The Lord's Supper

THE communion service is the most sacred and deeply spiritual of all the services of the church. Its quarterly observance should be anticipated with expectant joy. The preparatory service, washing one another's feet, is a work of cleansing. The Lord's Supper that follows is to be an expression of gratitude and praise for forgiveness and salvation. . .

-Managing Editor of Ministry at the time this article was written

THE communion service is the most sacred and deeply spiritual of all the services of the church. Its quarterly observance should be anticipated with expectant joy. The preparatory service, washing one another's feet, is a work of cleansing. The Lord's Supper that follows is to be an expression of gratitude and praise for forgiveness and salvation.

The cross stands for the central act necessary for our salvation, so the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is the central act of worship in the church. It is because members fail to sense this and all that it involves that so many willfully absent themselves from these blessed occasions. This is most unfortunate.

More Than Ritual

There is always the danger that a service may degenerate into mere ritual or ceremony. Ritual is defined as "form of conducting worship." Worship, however, is "reverence, honor, adoration, fellow ship." Ritual may be worship. The whole Old Testament system of worship centered around ritual. But the great apostasy came when the ritual became an end in itself. Religion came to be considered a matter of externals and thus became distasteful to God and wholly unacceptable.

The Old Testament rituals were discontinued after the cross. In their stead three other ceremonies were introduced. These were baptism, the ordinance of foot washing, and the Lord's Supper.

These ordinances were introduced for a purpose. They were to be spiritually beneficial. When they cease to be, it is a sign that the true significance of the ordinances has been lost. Such a loss bears witness to the fact that the soul is drifting away from God.

A Memorial Service

The Lord's Supper grew out of the Pass over feast of the Old Testament. The Pass over was symbolic of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. So the Lord's Supper points to our deliverance from sin. A very important part of the Passover was the sprinkling of the blood on the doorpost. Likewise, only those sins covered with the blood of the Lamb will be forgiven. All this is memorialized in this sacred service.

Many memorials have been erected in memory of great individuals. We find these in the form of great buildings or institutions — hospitals, schools, churches, and humanitarian institutions. There are also many memorials of heroic deaths. We see them in every land. But in the ordinances of the church we have the greatest memorials of all time. These memorials are to keep fresh in our minds what God has done for us in making our salvation possible.

The Lord's Supper in Five Words

Albert W. Palmer, in his book The Art of Conducting Public Worship, lists five words that help us to understand this important service. They are:

1. Commemoration. As previously indicated, this act is rooted in history, first in the passover Feast of the Old Testament and its symbol of deliverance, and then in the events of that Thursday night when Jesus washed the disciples' feet. To them and those that would follow after, He declared: "Ye also ought to wash one an other's feet. For I have given you an example." With words of peace and assurance He gave to them the bread and the wine.

2. Thanksgiving. The preparatory service of cleansing being ended, we turn to the communion table with joy. This service is sometimes spoken of as the Eucharist, an ancient word meaning the "giving of thanks." We read that Jesus "took the cup, and gave thanks," even though it was the symbol of His out-poured blood. It is solemn in that it reminds us of the price paid for our redemption. But there is great joy in understanding what redemption means and in knowing that it is ours through faith. Thus this service becomes in fact a celebration.

3. Fellowship. The communion service is a supper. It takes place around the table. The table is the dearest symbol of home and fellowship, with friends gathered together. Such gatherings are among our fondest memories and greatest joys. So with joy and in the spirit of true Christian fellowship we gather about the Lord's table.

It is important that we think of it as the Lord's table, and not man's. The minister, the elders, the deacons—all who serve are but serving for the Lord. We are all guests in our Father's house.

4. Sacrifice. This sacrament was instituted in the very shadow of the cross. Jesus was consciously laying down His life. The bread and the wine became symbols of His broken body and spilled blood.

The Passover lamb was eaten with unleavened bread. So also with the bread of the Lord's Supper. The leaven, or yeast, represents sin. This must be excluded from the bread to represent the sinless Christ, the Bread of Life. In the preparation of the bread, only whole-wheat flour is used, for Christ made a full sacrifice. In the preparation of the flour the wheat is crushed. So Christ was cruelly beaten and bruised and crucified—crushed that we might have life eternal. The wine appropriately represents the blood that cleanses and saves. The wine thus used must be the pure, unfermented juice of the grape with nothing added. Only this will do. To get the juice the grape, like the wheat, must be crushed.

5. Mystery. Christianity grew up amid the so-called mystery religions. It, too, has its mystery, symbolized in this sacrament— the mystery of redeeming grace. Life has its struggles. It is not easy. There are shadows and defeats. There are many questions we do not understand. But our Christian faith assures us that despite all the mystery there is the goodness of God as revealed in Jesus Christ and the assurance of ultimate triumph with Him in His everlasting kingdom.

It is to this final reward that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper also points. In the upper room Jesus declared to His disciples, "1 will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matt. 26:29).

When we drink here on earth in commemoration of His death, we are led to think also of that future day of eternal rewards. "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come" (1 Cor. 11:26).

According to Thy Gracious Word

According to Thy gracious word,

In meek humility,

This will I do, my dying Lord,

I will remember Thee.

 

Thy body, broken for my sake,

My bread from heaven shall be;

Thy testamental cup I take,

And thus remember Thee.

 

Remember Thee, and all Thy pains,

And all Thy love to me:

Yea, while a breath, a pulse remains,

Will I remember Thee.

 

And when these failing lips grow dumb,

And mind and memory flee,

When Thou shall in Thy kingdom come

Jesus, remember me.

--James Montgomery

-Managing Editor of Ministry at the time this article was written

July 1972

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