Don't Miss The Meaning Of The Sacraments Pt. 3
PART 3 - FEASTING OUR HEARTS AND MINDS ON THE RICHES OF COMMUNION
This is the third article in a series put together by the pastoral team to help our church think well about and get the most out of our participation in the sacraments of baptism and communion. These articles are designed to provide a foundational understanding of the two sacraments of the New Testament Church and increase our expectation of the grace we’ll receive through them.
In the first article we defined our terms. We asked the question, “What is a Sacrament?” and we answered it by saying that a sacrament is: 1. A Visible Word, 2. A God-Ordained Activity, 3. A Means of Grace to Us. If you missed this article, you can find it here. In the second article we dove deeper into the sacrament of baptism and examined three ways in which the sacrament depicts our entrance into a new kind of life. Read, “Diving Deeper Into Baptism,” here.
In this third article, having entered God’s house via baptism, we now take our seats at his table in communion. In our baptism, we signify that we’ve passed from death to life and enmity with God to friendship with God as beloved sons and daughters who have been added to God’s family. In our taking of communion, baptized believers enjoy a family meal in which we receive the grace of God that is ours’ in Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit.
So we come now to the sacrament of communion (also referred to as the Lord’s Supper or the Lord’s Table) in order to feast our minds and hearts upon all the riches available to us in this meal. Digging into Scripture in order to increase our understanding of the spiritual realities to which this visible sign points. Reflecting on the ways in which the Spirit of God brings to us the soul-altering grace of Christ through this means of grace. And finally, applying our sacramental theology in practical ways that will help us to get the most out of the meaning of this sacrament in the on-going life and worship of our local church.
COMMUNION - TAKING OUR SEATS AT HIS TABLE
If baptism is the sacrament of spiritual birth, then communion is the sacrament of spiritual growth by which our souls are spiritually nourished and fed as the Spirit connects us to the grace of Christ. We experience this means of grace through our participation in special meal commonly referred to as communion or the Lord’s Supper. The Lord Jesus Christ instituted baptism as a one-time initiatory sacrament but intends the communion meal to be regularly observed by the gathered church until he returns. As our Sovereign Grace Churches Statement of Faith reads:
In the Lord’s Supper, the gathered church eats bread, signifying Christ’s body given for his people, and drinks the cup of the Lord, signifying his blood shed for our sins. As we observe this sacrament with faith and sober self-examination, we remember and proclaim the death of Christ, commune with him and receive spiritual nourishment for our souls, signify our unity with other members of Christ’s body, and look forward to the Lord’s triumphant return (We Believe: A Statement of Faith section 12, paragraph 3).
In this article, we’ll savor three graces of the communion meal that are ours’ to feast upon in the Lord’s Table. Our souls are assured, nourished, and more deeply knit together through the sacrament as communion is: a means of remembering and anticipating God’s saving acts in Christ, a real participation in the finished work of Christ, and an expression of our unity as the body of Christ.
SETTING THE TABLE TO SAVOR THE RICHES: NEW TESTAMENT TITLES FOR COMMUNION
Before digging into the main courses of this article, we’ll talk terms to set the table for our thinking about communion. In the New Testament, the sacrament is referred to in the following ways:
The Eucharist (see Matt 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-24; 1 Cor 11:23-26)
The meal has been referred to as the “Eucharist” because when Christ instituted it, he took the bread and the cup and “gave thanks” (an English translation of the Greek verb eucahristeo) to God before distributing them to his disciples. As such, the meal has been referred to as the Eucharist because as we receive it we give thanks to Christ for laying his life down for us. Without Christ giving himself up for us, sinners like us would have no hope in this would. But because he gave himself for us, we have something to celebrate indeed! As such, our participation in this sacrament should be marked by gratitude, thanksgiving, and joy.
The Breaking of Bread ( see Acts 2:42, 20:7)
In the Book of Acts, “the breaking of bread” was a regular feature of the early church’s worship. This was not a referent to any common meal but a special one in which the gathered church took bread and, in keeping with the tradition and example of Christ, “broke it” in remembrance of Christ (1 Cor 11:23). Just as Christ broke the bread and gave it to his disciples for the nourishment of their bodies, he would give his body to be broken for the salvation of their body and soul. In this way, the phrase and action of “the breaking of bread” are tangible signs which point themselves toward a greater spiritual reality. As Robert Letham says, the breaking of bread “is a graphic portrayal of [Christ’s] death on the cross, where his body was broken to secure our redemption” (The Lord’s Supper). And as Richard Barcellos continues, “When we break bread as churches, we have a graphic portrayal of Christ’s death for us” (The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace).
Communion (see 1 Cor 10:16)
In Communion, we have a sharing or participation in the blood and body of Christ. The Greek word underlying this “sharing” or “participation” is koinonia. This term is brought into English as Communion in order to express the fellowship we have with Christ and each other as we share in all the benefits that his shed blood and broken body acquired for us. Together as a church, we’re sacramentally sharing in Christ and his finished work. Together as a church, we’re sharing a meal with Christ as he spiritually meets us and nourishes our souls.
The Lord’s Table (see 1 Cor 10:21)
In 1 Cor 10:21, Paul refers to the communion meal as “the cup of the Lord” and “the table of Lord.” Christ himself is the Lord of the cup and the Lord of the table who is presiding over this sacramental meal. Meaning, as Barcellos says, that “He is not a distant, though interested on-looker” when we participate in his table (The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace). Far from it! He is the presiding Lord of the table who we come into spiritual contact with.
The Lord’s Supper (see 1 Cor 11:20)
Similar to the reference above, the emphasis here is that as this meal is the “Lord’s Supper,” it belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who has instituted the meal and invited us to his table. Because it is his supper and he’s the one who set the table, he gets to define what our table manners should look like. We must receive this sacrament as he intended it, which in the case of 1 Cor 11:20, meant as one body who were displaying their unity through the one bread and one cup. Additionally, because this is the Lord’s Supper and not our own, we must receive it after self-examination as his word instructs us (1 Cor 11:28) and with the gathered body of Christ, not as individuals (see 1 Cor 11:20, “When you (plural in the Greek) come together” to take the Lord’s Supper).
Having set the table for our understanding of communion, let’s dig into the riches of the meal. Beginning with our first of three courses, we savor the grace of communion as a means of remembering and anticipating God’s saving acts in Christ.
COMMUNION IS A MEANS OF REMEMBERING AND ANTICIPATING GOD’S SAVING ACTS IN CHRIST
Though we’ll argue later on that what’s taking place in communion is more than a memorial, it’s certainly not less than that. Jesus said it himself as he instituted the meal, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Apostle Paul hands down the tradition he received from the Lord and his Apostles in 1 Cor 11:23-26:
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
In communion, the elements that we consume represent the body of Christ which was given for us and the blood of Christ that was spilled to ratify and seal all the promises of the new covenant for us. In other words, as we take communion, we are meant to remember how our redemption was achieved as we hold in our hands the representation of the price our Redeemer paid. Communion is a visible word of the gospel because whenever we take it, the broken bread and poured out cup declare that Christ died to save sinners.
In this way, a vital aspect of communion is remembering what Christ has done for us. Namely, what he did to save us: giving his body and spilling his blood. He died a sacrificial death to be the perfect and final offering for our sin. He, the perfect Son of God who knew no sin, gave himself to satisfy God’s justice (Rom 3:23-26), pay the penalty for our sin (Rom 6:23; Gal 3:13), and inaugurate a new covenant in which our sin would be remembered no more (Heb 8:15-22, 10:16-18).
We need to be regularly reminded of what Christ has done to save us, because even as God remembers our sins no more, we can all too easily forget what he’s done for us in our redemption. In our ongoing battle with sin, doubt, and the wavering nature of our imperfect faith, we can grow discouraged or even begin to fear that we may lose our seat at God’s table. Here, it is helpful to recall Calvin’s definition of a sacrament: “an outward sign by which the Lord seals to our consciences the promises of his good will toward us in order to sustain the weakness of our faith” (Institutes 4.14.1). Communion sustains the weakness of our faith by pointing us to the true object of our faith: the person and work of Jesus.
So Christ has given us the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper so that as we receive the bread and the cup, we’d be reminded that what he’s accomplished for us in his death is as real as the tangible elements we hold in our hands. That his body and his blood alone are the basis of our acceptance by God – when we first believed, as we come to the table now, and forevermore.
Christ has given to us a meal that represents the price of our redemption so that we’d be assured that price has been paid in full. As we take communion in the present, we look back at and remember what Christ has accomplished in the past. As we do, we rest our souls afresh in the reality of the gospel that we are not saved by our own works but by grace through faith in the work of God in Jesus Christ. We look back so that our souls rest in the grace of the gospel.
But that’s not all. In communion, we not only look backward to the cross, but we also look forward to the second coming of Jesus. What Jesus accomplished in his death and resurrection was the beginning of the new creation breaking into this world – defeating death, establishing God’s kingdom, and setting men and women free from sin – but one day he’ll return to bring in the fullness of the new creation with him. What began in his death and resurrection will be fully realized as he recreates the heavens and the earth and all his redeemed live forever with him in glorified resurrection bodies, fully and finally freed from every trace of the presence of sin, death, and suffering.
In the Lord’s Supper, we look backward to the beginning of our redemption and simultaneously anticipate the completion of that same redemption. Just as Paul says, as often as we take communion in the present, “we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26). In this way, the visible and sacramental sign of the communion meal points itself to a greater but now invisible reality – the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:6-9). As we presently eat the bread, we anticipate that great day when we’ll feast face to face with Christ in all his glory! And as we drink the cup, we “cheers” and toast to that glorious future “when the Son of God will drink the fruit of the vine with us” (see Mt 26:29).
Having savored the grace of remembrance and anticipation, we turn to taste the sweetness of our present communion with Christ in the Lord’s Supper.
COMMUNION IS REAL PARTICIPATION IN THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST (1 COR 10:14-22)
The Lord’s Supper involves remembering, but it’s more than just a memory. It’s a present means of grace to us. We remember the price of our redemption, but we also truly, really, and spiritually come into the presence of our Redeemer. Theologian Sinclair Ferguson says that as we come to the table, “the Spirit comes to “close the gap” as it were between Christ in heaven and the believer on earth, and to give communion with the exalted Saviour.” This means that Christ is truly present in the meal, not in the physical transformation of the bread and the cup to his real body and blood, or in some other way in which he is physically present, in, under, or through the elements, but spiritually with his people.
When we come to the Lord’s Table, we have a true fellowship with Christ that blesses us, encourages us, and brings us soul-altering grace. This fellowship is demonstrated biblically in 1 Cor 10:14-22:
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?”
The context of this passage is Paul instructing the Corinthians to abstain from meals in the temples of idols. Some of the Corinthians believed that the gods to whom their non-believing neighbors worshipped and offered sacrifice were no gods at all (see 1 Cor 8:1-7) and as such felt that they could take part in temple meals without being involved in idolatry. They believed that since these gods were false, they could take part in these meals without any spiritual affect or bearing upon themselves. Paul tells them otherwise. Though he agrees these gods are not gods at all, he tells the Corinthians that to take part in their temple worship (even if it’s just to get a steak) is to involve themselves with demons!
The point being that there is something spiritually happening in those temple feasts. And, just the same, there is something happening in the Lord’s Supper. Just as the demons are spiritually present in the temple worship, Christ is spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, Paul tells the Corinthians that they cannot simultaneously have fellowship (or participation) with both Christ and demons. This just won’t do.
This passage tells us that in communion we have a real “participation” (the Greek koinonia – brought into English as “communion”) with Christ (1 Cor 10:16). As scholars, Ernst Käsemann and Anthony Thiselton say, this “koinonia” with Christ “implies living communion and actual personal contact…Having an active common share in the life, death, resurrection and presence of Jesus Christ as the Lord.” In communion, we’re truly connecting with the risen and exalted Christ who has brought us into the blessing of his fellowship through what he has done for us in his death and resurrection.
We’ve established that in communion we have genuine fellowship with Jesus Christ. Even more particularly, according to 1 Cor 10:16, we have a real participation in the blood and body of Christ. As Paul writes, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”
What does it mean that we participate (or have koinonia) with the blood and body of Christ? In short, it means that every time we take communion, we’re experiencing a refreshed enjoyment of all the benefits we’ve received through the giving of Christ’s body and the shedding of Christ’s blood. In other words, to participate in the body and the blood is to participate in the finished work of Christ upon the cross that brought us into fellowship with God. Every time we take communion, the finished work of Christ is re-applied to our souls.
This doesn’t mean some sort of re-sacrifice of Christ, but our participation in the benefits we’ve obtained through his once-and-for-all sacrifice. We’re not adding to his finished work or somehow contributing to what it takes to make us saved when we take communion. Far from it, we’re sharing in all that Christ has done for us in and through that finished work. As Geoffrey Wilson says, “For the believer shares in all the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice as he partakes of the tokens by which it is recalled but not re-enacted. The bread and wine are vehicles of the presence of Christ…partaking of bread and wine is union (sharing) with the heavenly Christ.”
As Richard Barcellos says, “When we take the Supper, it is the Spirit of Christ who brings the benefits of Christ to the people of Christ.” In this way, we freshly enjoy the benefits of Christ’s body – his life given for our lives, and our spiritual life in him is nourished. Christ is the bread of life who gives us the bread of communion to strengthen our souls and spur us on in the Christian life.
We enjoy the benefits of his blood – which was shed to take away our sins and seal every promise of the new covenant for us. We enjoy these benefits as we rest in our acceptance before a holy God and bask in his covenant-love. As we take the cup of the Lord, all of the new covenant promises that were sealed in his blood (that we would be his people and he would be our God, that this covenant would never be broken due to our sin, that he would write his law on our hearts and make us into people who would love him from the inside out, and that he’d fully and finally take away the sins of his people and remember them no more – see Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:1-13) are reaffirmed to us. The cup is the symbol of Christ’s covenant-love and often as we take it, we freshly delight in that love.
It's like a vow renewal ceremony for a married couple. The renewal of their vows doesn’t re-marry them but it reaffirms the promises they made when they first entered into the marital covenant with each other. The effect of these renewed vows is to deepen the covenant-love, reaffirm the covenant-commitment, and celebrate all the blessings of covenant-fellowship afresh. The same is true for communion. When we take the Lord’s Table, we share in the benefits of Christ’s blood as we take the cup of the Lord is Christ reaffirming his covenant-love and loyalty for us. As we receive it, a covenant renewal ceremony takes place and it is declared: “Christ is ours and we are his!”
In both these ways, the Lord’s Supper nurtures what we already possess in Christ: our experience of life in Christ and our enjoyment of the covenant-love of Christ. The Lord’s Supper is the sacrament of spiritual growth that continues to nurture all the fullness of our salvation enjoyed in Christ.
To illustrate this, we could say that communion is Christ cultivating the spiritual life he’s planted within us. The Lord’s Supper is like spiritual water for the living garden that Christ has planted in our souls. He has made us alive to God by planting his word in us and as it has sprouted into new life in us, this meal works by the power of the Spirit to make us all the more fruitful. It is spiritual water to make for the increase, blossoming, and sweetness of spiritual fruit within us.
The meal does not give to us something we lack but nourishes what we already possess in Christ. And in Christ, we haven’t just entered into a new life as a solitary individual but have come into a new life among a new people. Christ’s covenant-love has created a covenant people, and when we take communion, we declare our place among that covenant people. As we feast upon the grace of Christ in communion, we feast upon his grace together.
COMMUNION IS AN EXPRESSION OF OUR UNITY AS THE BODY OF CHRIST (1 COR 10:17, 11:17-22, 33-34)
Communion is a physical and tangible depiction, demonstration, and expression of the invisible, spiritual, and real unity we have within the body of Christ. Just as communion connects us to Christ in a way that deepens and enriches our fellowship with him, communion connects us with each other in a similar manner. It illustrates the unity of the body so that we’d all the more live in unity with one another.
Taking the Lord’s Supper has been a staple of the life and rhythms of the church since the very beginning (see Acts 2:42). Carrying on in this pattern, it’s something we do regularly as a church that, as we say on Sundays, strikes at the very center of who we are as a church: family united in Jesus Christ. A people who have been called into being by his gospel, redeemed by his finished work upon the cross, and living in newness of life together. A united body that belongs to Christ because he gave his body and shed his blood for us.
This is why Paul was so critical of the Corinthian’s practice of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Cor 11:17-22 and 33-34. They took the sacrament in such a way that it failed to demonstrate their unity in Christ. They didn’t wait for everyone to gather before they ate and drank (and those who were richer would be able to gather sooner, having less work to do before they could come to church). Some ate and drank so much that they became drunk while others received nothing at all! The unity of the body was undermined as the church didn’t celebrate the sacrament in a way that signaled, “We are one.” This expression of unity was integral to a proper practice of the sacrament because the sacrament itself symbolized the one body of Christ.
This symbolism is present in 1 Cor 10:17, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” The oneness of the load of bread that was broken by the church in the communion meal, demonstrated that they were one themselves. As the church, then and now, gathers around one and the same table, shares in the broken bread and poured out cup, and eats and drinks together, we signify to ourselves and to a watching world that we are Christ’s.
That is, all of us together, regardless of whatever may divide us, however different we may appear, whatever language we speak, whatever culture we grew up in, are one unified body of Christ. Equal members with an equal share in all that Christ promises to his own. Different people of different backgrounds who profess the same faith in the same Lord. As we come to the Lord’s Table together, we declare that we all together belong to Christ.
In the New Testament, this meant that Jews and Gentiles were now united as one new man in Christ (Eph 2:11-22). For us, it means English-speakers and Spanish-speakers, those who are citizens of this country or immigrants to this country, those from the city and those from the suburbs, those of one skin color or another, those who’ve experienced addiction, incarceration, or homelessness and those who have not, those who know much about theology and those who know little, and on and on, are all united as one new people in Christ. It could be argued that worshipping Christ around his table is the greatest earthly expression of true equality in diversity.
When we come to the Lord’s Table, we express our unity as a people who were all equally in need of the salvation that came through the body and blood of Christ and proclaim that we together are co-heirs of all that God has promised in Christ. If you ever need proof that Christ is building his church, saving sinners, and establishing his peace in the hearts of men and women, just look around the room during the Lord’s Supper.
APPLICATIONS OF OUR THEOLOGY OF THE LORD’S TABLE
1. How Can I Prepare My Heart for the Table? Here are 3 ways you can prepare yourself to spiritually feast upon Christ and take your seats at his table:
1. Examine Yourself – In obedience to 1 Cor 11:28, “Let a person examine himself, then, so eat the bread and drink the cup.” This means to examine our hearts for anything that doesn’t belong at Christ’s table in order to get rid of it before partaking in the meal. In the context of 1 Cor 11, the primary aim of self-examination was for the church to “discern the body” so as to consider whether or not they were walking in any unrepentant sin that was disrupting the fellowship and unity of the body of Christ. We apply this verse by searching our hearts for any sin that is disrupting our fellowship with Christ or others, confessing it to Christ, turning away from it, and turning toward the grace of our Lord. Examining ourselves before the Lord’s Table is like washing our hands before a meal. Making ourselves ready to receive the grace Christ has in store for us.
2. Anticipate communion with the Savior - While biblical participation in the communion meal does include examination and confession, these are not to be the predominant postures of our hearts as we receive the meal. These help us to prepare for the table so that we can take our seats and feast heartily on the grace of Christ. But joy and celebration should be the predominant postures of our hearts. Why? Because as we come to the table, we are coming to Christ himself! Because his word tells us that we can expect to receive grace from him as we receive the bread and the cup! Because Christ is calling us into a sweet and special fellowship with him as we remember his work of redemption, share in it through the full ranges of our senses, and experience a refreshed enjoyment of all the benefits we’ve received through the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood. Because the Risen and Exalted Christ in heaven is inviting us on earth to commune with him by his Spirit through the sacrament of communion. Be expectant to receive soul-nourishing grace. Be excited for every opportunity to commune with Christ. Be eager for the day to which this sacrament points, when we’ll present ourselves for the marriage supper of the lamb and feast face to face with Christ our Lord (Rev 19:6).
3. Come together to his table - look around the room both as you prepare for and participate in communion. As one body, we’ve come together to share in Christ. We are sharing in him together. So look around the room as you wait to take the elements: Christ gave his body to make us his body. Look around the room as we eat and drink together: we get to enjoy Christ together. We’ve been called into a new way of life together. We’re all family united in Christ. We all have the fresh assurance in the bread and the cup that our sins have truly been forgiven, that Christ in all his promises are really ours. We all, as sinful as we are, different as we might be, unlikely that we’d all gather together for anything outside of Christ, are sharing in this grace together. So come to the Lord’s Table ready to say, “cheers and amen” in your hearts, toasting as it were, to the wonderful reality that we are the redeemed and beloved of Christ!
2. Who Should Take Communion? Baptized believers who have examined themselves. In our church, any baptized believer who has trusted in Christ for their salvation (whether they are a formal member of our church or not) is invited to come to the table with us and, after examining themselves, feast upon the grace of Christ.
3. Is There Ever A Time I Shouldn’t Take Communion? Biblically speaking, the typical reason a believer would refrain or be withheld from participating in the Lord’s Table would be due to their present placement under church discipline. In the event a member of the church was placed under church discipline according to the process outlined Matthew 18 and remaining unrepentant in their sin, they may be temporarily excluded from the Lord’s Table until they’ve been restored to the fellowship of the church as a member in good standing.
Aside from situations of church discipline, the text of 1 Cor 11 indicates that any believer who is actively walking is such a way that is divisive within the body of Christ should abstain and seek the proper reconciliation and forgiveness within the congregation before participating in the sacrament. If you’re actively living in disunity within the congregation, then to participate in the meal which expresses the unity of the body of Christ significantly misses the mark on the meaning of the sacrament. The good news here is that God has unlimited and unmerited grace for us in Christ, so that should we ever come to such a place of disunity, we can have hope that we can be restored to the fullness of fellowship with Christ and his church.
If you’re ever unsure if you should take communion or fear doing so “in an unworthy manner,” we encourage you to talk to a pastor so that you don’t miss out on the grace of the Lord’s Table.
Thanks be to Christ that he invites us to his table, assures our hearts, nourishes our souls, and strengthens our unity as a body! We don’t know how many more times we’ll have around the table before he comes, but it’s our hope everyone of them would be marked by Christ-exalting joy!