The Lord's Supper

Text:   Luke 22:19-20: LORD’S SUPPER   19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."   20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
INTRODUCTION:   My dear friends in Christ, I’m sure you’ve noticed our society’s emphasis on food and eating. Every time we turn around some type of food is being advertised. We have American food, German food, French food, Italian food, Chinese food and many others types. We have junk food and health food. We even have “organic food.” You name it—it’s a type of food. If you think about it we are eating almost all the time. We have meals that come almost any time of day you could imagine. There is breakfast in the morning, lunch at noon and dinner at 6. But we have brunch that fits in between breakfast and noon. There’s the snack that fits in the afternoon or if you are British you could call it “tea.” There is also the midnight snack that comes somewhere after dinner and before breakfast. The Canadians also have a word that describes a meal that comes anytime you want—it’s called a “lunch.”  We’re always eating.  Sometimes we eat to live, but in many instances we are eating to die when we over-indulge. In our society we have lost the significance of eating. We hardly notice what we eat or when. It’s just something we do.  Eating is a habit, meals are just part of our schedules . Twice in history God has broken through to give us meals that have more significance than our “snacks.”  He has given meals with great significance behind them. These two meals have eternal significance, yet we often treat them as any other snack. The first meal was the Passover of the Israelite people, the second is the Holy meal of our Lord, commonly called the Lord’s Supper. They each have much in common. As a matter of fact the Lord’s Supper has superseded the Passover and replaced it. The Passover was initiated to be replaced by the Lord’s Supper and pointed to it. The meal of the Lord, the Lord’s Supper is many things.
I.  First, it is a meal of remembrance.
	A.  On that Thursday night long ago the disciples were keeping the Passover with Jesus—they were remembering what God had done in Egypt.
		1. They remembered using a lamb whose blood had been shed and placed over the door to keep the angel of death away.
				a. They remembered using bitter herbs to remind them of the bitter slavery of Egypt. b. They remembered using unleavened bread to remind them of the haste with which they left Egypt.
		2.  They remembered that God had delivered them from slavery into a land flowing with milk and honey.
				a. God was faithful in the physical things b. He had indeed fulfilled His promises.
	B.  The Lord’s Supper is also a meal of remembrance. It has taken over the significance of the Passover in a greater way.
		1.   In the Lord’s Supper we remember what God has done in Jesus.
				a. Jesus is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world—His blood defeats sin, death, and the devil. b. We remember Calvary and how Jesus gave himself to save us from slavery to sin and death.
			2.   We remember that God will deliver us to a land where all sin and death would be gone—not a physical deliverance only but both physical and spiritual in heaven.
				a. God is faithful—we remember His faithfulness b. God has delivered -- in Jesus –we remember.
II.  The meal of the Lord’s Supper is also a sacramental meal, because in it God’s grace – His love—is actually given.
	A. The Passover feast looked ahead to the Lord’ Supper that would come later.
			1. In keeping the Passover, the people showed their confidence in the words and promises God. 2. They showed the faith God had given them--A faith that He would keep promises.
	B. We, also, keep the feast of the new Passover, the Lord’s Supper, in faith, a faith given by God.
			1. We trust that God has performed what He promised.
				a. He has redeemed us from the power of death and the devil. b. He gives His love in the supper. c. Sin and death no longer have power over those who trust in God’s sacrifice of His Son.
			2. Now today that same body and that same blood is given to us personally as we partake of that bread and wine.
				a. And with this Body and Blood we receive all that He worked in His life, death and resurrection.  b. In other words we receive life and salvation.  It is a meal that gives nourishment—not to the body—but to the soul.  c. There is a cartoon strip that to me sums up the idea here.  The strip is called Agnus Dei.  In the first frame there are two sheep talking.  The first one says: “At first I was disgusted about Jesus’ talk about eating his flesh.”  In the second frame the second sheep says: “And now”  In the third frame the first sheep says: “Well now I figure you are what you eat.”  And the second sheep replies, “Not bad, Not bad.”  Yes, we are what we eat – is there a better thing to be than Jesus.
III. The Lord’s supper is also a meal of Holy Communion.
	A. The Passover feast was a means of binding together the people of Israel.
			1. They were God’s chosen people.
				a. They were His people and He was their God. b. They were reminded of this each time they partook of the Passover meal. c. They were brought together under God.
			2. They were bound together with Him because He was in the midst of them.
				a. As He was in Egypt b. He still was with them even in the wilderness.
	B. Today the Lord’s Supper is also a meal of communion.
			1. A communion with Christ.
				a. In the Lord’s Supper believers are united with Christ by partaking of the elements of bread and wine. b. We become one with Him and He with us—He is actually here for us in the Supper. c. In the physical and spiritual eating we participate in His suffering, death and resurrection.
			2. A communion with one another.
				a. In being made one with Christ, we are made one with one another—We are one in faith under His Word— We do not agree to disagree but we submit to His Word at every point. We are agreeing He is truly in the Supper. b. We are reconciled to God and we are reconciled to each other—together we make profession of our common faith. c. Chaplain Martin Poch tells of a visit he once had made to a patient in an open ward in a naval hospital, an “old salt,” who’d been in the Navy since 1926. Since the man was due to have surgery in the morning, he asked: “Chaplain, may I have Holy Communion?” said the old fellow. “Yes,” answered Chaplain Poch. “But I’d better get a little privacy for you here,” he said, glancing around from some screens. “I don’t want privacy; I want Holy Communion!” said the man. The chaplain was amazed at the man’s forthrightness and sincerity. …He honestly was not ashamed of his faith or his receiving Holy Communion—even though there were 30 other men in the ward. “Get those ----cigarettes off that night stand,” he told the man in the bed next to him. “I’m going to have Holy Communion.” “Turn down that TV,” he growled to another man in the ward. And so the little service began. The chaplain noticed that one by one the other TVs were turned off. In fact a little group of seven or eight men ended up standing around the old salt’s bed in a circle, watching. And the nurse knelt on the floor by the bed during the service. “It was one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had,” said Chaplain Poch. “That Old Salt confessed His faith in our Lord in Holy Communion.  He was truly united with Jesus.”
IV. Because of all the gifts that is in the Lord’s Super, it is a meal of Thanksgiving
	A. The Passover feast was kept year after year as a Thanksgiving to God for all He did for them. B. We also celebrate the Lord’s Supper as  a Thanksgiving for the great things He has done for us through the sacrifice of His only son Jesus. We thank Him and in His Supper we confess that we trust in all His promises.
CONCLUSION:  Let us remember, celebrate and give thanks for this great and holy feast of our Lord. He has given us a feast that feeds our souls, even though we often don’t realize the special nature of this feast. The Lord’s Supper is a spiritual meal that does great things for our life with God. It ties us closer and closer to our Lord, and each other. He does not give “lunch” for over-fed stomachs, but for life-starving souls.