Christians of all traditions are missing the sacraments at this time. It is a big gap in our devotional lives. We can listen to sermons online and even pray together but how is it possible to celebrate Baptism and the Lord’s Supper? Ingenious suggestions have been made, some not very seriously, but in the end it is really not possible given the restrictions placed upon us.
We especially remember the Lord’s Supper on this day in Holy Week when at the Passover table Jesus broke bread and shared wine and called upon His disciples to continue doing this to remember Him. He was reinterpreting important Passover symbols. The bread was His body. The cup of wine the New Covenant in His blood. ‘Whenever you eat the bread and share the wine remember me.’
It is the only act of worship that Jesus commanded and its importance is seen in the instructions Paul received as to its administration from Jesus Himself. The worship in Corinth was a mess. Paul suggested that the Church would be as well not meeting together ‘for your meetings do more harm than good.’ You can read all about it in 1 Corinthians 11. But into these circumstances Paul brought the words of Jesus Himself. Remember, apostles received special revelation from the Risen and Ascended Lord and Paul was able less to give advice as to reveal the will of the Lord:
‘For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’ (1 Corinthians 11: 23-26)
It all seems so simple and yet tragically this one act of worship commanded by Jesus and which should unite us more than any other is still a focus of division among Christians. And it really is not on for one tradition to point the finger at another as the source of the problem. Even within traditions people are not happy unless the Lord’s Supper is dispensed in a way they think appropriate. But the Corinthian experience, focussing on setting right what is wrong, is an encouragement for us to believe that things can change.
Getting back to the simplicity of it all. The heart of the Lord’s Supper however it is celebrated can be summed up in a hymn I once heard which had as a refrain:
‘All I ask of you is forever to remember me as loving you.’
This should be uppermost in our minds whenever we eat the bread and share the wine. As Paul would say in this we proclaim the Lord’s death and that death was for each of us. The next time you take the bread and wine into your hands, and I pray it will be soon, remember Him as loving you from all eternity.
