Communion
Communion Meditations
Why the Lord’s Supper?
Why do Christians celebrate the Lord’s Supper or Communion during their Sunday assemblies? In short, because Jesus asked us to. The emblems remind us of His sacrifice on our behalf and of the covenant relationship we share with Him. Elsewhere, I have suggested that the entire focus of our assemblies should be Christ, and Him crucified. When that is our focus, it is amazing how the cross of Christ, and the memorial meal He asked us to celebrate, illuminate everything else. It is fascinating to me how rich and multi-faceted the Communion becomes. Just about every subject and topic ties in to it.
Why the Communion meditation?
The idea behind giving a meditation before celebrating the Communion, is to focus the thoughts of the congregation on some aspect of Christ’s sacrifice and/or our covenant relationship with Him. But there is another very practical reason for the meditations: They are an opportunity for mutual ministry. It’s an opportunity for men to actively share their spiritual insights with the rest of the congregation instead of remaining passive spectators. It’s a relatively non-threatening way for men to get experience standing in front of a group and talking to them about Christ. It’s a way to give men practice in studying the Scriptures and organizing what they have learned so it can be shared.
To give you an idea of what can be done, I’ve decided to share some of the Communion meditations I’ve given. They cover a fairly wide range of topics, yet the focus is always Christ.
Number One
Many people live by the philosophy that you have to look out for ‘number one.’ Number one, of course, is themselves. They justify it by another saying. “If you don’t look out for yourself, no one else will.” What it really boils down to is selfishness. We want to have our own way. We want to satisfy our own desires. We want to live for ourselves.
Jesus calls us to a radically different philosophy and lifestyle.
Unless a Seed Dies
No one likes to go through pain and suffering. But sometimes pain and suffering is absolutely necessary in order to obtain a desired outcome. Jesus put it this way, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:24-25 NIV)
Freedom
We consider ourselves a free people. But, what is freedom? Freedom really has no meaning except in contrast to its opposite. In a political context it means not being subjected to tyranny or oppression. In a social context it means not being bound by convention or peer pressure. When we speak of religious freedom we mean the ability to practice our faith and worship according to our own understanding and conscience without interference or threat.
Now, it is perfectly possible to be free in one area but not free in another. We may be free politically; we may enjoy religious freedom, yet every single one of us who is old enough to really understand the difference between good and evil has experienced the slavery of sin. We were controlled by it. We found it impossible to always do the good we knew we ought to do.
Christ, Who Is Our Life
People define themselves in different ways. For example, one person might think of himself as an athlete. In his own mind, that’s who he is. Someone else might think of himself as a businessman. He defines himself in terms of his business. Yet another person might define herself as a mother. She is wrapped up in her children. We all tend to pigeonhole, not only ourselves, but each other by physical characteristics, personality traits or career choices.
This raises an interesting question: Who are we, really? What is our chief characteristic? How do we define ourselves? There’s a phrase in Colossians 3:4 which really jumped out at me: The NIV renders it “...Christ, who is your life...” Other translations say, “...Christ, who is our life...”
Our Mediator
The concept of rights is extremely prevalent in our American culture. To an extent our whole society is founded on the concept of rights. It is enshrined in phrases like “inalienable rights” which is found in the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution contains the Bill of Rights. We are conditioned to think of our rights.
The problem with rights is that they demand. If something is a right then, by definition it (whatever it happens to be, from the right of assembly to women’s rights) belongs to us. We get quarrelsome when someone does not recognize that something is ours. In other words, when we feel that someone has violated one of our rights, it creates an adversarial relationship. It causes separation.
A Living Parable
(Given during an assembly which was centered on the parables of Jesus.)
Just before He died, Jesus taught His disciples an interactive parable. True, the Scriptures do not call it a parable. But Jesus took some very ordinary, day-to-day items and used them to illustrate some profound spiritual truths. True, Jesus did not give this teaching in the form of a story. But nevertheless it is a living story which is still playing out in our lives today.
Outside the Box
When our children were in High School, there was a phrase that sort of became the motto or mantra of the teachers in the English Department. It was “Think outside the box!” By ‘thinking outside the box’ they did not mean original thought or thinking for oneself. What they really meant by that phrase was that they expected the kids to accept and agree with the box that the teachers themselves lived in. In the name of freedom they were asking the children to accept the bondage of the teacher’s world-view.
Transformation
One of the themes which is sounded in just about any political campaign is the need for change. Very rarely will a candidate run for office with the promise that he or she will keep things just as they are. No, the politicians promise that if we will just elect them, they will make things better; they will solve our problems; their agenda will bring peace and prosperity.
I don’t need to tell you that the promises rarely come to pass. The problem is that the politicians are responding to symptoms. They react to consequences rather than the root cause of our difficulties. What is the root cause of the worlds’ troubles? It’s not the lack, or unequal distribution, of capital or natural resources. It’s not circumstances. It’s not environment. It’s not even climate change or global warming. It comes down to just one thing: Fallen human nature. Mankind was given a choice between good and evil and we chose evil. All of our problems stem from that one basic choice. Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matthew 15:19 NIV)
Giving Thanks
In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 12, Paul writes about people who are perishing. They aren’t headed for destruction because of a chance or random event. They aren’t headed for destruction because of the actions of someone else. Paul writes that they are condemned because of a deliberate choice they made. What was the choice? They delighted, or took pleasure, in wickedness. Involved in this choice was not believing the truth. It’s not that they didn’t have the opportunity to know the truth; it wasn’t that the truth was beyond their capability to understand. They turned away from the truth for moral reasons.
In contrast to this group of people, Paul writes in verses 13 and 14, “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 NIV)
