At my Church Next week Sunday is Communion Sunday, where according to the RCA (Reformed Church of America) website “Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist, is Christ gift to the church. Communion is a means by which Christ continually nourishes, strengthens, and comforts us. It is one of two sacraments in the Reformed tradition. As such, the Lord’s Supper is a visible sign of something internal and invisible, how God works in us through the power of the Holy Spirit” (https://www.rca.org/about/worship/communion).
From growing up in the church my entire life, Communion has always been a key part of the sacraments I have seen and participated in throughout my childhood and adult life so far. However, God’s word is new every day, and even though I grew up listening to the preachers recite the communion preparation litany the Sunday prior, and I know and understand that what the communion stands for. I failed to realize the significance of the preparation for communion.
Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10: 14-22, Paul mentions that “I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” The cup is a cup of blessing, and the bread is the body of Christ which is nourishment for our body. What Paul says in verse 21 is what everyone needs to remember before taking communion, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are you stronger than he?”
The point of preparation for communion is to self examine how you are living. Where are my priorities, where is my worry, where is my time being spent and where is my perspective. The litany, that the pastor read this morning starts like this:
“Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we propose to celebrate together, with the help of God,
the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper this next Lord’s Day.
We come to the Tabel to commune with our Lord.
We come in awe and reverence, for the place where we stand is holy ground.
Here the Lord offers us the manna of life.”
Let’s walk through this: We are the beloved children of God, He knows us by name (Isaiah 43:1), and by the help of God we will celebrate next week, it is only by God that we can hope to live and make it through the week to attend Church next week. It is ultimately God who determines our first and last breath, no one else or thing determines the end of our time. Lord willing we will live to next week to be able to celebrate the Lord’s Supper on earth. Next, We come to the table to commune with our Lord, when was the last time you pictured yourself sitting in church during communion and Jesus, our Lord was sitting with us. Does this change how view communion if you could physically see Jesus sitting next to you? Does it change the holiness of the sacrament if you see it as Jesus serving you the cup or the bread, like He served the disciples before He was betrayed? It changes my perspective of the sacrament, brings a whole new level of holiness to my perspective of communion and God is serving me, and eating with me. Then “we come in awe and reverence, for the place where we stand is holy ground”. I love the devotion that we read at family dinner today, Exodus 33: 17-23 Moses askes God “Please show me your glory” God’s answer was this to Moses, and still is to us today: “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name. “”The Lord”” And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But, you can not see my face, for man shall not see me and live. Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23).
The more I read the Bible, the more I read beautiful followers of God, asking God in faith to show them His Glory, and God says YES! In the passage above Moses asked to see God’s Glory and he said yes, but due to God’s Glory and Power Moses could not see God’s face and live. So, God being a beautiful problem solver passed by, hid Moses’ eyes, but then uncovered them after He had passed so Moses could see God from the back. What an amazing God! When we are sitting at the communion table with God, eating the bread, drinking the cup we are on Holy Ground just like Moses was standing on Holy Ground in Exodus 33 and God’s majesty passed by. So let’s come to the table with the same reverence and awe, commune with our Lord, and receive the gift of forgiveness that comes with partaking in Communion. The last line is: Here the Lord offers us the manna of life. Manna means bread or spiritual nourishment. So next Sunday, I want to come to the table with reverence, dine with the Lord in His Holy Church, so He can nourish our life.
The next section of the litany reads like this:
“If we are to experience this celebration with our Lord and be nourished by the Spirit, let us examine ourselves first, then eat the bread and drink from the cup”.
I love how the first line is if we are to experience this celebration, not just partake in this ritual, but truly experience this celebration with our Lord and be nourished by the Spirit, we need to examine ourselves first. We need to examine our hearts, take note of what our priorities are, and re-shift our focus back to God. We do this because we are literally going to the house of God, sitting at his table, eating, and drinking with Him. We want a focus on God, and we need to evaluate where our lives are and if we are living them according to God’s plan, or if we have let Sin take our lives over. This period of self-examination is to focus on where you have let Sin overtake your daily lives, and pull us away from the will of God. Let us examine ourselves first, then eat the bread and drink from the cup. We need to reel in our big sins and little sins, that doesn’t mean we need to be perfect, because lets be honest there is no chance of that at all. But what it does mean, is that we acknowledge that we are sinners and fall short of the Glory of God, we name our sins and confess them before God, we bow to our knees and confess them with true repentance.
So, if we do this and truly self examine ourselves we GET to experience this CELEBRATION with our Lord. With any celebration there is a reward/benefit which is the next section: “The benefit is great if with penitent hearts and living faith we receive the Lord’s Supper. Let us acknowledge our sin before our merciful God, with the full intention of amending our lives. Let us make restitution for all injuries and wrongs done to others. Let us forgive those who have offended us, as we ourselves have been forgiven. All children of the covenant, be reconciled with one another and then come joyfully to the banquet. If you need help and counsel, then go and open yourself to a wise, discreet, and understanding brother or sister in the faith and confess your sin. Receive spiritual counsel so that you may experience the assurance of God’s pardon, and strengthening your faith”.
God wants us to receive great benefits in this life, even though we don’t always see or feel it. We need to acknowledge our sin before our merciful God, with true repentance, “full intention of amending our lives” from that sin. Make restitution for all injuries and wrongs done to others, live our lives full of forgiveness. When all God’s children are reconciled with God and each other than, and only then we can come joyfully to the banquet. We are invited to come joyfully to the table, be served by God, our merciful father who offers forgiveness to those who repent of their sins.
So before you Commune at the Lord’s table next, remember that we are invited to sit with the Lord, but first, we must really self examine ourselves, identify our sins, repent of our sins, confess before the Lord and then we can experience the celebration and receive the benefit that only God has in store for us.
Like the end of the litany, if you are in need of help and counsel, then go and open yourself to a wise, discreet, and understanding brother or sister in the faith and confess your sin. Receive spiritual counsel so that you may experience the assurance of God’s pardon, and strengthening of your faith. If you need help to prepare for the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper please reach out, there are many elders, decans pastors, and strong Christians in the Church who can help lead you through any trial. They can and will help you get to the point that you can experience the merciful forgiveness of the Lord joyfully.
AL
A Hope Filled Life 