in the new creation.
It is like Jesus is stretching his hands throughout history one hand going all the way back to the garden and taking the fruit of the trees. And with his other hand reaching into the future, into the new creation and taking hold of that kingdom feast that is to come, and and pulling both past and future with all their feasts, sacrifices, and memorials, and all of its hopes and glories and presents them to us in the form of bread and wine. And He invites us to partake in all that he has done. And as we feast together week after week, we proclaim to all the spiritual power in the world that Jesus is king.
And with his other hand reaching into the new creation and taking the feast that is to come, and
When we take communion we are proclaiming his victory on the cross
Transition into moral - 1 cor.
When we take communion we are proclaiming the love he has for us, that while we were yet sinners he died for us
Eschatological - proclaiming his death
When we take communion we are proclaiming truth that we serve a God who is faithful to his promises, that he remembers us even when we forget him, he is faithful even when we are faithless
When we take communion we are proclaiming the true peace, the shalom, that only comes to those who are united to Christ. Jesus is our peace.
When we take communion we are proclaiming the joyous celebration of coming to the kings table to party with one another and with Jesus. For the JOY set before him he endured the cross. Let us partake and enjoy the joy that he provides his people.
When we take communion we are proclaiming the glory of Christ. Who has not left us far off, but brought us near to reign with him in glory.
When we take communion we are proclaiming the righteous standing we have before God, that we are covered by the blood of the lamb and we come into his throne room with a childlike boldness
Introduce new Method for communion.
Instead of telling the story of the redemption from Egypt in the Exodus, which happened 1500 years prior, Jesus points them forward and tells them something that will happen the next day.