The First Communion 08-04-2024

Text: Luke 22:15-20

                   Today is the first Sunday in August and the first Sunday of every month is when this Church has set to celebrate the first communion, or what is often called the Lord's Supper, of Jesus with His Disciples.  I thought it would be a good time to revisit the first Communion.  Our text is from Luke 22:15-20 where he wrote:  "(15) And He said unto them, with desire I have desired to eat the Passover with you before I suffer; (16) for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.  (17) And He took the cup, and gave thanks and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves.  (18) For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God shall come.  (19) And He took bread, and gave thanks and broke it, and gave unto them saying, This is My Body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of Me.  (20) Likewise, also the cup after supper, saying This cup is the new Testament in My blood, which is shed for you."                          The communion celebration started in the upper room after they had shared the final Passover together.  It continued through the early years as the Church grew, and it continues thousands of years later in Churches around the world.  The symbols of this celebration include the bread representing the body of the Bread of Life which is what Jesus called Himself in John 6:35 when He said, I am the Bread of Life; He who comes to Me shall never hunger.   And the cup represents the blood He shed when He was crucified on the Cross.  With all the indescribable suffering he went through, why have we been called to celebrate this cruel act?

                   Paul shows us in I Corinthians 15:3-4 that Communion is the celebration of our new promise from God.  That new promise is the good news of our gift of salvation.  Communion is also a reminder that our salvation only comes to us after we put our faith in Jesus.  There is no other way for us to receive salvation.  Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we can't get it from doing good works.  Participating regularly in the Communion service at church also doesn't give us salvation because it is the act of celebrating the salvation that we have been given because of what Jesus has done on the cross and by accepting Him into our lives.  Each time we repeat this ceremony, we are once again reminded of the price that was paid for our salvation.

                    Let's look at those who participated in the very first Communion.  Peter was there and he denied Jesus three times after Jesus' arrest in the garden of Gethsemane.  Thomas was there but he doubted the resurrection.  Mark 14:50 tells us that they all ran away His arrest that night.  And yet, even after they deserted Him when He needed them most, they were all fully forgiven.  Peter became the spokesman for the Christian Church.  Thomas called Jesus his Lord and his God.  The eleven Disciples would become the nucleus of the very dynamic early Church.  So, each time we celebrate Communion, we are reminded that we too can be fully forgiven.  But we are also reminded in I John 1:9 of the need to regularly confess our sins in order to be cleaned of all unrighteousness.

                   Communion is also a celebration of the fantastic future we have in store for us.  In verse 16 of our text Jesus speaks of the coming Kingdom.  John 14:3 tells how Jesus is preparing a place for us to be received by Him.  Paul shows us in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 how we will be caught up to be with Jesus at the rapture.  Revelation 19:7-9 shows how we will be celebrating at the marriage supper and in Revelation 19:10-16 and 20:6 we see that we will return with Christ to reign with Him in His Kingdom.  Communion celebrates our future because we are sinners who are being made into saints that are prepared for Heaven.

                   I Corinthians 11:26  show us how Communion looks back to the Cross but also looks forward to when Christ will return to establish His Kingdom on earth.  And it is a reminder that the best is yet to come as Paul wrote I Corinthians 2:9 "…Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them who love Him."

                   So, what we do every first Sunday of the month is to remember the sacrifice that was made so that we could be fully participating members of the family of the God who loves us.  Each time we do this, we are to reflect on what has taken place in our lives since the last time we came to the table.  Have we  done our best to live as Jesus did?  Are there changes that we have made or need to be made before we come back to the table next month?  Are we doing our best to share the message of salvation through Jesus?  Are we asking for forgiveness of new sins we have committed?  Ifwe fall short in any one these areas, we need to recommit our lives to Jesus do better in our own Christian walk and share His message of God's love for us including what is instore for all who come to faith in Christ.

                   Participating in the Communion service will not save anyone.  That is something that should occur before you participate.  Salvation comes when you confess before God that you are a sinner and believe that Jesus is the Son of God sent to earth to prepare the way for sinners to be forgiven.  Then you must accept Jesus into your heart and allow Him through the Holy Spirit to make the needed changes in  you to live a new life using Jesus as your guide.  If you have not yet done this, time is getting short, so don't put it off any longer.

                    Until we meet again, may God bless and keep you, may He shine His light on you, show you grace, and give you peace in all the days ahead.