Word of Salvation – Vol.52 No.44 – November 2007

 

Whose Supper Is It?

 

By Rev. Sjirk Bajema

Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 28

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

 

Congregation in our Lord Jesus Christ...

We have before us the subject of the Lord's Supper. And as we consider Lord's Day 28 we see lots of material brought together into small questions and answers. The teaching can confuse us.

So, as we start, let's get down to basics. And let me do this by asking you: "What is the Lord's Supper to you?" Think about that for a moment. What is the meaning of this so-called "holy communion"?

What comes to your mind? Do you think of it as a special time when we remember what our Lord Jesus has done for us? Very true!

Or perhaps you thought: "At the Lord's Table I declare, as a Christian, who I am and where I stand with God!" Also very true! In fact, these two reasons for celebrating the Lord's Supper we share with many different Christians.

But further, how is it that we see the Lord's Supper benefiting us in a very real, spiritual way? How is it that we move beyond a meal of remembering, past that act of profession, to a spiritual building up of our faith?

The answer to this lies, of course, in Scripture. Why does this sacrament have value for us? For the reason that God, through Christ, has set it up! It's not something in which we decide to come together, and in which we have some nice fellowship. No! It is as the Catechism says in Answer 75, "Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup."

The Lord's Table is set before us. It's not simply a matter of human choice. It's the will of God - my Saviour and my Lord!

The God-given nature of the Lord's Supper is a tremendous encouragement. It doesn't depend on how we're feeling at a particular time. Instead, the Lord places before us His Body and His Blood.

In considering His command we will see three aspects. In the first place... BY FAITH I SEE IT OUTWARDLY. Secondly... BY FAITH IT PROVES ME INWARDLY. And thirdly... BY FAITH IT SHOWS I'M STILL CHANGING SPIRITUALLY.

By faith I see it outwardly

Firstly, then... BY FAITH I SEE IT OUTWARDLY. The outward symbol is a strong theme in our reading from 1 Corinthians 11. Paul described it there, in verse 23, "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread." Later, in verse 25, we read, "In the same way, after supper he took the cup." And still a little further on, in verse 26, "For whenever you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

Eating and drinking! Two universal factors in survival. Things that no one can do without. This is why the physical picture is so vivid. The comparison is clear. If we cannot do without physical food and drink, how can we dare to be without spiritual food and drink? And that reminds us who it comes from first of all! You didn't think otherwise, did you?

Believer, again the Lord provides. Who are you to turn that down?

And, unlike baptism, the Lord's Supper is a sacrament where we are very much involved. You see, you taste, you eat! Our souls feed upon and enjoy Christ.

And, also unlike baptism, it isn't something which happens only the once. Rather, we are to be continually feeding upon Christ Jesus in this Supper, just as our communion with Him is continual.

So the call is constantly before us to eat and drink. Yet, at the same time as we acknowledge this call, we also realise that it's physically impossible to be always eating and drinking. Spiritually, however, it's exactly this we have to keep on doing!

The outward form can only be a pointer - that sign - which shows what's on the inside. And thus we come to the second aspect. Here we see that... BY FAITH IT PROVES ME INWARDLY.

By faith it proves me inwardly

This picture is clearly painted with the phrase, "so surely". As Answer 75 says, for its first part, "as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely his body was offered and broken for me and his blood poured out for me on the cross."

We see the outward forms, but we believe what they represent! The bread and wine is to represent to us Christ's broken body and His poured out blood.

Not that the bread or wine itself is important. Neither is the minister, the elders, or even those participating. Jesus is all important! Because of what He's done; because of the fact that what He's done He has done for others - He's the focus of this meal!

Let's illustrate this by using something else our Lord did. It is an incident which many of us would be familiar with. It's found in John 13 where we read about Jesus washing His disciples' feet. In this physical act of cleaning their feet, Jesus showed them the full extent of His love.

When Jesus had finished the washing, He says his disciples, in John 13:12-17, "Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord', and rightly so, for this is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you...Now you will be blessed if you do them."

The outward form only serves to reflect upon the inward spiritual truth. As we remember what the Lord did for us upon that old rugged cross; as we think about the blood that flowed from his side, from His hands, and from His feet; as we in the way reflect upon His body and soul broken apart by death, we are blessed! 1 Corinthians 11:26 described it, "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death."

Did you hear that? You proclaim the Lord's death! We tell the world and we remind each other of that momentous event that happened nearly two thousand years ago! That event which continues to have the biggest influence in our lives.

Why? In answering this we come to the essence of the third aspect... BY FAITH IT SHOWS I'M STILL CHANGING SPIRITUALLY.

By faith it shows I'm still changing spiritually

How does something which happened so long ago still affect us? Isn't it, congregation, because it become ours personally?

Question 76 deals with this. It asks, "What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and to drink His poured-out blood?" In other words, "How am I to relate to this meal?"

We need to understand this in the right way, otherwise confusion will reign. The early New Testament church was misunderstood by outsiders. The outsider would hear of the Lord's Supper, and listening to those words from Scripture, "take, eat, this is my body," and "Take, drink, this is my blood," an outsider would get the idea that it was an actual physical eating and drinking of human flesh and blood.

Answer 76 sets us straight. It says that to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ means, "to accept with a believing heart the entire suffering and death of Christ and by believing to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life." We feed on Christ by faith. So, as we eat we are assured that we belong to Him, and that nothing will ever separate us from His righteousness, from His life, and from His love.

An objection could be raised against the Lord's Supper here. Someone might say, "Why does this sacrament have so much importance? Doesn't the Holy Spirit confirm our faith rather than the Lord's Supper?"

A challenging question! Yet it misses the man in the middle!

Take, for example, our lives. We acknowledge that God gives us health and life. And yet God does that through food and drink. You see, just because we do the eating and drinking ourselves doesn't mean God doesn't provide. He's the One, ultimately, who gives us that food and drink. So the food and drink we have everyday tells us of God's providing physically.

In the same way, the Lord's Supper tells us of God's providing spiritually. As God's Word is confirmed in this celebration, our faith is strengthened. Through the working of God's Spirit, we are taken beyond our individual selves. The whole picture is painted.

That's why Answer 76 adds, "Through the Holy Spirit, who lives both in Christ and in us, we are united more and more to Christ's blessed body. And so, although he is in heaven and we are on earth, we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And we forever live on and are governed by one Spirit, as members of our body are by one soul."

We speak now of a mystery to the human mind, and yet a great strength and assurance for the believer. It was of this that the apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:24, "And this is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us."

This is not something we can picture in accurate physical details. I mean, how can you picture the relationship you have with a loved one? You say that you love them very deeply, that you've become very attuned to each other, even that you are joined together in the most intimate way. But if I were to ask, "Please put that down on a series of graphs, or as a mathematical equation," you would reply that you couldn't.

"How can I quantify the love I have for that person," you would ask. "What formulations are there to describe how I feel towards him or her?"

Indeed, there are none. We are left simply with that word "love".

We can use illustrations to picture our love. Jesus used some very vivid ones to describe His relationship to us. For example, he described us as the branches joined to the vine.

John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

What we have before us when we celebrate around the Lord's Table is also a beautiful picture. The elements of the Lord's Supper help us to reflect upon what Christ has done for us. In our partaking of those elements we confess to His doing and dying on our behalf.

Through that participation we're blessed by being further joined to Christ, by His Spirit. The branch becomes even more strongly attached to the vine. And the fruit coming from that branch becomes even bigger and richer.

But there's more! The banquet of the Lord's Supper reflects upon a far greater future meal. That's a meal that will never end, a celebration far greater than any here below. Then we will be completely reunited with our Lord Jesus Christ. After all, in instituting this Supper in Matthew 26:29, Jesus said, "I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

Dear believer, pray for the coming of that day! And until that day arrives, don't give up the joining together and being strengthened that we can already enjoy now. For this is, indeed, a wonderful and gracious gift from a tremendously loving heavenly Father.

In this moment heaven comes down! And through it His glory shines all around!

Amen.

PRAYER:

Let's pray...

O Lord and Saviour, what a wonderful assurance You have given to Your Church here below in your sacrament of the Lord's Supper. How much we are shown, in such a simply way, the greatest fact of Your doing and dying for us!

O blessed Jesus, do remind us, now and always, of whose we are. For we are not our own but we belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to You, our faithful Saviour.

In Your precious Name we pray, Amen.