The Lord's Supper, Are We Missing Something?

[HKHaugan]

The Lord’s Supper, Are We Missing Something?

 In the Gospel of John, the Feeding of the 5000 and the teaching that follows, give new meaning and purpose for us.

 What you see Jesus preparing for appears in John 13-17, the Last Supper, we now call the Lord’s Supper. The new Lord's Supper replaces the old Passover meal and contains the pattern for everyday living that frees us to look forward. It offers us an intimacy with God that guarantees His presence whenever it is celebrated and wherever we are at any time. We no longer have to live in slavery to religious tradition and cultural adjustment. “Whenever two or three are gathered in my Name I am there with them (Mt.18:20).” Jesus is spiritual, personal and relational.

 In Jesus, religion is turned into relationship and cultural adjustment is turned into biblical adjustment. The mind, heart and spirit in a believer are made new when we ask Jesus to be our Lord. The Holy Spirit makes our spirit new, our mind new and our heart new. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come (2Cor.5:17).”

 “The Lord took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to the disciples (Luke 22:19, 1Cor.11:23-26).” Exactly what does this mean for us personally? There’s far more here than being just a worship service with mystical quality, celebrated by a priest who makes us feel good, leave the church building and come back next week for the same. He gave us a new way to process every next moment. We’ve got to ‘think Jesus.’ Look at the four verbs---take, thank, break, give---and apply them right where we are at any given moment of choice and decision.  

 First, we -take- and place ourselves next to Jesus and compare ourselves to Him. How does our attitude, integrity, trustability and character measure up as every next choice, decision and relationship make their demands? If we are new person in Christ, we already have those values and build on them as we go. That's a moment by moment evaluation. The world is going to do its best to get us to try and fix the way we used to think about them. What a waste of time. That’s why the next word gets us moving.

 Second, we -thank- the Lord. Scripture shows He is an uncompromisingly honest open person who, through the Cross, Resurrection and Pentecost has made Himself available 24/7. So maybe -thanks- are due after having found someone who really makes sense out of living. He accepts us just as we are, and we realize as new Spirit-born people, we can be completely open with and for Him. His only judgment is His love for us. It's hard not to yield when love looks you in the face.

 Third, we do two things: we -break- away from trying to be good and we break our ties with pride and fear to take on the will of God which is faith in Jesus every next moment. We break our conformity to the past. We look for each new moment as a spiritual moment. This leads into the fourth word, give.

 Fourth, we -give- our experience of Jesus to others. When that process starts with Him in mind, we find it easier to stand on our own two feet, being more open and honest with others and then to -give- our personal experiences of that process to others. In order to do this, we have been given spiritual gifts operating within the fruit of the Spirit. These we are given to minister and share the Lord with others.

 As new persons in Christ, we live in expectation. We don’t know what’s going to happen from one moment to the next. We expect when we ‘think-Jesus’ He will be there working through us by His Holy Spirit. That’s what He promises and that’s what He does.

 In essence, we are the new priesthood under the authority of our Eternal High Priest Jesus, sacrificing ourselves for others. Peter says we are a kingdom of priests, doesn’t he (1Pet.2:9)? What does Paul say about this? “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God---this is your spiritual act of worship (Rom.12:1).”

 The Lord’s Supper is not only repeated to engage our whole self, it is actually feeding our spirit, our mind, our heart with the presence of Jesus. As we embrace the Scripture the Holy Spirit brings the spiritual proteins, vitamins and bulk to shape the new body Jesus is building in us.

 Every next moment, think Jesus,---take, thank, break and give.