The Mystical and Mysterious Empowerment of Holy Communion

The Mystical and Mysterious Empowerment of Holy Communion

Each first Sunday of the month, I have the pastoral and personal delight of welcoming all of us to the memorial meal of Holy Communion.  This monthly celebration of the Lord’s Supper reenacts Christ’s sacrificial death, burial and resurrection.  It is far more than a traditional ritual.  I trust that we consider it to be more than an unnecessary extension of our worship experience.  Rather, the Eucharist is a regular period of mysterious empowerment. 

Through symbolic gifts of bread and wine, the Lord reaffirms His promises of abundant and eternal life for baptized believers.  He continually offers the power of the resurrection for inner healing and wholeness.  The Lord restates His enduring covenant of love for us.  The broken body and the shed blood of Christ establish a “New Covenant” that remits humankind’s sins (past, present and future) and restores forever the harmony between Creator and creature that Adam’s pride, disobedience and infidelity of Eden nullified.

On the night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread.  He gave thanks.  Then, he gave the bread to his disciples.  He tells them, “This is my body which is broken for you.  As often as you eat of it, do so in remembrance of me.”  Those sentences are the first part of “the scriptural words of institution.”  They inaugurate the “New Covenant” of God’s love in Christ. 

Moreover, Jesus’ words remind the disciples of the Passover.  In that covenant with Israel, on the evening before the Lord liberates them from Egyptian slavery, He commands them to have a final, sacred meal.  Exodus 12 details the directives and drama of the Passover.  The Israelites are told to sacrifice a lamb without blemish or defect.  The lamb’s pure blood was to be sprinkled over the doorposts of all believers.  Then, the angel of death would pass by their houses as he traveled through the land extracting the vengeance of Almighty God.  Similarly, in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, today’s believers receive the assurance that death cannot defeat anyone who lives in Christ because death did not conquer the Lord.  Jesus’ broken body symbolizes the papyrus on which the “New Covenant” is eternally written.

After the meal, the Lord took a cup.  He gave thanks.  He poured wine into the cup and gave it to his disciples.  He tells them, “This is my blood that is shed for you.  It is given for the remission of all sins.  It is the blood of a new covenant.”  With those words, the Lord forever implements the “New Covenant” which reestablishes the possibility for humankind to enjoy a right relationship with Almighty God.  The “New Covenant” succeeds where all of the covenants of the Old Testament failed.  John the Baptist describes Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  His sacrificial blood prevents the death of all Christians just as the blood of the lamb on the night of the Passover forced the angel of death to pass over all believers. 

Additionally, the gift of Christ’s life liberates believers from the fear of death.  It frees us to live to the very fullest.  We also know that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us.  Therefore, we are “more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.”  Nothing that we face can defeat us because Christ's resurrection power always enables us to triumph.  Accordingly, when we partake of Holy Communion we receive this limitless power.

The Eucharist constantly reminds us of the lengths to which God goes to demonstrate His enduring love for us.  (Ephesians 3”14-21)  The Old Testament records countless attempts by God to foster a mutually satisfying and beneficial relationship with humankind.  From the Garden of Eden to the Abrahamic covenants (Genesis 12, 15 and 18) to one with Jacob (Genesis 32) to the Mosaic covenants (Exodus 3, 12, 20, 24 and 34) to the Law and the preaching of the Prophets, God faithfully upholds His promise and perpetually shows His unfailing love.  Yet, sin and recalcitrance consistently tramples upon these covenants.  They seemingly nullify them.  Fortunately, God does not cease to love us.  He offers iteration after iteration with the hope of obtaining humankind’s devotion.

The gift of Christ finally accomplishes the purposes of God’s love.  Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection actually completes the work of creation. (John 1:1-18)  Living in a right relationship with us was God’s expressed intent when He created the universe.  He made us a little lower than the angels but in His image. (Psalm 8 and 139)  He desires that we mirror His goodness.  Just as a priceless painting forever reflects the talent, passion and ingenuity of the artist, we demonstrate God’s character.  Nonetheless, Christ who is the Lamb of God creates a lasting covenant.  The “New Covenant” is not dependent upon any human desire or will.  It also cannot be nullified by any human action.  There will be no more covenants.  In Christ, God inimitably and conclusively reveals Himself and His love.

Practically speaking, accepting the bread and wine during the observance of the Lord’s Supper means that we accept the blessings, promises and responsibility of the “New Covenant.”  As we receive the elements and partake of them, we should further deepen our resolve to utilize the power they give us.  We can leave the Lord’s Table, knowing that He equips us with spiritual resources for victory.  Secondly, we have a greater assurance of God’s enduring love for us.  Therefore, we do not question whether anyone loves us.  We must cease the fallacy of earning the love of others.  In Christ, God demonstrates His love.  Third, we return to the world to share love with everyone we encounter.  Love is the scarcest mineral in the world.  It is more precious than gold, diamonds or oil.  The world needs it more than it needs anything else.  As believers and recipients of the bounty of the “New Covenant,” we have an obligation to share the love of God in Christ Jesus.

As you receive the bread and the wine in faith, share in the new life by faithfully allowing the Holy Spirit to empower you to leave and go into the world “to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly before God.”