For May 5

Sermon Notes: Why Should I Take Communion?

Intro: I doubt, therefore I am. You may remember that phrase from last week, from the French philosopher Rene Descartes, who questioned everything he could as a means of discovering truth. I believe questioning our beliefs at times helps to affirm and strengthen them, or cause us to revise or even eliminate them. The fact that we’re Protestants was a result of reformers questioning, doubting what they had once accepted and revising their beliefs. We are Global Methodists because we questioned certain practices of the United Methodist Church. Doubts that led us to actions affirming our particular beliefs. Beliefs we professed as faith through the Apostles Creed.  

I. The Basics

A. This month, I would like to examine some of our fundamental beliefs, understand what those beliefs are, and why we believe them, so you can evaluate your beliefs. This being Communion Sunday, we can start there, and ask, “Why should I take Communion?”  Next week, we’ll look at baptism, then for Pentecost Sunday, look at the practice of coming to church, and Memorial Day Sunday would be a good time to ask why we should remember the past.

B. Let’s begin examination of ‘why should we take Communion’ by ensuring we understand what Communion is, and how we respond to the sacrament of Communion. One youngster, never having been to a Communion service, thought it was cool that the pastor would take a break during the service and offer the people a snack. But unless we understand what Communion is, we might as well be accepting a snack during the service.

C. Communion of course, is the fundamental practice of the Christian Church. The fundamental doctrine of Christian churches is that Communion is a sacrament, and therefore Holy. Perhaps we should then start by understanding what a sacrament is. Communion is one of seven sacraments in the Catholic Church, but one of only two, along with Baptism, in the Protestant Church. The early church borrowed the word sacrament from the Roman Army. A recruit for the Roman army became a soldier by undergoing a sacramentum, or initiation, which included taking an oath of office, and being branded behind the ear with the number of his legion, resulting in new responsibilities as a soldier, as well as receiving new advantages. Soldiers lived better than the average citizen and veterans received special privileges and benefits.

D. The church chose the word sacrament because communion is a rite that is simultaneously a spiritual and physical act, in that the sacrament simultaneously involves receiving new responsibilities and a new spiritual status before God.  By retaking the sacraments, renewing those responsibilities and spiritual status with God. So, a sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward change in a person’s life.

E. Then why do churches differ on what a sacrament is?  A sacrament is determined by a basic question, “Did Jesus establish it?” Churches

agree that Communion and Baptism were established by Jesus in the New Testament, but disagree on whether that’s true for practices such as marriage, confession, or confirmation.

F. You may hear Communion referred to as the Eucharist, particularly in the Catholic Church. The Holy Eucharist refers to the entire Mass, including its sacrificial nature of communion, transubstantiation, where the bread and wine, through the acts of a priest, become the actual body and blood of Christ. Holy Communion refers to just receiving the bread and wine, whether symbolically or with other meanings. In the Methodist Churches we receive Communion, with juice as symbolic of Jesus’ body and blood rather than the Eucharist. The distinction between the terms has become blurred over the years, though.

G. Responding to the sacrament of Communion varies over the spectrum of Christian Churches. One difference of that response is how we receive Communion. The Catholic Church mandates that only a priest can preside over the Eucharist for the elements to be transformed to the actual body and blood of Christ. In the Protestant Church, usually an ordained minister presides over Communion, requiring Christ’s blessing through the Holy Spirit to consecrate, or set aside for special use, the Communion elements. In the United Methodist Church, Local Pastors are licensed annually by a special board, authorizing them to serve Communion within their assigned church. Laypersons may only serve Communion if the bread and juice are consecrated by clergy beforehand. In the Global Methodist Church, I was ordained as a Deacon last October, authorizing me to serve Communion without limits of time or place. With the different understandings of the meaning of Communion, churches place limitations on who may even receive Communion. In the Methodist Churches, the Communion Table is the Lord’s Table, and all who love Him, earnestly repent of their sins, and seek to live in peace with one another are invited to Communion.

H. There are also variations of how the Communion elements are served. Our church, of course, receives the bread and juice in the pews, and we eat the bread and drink the juice as one body, much like Jesus and His disciples would have done at Jesus’ invitation. Other churches offer Communion by intinction, which involves coming to the front of the church, or the altar, and clergy or authorized laypersons give pieces of bread, or wafers, to dip in the wine, or juice, with the words, ‘this is my body, and ‘this is my blood’, which each person partakes individually.

I. There are disagreements of how often one should take Communion. Since Communion is a special time of connection with Jesus, you might relate in human terms, how often should you connect with a special person in your life, say a father or mother? Daily, weekly, monthly, once a year?  Some churches prefer quarterly Communion, fearing that taken too often would reduce the solemn nature of Communion. I was raised Presbyterian with quarterly Communion as well as on special occasions such as Maundy Thursday, and those times were solemn and special.

J. Although frequent communion may become less memorable, but like visiting a special friend more often, may offer a deeper connection. Some churches having more than one service on a Sunday, offer weekly communion at one of the services, allowing people to exercise their own preferences.

K. Having looked at our response to Communion, now we need to think about why we need Communion. The roots of Communion go back to Passover in Exodus, when the angel of death passed over those who had the blood of a perfect lamb on their home’s doorpost. It was the final plague in Egypt that convinced Pharaoh to let the Israelite slaves leave to go to their Promised Land. Freedom, like we celebrate each year on the 4th of July. Liberation from England’s oppressive laws, worth remembering the past to celebrate the present. God commanded Israel to celebrate that liberation every year with the sacrifice of a perfect Lamb and unleavened bread. But with the Last Supper, Jesus changed the celebration from the historical event of the blood of perfect Lamb saving them from death, to Himself becoming the sacrifice as the Perfect Lamb and His blood as the grace to save us from eternal death.

II.Psalm116:12-19

A. Between the Passover and the Last Supper, there were other practices that would influence the Passover meal that Jesus celebrated that night. Our OT lesson from Psalm 116, is part of the Hallel, or praise psalms 113 through118, sung during Passover. According to the Mishnah, a compilation of past Jewish oral traditions, four cups were raised and blessed in the course of the meal.

B. Psalms 115-118 were recited in connection with the fourth cup, called ‘the cup of salvation’, that was seen in Psalm 116. It seems to have become the custom to lift high the wine cup at a feast, like Passover, then drink it with solemn invocation and glad thanksgiving.

C. In the Passover meal, and in our Communion liturgy, we note when Jesus took the cup, possibly raising it towards God, He gave thanks before giving it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’ In the psalm are the words,”precious in the sight of Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” Precious here is better translated as costly, rather than precious as in being held in high esteem. If we see this verse as applying to Jesus’ coming death, God wasn’t welcoming His death, but rather seeing it as costly. His death was costly to God, but given for us, freeing us from the chains of death and sin.

D. But at that meal, Jesus had changed the meaning of the Passover bread and wine with those words, “’Take, eat; this is my body” and, “Take, drink, this is my blood shed for the forgiveness of sin.” It was what Passover had been preparing the people to understand. The Last Supper had originated as the celebration of freedom from slavery, celebrated with the psalms of praise we saw in Psalms 116, but then transitioned to the anticipation of Jesus’ liberating death on the Cross from sin, and Communion, celebrating through the remembrance of His body broken for us, and His blood shed for the forgiveness of sin. Sadly, many have failed to understand the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross, and will not escape the angel of death.

III. I Corinthians 11:23-29

A. By the time of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, as our Epistle lesson, Communion had become an established sacrament. The Corinthian church had all sorts of issues, one of which was thinking that since they professed their faith in Jesus and were assured of eternal life, they could keep living the life of sin and sensual pleasure Corinth was known for. Some of their dysfunction also had to do with how they were treating each other in communion. Back then, communion took place during a communal meal. Some wealthy Corinthians had turned this gathering into an excuse to eat too much and get drunk, leaving little left over for the poor who really needed it. So, Paul has some strong words about communion that should make us also think before taking Communion. Whoever takes communion in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before taking Communion so as not to eat and drink judgement on themselves.

B. But what does Communion mean for us now? First, it’s participation in Christ’s death. Paul says we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes. By receiving communion, we are caught up in the work of Jesus on the cross—right now, in the present. When we take communion, we are responding to Jesus’ call to die to ourselves and to sin itself. So, one of the questions we need to ask when we come to His table is: What needs to die in me so that I may be like Christ?

C. Second, we experience the presence of Christ. When we come to His table, the very Presence of Jesus is here, with us. The Holy Spirit is always with us, but the mystery of Communion is Jesus Himself meets us through the bread and the cup. That’s why Paul says to mistreat the Communion meal is to mistreat Jesus Himself. When we encounter the presence of Jesus, it changes us.

C. Third, we receive God’s grace. When we take this bread and drink from this cup, we are receiving, through Christ’s sacrificial death, God’s grace and forgiveness. John Wesley referred to communion as a Means of Grace. Grace is God’s undeserved gift of love and forgiveness that is given, not earned. The only way to experience grace is to receive it.

Conclusion: Grace says, “This may be what you have done, but not who you can be in me. Communion is more than a mere remembrance of an historical event. It’s a renewal of God’s grace given through the body and blood of a Savior we receive through Communion, moving us beyond where we are and pointing us in a new direction. Not just to give us something to think about, but to feed us. It’s what this meal is all about. Communion grounds us in the truth that God loves us just as we are but also loves us enough to not leave us that way. Thanks be to God. Amen