Monday, September 29, 2014
411 - Negotiating Communion
Spirituality Column #411
September 30, 2014
Current in
Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
Negotiating Communion
By Bob Walters
“…
do this in remembrance of me.” – Jesus to the Disciples at the Last Supper ,
Luke 22:19.
In life, we want the best deal.
Even in church, most of the time
we’re still looking for the best deal – salvation, comfort, spiritual uplift, a
good sermon, entertaining music, fellowship, whatever it may be. We are seeking something bigger than
ourselves – something that both gives our lives deeper meaning and the means to
express it. Church is the marketplace
where we shop for it. We pray to God for
the best spiritual deal.
Obtaining the best deal requires
judgment, discernment and calculation. Naturally, we have to have some idea of
what we want; it is impossible to negotiate when we don’t. We must have a sense of the value we are
seeking, and the willingness and savvy to negotiate terms to our best
advantage.
God presented mankind with a “deal”
2,000 years ago that made absolutely no sense, had absolutely no precedent, was
absolutely unexpected, and was absolutely non-negotiable. By the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, God
reversed the curse of death, brought fallen, sinful mankind back into heavenly,
eternal fellowship at His side, unexpectedly fulfilled 2,000-plus-years of
prophecy and covenant in the process, and hung His New Covenant on our faith
that Jesus is the prophesied Christ, the Son of the living God, trusting Him as
Lord and Savior.
Four different places in the New
Testament – Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:17-22 and 1 Corinthians
11:17-34 – tell us specifically that the symbol of this New Covenant, this new deal, is the body (bread) and blood (wine)
of Jesus Christ. We share in the grace,
mercy, love, hope, faithfulness, fellowship, joy, freedom, comfort and peace of
our Lord Jesus by sharing in Holy Communion.
Communion is the central purpose of
Christian worship. We see the communion
of the Trinity, share in the communion of church fellowship, and recognize our
communion with God through the body and blood of the New Covenant in Jesus
Christ.
Churches celebrate Holy Communion –
the Eucharist – with different lexicons, liturgies, doctrines and frequencies. But always with the bread and cup, always
with prayer, and almost always with the words of Jesus at the last supper as he
broke the bread and passed the wine, “Do this in remembrance of me”.
God has already given us the “best
deal” divinely imaginable – the sacrifice of His son Jesus for our sins. We are wise to honor that and not use
communion prayer to negotiate our own idea of our best deal with God.
We must remember with thanks the
deal we already have.
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