1 Corinthians 11:23-29
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Every week, our church recites this passage before we take communion at the end of our service. When we first began to attend our church, I was hesitant about observing the Lord's Supper every week because I was afraid that it would just become ritualistic and loose meaning because it was just a habit. However, it has become one of the biggest blessings in our lives and marriage. Each week, on our way to church, we know that we will be held accountable before the Lord for our sins for that week. Now, obviously, we know and understand that each and every day, indeed, each and every moment of every day, we are held accountable before the Lord. Going to church does not make it any more important. Because of this, we seek to keep a short account of sins in our home and to be careful to repent daily as sin surfaces. Yet, if there is anything that our sinful heart is holding onto, or something that we have forgotten to repent of to the Lord and/or one another, knowing that we are about to take communion has been so helpful in us communicating and sharing with one another before arriving at church.
Today, as we observed communion though, I was struck so much more deeply than normal about the fact that this is indeed a representation of Christ's body and blood that was shed and given for me and all of the believers in the room. Normally, we just partake. However, today, Kyle and I helped to serve the Lord's Supper. At the end of our services and after a time of heart-searching before the Lord, believers in our congregation are invited to walk to the back of the room where two couples are standing, holding a loaf of bread and a glass of juice. They then take a piece of bread and dip it in the juice. As they do this, the person holding the bread says: "The body of Christ, given for you" and the person with the juice says: "The blood of Christ, given for you."
As Kyle and I stood there holding the bread and juice, saying this, I was moved almost to tears as one by one people came back. I was hearing over, and over, and over again "The body of Christ given for you; The blood of Christ given for you." It somehow struck me so deeply that Christ gave His actual body and blood for these believers. What a beautiful thing we as Christians can observe and remember! Do we even grasp this when we speak of the gospel or when we take the Lord's Supper? I know that my mind is usually so full of repenting of my sin before taking the bread and juice that I leave hardly any room in my mind to really ponder Christ and His humble, self-sacrificing gift for ME... such a horrible sinner! How could I possibly deserve this type of love and grace? Yet, that is the beauty of the gospel! I don't!!!! I don't deserve any of this love and grace. Christ died for me, rose, and lives in heaven; giving me His righteousness. My sin should only drive me to see my desperate need for Him; my utter inability to do any good on my own; and the life I should live in humble gratitude to my King and Savior who gave Himself for me.
I am so grateful that our church places such a high priority on taking the Lord's Supper. We should never move past the fact that Christ shed His blood for us and that we are desperately in need of His loving grace and atonement on our behalf!
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-9
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