PENnED

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-34

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ 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.” ²⁵ 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.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

My wife, two boys, and I were in another church last Sunday to join them in their anniversary celebration. In the car, on our way home, my wife, said this about the pastor who was invited to preach and officiate the communion: “I could forgive his over-an-hour sermon that went everywhere but the way he did the communion….” She felt that the way it was done was irreverent–the pastor obviously took it lightly. There was neither re-enactment nor recitation of the words of the Lord’s Supper and he cracked not-so-funny jokes that led people away from reflecting on the sacrificial death of our Lord.

It makes me sad when Christian leaders do not lead people to experience a meaningful celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Although I understand that different traditions have different ways of doing it, but the purpose of serving the Lord’s Supper seems clear in our Scripture text today: to experience the presence of the Lord in a special way by reflecting on what he’s done for us on the cross of Calvary.

If our understanding of the Lord’s Supper is clear, then our proclamation of the Lord’s death in it can be clear as well.