The Lord’s Supper
I Corinthians 11:23-26
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Harry G. Winsheimer
August 3, 2008

What is your first memory of the Lord’s Supper?  Do you recall an especially meaningful communion?  Do you remember a terrible communion? Think for a minute. 

I remember a horrible communion!  I grew up in the Bethel Presbyterian Church in Indiana County, PA.  It was a small church with fewer than a hundred in attendance.  It was during World War II.  Many ministers were in the military, so the same pastor served three churches, forcing our service into the afternoon.   

In those days, and for the centuries previously, admission to the Lord’s Table was a major event.  If you were not baptized, and if you had not confirmed your baptism (meaning that you had publicly professed faith in Jesus Christ when you reached years of discretion, then you were not served communion).  Communion was a privilege reserved for the faithful.  They were very serious about communion.  You filled out a communion card at every communion service.  Membership in the church required that you participate in communion in order to stay a member.  When the elders reviewed the role, they checked the communion cards to see if you had participated.  If you had not taken communion for a couple of years, that was grounds for dropping you from membership. 

My earliest memory is from when I was maybe 5 years old, barely able to see over the back of the pew.  (Being loyal presbyterians, we did the real presbyterian thing: we always sat in the same pew, left section, second pew from the back.  I am sure that my parents sat there because of my brother and me.  I have a faint memory of being noisy, and rather forcefully being removed.  Being in the second pew, the door was convenient.  Thank you for listening to my reminiscence).  The pews were divided into two sections. When it came time for communion, the practice was to move everyone to one section so that the communion elements could be passed easily.  I and the other young kids were left on the side where communion was not served.  So there were my parents on the other side, and I was abandoned.  And I screamed!  I sobbed!  Sixty-five years later, I still can picture my mother glaring at me.  I knew that I was being bad, but I was scared and mad!   Thankfully they soon dropped that horrible practice.  I wonder if my screams helped to convince the elders that separating people was not a good idea.   

Do you recall a communion service that was especially meaningful to you?

One of mine will sound strange.  The denomination offered a very helpful ministry to young pastors.  Commonly when we enter a profession, we are hyped.  We have been to school, and we know the latest concepts.  We are ready to fix the world.  Then by the third year in a profession, reality arrives.  The world does not jump because we tell it to.  Discouragement, even disillusionment, sets in.  To address this common phenomenon, the denomination invited us young pastors to a week long conference for each of three years.  The one of which I speak was held at Princeton Seminary.  All week long, cookies and water were available for the 30 of us.  On Saturday night, we had our final worship service, including communion.  To my surprise, the elements were the same cookies and papers cups of water!  The leader said that just as Jesus had used the food and drink on the table, we would use that which had been on our table all week.  I was deeply moved.  I have been served and served communion thousands of times, but none has stayed with me like the cookies and water.

Do you have a particularly meaningful communion?

Many of you will answer that it did not mean anything.  It was something that you and the congregation did.  Others of you may appreciate the quiet time; as one man said to me, “It is the only chance I have all week to have quiet.”

What does communion/ Lord’s Supper mean?

We call it communion.  What other words share the same root?  Community.  We tend to think of the communion as the elements, the bread and wine.  But, it is more.  It is the community of believers around the table.  For the initial communion in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday, was it just Jesus and the bread and wine?  No, it was Jesus and his disciples, his selected community.  Hence, communion is the community of Jesus’ people participating in a stylized meal with Jesus.

We symbolize this by the way that presbyterians design our churches.  When we have communion, where is the table located?  It is where people may be around it.  That distinguishes it from an altar which usually is located with all the people at one side.  (As an aside, do we have altars in presbyterian churches?  Never!  One of our core beliefs is that Jesus Christ was the final sacrifice – no more are needed; and since altars are for sacrifices, we do not need an altar.  Always we have communion tables.  They may look like altars, but they are tables.)

We are the community of Jesus’ people gathered around his table.

We call it the Lord’s Supper, as well.  Why?  Because our Lord Jesus Christ started the practice of eating the meal with his disciples, accompanied by prayers, the eating of bread with unique words spoken over it, the drinking with unique words spoken as it was drunk, and the singing of a hymn.  The original meal was an evening meal, which is the supper hour.

Holy Communion and Lord’s Supper, both names are used and complement each other.

The Communion/ Lord’s Supper is a communication tool.

It is a multi-sensual medium.  We hear the message, as the words of Jesus are quoted.  It is visual; we see the bread broken and the wine poured.  It is tactile; we touch the bread and cup.  We can taste it.  Jesus combined hearing, visual, tactical, and taste for effective communication.  Jesus was the master communicator!  He has communicated across cultures, even across the centuries.  Unsurpassed!

When you participate in communion in a few minutes, ask our host, “Lord, what message do you have for me?” 

What message does Jesus communicate to us?

1.  The bread.
In the Upper Room, Jesus and the disciples probably reclined on cushions around a pot of lamb stew.  The bread would have been like pita bread, thin and flat.  They would have taken the bread and broken off a piece and dipped that piece into the stew, just as we do dips today.  Jesus used the simple, every meal practice of breaking the bread, but he gave it larger meaning.

“Remember me.”  What I hear Jesus say over the bread is: Bread is a physical stimulus to think about me. When you gather as a community of my people and break bread together, remember me.  Think of me.  That is very important to you, and to me. 

The bread is like a powerful memento that reminds us of Jesus.  Do you have mementoes in your house that cause you to think about someone or something?  We have art work on our refrigerator that was done by our four-year old granddaughter.  It reminds us of Amy.  If we gave to you that sheet of paper with the scribbles on it, you would throw it away, because it does not remind you of anyone.  Likewise, it is because of our relationship with Jesus that the bread brings Jesus to mind. 

The bread broken.  Not just bread, broken bread.  The brokenness reminds us of Jesus on Thursday and Friday of Holy Week – the whipping, the being spit upon, the lugging of the cross until Jesus collapsed, the nailing, the jolt of the cross dropping into place, the hours of excruciating pain.  The words spoken.  The death.   The hideous sacrifice in atonement for our sins.  The suffering that made up for us.  The agony that we deserve as punishment for our sin. 

All for me!  All for you!  The ultimate demonstration of love.  Jesus stated it succinctly, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  John 15:13

Therefore, when you hear the words of Jesus, see the bread broken, touch the bread, eat it, think about his sacrifice for you and all of us.  And give thanks!  The Apostle Paul referred to the Lord’s Supper as a thanksgiving.  So it is, because we may be so grateful for what Jesus did.

2.  This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood.
Strange language.  Let’s dissect it.

The cup -- we know about using cups.  We make toasts at wedding receptions, birthday parties and major events.  We use the cup to honor someone or to express a hope.

“New covenant.”  You have to understand that there was an Old Covenant in place.  It was the agreement, the promise of God to the Hebrews starting with Abraham.  Jesus does not remove the Old Promise or Covenant.  He creates a new one.  With Jesus God makes a new promise. 

And what is the promise?  In the New Covenant, God promises forgiveness through Jesus.  God promises the Holy Spirit to accompany us as counselor.  God promises resurrection to eternal life. 

It is sealed in Jesus’ blood.  We use seals on official papers still.  Have you had anything notarized?  Did the notary use a stamp to emboss the paper?  I did a wedding and signed the marriage license.  A couple weeks later, I received a phone call from a very distressed bride.  She was very upset because the military would not let her have base housing without a seal on their marriage certificate.  My signature was not enough.  Thankfully that church had a stamp, and I sealed the document.  Seals are important.  Seals mean that it is real.

In the days of Jesus, and until recent time, the seal was a big drop of hot wax on the page, into which the official plunged his signet ring.  That told everyone that the document was official.  What is the wax used by Jesus?  His blood.  Not a drop of hot wax, but a drop of his blood. To me, that is powerful!  

In a few minutes, as you hear the words about the cup of the New Covenant sealed in the blood of Jesus, think about God’s promise.  Use the opportunity to remember what Jesus did and what God promised through him, promised to you and to those in the community sitting at table with you.  And give thanks!

Jesus is the host at the table.  But, how is Jesus present?

Jesus is present.  How so?  The answer to this question has been the source of major disagreement that contributed to the separation into denominations.  The Roman Catholics say by transubstantiation.  The Lutherans say by consubstantiation.  The Baptists tend to follow the Zwingli tradition of it being symbolism.  We presbyterians struggle with how Christ is present, claiming that he is, perceived by people of faith.  Communion is more than a memento, a symbol, but we don’t go much into arguing over  how Christ is present.  We just know that he is.  For me, I perceive the presence of Christ with my heart and mind because I believe. 

In the physical act of eating the bread and drinking from the cup, we take in Jesus.  For me, this happens both via my heart and my intellect.

I take in Jesus emotionally. Have you talked with people who were feeling depressed and negative?  What happens to your spirit?  You catch their mood.  You take it in.  You probably will feel down.  Or, have you been in the presence of people who are happy and bright?  What happens to your spirit?  You catch their mood.  You take it in.  You probably will feel lifted.  In communion I deliberately place myself in the presence of Jesus.  I catch him.  I take in his love.  I absorb his spirit.

And, I take in Jesus intellectually.  I study about him.  I think about him.  I intellectually work on understanding the meaning of his life for my life.  I perceive Christ is present.

The physical act of eating the bread and drinking from the cup, the opening of my heart and the engaging of my mind, all may happen in the communion.

Conclusion

When we come to the Lord’s Table, Jesus wants us to think about him, his love, his forgiveness, his Spirit and his promise of heavenly life.  The whole experience calls us to bond and to give thanks.

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