What do we receive in the Lord's Supper

Even in its name, the Lord’s Supper is designated as a meal shared by the church. When Christians gather at the altar to celebrate Communion they eat and they drink. Just as Jesus did when He gave this practice to the church, we use bread and wine. We see, taste, touch, and maybe even smell the bread and the wine so it is easy for us to grasp the fact that we are receiving them.

But how can bread and wine be a means by which God works in our lives? The Bible teaches that it is not only bread and wine that we receive in Communion. Rather in, with, and under the physical elements, joined with them in a mysterious way that we’ll never understand until Jesus returns, God also gives the very body and blood of Jesus. We can be sure of this because we can be sure of God’s Word. Jesus’ words are spoken every time we receive Communion; “Take and eat, this is my body given for you. Take and drink, this is my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Just as we believe that God actually forgives sin through the meal, we also believe that we receive the true body and blood of Jesus.

This belief that the body and blood are truly present in the Lord’s Supper is one that divides the church around the world and one that maybe you have struggled with personally. However, it is firmly grounded in Scripture. At the core of the belief about Christ’s presence in Communion is a belief about the Word of God. God’s Word is described in the Bible as being living and active (Hebrews 4:12). God’s Word does things in people’s lives (1 Thessalonians 2:13) and just as the rain wets the earth so also God’s Word accomplishes its purposes (Isaiah 55:10-11). God’s Word is powerful and it possesses the capacity to create so when God speaks something, His words become reality. In Genesis 1, God creates with His Word. God said let there be light, and there was light. Psalm 33:6 and 9 and Hebrews 11:3 both identify God’s Word as the means by which God brings things into existence. So when Jesus’ words are connected to ordinary bread and wine, God’s Word brings the presence of His body and blood. The Bible also calls the eating and the drinking a participation in or fellowship with the body and the blood (1 Corinthians 10:16).

Those who deny the real presence of Jesus talk in terms of the bread and wine representing or signifying the body and blood. Their original reasoning for this language was the belief that Jesus could not have ascended to the right hand of God and be truly present in the Lord’s Supper. Many who originally supported this theological stance also struggled to understand how Jesus could be both human and God. The opponents to the real presence of Jesus also make grammatical errors by turning “This is my body “ into “This represents or signifies my body.” This can be complicated so I would love to talk through any issues with you if you have additional questions.

You may wonder why God would use bread and wine to work in our lives. Though I cannot provide a full answer, I do see His willingness to do so as extremely loving. In Communion, as with the waters of baptism and a pastor speaking forgiveness, God provides something physical to accompany His Word of promise which we cannot see. God did this throughout the Bible. He told Moses that He would help him lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and gave him two physical experiences to accompany the promise (Exodus 4:1-7). After they left Egypt, God promised to be with the people and they could see His presence in a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. And when Jesus forgave a paralyzed man’s sins, something that could not be observed, He also healed the man so that he could walk in order to provide observable evidence of His ability to forgive.

I am trying to be short, but feel like this paragraph needs to be added in this section. When we talk about what we receive in Communion, it is important to know that we receive the body and the blood of Jesus by the power of God’s Word. When the Word is spoken, the presence of Jesus’ body and blood become a reality. However, we must distinguish how we receive the benefits of the Lord’s Supper. The benefits or the gifts that God gives through the meal are only received by faith. It is our faith that clings to and brings into our lives the reality and the fulfillment of God’s promises to forgive our sin and give us life. This distinction is important to note because the body and the blood are present by the Word of God and are present whether the one receiving them believes or not. However, the benefits are only received by faith and the Bible teaches that receiving the body and the blood without faith is actually detrimental (see next section).

Something's Missing: Easter

Easter kicked-off Crosspointe's current series of Sunday messages; Something's Missing. Each week, we have been going to God's Word to let Him speak to the corners of our lives where we sense that something just isn't right, the places where something seems to be missing. As we think about Easter, the theme make senses. Even people who don't believe the truth of the Easter story, know the basic facts. It was early in the morning on the first day of the week. A group of women were carrying spices and other materials that would be used to embalm the body of a dead man named Jesus. But when the women arrived at the tomb...

Did you already fill in the next set of details? The big stone that kept grave robbers out and death's stench in was rolled away and the tomb was empty. Something was missing! A few days earlier they had watched as the body of Jesus was placed in the tomb. They were at the right place. But Jesus' body was gone. But as I looked deeper into this story and especially Luke's account of the Easter weekend I began to see that maybe it was something besides Jesus' body that was actually missing.

As I dug deeper into the Bible, I found a number of similarities between the Easter story and another story that Luke records (2:41-50). When Jesus was twelve, He went to Jerusalem with His parents and extended family to celebrate the Passover Feast. On the return trip, every parents' nightmare became a reality for Mary and Joseph; they realized that Jesus was missing. He was not with any of their relatives and none of their acquaintances had seen Him. Mary and Joseph begin retracing their journey, watching the side of the road hoping not to see Jesus and checking each face on the shoulders of a young boy hoping it was Jesus. After three days! Three days of not knowing where their son was, they find Him in the temple. Consider the similarities between Luke 2:41-50 and the Easter story: Jesus cannot be found when people are searching for Him, the events are happening in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover Feast, and the time period of three days is involved in both.

But another similarity stands out. In both stories, we see that Jesus is not what is missing. When Mary and Joseph find Jesus sitting in the temple, He asks them "Why were you looking for me?" When the women arrive at the tomb, the angels asked them, "Why are you looking for Jesus here? This is where dead people can be found and Jesus is alive just as He said He would be." As we hear the words that are spoken to those searching for Jesus, we learn that in both stories Jesus is right where one would expect to find Him if they truly understood who He was. Jesus isn't missing. But an understanding of who He is and what He has said is. Jesus must be about doing His Father's business. In Luke 2 that puts Him in the temple where God's Word is being taught. In Luke 24 that means Jesus isn't dead in the tomb, He is alive and bringing a new life to Creation that will begin to restore the brokenness caused by sin. In the weeks after Easter, we will have the opportunity to take Jesus at His word and remember the words that God has spoken to us and we will see that Jesus is still at work, busy doing the Father's business. And that puts Him in your life bringing the reality of the resurrection to you in order to transform the places in your life where something is missing.

Songs in Worship

I have included some of these in other posts, but thought it would be more helpful to get a list on the blog as a separate entry. As you spend time on line, you can easily open a second window and go to http://www.youtube.com/ and type the song title and artist in the search box to listen to the song. Then come to worship and sing loud!

Songs by Chris Tomlin: Better Is One day, Enough, Forever, Give Us Clean Hands, How Can I Keep From Singing, How Great Is Our God, Jesus Messiah, Kindness, Take My Life, We Fall Down, and Unchanging.

Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman
Mighty to Save by Laura Story
Nothing Without You by Bebo Norman
Amazing Love - You are My King by the Newsboys
You Are God Alone, How Deep the Father's Love For Us, Hallelujah (Your Love is Amazing) by Phillips, Craig and Dean
Lord Have Mercy by Michael W Smith
By His Wounds, My Hope Is You, King of Glory, Creed, Your Love Oh Lord by Third Day

Lord's Supper: WHY?

Crosspointe is moving toward the celebration of the Lord's Supper. That sentence gets me excited about what God is doing and will continue to do through this group of people united in Jesus as a church. There is wisdom in laying a biblical foundation rather than rushing into it without a solid understanding about what God's Word has to say about Communion. Two weeks ago, Crosspointe began a Bible Study that meets prior to Sunday worship that is working to lay that foundation. I encourage you to take part in those sessions whether you are a life-long Lutheran or someone who doesn't have a Christian or Lutheran background.

Our first session sought to answer one question:
Why should a church practice Communion?
We talked about four answers to that question- all drawn from the Bible.

1. A church should practice the Lord's Supper because Jesus told us to. According to Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 Jesus told His disciples to repeat the meal that He was sharing with them. "This do in remembrance of me. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." Jesus taught that those who followed Him would make this meal a part of their life. Case closed, right. Jesus told us to, that should be enough! But there are additional reasons.

2. A church should practice the Lord's Supper because through it God delivers gifts to His people. Matthew 26:28 promises that the forgiveness of sins is delivered in the Lord's Supper. Where God forgives sins a number of other benefits follow; eternal life, hope, strengthened faith, and peace. The community in which the Lord's Supper is practiced also benefits as the unity and resolve of God's people is built up.

3. A church should practice the Lord's Supper because it has been passed down through generations as part of the life of the church. This flows from reason #1. In 1 Corinthians 11:23, Paul states that what he received from Jesus (specifically the practice of Communion) he is delivering to the church in Corinth. This was the role of the apostles to be eye-witnesses of Jesus who could proclaim and pass down the Gospel to future generations.

4. A church should practice the Lord's Supper because it points to the eternal feast we will share in God's Kingdom. Jesus' words recorded in Matthew 26:29 indicate that the church's practice of Communion is a foreshadow or a foretaste of what will be experienced after His return. Jesus promises that we (all Christians) will share this meal with Him again after sin and death and everything that stands in opposition to God has forever been defeated and done away with. Then, the meal will not be about forgiveness of sin because there will be no sin. Instead it will be part of the praise, joy, and unity that God intended for His Creation. Definitely something to look forward to!

This is a great first step. A solid starting point as we move toward the practice of Communion at Crosspointe. If you have questions along the way, please don't hesitate to ask!