Communion

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." 27And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, 28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom."

30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Christ spoke this during the passover meal, a day of remembrance for the Israelite of how they were delivered from Egypt. This was the original instituition of the Lord's supper, and we see the same idea of remembrance in the most vivd description of the church Christ left behind written some 60 years later:

42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people.

And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47

Here we see that one of the main tenets of NT Christian community, besides the apostles teaching (in the bible now), fellowship (which implied much greater intimacy than we usually see it today, akin to a welcomed partnership), and prayer, is this rememberance of Christ (quick apology to the congregation for not having done this with them earlier). The wording "breaking of bread" is a reminder that they didn't just gather to fellowship, it was mentioned in addition to that, an allusion to the original.

And so it goes on through the NT. And now we're taking the communion, handed down to us 2000 years later. Jesus talked about communion being a rememberance of him, what are we actually remembering?

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Eph 2:1-3

The beginning of our remembrance is that we were once dead. Romans 6 says we were once slaves to sin, powerless to do good. It goes on to say that we were saved from God's wrath; that we needed saving. Christ didn't just hang on a cross.

4Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6

Christ bore, onto himself, the eternal conflict between holiness and sin; God's holiness that was supposed to burn against our transgressions, our iniquities, our sin. Christ shouldered that. This is the beginning of what we are to remember in communion. A serious moment, but it is not a dark moment. Because that's not the end of what we're to remember. We are not gather to simply remember and to dwell on our sins, and how much we needed Christ's death. Christ dying is not the end of the story amen?

4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

He was victorious over death so that we too may have life. This life, this freedom, this love, once totally unobtainable, still utterly unearned, undeserved, is what we're also to remember. Just as the original passover meal, during which Jesus spoke of this communion, commemorated the beginning of Israel's freedom from slavery in Egypt, this communion was designated by Jesus for us to remember how he brought us freedom from our slavery to sin. We gather, yes, to remember that we were once dead in sin, slaves to our sinful nature, but even more so, that through Christ's death and resurrection he gave us freedom from the bondage and ravage of sin. And what is to be our response?

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

Calling Jesus Lord, believing that your heart is not just a decision that you make, its a commitment that you exercise. This life of freedom, that we may choose good, starts now, as we yield to him, follow him more and more here on earth, and onwards to all of eternity. Not that we could do it on our own, that task was described as putting a camel through the eye of a needle, but God makes it possible; that we'll know his will to be good, pleasing and perfect.

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Communion is not just remembering a dark sad moment; how sweet is that amazing grace, how joyous this moment that we're remembering today amen?

So before we take the bread and cup, I invite you all to gather with a couple of people around you (those of us who've been in this church for a while please invite those who haven't into your groups), and remember where you've been, or perhaps where you haven't been, with Christ lately. Spend some time praying over each other for the things that have been shared, James 5:16 says confess and pray for each other so that we may be healed. And when your group is ready, come down and grab the bread and the cup, hang onto them and head back to your seats. When everyone's gotten their's, I will call everyone back and we'll take it together.

I do ask that those have not exercised a commitment to following Christ, to being a disciple of Jesus, I ask that you refrain from taking the communion.

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. I Cor 11:27

So I ask that if you don't really know what's really going on, that you refrain from taking the communion. But please do ask questions about what it means to follow Jesus in your group. What we're remembering today is the core of why we follow our God, and we'd love to share with you about it.