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 THE
SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER
The Lord’s Supper is
one of two sacraments that we in Markethill Presbyterian celebrate.
What is a sacrament?
Presbyterians, along with many other believers, would
say that sacraments are "holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace"
(Westminster Confession of
Faith 27.1) In other words, a
sacrament pictures or signs God’s promises. In the Bible a sign is like a big
road sign with an arrow pointing you to Jesus Christ. A sacrament also seals
God’s promise. We often talk about people or organisations giving their seal of
approval for certain actions or products e.g.
the British Kite mark for safety. In other words, a seal gives you the
confidence that the product it seals is what it claims to be. In the same way, a
sacrament seals the promises and gives you the confidence that his promises can
be trusted.
Sacraments also do something else. They "put a
visible difference between those that belong to the Church and the rest of the
world" (Westminster
Confession of Faith 27.1) they
mark believers as different from unbelievers. Baptism identifies us and our
children as members of the visible church. The Lord’s Supper marks off those who
have made a saving profession in Jesus Christ from the rest of the world that
has not.
The Lord’s Supper
When we join in the Lord’s Supper we express the value
of Christ by "remembering" by "proclaiming" and by "nourishing".
Reminding
First, the Lord's Supper expresses the value of Christ
by reminding us of him For I received from the Lord that which I also
delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 He took the cup
also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this,
as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
(1 Corinthians 11 : 24-25)
In other words,
Christ gave us this simple "Lord's Supper" to help us keep him in memory,
especially his blood and body given up in death. This is worship if in the doing
of it there is an authentic heart experience which says: "We must remember
him because he is the most valuable Person in the universe. We must remember his
death because it is the most important death in history." Setting out this
tangible reminder of Christ time after time in the life of the church will be
worship if our hearts feel the preciousness of remembering Christ and tremble at
the prospect of forgetting him.
Proclaiming
Second, the Lord's Supper expresses the value of
Christ by proclaiming his death. "For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."
(1 Corinthians 11 : 26)
If "remembering" means calling to mind what Christ did by his death, then
"proclaiming" means calling to each other what Christ did by his death. If you
really value something that is relevant for others as well as yourself - if it
moves you and delights you - you will speak of it. You will declare it. So the
Lord's Supper is worship if in doing it there is an authentic heart experience
which says: this death and all it achieved is so valuable that it must not only
be remembered; it must be proclaimed.
These two meanings of
the Lord's Supper support each other. Remembering enables us to proclaim, since
you can't proclaim what you don't remember. And proclaiming helps us to
remember, because not everyone remembers at the same time and with the same
intensity, and we need his death to be proclaimed with word and bread and cup
lest we forget the preciousness of his death.
Being Nourished
Finally, the Lord's Supper expresses the value of
Christ by nourishing our life in Christ. If we come to Christ over and over and
say, "By this, O Christ, I feed on you. By this, O Jesus Christ, I nourish my
life in you. By this I share in all the grace you bought for me with your own
blood and body" (1
Corinthians 10:16) - if we come
to Christ over and over with this longing and this conviction in our heart: that
here he nourishes us by faith, then the Lord's Supper will be a deep and
wonderful act of worship. Nothing shows the worth and preciousness of Christ so
much as when we come to him to feed our hungry souls.
Where do we see this
in the text? We see it in the fact that the Lord's Supper is a supper. We are
eating and drinking. Why are we eating and drinking? Eating and drinking are for
nourishing and sustaining life. And here Jesus tells us that the bread we are
eating is his body, and the cup we are drinking is the new covenant in his
blood. So the eating and drinking are no ordinary eating and drinking. The
nourishment that is in the Lord's Supper comes not from bread and wine (or
juice). Paul already said in verse 22 that we should take care of our bodily
needs by eating at home before we come. This supper is not about physical
nourishment. It is about spiritual nourishment.
Roman Catholic View
How does this work? Roman Catholics speak of
transubstantiation and teach that, at the
consecration by the priest, the bread and wine are
actually and miraculously transformed into the literal body and blood of Jesus.
Eating this transubstantiated bread and drinking this transubstantiated wine
brings saving grace to the soul. This is unacceptable for Christ cannot be
sacrificed over and over again.
Lutheran View
Lutherans speak of consubstantiation and teach that
the bread and wine don't cease to be bread and wine, but that the real, literal
presence of the physical body and blood of Christ is present along with the
natural elements when they are consecrated in worship. This view too is
unacceptable since it has the same problems as transubstantiation.
Reformed View
Our view (called the
Reformed view) is that the bread and wine are emblems or symbols of the real,
literal body of Christ that was crucified in history and today is in heaven at
the Father's right hand. But we believe that there is a real feeding on Christ
spiritually by faith - not on his physical body, but on his real, spiritual
presence. And even though a believer can nourish himself any time and anywhere
on the presence of Christ in his word, there is a special nourishing offered in
eating the Lord's Supper and hearing the preaching of God's word.
When we eat the bread
and drink the cup, we may nourish our souls by faith on the spiritual presence
of Christ. When we remember and proclaim his death, he manifests himself to us
as infinitely precious. He shows us all that God promises to be for us in
Christ. This is the food of our souls. With this we are nourished and find
strength to live as Christians.
The Lord's Supper is
worship because it expresses the infinite worth of Christ. No one is more worthy
to be remembered. No one is more worthy to be proclaimed. And no one can nourish
our souls with eternal life but Christ.
So let us come and remember, and
proclaim and eat.
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