Why We Partake

The Lord’s Supper

In the Last two weeks we have looked into probably the two most important weeks of Jesus life. To Christians they are the foundation on which everything we are, everything we stand for, and is everything our faith is based on, the death burial and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ. As we saw last week that Paul says the death burial resurrection of Jesus is of first importance. He goes to ensure that Jesu is indeed resurrected by providing a list of witness and tells us that if there is no resurrection then...

Our preaching is in vain

Our faith is in vain

Our faith is worthless

We are still in our sins

And we of all men most to be pitied

Through that resurrection we gain victory over sin and death, we are reconciled to God, We have forgiveness of sins, We have redemption, salvation, and the hope of everlasting life. These factual historical events are so important that Jesus instituted a way for us to remember, focus and proclaim his death until he comes again. On the very night leading up to His death, Jesus in Matt. 26:26-30 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Paul tells us, 1 Cor. 11:23-26 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” As we come here every fist day of the week (Acts 20:7), The Lord’s day there is nothing more important than gathering around the Lord’s table with our brothers and sisters.

The disciples didn’t break bread incidentally—because they were already together or because it was the Lord’s Day or because Paul urged them to do so with him because he was preparing to leave Troas—they assembled in that upper room for the very purpose of breaking bread.

When we come together on the Lord’s Day, we come together not to hear a good sermon or to sing some touching songs or to be led in beautiful prayers or to give liberal sums; we come together for the very purpose of the Lord’s Supper.

It;s unfortunate but I think we spend far too little time contemplating and focusing on the Lord’s Supper. We are in such a hurry to go to do this or that we have planned on the Lord’s Day. We have got to hurry and to the restaurant, get to work, go hang out with our friends, chores to do around the house, etc. that we put very little time energy and focus into the gathering around the table. I fear that all too often we’re all guilty of rushing through communion so much so that it has become one small little part of our service. I often wonder why we still call it the Lord’s Day. Because it’s really not anymore, at least we don’t act like it is. It’s maybe the Lord’s morning or maybe the Lord’s couple of hours. but it certainly is not the Lord’s Day. We got things lined up to do the moment the last Amen is uttered. Heaven forbid we give Jesus a little more of our time. Jesus gave us eternal life through his death burial and resurrection we can’t give him a day???

To help us take the bread and the wine in the most reverent manner, I wish to share with you four names found in Scripture for the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper. As Paul chastised the Corinthians for the mockery they had made the remembrance of Jesus’s death and resurrection, he told them, 1 Cor 11:20 “Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,” The Lord’s Supper had become not about the Lord put about eating and getting drunk and be honored instead of honoring the Lord.

The communion is the Lord’s Supper, for he invites us to his table. It’s his supper, for he has chosen the meal. It’s his supper, for it’s done in his memory (1 Cor 11:24-25). It’s his supper, for the bread is his body and the cup his blood (Matt 26:26, 28). It’s his supper, for his body died and his blood was shed for our redemption. The Lord’s Supper is all about Jesus. I wonder what kind of Mockery have made out of the Lord’s Supper? What would Paul chastise us about when it comes to the Lord’s Supper? Maybe even more importantly, how does Jesus view the way we take of the Lord’s Supper?

Another word found in scripture to that sheds light on the Lord’s Supper is

Participation or communion. The Lord’s Supper is a communion with the Lord’s death. “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation [“communion”] in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16). As we take the bread and the wine, we are participating—identifying with— Jesus’s death and sacrifice. Is it not the means by which we express our attachment to him as Christians; showing our union to him and to each other; and showing that we partake in common of the benefits of his blood? The main idea is, that by partaking of this cup we show that they were united to him and to each other; and that we should regard ourselves as set apart to him. Are we really participating or are we just marking it off the list of things we need to do. Does it unify us with Christ does draw our lives into closer communion with Jesus?

Another word in Scripture that will help us when partaking of the Lord Supper is

Breaking Bread. The earliest Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). Luke recorded that he and other disciples “gathered together to break bread” in Troas (Acts 20:7).

In the context of 1 Corinthians 10, the term “communion” refers to the participation of the Christian in Jesus’s death through which he obtains salvation. “Breaking bread,” on the other hand, points to the communion Christians share with one another. “Breaking bread” was the first-century Jewish euphemism for a meal, and their meals were extremely intimate and symbolized a shared life. When we come together and participate in communion, we’re saying we’re family, we’re loving one another, and we’re sharing our lives. It’s no wonder Paul told the Corinthian church to wait for one another before they ate of the bread or drank of the cup (1 Cor 11:33). I wonder are we really a family? Are we really loving one another or are you breaking bread over there and I’m breaking bread over here and there is no fellowship or bond while we partake of the Lord’s Supper?

The last word I want us to think about this morning is...

Eucharist. I imagine most in the fellowship of Churches of Christ are unfamiliar with the term “Eucharist.” The word has its origin in the Greek text of Jesus’s gathering with his disciples. After he had offered the disciples the bread representing his own body, Jesus “he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you” (Matt 26:27; 1 Corinthians 11:24 says Jesus gave the bread to the disciples after “he had given thanks”). The Greek term for “give thanks” is eucharisteō. Thus, calling the Lord’s Supper the “Eucharist” reminds one of the thanksgiving inherent in the Lord’s Supper. The Supper gives thanks to God for the sacrifice of Jesus. The Supper gives thanks to God for the salvation of our souls. The Supper gives thanks for the resurrection of the dead. The Supper gives thanks for the eternal home Jesus’s sacrifice brings. The Lord’s Supper reminds us how much we have to be thankful because of the death burial and resurrection of our Lord. How thankful are you? Are you really grateful for what the Lord has done for you? Does that show in the way that you partake of the Lord’s Supper or is it a Thank you Lord and see you later.

Brothers and sisters we have been given a precious gift in the institution of the Lords Supper. It helps us remember our Lord Jesus, It helps us remember our commitment and attachment to His gift of his life on the cross for us. It reminds us of our fellowship with one another through the breaking of bread. And it helps us to remember that we have some much to be thankful for because of His death burial and resurrection.

As you partake of the Lord’s Supper this morning and every first day of the week may we never be guilty of rushing and breezing through the Lord’s Supper. May we always give the our communion with the Lord the time energy and focus it so richly deserves.