Why Communion?

Thanks very much, Sean. Good morning, everyone. It's lovely to have you with us, whether you're in the building, watching the live stream, or listening to the audio recording.

We're in a series where we're thinking about why church? Why do we do the things that we do as a church? And the question, as you may have guessed today, is why communion?

I think I need to start by talking a little bit about terminology, because I don't want you going away saying, well, I didn't really understand what he meant when he said that.

So there are quite a number of ways in which communion is commonly described. We might talk about the Lord's Supper, the breaking of bread, communion or Holy Communion, remembering the Lord, the Eucharist.

These are all different ways of describing the same thing. I hope we'll see as we go on how they bring out different aspects of what we do.

Well, all of them describe when the church comes together and remembers the Lord Jesus in his death by taking bread and wine together.

And in a sense, I will say bread and wine. I realise it may be crackers or grape juice, but I'll just refer to bread and wine.

And we also refer to the elements, and that is just the bread and the wine taken together.

So hopefully that will avoid some confusion.

Now, about 50 years ago, a Baptist called Donald Bridge and an Anglican called David Piper wrote a book about baptism.

They called it The Water That Divides.

And it was an examination of the biblical basis for and the historical development of different practices and beliefs on baptism.

That's the first edition which I have. It's still available today.

Encouraged by that, they went on and wrote another book about communion.

And they called it The Meal That Unites.

The Water Divides, The Meal That Unites.

So you might think, well, communion, therefore, is not as controversial as baptism.

But that's until you notice the question mark.

Because what they're saying, the meal that unites is a meal that you should unite,

and indeed does, as we'll see later on as we take it together as a church.

But down the centuries, it has been at least as divisive as baptism in terms of people's views of it in the church.

The three great theologians of the Reformation, Martin Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin,

had very different views on the Lord's Supper.

Particularly on whether Christ is present in the elements, the bread and the wine, physically or spiritually,

or is present simply in the hearts of those who come and take communion together.

And that issue has divided the Protestant church since it started.

And there are lots of other things that divide us.

Who is able to take communion?

Is it only members of a particular church or denomination?

Is it only people who have been baptised?

Is it only people whose faith is in Jesus?

Who can lead communion?

Do you need a priest to administer it individually to everyone who is there?

Should it be led by an ordained minister or a church elder?

Does it need to be led at all by a human being?

And how often should we do it?

Is it daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly?

You find all these practices very common in the church today.

It really is an issue that has divided the church.

Now, I think as we go along, my views on many of these things will become very clear to you.

But I want today to focus not on what divides us, but hopefully on what unites us.

And from the two passages that Sean read, I want to think about five reasons for why communion is important to us.

So let's get into them.

And the first reason I want to think about is that it's an act of obedience to the Lord Jesus.

Sometimes we call it an ordinance.

That just means an act of obedience.

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, said, do this, took the bread, do this, and took the wine.

Now, we'll think about what he says alongside that in a minute and the significance of it.

But for the moment, let's just focus on the command and the background.

You may well know that the background to the first time that the Lord Jesus took communion and instructed his disciples to take it was on the night before he died.

It was the night that he was betrayed, as Paul said.

We now know what they did then as the Last Supper.

But it was actually the Passover meal that the Jews celebrated every year.

When they remembered the exodus from Egypt and how God had redeemed his people from slavery and made them his own.

So Jesus went with his disciples to the upper room.

He went through the normal Passover rituals.

They would have talked about and discussed the exodus from Egypt and all that that meant to them.

And then as part of the meal, as was normal, he took bread, he broke it, and he gave thanks for it.

All that would have been normal in a Passover meal.

What wasn't normal is what Jesus then said.

He said, as Paul records it,

This is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

The group then ate the Passover meal together.

The bread was the start of the meal.

They ate the meal together.

And then at the end, there was a grace said, and there was a cup passed round.

This was the third of four cups from the Passover.

And there was one then they particularly remembered that God had redeemed his people from Egypt.

And Jesus says something different again.

He says,

This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

Now, as I say, we'll come back to the meaning of Jesus' words.

But let's focus on the command.

Do this.

Do what?

Well, there's not a lot of detail in the instructions that Jesus gives to us.

Beyond saying that we are to take the bread and drink the cup and remember him,

the only real instruction he gives is that we are to remember him as often as we drink from the cup.

Now, again, the frequency isn't specified just as often as you do it.

But he doesn't say how you should do it, where you should do it, who should do it.

That is not in this passage, at least on the surface.

It seems that in Corinth, at least, the Christians continued to practice that Jesus had the Passover,

not a Passover meal, but they had a meal together.

And as part of that meal, they broke bread, they remembered the Lord Jesus and thought on his death.

It also looks as if in Corinth, at least, the service, if we can call it that, was quite unstructured.

There were opportunities for all sorts of people spontaneously to contribute to it.

Ultimately, though, the key thing I think we should take from this is that the important thing is obeying Jesus' command.

And that, in many ways, is more important than how we do it.

Some churches have very structured services.

And perhaps that reflects the structured nature of the Passover meal,

that it was very much a set way of doing things.

Other churches is much more spontaneous and informal,

which may reflect what the Corinthian church did.

And for many of us, maybe there's an element of finding what most aids us in our worship of the Lord Jesus,

rather than saying that one way or another of doing it is better.

The only thing I say, though, normally these days there's not a full meal involved,

usually the communion is taken, just the bread and the wine, as we remember Jesus together.

And also normally not separated as they were at the Last Supper.

We normally do it one after the other.

But it is an act of obedience.

Second reason for why communion, it's an act of remembrance.

The words that Jesus, that we've already read, explain that.

This is a memorial of Jesus' sacrifice.

He takes the bread and says,

This is my body which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Now, with Jesus sitting there bodily with them,

I'm sure the disciples didn't in any way think that the bread that he was passing around

became the body of Jesus.

That would be ridiculous.

It was a symbol rather than the reality.

But the significance of it is really important.

Jesus' body would be nailed to the cross at Calvary.

All our sins would be placed on him.

And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5,

God made him who had no sin, that's Jesus, to be sin for us,

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As our substitute, he took the punishment,

which should have been ours for rejecting God's way,

so that by faith in him we can be forgiven

and come into a loving relationship with God.

We remember together the body he gave for us

as we take the bread of the Lord's Supper.

Then after the meal, Jesus took the cup and said,

This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

So the central thought here is the covenant that's sealed by Jesus' blood

and the contrast with what went before.

As you read through the Bible, there are many different covenants.

When God promised blessings to his people

and told them what was required of them to receive those blessings.

In the Passover, the one that was particularly remembered

is the covenant with Moses.

After God redeemed, rescued his people from Egypt,

they went to Mount Sinai and God gave Moses the commandments.

Ten commandments you think of is a bit wider than that.

On the tablets of stone, God said,

Here is what I require from you

if you are to receive my blessing and to have me with you.

So the old covenant had two elements to it.

One was that there were laws.

That God said,

This is what you have to do and you need to do it

if you want to have me with you.

But then there's a second element that recognised

that actually the people weren't always going to keep God's laws.

And so there was a system of animal sacrifices

that had to be repeated time and time again

as the people recognised their sin

and came to God for forgiveness.

Jesus says, as he introduces the Lord's Supper,

Things are different now.

There's a new covenant,

a covenant in my blood.

As I am going to shed my blood on the cross.

That means that the relationship God has with his people

will be different.

The sacrifice of Jesus was once for all.

It wasn't like animal sacrifices had to be completed

time and time again.

The sacrifice that Jesus made when he shed his blood

was enough to cover all our sins

as we confess them

and as we seek his forgiveness.

And instead of being bound by a written down law

on tablets of stone,

Paul tells us that the law now is written on our heart.

That doesn't mean we should ignore the Bible

and all the instructions in it.

But fundamentally, God through his Holy Spirit

has changed those who know Jesus

and they're not bound to the fine detail of the law

as the Israelites were in the time before Jesus.

And so as we celebrate the Lord's Supper,

we remember, as Peter says,

that we are redeemed from an empty way of life,

not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

but with the precious blood of Christ,

a lamb without blemish or defect.

And that precious blood of Christ

is symbolized in the wine that we drink.

Now you might think,

do we really need these symbols

to remember Jesus' death?

Would we ever as Christians forget

that Jesus died for us?

Well, in one sense, no, I'm sure we wouldn't.

But it's so easy for us to lose focus

on the center of our faith,

to lose focus on the fact that the cross of Christ

is the only basis for our salvation

and almost to take it for granted.

The bread and wine bring us back to the cross.

They recenter our thoughts on the Lord Jesus

and what he's done for us.

And that brings us, I think,

to the third answer I'd give to the question,

why communion?

And that, that it's an act of thanksgiving.

You might have noticed that

in both the passages that Sean read.

In chapter 11 of 1 Corinthians,

Paul tells us that Jesus gave thanks

before breaking the bread.

And in chapter 10,

he refers to the cup of thanksgiving

for which we give thanks.

If I can be a little technical for a minute,

the two Greek words used here

are actually different.

In chapter 11,

the word is the one from which we get Eucharist,

which is the way some people refer

to the Lord's Supper.

And it means expressing thankfulness.

So when people talk about the Eucharist,

it's about coming to give thanks to God

as together they take the bread and the wine.

In chapter 10,

the word that's used is the one

from which we get our English word eulogy.

It's got more of a sense of speaking well

or of blessing something.

Both of them, though,

represent what our response should be

as we come together to take the Lord's Supper.

We should thank and praise God

for the realities that these symbols represent.

I suggest that that is our primary purpose

in coming to the Lord's Supper.

To remember Jesus

and to bring our worship and thanksgiving

as we reflect on his death for us.

We come with a love for our saviour

that we want to express,

an enormous gratitude for what we've done.

And God delights in his son

and therefore delights in his people's appreciation

of the Lord Jesus.

Now that's not to say

that we don't get blessing as we come together.

The primary purpose, I believe,

is to present our worship to God.

But we also are blessed through being there.

As we remember and reflect on Jesus' death,

our faith will be strengthened,

our relationship with God will be deepened,

our love for Jesus will grow.

He's not physically present with us,

but through the Holy Spirit he's among us

and we are fed spiritually

as we take the physical elements.

Not that the bread and wine are anything special,

but we have the real, present,

spiritual interaction with the living Christ

through his Holy Spirit.

That, I think, brings us to the fourth reason

why communion,

and that it's an act of fellowship.

In 1 Corinthians 10, verses 15 and 16,

1 Corinthians 10:15

Paul talks about a participation

in the blood and body of Christ.

Older versions, like the King James,

talk about it as a communion

in the blood and body of Christ,

hence why what we do is sometimes known

as communion.

The word that's used, though,

is actually very common in the New Testament

translated as fellowship.

It's the word that's used in Acts 2

when it talks about the priorities of the church.

We'll come back to that a bit later.

The priorities of the church,

the apostles' doctrine,

fellowship,

the breaking of bread,

and prayer.

The word there that's used

as translated fellowship

in most translations

is the word that's translated

participation

in 1 Corinthians 10.

So there's an idea in it

of sharing,

of having something in common.

So what's our participation

or our fellowship

when it comes to the blood

and body of Jesus?

Now this is something

people write doctoral theses on,

and there's a lot of disagreement.

Let me just make a brief suggestion.

In Philippians 3,

Paul talks about participating,

same word,

participating in the sufferings of Christ.

In Galatians 2,

he says,

I have been crucified with Christ.

In Romans 6,

he says that we have been baptized

into the death of Christ.

And it seems to me

that what Paul is saying

in 1 Corinthians 10

is very similar to these.

We haven't been physically crucified

or died with Christ

or suffered as he did.

And yet in baptism,

in communion,

in our daily lives,

we share in the spiritual effects

of his death and resurrection.

And we enjoy fellowship with him.

And we're particularly aware of that

fellowship with the Lord

as we take the bread

and the wine

in memory of his body

and his blood.

But if there's one aspect

of fellowship

with the Lord Jesus

in communion,

there also is very strongly

an aspect

of fellowship

with each other,

with those who have come together

as believers

in the Lord Jesus

to remember him.

Paul says,

we who are many

are one body

for we all share

the one loaf.

Now let's note first

that the Lord's Supper

is for those

who already trust in Christ,

who are part of his body.

It's not the means

by which we achieve salvation.

But Paul says,

the Lord's Supper,

taking it together,

has a unifying effect on us

as a church.

And how can it not?

When we remember together

everything that the Lord

has done for us,

it should reinforce to us

what we have in common

and especially

what we share together

as his body,

the church.

But sadly,

that's not how

it's always been.

Both chapters 10

and chapter 11

of 1 Corinthians

were written

not so that Paul

could give an expedition

on the Lord's Supper,

but to correct mistakes,

errors in the church

in Corinth.

They were being

inconsistent in the way

they lived

with what they were

declaring in the Lord's Supper.

In chapter 10,

the issue is that

some people were coming

to their service

on a Sunday,

they were taking

the Lord's Supper

with everyone else,

and then during the week

they were going to meals

which involved

sacrifices to idols.

Perhaps they were part

of a trade guild

and their participation

that would come

with an obligation

to take part

in these pagan feasts.

And they didn't seem

to see that there was

any inconsistency there.

Paul says you can't

have a part

in both the Lord's Table

and the Table

of Demons.

I hope no one here

is likely to be involved

in demon worship,

but the lesson for us

is that our actions

during the week

need to be consistent

with the fact

that we've taken

the communion

on a Sunday,

or indeed

that we've been

to a service

and joined together

to worship

on Sundays.

We mustn't try

to excuse

or to ignore

practices

that really

we know are wrong

and are inconsistent

with being

someone who has

a faith

in Jesus.

We'll never be perfect.

We're not going

to fully put

the sins

of this life

behind us,

but our participation

in the Lord's Supper

and communion

must affect

how we act

during the week

as we understand

how much Jesus

suffered

for our salvation,

how terrible

our sins were

in the cost

that he bore

for us,

and we should try

to be more

like him.

Second issue

in Corinth

was that

when they came

together for communion,

they displayed

disunity

prosperity,

even in the meal

that should have

united them.

Now it looks

as if there was

a group of

fairly,

probably fairly

wealthy people

in the church

at Corinth

and they would

come and they

would bring

a lovely meal

with them

and they would

share it

with their

friends.

They would even

get drunk

during the Lord's

Supper.

Meanwhile,

there were others

and perhaps

they were largely

slaves who were

excluded from this.

They came along

needing food

and they

weren't given

any.

How could a church

declare its unity

together when it

displayed such

discrimination

in practice?

Paul said

this is unacceptable

and he details

how God has

judged the church

for it.

Very important

lesson for us

here, I think,

too.

The unity

of communion

of our worship

more generally

must be reflected

in our

personal

relationships.

We need

to be

kind,

considerate,

supportive,

generous

in our dealings

with our

fellow Christians.

We need

to deal

well when

we disagree

on different

matters.

And above

all,

in the church

we need

to avoid

snobbery

and elitism,

saying that

some people

are better

or are more

highly

regarded

than others.

All of us

are sinners

saved by

the grace

of God

and we

should never

forget that.

Why communion?

It's an act

of fellowship

and if that one

speaks largely

to our

internal

relationships,

let me end

with one

that maybe

is more

externally

focused.

Why communion?

It's an act

of proclamation.

In chapter

11,

verse 26,

Paul says,

whenever you

eat of this

bread and

drink this

cup,

you proclaim

the Lord's

death

until he

comes.

It's a

visible sermon

when we

take the

bread and

the wine

together.

We're telling

each other,

but perhaps

particularly we're

telling anyone

there who's not

yet a

Christian,

that the

Lord's death

is the core

of our

faith and

our only

hope of

salvation.

salvation.

Our

responsibility

as disciples

of Jesus

is to

proclaim

our faith

in him

and his

sacrifice

so that

those who

are lost

may realise

the importance

of trusting

in him

and may

come to

put their

faith in

him.

And there's

no more

powerful way

I think

to do

that

than

through

the

symbols

of the

Lord's

Supper.

Now as I

say that

I'm aware

that even

this morning

there may

be some

people here

who haven't

yet put

your faith

in the

Lord Jesus.

And I

hope I've

been able

to explain

the significance

of his

death as

the only

way to

be forgiven

for the

wrong in

our lives

and to

move from

being judged

by God

to being

part of

his family.

If you

haven't

already

done so

I urge

you to

consider

that

carefully.

But one

more thought

on the

proclamation.

Paul also

reminds us

that remembering

the Lord

is something

we only

do

until

he

returns.

One day

faith will

give way

to sight

and we

won't need

to remember

or to

proclaim

the Lord's

death

because

we'll be

with Jesus

forever

if our

trust is

in him.

The Lord's

Supper is a

vital part

of our

life as

Christians

but it's

only temporary.

It's only

until there's

something much

much better

and when

we come

to share

in the

marriage

supper

of the

Lamb

when we're

with

Jesus

and with

him

forever.

The one

thing that

means I

think

is that

the Lord's

Supper

may well

be

solemn

as we

reflect

on our

sin

and on

the

death

of

Jesus

but it

shouldn't

be

sombre.

We're

not

remembering

someone

who's

died

and who

is

still

dead.

Yes

we're

remembering

Christ's

sufferings

we're

aware

of

our

sins

but we

know

that he

rose

triumphantly

on the

third

day

that he's

with us

through his

spirit

that he's

returning

one day

perhaps

very

soon.

We must

never lose

sight of

Christ's

suffering

for us

but as

the Passover

was a

celebration

of God

redeeming

his people

from Egypt

so the

Lord's

Supper

is a

celebration

of Christ

redeeming

us

from our

sins.

I think

it's good

when we

end a

service

when we've

remembered

the Lord

by singing

about the

risen Christ

and perhaps

particularly

by singing

something

that looks

forward

to his

return.

So why

communion?

It's an

act of

obedience

it's an

act of

remembrance

it's an

act of

thanksgiving

it's an

act of

fellowship

it's an

act of

proclamation.

Let me

finish with

something to

take away

and think

about.

In Luke

Luke 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

Luke says

that the

first

Christians

devoted

themselves

to the

apostles

teaching

to

fellowship

to the

breaking

of bread

and to

prayer.

Four

priorities

of the

early

church.

And the

question is

how can

we ensure

that we

give

appropriate

priority

to each

of these?

I guess

in the

context of

today

how can

we ensure

that we

give the

right

priority

to

communion?

I think

also prayer

is in

danger of

being

undervalued

these

days.

I think

it's fair

to say

that liturgical

churches

those that

use prayer

books and

set service

wordings

tend to

give priority

to the

Eucharist

remembering

Jesus

often

celebrating

it

several

times

a week.

Evangelical

and

Reformed

churches

tend to

give

priority

to the

word,

what's

called

the

Apostles

Doctrine

in Acts

2.

The

sermon

is the

centrepiece

of most

services

and communion

is frequently

monthly

or even

quarterly.

Churches

like ours

coming from

the Brethren

movement

are actually

slightly

unusual

in the

evangelical

condition

of having

a weekly

breaking of

bread

service.

Frequency

certainly

isn't

everything

in this

but some

of us

find it

really

helpful

to start

the week

remembering

the Lord

Jesus

together

and going

out hopefully

then with

a renewed

desire

to serve

him.

Others

believe

that monthly

is a

very appropriate

frequency.

But whatever

the frequency

what really

matters

is how

we come

to the

Lord's

table.

If we

come often

weekly or

even more

often

there's a

danger

that we

take it

for granted

and our

worship for

the Lord

becomes

routine

and

potentially

lacks

sincerity.

When we

take communion

at the end

of a service

there's a

danger we

see it

almost as

an added

extra

something we

do after

the main

part of

the service.

Whenever

and however

we celebrate

the Lord's

Supper

together

we need to

recognize

a core

activity of

the church

and be

wholehearted

in our

remembrance

and worship.

And perhaps

for many

of us

that means

that we

need to

spend time

preparing

to come

to the

Lord's

Supper.

Churches that

celebrate

communion

infrequently

often those

in reformed

denomination

for instance

the Free

Church of

Scotland

tend to

put a lot

of emphasis

on preparation.

To have

meetings in

advance for

self-examination

and prayer

and then

after that

to come

together

to remember

Jesus.

That's not

our practice

but it's

good that we

examine ourselves

and confess

our sins

before we

come.

Rather than

just turning

up perhaps

not even

realising

it's communion

this week

and just

taking part

almost without

thinking

in the

Lord's

Supper.

We should

examine ourselves

says Paul

and part of

that we should

examine our

relationships

and we

should confess

any sins

before God

and then

we can

come and

give our

thanks for

our forgiveness.

So the

Lord's Supper

communion is

a duty

and a

privilege.

It allows

us to

bring our

worship to

God for

his son

to recommit

us to

living like

Christ

to enjoy

the blessings

that come

from

obedience.

We have

that opportunity

every Sunday

at the

Breaking of

Bread service

upstairs

at 10

o'clock

everyone's

very welcome

to that

and also

on the

first Sunday

of each

month

at the

end of

this

service

we take

communion

together

so that

will be

in two

weeks

time.

Let's

make sure

that when

we do

we come

prepared

we've

examined

ourselves

and we

bring our

worship

in a way

that glorifies

Jesus

and so

is pleasing

to God.

And most

important let's

make sure

our faith

is in

Jesus

that we've

been forgiven

because of

his body

given for

us

and his

blood shed

to usher

in the

new

covenant.

May God

bless us

as we

regularly take

communion

together

and may it

be worthy

of his

son as we

worship him

unitedly.

Let's pray

together.

Our

Father we

thank you

for this

wonderful

object

lesson that

the Lord

Jesus has

given us

bread and

wine

helping us

to remember

his body

given for

us and

his blood

shed for

us.

We thank

you that

that gives

us the

chance to

bring our

worship to

you for

him and

it recenters

our thinking

on his

cross on

what really

matters in

our faith

the sacrifice

of Jesus

for us.

Help us to

do it

worthily

that we

may be

united as

a church

that we

may be

prepared

when we

come to

communion

and that

we may

glorify

Jesus

in all

that we

do.

We thank

you for

your presence

with us

this morning.

We thank

you for

the privilege

of worshipping

together.

We thank

you for

what we

learned

about

Foodbank

Plus

and we

pray for

your

continued

blessing

on that.

Pray for

the children

and for

what they

have

learned

too

that they

in early

life may

come to

put their

faith in

Jesus.

We commit

ourselves to

you now

and ask for

your blessing

on us.

In Jesus'

name.

Amen.