Houston Congregational Christian Church

Pastor James Manuel
4883 Russia-Houston Road
Houston, OH  45333
Phone:  937-295-3591
Email:  click here

Message Title:                                     Communion---What Does It Mean?

Call to Worship:                                  Isaiah 1:18-19

Scripture Reading:                          I Corinthians 11:23-28

Prayer:  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable unto You O Lord on this Your day.

In a little while we will participate in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper---Holy Communion.   What’s the purpose of our eating and drinking this tiny little meal in worship?    This is not just a snack.   This is not just a nice   attractive little ritual.   This is a Sacrament.   It is an outward sign of an inward   spiritual grace.   It is not just communion.    It is Holy Communion.              Something very special happens at this table.   Something meaningful and profound.   It is so special that it has the power to open the eyes of those who do not see the Lord.

Why then is this such an important part of who we are as Christians?   What is this meal all about.   First it’s about Obedience.   One reason we share in this meal is simple Obedience.    Jesus commanded us to celebrate this meal on a regular basis.   When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper   He told us in  Luke 22:19 to,    ‘Do this.’       Now Jesus didn’t say---If you happen to do this    that would be nice.   Nor did He say---If you would like to do this from time to time.      Jesus gave us a definite,   clear cut----‘Do This.’ 

When we come to the Lord’s Table we are expressing a commitment to be obedient to Jesus Christ.     In the O. T.  book of Isaiah the prophet writes in Isaiah 1:18-19,  ‘Come now let us reason together,  says the Lord.   Though your sins are like scarlet,   they shall be as white as snow;   though they are red as crimson   they shall be  like wool.     If you are willing and obedient   you will eat the best from the land.’  

You see our obedience is a willing expression.   We are not slaves.   We are invited into a life of discipleship    and an important aspect of that discipleship is a willing obedience to obey Him.     One of the important parts of this Sacrament is that by---‘doing this’    we are living out our obedience to Jesus.   Communion helps us to know to whom we should be obedient.      We live in a world where all  sorts of things are calling for our attention.    Work,   pleasures,    greed---are we to obey them   or can we focus our obedience onto God?      Communion helps us to focus obedience onto the Lord.  

Remembrance.   Participating in this Sacrament is an act of obedience,   but why?   Why does Christ command us to---‘Do This?’        You have heard these words many times from 1 Cor. 11:23-24,    ‘The Lord Jesus on the night 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.’   Why are we to obey Christ and---Do This?    We do it to Remember. 

How do we remember people and places in our lives?   If you want to remember something or someone    what do you do?    You might take pictures and put them in an album.     And from time to time you take the album out of the cabinet and open it and look at the pictures   and you remember.     You might keep a lock of hair from your child’s first haircut.  Or maybe buy a souvenir to remember a place you’ve been.

What Christ did is to take a ceremony that was already an important part of Jewish culture.   He and His disciples were not just having a meal on the night in which He was betrayed.              They were having the Passover Meal.   And that was a big deal.    In our culture we have our Thanksgiving dinner   or Christmas dinner.   But in Jewish culture   it was the Passover meal that was so important.         It was a time to be with family and friends and a time to remember.    A time to remember how they had been in Egypt and how the Lord allowed them to escape. 

But on this night Jesus was betrayed   while He was still with His disciples   He gave this meal a new meaning for Christians.   He called on us to celebrate this meal and to Remember how we were able to escape the spiritual darkness of sin.         And how the bread is for us,    1 Cor. 11:24,  ‘ the body of Christ broken for us.’    for our Salvation.   And how the wine is to be for us,  Luke 22:20  ‘ the Blood of Christ poured out for our redemption.’    When we are obedient to Christ’s command to celebrate  this meal    we do so in order to remember the sacrifice of Christ for us.  

Communion is a precious practice reserved for those who accept the life made available to them through the Body and Blood of Jesus.   It is an act which includes submission to the Lord’s command.   1 Cor. 11:24,  ‘Do This in Remembrance of Me.’