“The Church’s Meal, Part 2”

Sunday morning sermon audio from Preston Highlands Baptist Church.

Worship with Five Senses

It’s easy to assume that the only one of our five senses that God wants to engage during worship is our sense of hearing.  It’s true that the main thing we do when we gather each week for worship is hear the Word of God sung, read, prayed, and preached. 

But what if God wants us to experience his Word using all five of our senses?  What if there’s a sermon that we can hear, see, taste, touch, and even smell?    

I think that there is such a sermon.  It’s called the Lord’s Supper.  Through the Lord’s Supper, God intends to engage all five of our senses.  We hear the words of explanation and we see, taste, touch, and smell the bread and juice. 

The Lord’s Supper is God’s way of communicating his gospel to us in ways we perhaps aren’t used to.  Through the Supper, God wants our worship and enjoyment of him to be a full-orbed sensory experience.  Keep this in mind as we observe the Supper at the end of our service.  Pay attention to how all five of your senses are engaged.

Last Sunday we laid the biblical foundation for the Lord’s Supper, or “The Church’s Meal,” surveying what the Bible says about the Supper.  Today we’ll look at a definition for the Lord’s Supper and look at several questions about how we should practice it.

  

What Is the Lord’s Supper?

In his excellent little book Understanding the Lord’s Supper, Bobby Jamieson defines the Supper like this: “The Lord’s Supper is a church’s act of communing with Christ and each other and of commemorating Christ’s death by partaking of bread and wine, and a believer’s act of receiving Christ’s benefits and renewing his or her commitment to Christ and his people, thereby making the church one body and marking it off from the world.”[1]

Let’s look at this definition phrase by phrase.  First, the Supper is the “church’s act.”  It’s something the entire church does.  In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says five times that the Supper is done when the entire church gathers together (1 Cor. 11:17, 18, 20, 33-34).  Each verse says that the Supper is to be done “when you come together.”  The Supper isn’t a private meal for Christian friends or a husband and wife on their wedding day.  It’s the entire church’s meal to share “when they come together.”

Next Jamieson says that, in the Supper, we “commune with Christ and each other.”  This is where we get the word “communion.”  In the Supper, we commune with Christ as we enjoy his presence through faith.  We “feed on him in our hearts by faith.” 

As I said last week, Jesus is spiritually present in the Supper.  I need to qualify that by adding that he’s present in the Supper regardless of how we feel.  It’s not our responsibility to bring Jesus to the Supper.  He’s already there, just as he is in all the means of grace.  We may not always feel his presence, but he’s there nonetheless.  Our responsibility is to trust his promises and seek him with all our heart and ask him to help us feel and enjoy his presence.

During the Supper, we commune with Christ and with others who’re communing with Christ.  In the Supper, we’re communing with and enjoying the presence of Jesus together.  It’s a family meal.

Next Jamieson says that, in the Supper, we “commemorate Christ’s death.”  Jesus tells us plainly that the Supper is a way for us to remember his death for us.  Luke 22:19, “Do this in remembrance of me.”  The Supper is meant to move our memory.   

The way we do this, Jamieson says, is “by partaking of bread and wine.”  How does this work?  The act of breaking bread and crushing it between our teeth reminds us what happened to Jesus’ body.  The act of pouring out and drinking the wine reminds us of Jesus’ blood that was poured out.  In the Supper, the event of Jesus’ death is dramatically presented to our minds through all of our senses.

Next Jamieson says that the Supper is “a believer’s act.”  The Supper is something that only a Christian should participate in.  More on this in a few moments. 

Jamieson says next that, in the Supper, we “receive Christ’s benefits.”  What does this mean?  It doesn’t mean that we’re saved through it.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:16, that, in the Supper, we’re “participating,” or “sharing,” in the blood and body of Christ.  Does this mean that we don’t share in these benefits apart from the Supper?  Not at all.  It means that, through the Supper, we can experience the benefits of Jesus’ death for us again and again.  The bread and wine are meant to regularly draw us into the realities that they signify. 

In his book, Jamieson compares this to what happens in preaching.  He says, “You show up on Sunday morning already trusting Christ.  But when the pastor proclaims Christ from Scripture, the gospel comes to you again in power.  In that moment you embrace Christ anew.  You trust him more fully.  You submit to him more earnestly.  You experience forgiveness and peace with God more intensely.  Something analogous happens in the Lord’s Supper.  Christ is already yours by faith, but when you receive the bread and wine you receive him all over again.  The physical signs of bread and wine support and strengthen your faith.”[2]   

Jamieson’s definition next says that the Supper renews our commitment to Christ and his people.  The Supper encourages us to continue in our commitment to Christ.  We remember him as our Savior and recommit to him as our Lord.  We can’t have Jesus as Savior and not as Lord.  We say in the Supper, “Jesus has saved me and he’s still my King.”  Baptism is the initial, formal, public way that we commit to Jesus.  The Supper is the ongoing, repeated reaffirmation that we’re still committed to Jesus. 

The Supper is also a renewal of our commitment to the church.  If we claim Christ as our Savior, then we necessarily claim his people as our brothers and sisters.  We can’t have Christ without his family.  We don’t get the benefits of the new covenant apart from commitment to the new covenant community.

In the Supper, Many Become One

The last phrase of Jamieson’s definition tells us what happens as a result of the Lord’s Supper.  As we commune and commemorate and partake and receive and renew, we “thereby make the church one body and mark it off from the world.” 

This is a massive truth.  Jamieson is saying that when the church does communion, when we as believers remember Jesus’ death with the church, the church becomes one body.  Jamieson is basing this in what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:17. 

How does this happen?  1 Corinthians 10:16 talks about the vertical fellowship that happens between us and Christ during the Supper.   From this Paul draws a horizontal conclusion in verse 17.  His main point is in the middle: “we who are many are one body.”  In the Supper, many become one.  Paul is rooting the unity of the church in its celebration of the Supper.  “Because there is one bread, there is one body.”  Baptism binds one to many.  The Lord’s Supper binds many into one.

Paul is saying that the Supper gathers up the church and makes us into one body.  The Supper, then, is what makes us into a local church.  Paul isn’t saying that we have to use one loaf of bread to truly be a church.  He’s using “one bread” to describe the church’s corporate, all-together celebration of the Supper.  Through doing the one thing of the Supper, we reveal the oneness that we have in Christ. 

We all have fellowship with Christ (v. 16), which creates the unified body of Christ.  But where can we see this?  We’re meant to see this unity when “we all partake of the one bread” (v. 17).  Our “oneness” is revealed to the world through our participation in the Supper.  The Lord’s Supper reveals the church. 

Paul is saying that when a church does the Supper, the people of God show up on the earth.  Through the Supper, the body of Christ is marked off from the world.

When Does a Church Become a Church?

The implications of this are huge.  This means that to create a church, a “one body,” people have to come to Christ and to one another.  This coming together implies commitment.  A church doesn’t spring into existence every time Christian friends get together or when you’re in the same room with other believers.  If so, you’d create a church every time you bumped into a Christian at the grocery store, and the church would dissolve as soon as you left the store. 

So when is a church born?  A church is born when a group of Christians commit to be a church together.  We display this commitment through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  In baptism we publicly commit to Christ and his people.  In the Supper, we reaffirm our commitment to Christ and his people. 

One way churches have historically made explicit what’s implicit in the Supper is through a church covenant.  A church covenant clarifies and makes explicit exactly what we’re committing to, what we’re displaying in the Supper.  It’s a useful tool to clarify what a church is and what it’s committed to. 

If you joined PHBC before I came, and you haven’t yet signed the church covenant, I’d encourage you to join your brothers and sisters who have made their commitment to you explicit by signing the covenant.  Let Nick or I know if you’d like to do this.    

Who May Take the Lord’s Supper?

Now that we’ve considered what the Supper is, let’s consider several questions about how we should practice it.  The first question is the most important one: Who may take the Lord’s Supper? 

Many of us have never considered whether or not we should take the Lord’s Supper when it’s offered during a worship service.  This is because, in many cases, churches don’t teach on this topic.  This is unfortunate and unusual.  Unfortunate because taking the Supper improperly comes with consequences (1 Cor. 11:27-30).  Unusual because Christians of every tradition have believed for two thousand years that the Supper is only for specific people. 

So who may take the Lord’s Supper?  The Lord’s Supper is for baptized believers who belong to a church.

The Lord’s Supper is for Believers

First, the Lord’s Supper is for believers.  It’s for those who’ve trusted Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.  The Supper proclaims that Jesus shed his blood and gave his body to save sinners.  Therefore, those who believe this are the ones who should take it. 

We also know that the Supper is for believers because eating it wrongly carries the threat of judgment.  1 Corinthians 11:27 says, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.”  One way to take the Supper in an “unworthy manner” would be to take it as an unbeliever.  By definition, an unbeliever does not understand the connection between Jesus’ death and their need for forgiveness. 

It’s therefore loving for churches to instruct unbelievers to not partake of the Supper.  Of course, unbelievers should feel welcomed and loved by the congregation.  But they should also get a sense that they’re “outsiders” (1 Cor. 14:23).  They should see the love we have for Christ and for each other and want to be part of it.  They need to understand that if they don’t repent of their sins and trust in Christ, they’ll remain outside of Christ and his people forever. 

The Lord’s Supper is for Baptized Believers

Second, the Lord’s Supper is for baptized believers.  As I said a two weeks ago, baptism is how a follower of Jesus publicly identifies with Jesus and with Jesus’ people.  It’s our public commitment to Jesus and his people.  It’s the church’s affirmation of our new identity.  At our baptism, the church affirms that we bear the family name of our Trinitarian God.

If baptism is how we publicly profess our faith in Christ, the Lord’s Supper is how we regularly renew our faith in Christ.  Therefore, a person must be baptized before they take the Supper because you have to make a profession before you can renew a profession. 

The logic goes like this: If the Lord’s Supper is for Christians, and a Christian is someone who’s believed the gospel and been baptized, then the Supper is only for those who’ve believed the gospel and been baptized. 

The Lord’s Supper is for Baptized Believers Who Belong to a Church

Third, the Lord’s Supper is for baptized believers who belong to a church.  The New Testament makes it clear that those who come to Christ come into a church.  At Pentecost, those who repented and believed were baptized and added to the church that day (Acts. 2:38-41).  Even when Jesus called his first disciples, he called them into a group (Mk. 3:13-19).  To become a follower of Jesus is to become a member in his body (1 Cor. 12:12-26).  The New Testament knows nothing of churchless Christians.

Becoming a member of a church is that church’s way of affirming that a person “walks the walk and talks the talk,” that they’ve truly trusted in Christ and repented of their sins.  If a person doesn’t belong to a church, how can we be sure that they’re actually following Jesus?  We aren’t a Christian just because we say we are.  Someone who isn’t a member of a church is like a free agent.  As one pastor says, they’re like a “brick that has jumped out of the wall, a hand that cut itself off from the body, a self-made orphan.”

A professing Christian who doesn’t belong to a church should come into formal fellowship with the body before they celebrate the fellowship of the body. 

For these reasons, when our church observes the Lord’s Supper, you’ll hear me say something to the effect of, “The Supper is for Christians who’ve been baptized and are a member in good standing of a gospel-preaching church.”  This is our church’s way of guarding the Supper from being partaken of in an “unworthy manner” (1 Cor. 11:27).

More Questions about Practicing the Lord’s Supper

What gathering should celebrate the Lord’s Supper?  Many of us assume that the Supper can be celebrated by any Christians at any time.  But what does the Bible show us?  Scripture says that the gathered church is who observed the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17, 18, 20, 33-34).  1 Corinthians 10:17 tells us that the Supper portrays the unity of the church.  So it makes sense that the Lord’s Supper should be observed when the whole church family is together.  The Supper is the church’s family meal and thus it should be eaten together.  This means that doing the Supper in any other context, though probably not sinful, isn’t authorized by Scripture (e.g. in community groups, on mission trips, with college ministries, at weddings, taken to homebound members, etc.). 

Who should lead the Lord’s Supper?  There’s no command in Scripture, but it seems reasonable to expect pastors to lead the Supper, for two reasons.  First, the Supper is an act of the church and pastors are those who lead the church.  Second, the Supper is an acting out, or visible presentation of the Word, and pastors are those set aside to proclaim the Word. 

Should we eat the bread and drink the cup?  Yes.  This is what Jesus told us to do in Matthew 26:26-28.  Intinction, or the practice of dipping the bread in the cup, isn’t what Jesus told us to do, and it minimizes the symbolism of Jesus’ blood being poured out for us.  Jesus doesn’t tell us what kind of bread or wine to use, so there’s freedom in this. 

How often should churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper?  The Bible doesn’t tell us.  It just says we should do it often.  “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:25).  Paul’s reference to the Corinthians doing it when the church “comes together” may suggest that they did it each week (cf. Acts 20:7).  This may mean that the church should do it every week, but there seems to be some flexibility in the phrase “as often as you drink it.”  Churches are thus free to decide how often they do it, but they should do it “often.”

Should the Lord’s Supper be celebrated in the context of a meal?  Maybe.  It appears that’s how the Corinthians did it.  Does the New Testament require this?  No.  Jesus only commanded us to eat the bread and drink the cup.  A full meal together isn’t the essence of the Supper, but those two elements are. 

And finally, what should we do during the Supper?  Jamieson encourages us to do four things: look to the cross, look around, look ahead, and look inward and back to the cross.  We should look to the cross because the Supper is meant to show us the cross again and again because we need to be reminded of Jesus’ death for us again and again. 

We should look around because the Lord’s Supper is meant to make the many one.  It’s not a private devotional experience.  We should not only close our eyes and confess our sins, but also open our eyes and look around us and marvel at all those who Jesus has redeemed.  If we’ve sinned against a brother or sister, we should confess that to them, maybe even during the Supper, making amends as soon as possible.  At the Supper, divisions disappear as we collectively gaze at the Savior.

We should look ahead because there’s a final and ultimate meal coming in the future (Rev. 19:6-9).  The fellowship with Christ and each other that we share in the Lord’s Supper is only a foretaste of what’s coming later.  The Lord’s Supper is like an appetizer that gets us ready for the main dish.  As you eat the Supper, look ahead to the feast that’s coming.  God is saving the best for last. 

And finally, we should look inward because we have sin that we need to confess to God.  Jesus’ death offers us forgiveness because we need it.  But we should not stop with our sin.  We should not let guilt pile up and overwhelm us.  The Lord’s Supper tells us that, because of Jesus’ death, our guilt is gone, our sins are removed, our punishment has been taken, and our debt is paid.  So as we look inward we must also look backward to the cross.

Each time we observe the Lord’s Supper, may God help us to prayerfully look back, look around, look ahead, and look inward and back to the cross again. 

Observing the Lord’s Supper

There’s a direct connection between the Lord’s Supper and Christmas.  Jeff Thompson pointed me to a devotional written by Doug Wilson on this.  Wilson says, “The body that was broken on the cross was the same body that was formed in the womb of the virgin.  And that body was taken on by the eternal Word in order that it might be broken.  The blood that began to circulate in the veins of Jesus before He was even born was the same blood that was shed for you many years later.  Christmas is the opening move in God’s salvation of His people.  As (we) reflect on the closing moves, the Lord’s passion and death, (we should) meditate on the fact that they are to be understood all together, as part of the same story.”[3]

Christmas begins the story that culminates in Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Jesus was born to die.  As we remember his death today, let’s not forget that the reason the eternal Son of God put on human flesh was in order to have that flesh flayed for our sins.  The cute baby Jesus in the manger ends as an unrecognizable Jesus hanging naked and bloodied on the cross.  And all of this is for us, for those who believe that he is who the Bible says he is, for those who know that they have no hope apart from him.

Practically, this means that the Lord’s Supper is for Christians.  As I’ve said, the Lord’s Supper is for baptized believers who belong to a church.  If you’re not yet a baptized follower of Jesus who’s part of a church, we’re glad you’re here, but we’d encourage you to refrain from taking the Supper.  If you’re a visitor with us and you’ve been baptized as a believer and you’re a member in good standing at another gospel-preaching church, you’re welcome to observe the Supper with us. 

As I said last week, Paul’s point about “examining ourselves” before we take the Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:28 means that we need to make sure we aren’t saying we love Jesus while we’re scorning or spurning some of his people.  Those whose lives contradict their words will be eating judgment on themselves when they eat the Supper (vv. 29-30).  Before we take the Supper, let’s pause and ask God to show us areas where our walk doesn’t match our talk and let’s look to the cross, look around, look ahead, and look inward and back to the cross.

[1] Bobby Jamieson, Understanding the Lord’s Supper (Nashville: B&H, 2016), 25.
[2] Ibid., 29-30.
[3] Douglas Wilson, God Rest Ye Merry, 136.