A. I want to ask you to think back with me to the cross. I want you to seek to see Jesus in your mind’s eye dragging the beam out from Jerusalem and up to Golgotha. I want you to hear the people crying “Crucify Him!” Others mocked him along the way and still more mocked him as he hung on the cross. I want you to think about the pain he endured at the hand of the Romans. The beating, the crown of thorns, eventually the spikes being driven into his hands and feet. I want you to think about his mother watching as her child is murdered in public with so many cheering and laughing. I want you to think about Jesus hanging there and crying out to his father to forgive them, for they did not know what they were doing. I want you to hear him cry out “I thirst!” and “Father, Why have you forsaken me?” and finally, “It is finished.” I want you to picture that horrible scene in your mind and ask yourself, “Why did a loving God allow such an awful thing to take place?” I will answer that question for you with a statement made by Jesus to Nicodemus a couple of years before he was murdered. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever should believe on him would not perish, but have eternal life.” That’s why.
B. I want you this morning to think about the day of Pentecost that would happen just a little over one month from the time of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. As you think about that day recorded for us in Acts 2, I want you hear Peter telling the story of Jesus to those thousands gathered around him and the other apostles. I want you to hear him tell them these words (Acts 2:22-36). You see, the people that Peter spoke to understood the concept of sin. They understood that Jesus died, not because of Romans or Jews, but because mankind sinned and that sin separated us from God and the price for sin was and is death. Jesus paid the price at the cross and overcame the grave by the power of God. But that did not negate the fact that their sin, personal sin, is why the Messiah died. If you don’t come to grips with that fact, then nothing else I say today will be of any importance. For this message has one theme: Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
C. The people responded, “What shall we do?” The reply, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” About 3000 souls responded that day, and in their repentance were baptized to have their sins washed away. These new Christians needed something more than just being baptized. Jesus had told his disciples to about the “second teach.” Remember, just before he ascended into heaven he told them to teach everyone, baptizing them, and then to teach them all things. So these new Christians need more than this one sermon. In Acts 2:42 we read that they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. The breaking of bread was more than meal, it was what would be called “The Lord’s Supper” or by some “communion.”
D. The early church understood the importance of this and we find them gathering weekly and when they came together, they partook of this simple little ceremony that still called itself “the Supper.” Some churches missed the concept of the supper and allowed their fellowship meal to become a time of division within the body. Some were getting more than they should while other Christians were simply left with nothing. During these love feasts they would do something they called “the Lord’s Supper.” But it wasn’t the Lord ’s Supper that was being done. Call it something else; call it the selfish supper, but not the Lord’s Supper. To the church in Corinth, Paul would say, (1 Cor. 11:17-34). To this text we have come this day.
I. The Expression
A. Paul said that Jesus told his disciples, “this is my body” and “this cup is the new covenant in my blood.” He had not died yet, but that was the expression. That expression by Jesus concluded with “do this in remembrance of me.” Understand something, church, this is a command, not a suggestion. Jesus commanded us to “do this.” Why? I asked you to think back to the cross. That is why. I asked to hear his words and watch him died – not because of a crime but because I sinned. He did for me personally. I murdered him, I am guilty of those nails being driven into his hands and feet, and that is why I “do this.” I do this to “remember Him.”
B. This simply weekly celebration is an expression of my faith. I can sing alone in my home, I can pray alone in my home, I can read my Bible alone in my home, I can give to good works alone in my home, but the partaking of the Lord’s Supper was never intended to done solo. It is something they did when they came together as a church. It was a calling of the church. It was manipulated in Corinth as a way to divide the body of Christ when the purpose was about uniting the body of Christ. It is an expression of my love and participation in this “new covenant” that calls me, begs me, yes, even commands me to come together with my church family and remember Him.
II. The Expectation
A. But there is more to this than just remembering a dead Savior. There is more to this than the cross. Peter wanted the people in Jerusalem to know that God raised this Jesus up from the dead and seated him at His right hand. Peter wanted them to know he is alive, he is risen from the dead never to die again.
B. When I eat this bread and drink this cup, I PROCLAIM the Lord’s death UNTIL he comes. That idea of proclamation is the idea of preaching. I am sharing the good news of Jesus and salvation, of the new covenant, with my family and I will continue to do it until Jesus come back to claim me for his own.
III. The Examination
A. But Paul concludes this teaching by warning us to examine ourselves. I believe verses 27-32 are some of the most frightening verses in the Bible. This simple supper can be done in such a way as for me to be “guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.” I know what that means. The Hebrew writer made it clear that it means there is no forgiveness of my sins when I continue in that manner. It means that some where sick and others died – and I think he is talking physically – for taking something as great as this act of communion and using it to divide the church.
B. I am unworthy of what Jesus did. This is not about my being good enough to partake. This is not about my getting my ducks in a row by Saturday night so I can have communion on Sunday morning. This is treating you like Christ treats me.
C. This is not about a meal in which some have everything and others have nothing. That should not happen within the body of Christ. We are one and we are family. Jesus taught that if you go to place your gift at the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, then go and make it right with your brother and then come back to make your gift at the altar. You see, my connection with God is in part based upon my connection with you.
Conclusion:
A. Does the Lord still discipline today? Are people still being made sick or even dying because of the way they have mistreated the body of Christ – both his body and blood, and his church? Yes. Does it always happen? No.
B. The bottom line is that this communion is communal. It taken together as a body recognizing the body and blood of Jesus. It is intended not for seekers, but for the saved. It is our meal together.
C. Maybe today you have come and have bitterness, anger, jealousy or wrath in your heart for a fellow Christian. Get rid of it. Look within you and examine yourself. Don’t let the communion be a ritual, but let it be a part of who you are and expression and expectation of your faith. If your relationship with others is keeping you from a relationship with God, then fix it. If you can’t do it alone, then come and let us pray with you and help you as we stand and sing.
