OPEN: Priscilla Larson, of Lexington, Massachutsetts, tells of the time her brother-in-law (a preacher) had been away from home one afternoon donating his blood at the Red Cross.
The preacher’s son was a little concerned when his father didn’t come home by the time he usually did, and the boy asked his mother, “Is Dad going around visiting all the sick people?”
His mother replied, “No honey, he’s giving blood.”
The paused in thought for a moment and then said: “But we know it’s really grape juice, don’t we Mom?”
APPLY: This boy knew that the communion cup represented the blood of Jesus and he had grown so used to the Lord’s Supper and what meant to his family that the very mention of “blood” reminded him of that part of Worship.
I. Paul is telling us here in I Corinthians 11:23-25 that Jesus wanted us to make communion so much a part of our worship experience that whenever we do it we should remember Jesus and what He did for us.
“Do this in remembrance of me.”
Over the past few weeks we’ve been dealing with what’s called the “Great Commission” out of Matthew 28. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”
Part of “Discipling” is to teach others to observe everything that He has commanded us.
Could communion be part of that “Discipling process?”
II. Jesus declared that whenever we take of the bread & of the cup, we remember Him.
Why would we have to “remember” Him?
Is it possible, that we might forget Him? I’m not sure, but I don’t know if it’s so much possible to “forget” Him as it is to forget WHO He was and WHAT He did.
In a lot of churches, Jesus is seen as a nice man, a great teacher, a powerful example. “BUT HEY”, this Cross thing. This blood and sacrifice. It just doesn’t seem to appeal.
ILLUS: Donald Nash once wrote in the Christian Standard that he has heard of some churches that have done away with Communion as part of their Morning Worship. These churches offer the Lord’s Supper as an option in a side room, rather than making it part of the main Worship Service. Why? Because it seems these churches want to appeal to the “seeker” crowd (those who visit “seeking” a church home).
These congregations apparently believe that communion is such a strange practice - and dwells so much on death – it would offend “seekers” and frighten them away.
BUT if observing Communion is one way of Discipling people, downplaying it’s observance would be a grave mistake. Placing communion off to the side would declare it to be less important than other activities in worship.
WE want seekers AND members to remember what Jesus did on the Cross – this is why the church meets! Acts 20:7 tells us “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.
III. But, why do we need to do THIS to remember Jesus and what He did?
Because we get so easily distracted by other things.
As an example: What is this weekend? (Memorial Day weekend).
Why do we call it “Memorial Day?” (a day to "remember" those who have sacrificed for us).
ILLUS: Memorial Day was 1st widely observed on May 30, 1868. It was originally known as “Decoration Day” because it was time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves.
After WWI, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America’s wars. And in 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday.
That’s what it is supposed to be all about… but what do people usually do on this weekend? Well, they go on picnics, they go to the beach, they spend time with their families and have cookouts and so on…
BUT there are a few that actually attempt to “remember…” In cemeteries across the nation, small groups of people will gather and observe a military service. There will be prayers and buglers will play taps.
Now, I’m not saying we necessarily need to feel guilty for not attending such activities. My whole point is that Memorial Day doesn’t have the impact it once had. AND because people don’t observe Memorial Day like they once did – it has lost much of the meaning it once had.
That sort of thing can happen to communion. That’s why it’s critical that seekers & believers be constantly exposed to the message of the Lord’s Table. AND That’s why we take Communion every Sunday. It’s part of DISCIPLING ourselves and new converts.
IV. For us old timers - communion is time disciple (discipline) ourselves.
I Cor. 11:28 tells us we should “examine” ourselves each time we take of the Lord’s Supper. It appears that Corinth had a unique worship service, and a unique problem because of it. Every Sunday, they had a pot luck dinner followed by the observance of the Lord’s Supper.
There was only one problem. At their pot luck dinner, if you didn’t have a pot – you were out of luck. The rich brought their steaks, the poor brought their soup. And nothing was shared. Like seemingly everything else at Corinth, this was one more issue over which the church was divided.
Because of the arrogance and selfishness of those who would not share, Paul told them God had already brought judgment upon their congregation – many were sick, and several had died. Paul warned them to examine themselves carefully before taking of communion so that they would avoid punishment from God.
For us old timers, Communion is time of judgment… self judgment. This is a time when we should do careful soul searching because Corinthians is telling us that God says: Don’t you dare take communion with your heart filled with bitterness, and unconfessed sin. God tells us: Don’t you dare eat that bread and drink that cup without 1st examining your heart & your behavior of the past week.
DON’T YOU DARE!
The communion Table is where we come face to face with our sin, AND face to face with the Jesus who died so we could have that sin removed.
V. In addition, for new coverts – Communion is the best witnessing we can do.
Paul writes: “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26) This is witnessing at its best.
Donald Nash tells the story of Robert Tinsky, who was reared in Judaism. Dissatisfied spiritually, he visited a Christian Church for the first time, seeking some religious truth. He was astounded by the observance of the Lord’s Supper. He didn’t understand it. He asked some young people seated near him what it meant. They faithfully told him the gospel story as portrayed in the loaf and cup. He was amazed that there was a God who loved mankind enough to give His Son to die for us and at the wisdom that originated such a living memorial. He became a Christian and a faithful preacher of the gospel.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Learning to Play the Harmonica = Matthew 28:18-28:20
Baptizing Into the Name... = Matthew 28:18-28:20
What Do We Teach? = Matthew 28:18-28:20
The Memorial Day = 1 Corinthians 11:23-11:34
