What Is Your Opinion On The Lord's Supper And Does It Matter?
Text: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Just
ask, and you will find that there are many different opinions on the Lord’s
Supper.
Some
people believe that the bread and wine are merely symbolic – that the bread and
wine represent the body and blood of Jesus.
Others
believe that communion is a personal thing between them and Jesus and has nothing
to do with the unity of everyone else gathering around the altar.
And
some believe that taking communion is just an act of obedience – a way to show their
devotion to the Lord by remembering Him.
Others
will say that we don't get forgiveness from communion. Instead, communion
reminds us of the forgiveness we already have obtained by our decision to
follow Jesus.
Finally,
but certainly not least, there are those who believe that the Lord’s Supper is
for only holy people and that what makes the Lord’s Supper holy is the holiness
of the minister or priest.
Now,
we could certainly go on and on and on about the many more opinions on the
Lord’s Supper. And I am sure we could
poll everyone here to get our thoughts on the Lord’s Supper as well. The only problem with this is that our
opinions about the Lord’s Supper really mean nothing. That is right; what you, I, and our neighbors
think about the Lord’s Supper is of no importance. The reason why? It is not our supper; we are not the host!
Dear
friends, think of it this way. If you
are the host of a supper, you are the one who gets to do the inviting. You are the one who sets the menu. You are the one who decides where people
sit. And so, when people come to your
feast of a meal, they come as guests.
They come to receive that which you set before them. You are in charge; they are not. You are the one who serves; they are the ones
who receive.
But
imagine this. Imagine that you invited a
group of guests, set the menu, chose the wine, prepared the appetizers – as
well as set out the seating assignments with the best of silverware and plates. And then upon arrival, the guests come with
paper towels, paper plates, and individualized Happy Meals from McDonald's with
Coors Light cans and Capri Sun juice boxes.
And without asking, they shove your silverware, plates, and seating
assignments aside, and start eating their Big Macs. And then halfway through the meal, with their
Capri Sun juice boxes held up, they decide to invite you to the table, after
all, it is ‘your’ meal. But then when
you bring the food that you prepared for them?
Well, they mock and scorn you, telling you that you shouldn’t be so stuck-up
with your meal – that by trying to serve them the food that you prepared makes
them feel judged and uncomfortable. They
go on to say that by you trying to be the host, you are too controlling and not
making them feel welcomed, and besides if you don’t chill out, they will go
somewhere else where they are indeed welcomed.
How
would you respond to this? What is going
on here?
Dear
friends, what is going on is that the meal that you prepared was marginalized
by your guests. Sure they said it was
your meal and that you are the host; however, in reality, the food that you
prepared to give them and you being the host really does not matter. The point being; this is what happens with the
Lord’s Supper in Christianity, when our opinions and thoughts dictate how the
Lord’s Supper should be conducted and what the Lord’s Supper is all about
according to us.
You
see, some 2,000 years ago, on that Holy Thursday, Jesus – not the disciples – instituted
the Lord’s Supper. Listen to the events of that Holy Thursday: the same night
in which Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Jesus took the bread; and when He had
given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying,
“Take,
eat; this is My body, which is given for you.
This do in remembrance of Me.”
Then after
giving them the bread, Jesus took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He
gave it to them, saying,
“Drink
of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for
you for the forgiveness of sins. This
do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Indeed,
Christ instituted (i.e., established)
the Lord’s Supper – that is why we call it the Lord’s Supper and not Matt
Richard’s Supper or John Doe’s Supper.
Christ Jesus is the host, and we are the guests.
So,
since we are the guests in the Lord’s Supper, our personalized opinions and
thoughts carry no weight. We certainly do not have the authority to spin the
Lord’s Supper to our ideas, and we certainly should not approach the Lord’s
Supper as if we are in charge – as if we are the host.
But
how shall we approach the Lord’s Supper?
The answer is quite simple. We
approach the Lord’s Supper in faith.
Dear
Baptized Saints, you see, we must truly understand that we are spiritually impoverished. We do not know what is useful or necessary
for our Christian lives, so we do not dare dictate how things should be to the
Lord. When our pride and arrogance
attempt to invert things, making us in control and letting our opinions rule,
we have given way to the diabolical plans of the evil one. Instead, by faith we trust Jesus, and we
listen to His Word. You see, faith is like
hunger, it attaches to the one who gives good and nourishing gifts. As hungry people, we feast upon God’s Word
and stay in it. If we let go of God’s
Word for one moment, we fall away from truth.[1]
So, regarding
the Lord’s Supper, we are hungry guests who are glad to hear the invitation to
come to the Lord’s Table. We are glad
that He invites us to eat and drink. And
so we approach the Lord’s Supper as hungry guests – with God-fearing hearts – clinging
to Jesus’ words. And we receive the
Lord’s Supper as Jesus instituted and with the words Jesus spoke. Bluntly stated, we do not add to Jesus’ Words
and we do not subtract from Jesus’ Word.
We do not reinterpret Jesus’ Word as being symbolic. And we do not substitute grape juice for wine
and we do not use potato chips instead of bread because that would be different
from Jesus’ words. As hungry guests, we
also realize that the communion is not based on our holiness or our obedience (or
the holiness and obedience of the pastor) but upon Jesus and His Word. So, we come to the Lord’s Table as fellow
sinners with a unified confession of faith, to be His guests. We come clinging not to our opinions but
Jesus’ Word.
And
what is Jesus’ Word to us? We hear from
Jesus’ Word that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the garden which
spurned God’s generosity and poisoned every relationship in the garden. We hear from Jesus’ Word that a curse fell
upon everything and everyone – including you and me. But we also hear in Jesus’ Word that Jesus’
holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death made the cross into a
tree of life for you. We hear in Jesus’
Word that the Lord’s Supper is a special feast for you to enjoy as the Lord’s
guest. As the host, Jesus provides you
with His own true body and blood under the bread and wine, for the forgiveness
of your sins and the strengthening of your faith.[2]
So,
tonight, clinging to Jesus’ Word by faith as hungry guests, you and I come to the Lord’s Table, so that Jesus can give
Himself to you and pledge never to leave you nor forsake you.
Yes,
you, who are hungry, and you, who are thirsty, come to the Lord’s Supper, for
you will be nourished and refreshed.
You,
who feel the weight of sin, the guilt of your failures, and the sting of death,
come to the Lord’s Supper, for here at the altar you receive Jesus – you
receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Come
and receive, as the Lord’s guest. The
Lord does not hold back; He meets you because He is for you.
Come
and receive the body and blood of Christ this evening in the Lord’s Supper – a
holy meal that He instituted for you that Maundy Thursday long ago.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
[1]
Martin Luther (W 19, 498).
[2]
Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 19.
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