The Lord's Supper

Then we're not finishing something today, so it's like an opportunity to do with do anything today, so and I was thinking about what to do today. I get an ID and I've got now, I'm just not feeling that. Now, I'm not feeling that not feeling it. And then there was this idea. It's the last time either months, or we're going to have communion, that's how we rise up church. Has been approaching communion once a month on the last Sunday of the month. And we always when we have communion, You see same words at least almost always from 1st Corinthians chapter 11 to introduce our communion time. But we're often moving pretty fast and it would be nice to just take a little more time with those communion words and think about those words and then celebrate communion. So all the voices in my head, there are several Said yes to that one, one voice is the one that says, John, can you pull this off? That boy said? Yes, the voice that says, John, do you want to do this? That boy said. Yes, that voice. By the way, doesn't have to say. Yes, sometimes of John does what that voice doesn't want to do. But that boy said yes, then the third voice that I attribute to God. It's it often is not words, it's maybe a feeling and I might be wrong at times about whether it's got any idea? What that voice, that I attribute to God, that boys seem to say, yes, I would I felt like Jesus was saying, I would like to have a little more leisurely conversation with my people at rise up church about what the Lord's Supper is and what it means. So I would like to do that this morning and then we're going to end that by celebrating Lord's. Supper the words that I was talking about our 1st Corinthians chapter 11 verses 23 through 26 and let's start by reading them. Sorry, I got it. Turn that on.

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.

Those are the words.

I'm going to park there at that first verse and we're just going to hang out with it for a while. Okay, so first thought is, this is in the book of Corinthians 1st Corinthians chapter 11 and if you've been at rise up Church in the last six months, you know, about the church in Corinth to whom the book. 1st Corinthians was written as a letter, we were setting the book of Acts. We met the Apostle Paul, we saw the Apostle Paul on a journey starting churches, go to the city of Corinth. And they're in Corinth. We saw him meet a couple Aquila and Priscilla are their names, and they became friends and co-workers. They, they've all made his living by making 10th and Aquila, and Priscilla made their living by making tense. So they became friends and co-workers together. When Paul left Corinth and went to Ephesus Aquila and Priscilla also went along, he left the two of them. They were good leaders. He left the two of them in Ephesus and he went away. And then he came back to Ephesus later on, and he seems to be writing a letter to the church in Corinth from the city of Ephesus, probably when he came back later. So, that's what we have here. And what's significant about that is that that makes this description of the Lord's Supper, probably. The earliest description of the Lord's Supper. Historically, speaking in writing, 1st Corinthians is one of the first books of the Bible in terms of When It Was Written. There's the Lord's Supper story in the gospels. Matthew Mark, Luke but those were written later. So, when was the first description of the Lord's Supper put down in writing. Probably it's here. The pollen make it up. He is. Passing along what he's received. Okay. There's some interesting, a second kind of moving on, their second idea. There's some interesting word play in. What's up there on the screen, the word play isn't an English. The word play is in Greek because the New Testament of the Bible is written in Greek. So, I'll describe it to you for. I received that Greek word is para, La Mano para means alongside lembah. No means to take, I took alongside for I received what I also passed on to you, that word is para that same word alongside ditto, me. That's the Greek word for

What I, what I took alongside myself, I gave alongside to you. So those words sound similar cuz they're using that that word para at the beginning of them. But then he goes on the night on which he was betrayed, that's what our English. Translation of the Bible says, but the word that's translated here, betrayed is the same word as received. I'm sorry, the same word has passed on, from before what I received, I passed on that's para dito me. I passed on to you tonight on which Jesus was paradiddle. Mead, The night in which Jesus was passed on, would be an appropriate way to translate it. If you were going to just translate it kind of as straight as possible. The English translators were wanting us to know that he's talking about that evening when Jesus was arrested and when Judas handed him over, so they've inserted the word betrayed and I was thinking about, okay, well, that's interesting that word play, but what would it mean? It seems that it's on purpose because Paul's words are quite bare, almost poetic here. So he's, he's very likely. Passing on a Consolidated way of describing the Lord's Supper that's been in the oral tradition of the church up to this point. So, I think it's on purpose. So what would it mean that I passed on to you? That went on the night, Jesus was passed on by Judas to the people who arrested him. How would that be a meaningful comparison and I couldn't really think of anything

until doing some more exploring and realizing Yes, Judas passed Jesus on to those who arrested Jesus, but the Bible also talks about God passing, his son on Judas did it, but you just didn't do it without God's permission. In fact, God, used Judas to accomplish what God wanted to do. So let me show you that in Romans 8:32. It says, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also along with him? Graciously, give us all things, the phrase gave him is our word paradidomi. He who did not spare his own son, but was willing to pass him on for us all God. Passed on Jesus, in that moment. When Jesus was handed over to those who arrested him. It's best if it's that same word that Paul's using, and then here's another example, okay? Just a little technical, sorry about that. But this is from the Old Testament of the Bible, which is not written in Greek, it's written in Hebrew. So it's not the word play. But it's the idea now that we're kind of following Isaiah is talking about this suffering servant, that is to come in the future Isaiah's, writing about six hundred years before Christ, and but he's writing about the suffering servant that is Jesus. And he says he's got this description, I will give him this suffering servant apportioned among the great and he will divide the spoils with the strong because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors for, he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressions. I'm thinking about the third line because he poured out his life unto death. God passed on his son, he didn't spare him, but passed him on for us and Jesus himself. As this suffering servant that the Old Testament, had talked about did not spare himself, but poured himself out even unto death. So, let's go back to those words for I received from the Lord. What I also passed on to you, the Lord Jesus on the night. He was passed on, Paul's thinking about how God didn't spare his son, but passed him on for us, thinking about how Jesus didn't try to spare himself, but passed himself on for us. And our English translators are wanting us to know what event is being talked about in. So they use the word betrayed, which was judas's Park in it. But that that's a good lead into the most important part about understanding this passage in kind of feeling the heart of It, kind of feeling a heart of the Lord's supper. And that is on the night that Jesus was passed on. He was having a meal and it's at that meal that he says, this is my body and this is my blood. It's important to understand what meal they were eating. And I'm sure that many of you know. So somebody shot it out. What meal was Jesus eating. When he said this is my body and this is my blood. Yes. Yep. From several of you the Passover meal. It's important that it was the Passover meal. So let me explain that. This will be a summary for most of you but this might be the first time. You've really heard the quick version of that story of Moses brother, Aaron to pharaoh, to tell the Pharaoh, let my people go and God gives to Moses this power to call down Miracles, which are plagues that God is going to bring upon the people of Egypt. If Pharaoh won't let his people go things like turning the water in the blood frogs lies boils. All those unpleasant things that were in that story of the ten plagues Pharaoh says, no, I won't let you know, I won't let you know. I won't let your people go. There was like, whose God. I'm not going to serve this. God. I'm not going to do with this. God says, no, I won't let you people go at about time. Number 7, God decides. All right. As a judgment against you Farrell for saying no, I won't let your people go even though I've made it very clear who I am and how powerful I am. Now I'm going to harden your heart so that you keep saying no I won't people go. Until I finish this job the way I intend to finish it and that leads us to plug number 8 and plug number 9 and then there's plague number 10, which Moses threatens. This is what's going to happen unless you let my people go and and plug number 10, is that God is going to come through and he's going to kill the firstborn among the people of Egypt, not just the human beings, but the cattle as well. But God says to his people. Here's what I want you to do. So that I will know that you are my people and I will pass over you. I want you to kill an unblemished lamb and I want you to eat that lamb. Don't boil it. Like you might otherwise do but I want you to roast it. Over the fire and eat the whole thing. If you can eat it, burn what you can eat. I want you to make yourself some bread, but not with the least. It's going to be unleavened bread. The kind you would make if you had to make something while you were in a hurry and I want you to eat this food while you talk to your cloak into your belt. Because it's all about you ready to go? And this is important. I almost forgot it. And I want you to take the stock of a hyssop plant which is just like a good Nature's paintbrush and I want you to put it in the blood of that lamb and I want you to paint it on the doorposts of your house. When I see the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of your house, I'm going to pass over your house and this won't affect you. That's the final plague of God against the Egyptians. It's the one that causes for a final to let God's people go. And it's this great salvation story. God says, to his people every year, I want you to have this Passover meal, Where You Remember by eating the unleavened bread and by drinking this wine, to remember the blood that was, no, not your posts and every year I want you to remember how I set you free.

It's the occasion when Jesus is eating that meal with his detective. It has a little liturgy that had developed to it of. Now, we eat the bread, now, we drink this cup so at the point where Jesus hands out the bread, he says the shocker He says this bread is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

Those words would be Reckless. If they were not true. Jesus is saying, That whole Passover story was pointing towards something bigger, which is me those would be just Reckless inappropriate words if they weren't true. But their true, this Blood, this cup that we're drinking that remind us of the Passover blood now and you drink it. I want you to remember me. Because it's true of Jesus. So that's yeah, that's that's the story. I'm going to kind of skip over for the sake of time. Any other comments there and jump to my? There's a couple more things that are apart of 1st Corinthians 11. One is in 1st Corinthians. 11. Paul the author tells history in the service of a larger conversation which is the disunity of a young congregation. It seems that in Corinth, they would have communion as a part of like a potluck meal or, or maybe more like a picnic meal. Everybody brought their own food and at their, at the Courant picnic meal, there would be people who had relatively more and they would they were sitting in a clique and they were eating there, really good picnic meal and they were drinking their wine so much so that some of them are getting drunk, they're having good food and they were drinking a lot of good wine and Yeah, I know, I know it was really a pleasant experience for them and sometimes a little over the edge, but there were other people from the church, sitting in a different, click over there. Who didn't torpor? They didn't have food, maybe they had a crust of bread and water and they were hungry. and Paul is like,

You're meeting to celebrate. God did not spare his son but passed him on. Jesus didn't spare his life, but passed himself on. And You're not even sharing your food. You're humiliating some of your congregation members. How could you think that that was appropriate? And then he says, therefore the Lord supper is a good time for a couple of things. It's a good time to examine yourself, so it's good for us to think about that. It's a good time to ask. Am I, as I sit here with the bread in the grape juice in my taking Jesus, seriously? And it's a good time to discern the body. I'm quoting now from a little bit later in 1st Corinthians chapter 11, Discerning the body could mean two things could mean Discerning Jesus body. If that's the case I suppose it means am I really taking seriously that Jesus gave his body and his blood for me. Am I or am I just so

Wrote me into it. I'm kind of forgetting about what it really means. He might am I understanding into my taking it seriously. Another meaning for discern, the body would be a reference to the church. Am I looking around the room? And am I seeing my brothers and sisters young and old who are in the room with me and am I caring for them?

If I would summarize all of it, this might be the best summary. The Lord supper has a past present and future Focus to it in the past at regarding the past. It gets us out of the moment to see the long story of God's grace. You're not the first person who needed to be saved by God and obviously, there been many generations since Jesus, who has celebrated, this being saved by him, but it, but that didn't even start with them. It goes all the way back, fifteen hundred years or so. Prior to that, to this Passover meal, God, has been saving his people for a very long time. And when we celebrate the Lord's supper, we're connecting to that long activity of God in the present, it's about putting ourselves beyond our self-interest In This Moment. To the room and thinking about who has God placed me among and what does God want me to do with Anne and four? Maybe those people and then regarding the future, there's that phrase. At the end of the words, we read we Proclaim his death until he comes again. We are expecting Jesus to come again. And we're putting our open that Sam and I attended a funeral about a week ago and it's one of those good places to remember sitting at a funeral that we're heading somewhere. And it goes beyond this life, okay? Karen asked me before I started, John, do you want to sing that song? And I said, yeah, we got lots of time. Where do you think we should do? Karen.

She doesn't want to make that call us not fair. What are you guys going to do some song? Okay, we got a couple of enthusiastic song Boats, let me say a prayer. We're going to sing and celebrate the Lord's Supper. All right.

Jesus. What really strikes me this morning is

Your father didn't spare you, but passed you on for me and for us. You didn't spare you but you passed yourself on for me and for us and now just like we were disciples sitting at that meal the first time. Now you want to hand us. Some unleavened bread and some wine, some fruit of the vine, and you want to say to us, it's just my body given for you. Do this. In remembrance of me, this is my blood Which is poured out for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

We love you.

We want to know you better.

so,

Come now and help us to engage in this with the, the Beauty and the heart that you went in. In Jesus name and your name. Amen.

Alright, let's close our service with this before, command. Will you rise? And let some Make these words are prayer and I pray that it also ministers to your hearts when you sing these words.