Communion meditation- on our revised confessional statement re: Lord’s Supper

This morning we will begin with the Lord’s Supper as we do each week.  We do so to proclaim the Gospel again each week to ourselves and each other, as it the basis and foundation of all that we are and do.  But before we approach the table together, I want to share something that I hope helps inform and shape our worship together today.

We believe that theology matters.  And we believe that theology (the study of God) is not some dry, academic pursuit, but that it should lead us to worship.  Thinking rightly about God should enlarge and enrich our view of God, and that should cause more praise and adoration and a life of worship to spring up within us.  In light of that, and before we come to the Lord’s table together, I want to share a recent change to our church’s confessional (doctrinal) statement regarding baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Let me first say that we have not changed our understanding of or belief about either of these ordinances that were instituted by Jesus.   We have simply come to see that we should more fully describe what we believe.  Although our confessional statement is by no means an exhaustive statement of belief, we felt there was more that had to be said, that the former statement, which was drawn from the Baptist Faith and Message, was not wrong but simply incomplete.  The new statement is a blending of The Gospel Coalition’s and Bethlehem Baptist Church’s statements of faith with a couple of small tweaks.

The entire statement is available on our website at http://www.threeriverscc.org, but for our time together this morning I’m going to focus on the statement about The Lord’s Supper.  Here are the statements:

Old Statement
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

New Statement
We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself. The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal.  Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to and joyful worship of the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.  (skipping down to 3rd paragraph past paragraph on baptism)

We believe that the Lord‘s Supper is an ordinance of the Lord in which gathered believers eat bread, signifying Christ‘s body given for His people, and drink the cup of the Lord, signifying the New Covenant in Christ‘s blood. We do this in remembrance of the Lord, and thus proclaim His death until He comes. Those who eat and drink in a worthy manner partake of Christ‘s body and blood, not physically, but spiritually, in that, by faith, they are nourished with the benefits He obtained through His death, and thus grow in grace.

Now all of that is a mouthful and a lot to ponder and unpack.  I want to unpack for you three observations from this confessional statement that I pray will lead us into worship this morning.  Remember, theology should lead us to worship.

1.  The old statement was true, just not complete.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

The Lord’s Supper IS a symbolic act of obedience, and we do memorialize (or remember) Christ’s death and anticipate his second coming as we take the elements.  But it is also SO MUCH MORE, so much richer than that.

Let me give you an analogy.  I could stand here and tell you only that Jenny and I are best friends, and that would be accurate, but incomplete.  I could further state that I have vowed to provide for her physical and emotional needs to the best of my ability for the rest of her life.  Still accurate, but incomplete.  I could even further state that she has agreed to stand by me in sickness and in health and to support and encourage me.  All of that is true.  But it does not get to the ultimate reality that leads to those statements.  The glorious reality is that God has knit our hearts and lives together in Christian marriage, and that those marriage vows and commitments flow out of the love that God has given us for Him and each other.  Because of that we desire to see our marriage give glory to God, enjoyment to us, and blessing to others.  And so the “contractual” statements of obligation of our love flow out of a much deeper and richer reality, without which the contractual part is feeble and incomplete.

In the same way, we want to affirm that the Lord’s Supper is an act of obedience, a memorial, and an anticipation of Jesus’ second coming.  But it is so much more.

When we come to the table, these elements are a means of grace to us- they are physical objects that God uses to impart grace to us by reminding us of the reality of his supernatural work in our lives, and helping to keep us in Christ right now and until the day of his second coming.

Church, when we touch and taste these elements at the table, we should be reminded of our utter hopelessness apart from Christ, but also our complete salvation in Christ.  We should be reminded that there is nothing we can do to satisfy God’s righteousness, but that in Christ “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1)”  And that should lead us not just to remember, but also to worship.

2.  Just as the people of Israel gathered together in the Old Testament to renew their covenant vows to God, we do so every week as we remember what Christ has done for us.  And just like their covenants, we remember that it is not an agreement between God and us as equals, but that God in Christ initiated peace with us when He could have righteously crushed us.  Instead, he has made a way for us to be justified and adopted into his family, he empowers our ongoing sanctification through the Holy Spirit, and that he gives us meaning and purpose in life and a task here on earth.  Our response under that covenant is to joyfully obey and praise him as we marvel at what he has done.  And we are taught to do all of this as we anticipate and long for his second coming to gather us as part of his bride, the church, and take us to be with him directly in the Father’s presence.  Church, every time we take the Supper together, we declare that we are God’s covenant people and he is faithful to keep his covenant with us, and that should lead us to worship together this morning.

3. Finally, I want to say a word about the attitude in which we take the supper.
What does it mean to partake in a worthy manner?  When Paul addressed the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11, he was addressing a church that had taken the Lord’s Supper from a communal remembrance of and celebration of Christ’s redemptive work on their behalf and transformed it into a selfish occasion for snobbish gluttony for some while the needs of the poor in the body were completely neglected.  They had taken something that was intended to be a response of worship to Christ and turned into something that was only about their desires.  In the process they both robbed Jesus of worship and caused division in the church.  Because of that, Paul rebuked the church and said many of them were under God’s active judgment, some to point of sickness and even death.

Church, this morning, I want you to examine your heart before you come to the table.  Eating in a worthy manner is not about you cleaning yourself up before you come to God.  That is the antithesis of the gospel message, and if we try to do so we are not trusting that Jesus’ death and resurrection are sufficient for us.  Eating in a worth manner is about acknowledging that we are each individually and collectively in constant need of his grace, forgiveness, and power to live for him.  We are nourished spiritually by Jesus as we admit our spiritual poverty and hunger and depend on Jesus to feed us.  If we fail to admit this and come pridefully and selfishly to the table, we dishonor Christ and become like those who greedily stuffed themselves, both denying our need for Christ and inviting his judgment.

Church, as we come to the table this morning, let’s come to eat in a worthy manner that admits our great need and gives great praise to God for meeting that need in Christ.  Let’s make much of Jesus together, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,”  (Hebrews 10:24)

Invitation to the table

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29)

May God in his grace spiritually feed you and sustain you as you taste these reminders of his grace and mercy to you.  Let’s respond in worship together.