Church 101: A Beginners Guide to Church
Part 5 - Communion and Church
Tonight we are in part 5 of our series Church 101: A Beginners Guide to Church
We have been looking at various aspects of “church” in an effort to understand how the different ways we practice our faith impacts our daily lives beyond Sunday morning and into Tuesday afternoon
After beginning with an introductory session we looked at…
Music 101
We saw music as an instrument of corporate worship
We saw how it not only binds believers together but how it can be a tool for evangelism
Giving 101
Where we looked at the giving of our finances as a loosening of our grip on the tangible
And replaced it with an understanding that we are mere stewards of God’s resources
Baptism 101
We saw how baptism is an identification of the believer with Christ’s death and resurrection
We sought to understand that baptism is a symbol of what Christ went through on our behalf
And how enjoy eternal life because of it
Tonight we come to the rite of communion
This particular rite is also known as
- The Eucharist or
- The Lord’s Supper or
- The Last Supper
And while baptism is something of an initiatory rite of the individual believer into the family of God
Communion is a continuing rite of the entire body
I want to begin with a brief look at the historical context of communion
Luke 22:14-15
“14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’”
When Jesus instituted what we call communion he noted that it was part of the celebration of the Passover
History of Passover
- Israel was in slavery in Egypt
- God brought 10 plagues on Egypt because of their treatment of Israel
- Pharaoh wouldn’t listen
- The last plague was the death angel that killed all the first born in Egypt
- God told Moses to put blood on the door posts of all Israelite houses to keep the death angel away
- That night they were to have this feast in celebration of their deliverance the next day from Egypt
Exodus 12:17 - “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.
The Passover feast was to be an ongoing celebration of God’s delivering his people
It was also a revival of the covenant God had Made with Abraham that probably looked to the people like it was all but forgotten at the time
So Israel celebrated Passover every year and it is still the biggest celebration of the year for the Jews
So the historical setting of the communion rite is one of remembering the deliverance of the people from slavery
And along comes Jesus and says that this new and improved Passover, communion, is also a remembrance of deliverance from slavery.
Only this time it is deliverance on an eternal scale
It is deliverance from death and sin
And the reason we regularly celebrate communion is because Jesus commanded us to do it “As a remembrance”
For the Jew of Jesus day, to remember something was to go back in one’s mind and recapture as much of the reality of the event as possible
To truly remember the sacrifice of Christ we relive his birth, life, agony, suffering, death, as much as humanly possible
Without offering a sacrifice again we remember his once for all sacrifice for us and rededicate ourselves to his obedient service.
So then lets briefly look at the symbols of communion,
- The bread
- The wine
Bread
- Bread is a very common item
- It is often a staple item
- That is, without bread people would die
- It can be made out of just about any grain in the world but is most commonly made of wheat
- It can be made with or without yeast
- It is extremely versatile
- It is easily shared with others, you just cut it or tear it
- In the Passover meal it was unleavened to symbolize a lack worldly influences
- It is important in the communion service for several other reasons
- Jesus was born in Bethlehem, House of Bread
- In John 6:35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry”
- Some churches will use crackers
- Some will use flour wafers
- Some will use an actual loaf
- It doesn’t really matter because the meaning doesn’t change
- The bread is a symbol of Christ Body that he gave so that we could have life
- The Image of the Body is important because it illustrates the interconnectedness of all believers
- Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12 (immediately after his famous chapter 11 treatise of the Lord’s supper) that all believers belong to one body, the body of Christ
- While one may be a hand and another a foot we are all part of the same body
- When we partake of communion we are remembering Christ’s suffering on our behalf and our participation in his body as a group of believers with a common savior
Wine
- In this church when we take communion we use unfermented grape juice
- It is simply a cultural thing
- Both, however, are from the same vine
- They are products of grapes
- Jesus said in John 15, “I am the True Vine”
- So simply using the fruit of the vine as a symbol within communion illustrates that Christ is the source of life and as such is automatically victorious over death
- And just how do you get wine out of the grape?
- You crush it!
- You have to literally smash it
- Therein is the symbolism of the wine
- Jesus was literally crushed,
- His flesh torn open
- His hair pulled out
- And his blood was spilled out
- So when we partake of the wine, or grape juice, we are remembering how much Christ suffered for us
So what does communion do for me on Tuesday afternoon?
It reminds me of the old covenant God made with Abraham and how he delivered Israel from Egypt
It reminds me of the new covenant God made with us at Calvary
It reminds me that I am part of a body of believers that transcends physical, racial, cultural, and any other boundary concocted by mankind
It reminds me that God has promised to return someday to take me to heaven forever
It reminds me that since I got saved, I have never been alone and I never will be alone
On Tuesday when you are feeling alone, and defeated
When you can’t remember why you ever wanted to be a Christian in the first place
When unbelieving skeptics who want answers about your religion and your faith encounter you
Think about communion
In it is the story of eternal life
Tonight we are going to finish out the service by taking communion together
And instead of glasses of juice we’re going to use grapes
Because as we partake of the bread and the grape juice I want you to think about Christ’s suffering and the crushing blow he took for you that day.
You do not have to belong to our church to participate
Anyone who has accepted the gift of life Christ offered is free to partake
Please wait until I direct you and we’ll partake together
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
“23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, 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.’ 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
