communion

Maundy Thursday _ Last Day of Lent

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And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  Luke 22:15 ESV

Maundy Thursday is the somewhat overlooked day of Easter Week. But for Jesus this was the crucial time to prepare His disciples for His departure. At the Last Supper Jesus gave the New Covenant to both His friends and through them to us who are believers today. Every time we take communion in our various churches we continue to remember His death and atonement as people have done for 2,000 years.

At the Last Supper Jesus gave not only a New Covenant but He also set the example for a new lifestyle. While those we consider saints today were arguing over who was the most important, Jesus went and filled a basin with water and began to wash their feet.

When supper was finished Jesus led His eleven faithful disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. There He fully and finally accepted His coming death on the cross. There He woke them again and again and urged them to pray also until Judas came with the soldiers. And then the hour had come for His sacrifice. Even when everyone ran away, Jesus stayed behind, accepting the cost of our salvation. He was the Lamb of God and this gift of His body and blood we are remembering today because it means the redemption of us all!

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Let’s Have Communion!

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What I miss most during this social distancing era has been the inability to either serve or receive communion. So if we who are able to get out feel frustrated and wish we could be with our church again; imagine how those in Long Term Care must feel.

So after two week’s of prayer God spoke in my heart that the good news is that through the Holy Spirit we can all still celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Sharing in communion is more than just eating bread and drinking grape juice (or wine). Jesus Himself, is the bread of life and His blood which was sprinkled on the throne of grace in heaven, is still the New Covenant between God and man.  What we are unable to share because of distance God is still able to do through His Holy Spirit. I invite you to share this video with anyone you know who is in a long term care situation or to participate yourself. We may be separated by many miles; but by the blood of Calvary, we are one in Jesus Christ.

Our hymns for this week’s session include: Are You Washed? The Old Rugged Cross; In the Garden; Wondrous Cross and Nothing But the Blood.

 

Sharing Communion Apart

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Sharing communion apart seems to be a contradiction in terms and yet it is very much a reality many of us are living out in this Corona virus world. I wrote this devotional for my people from the various nursing homes where I normally would be visiting every week. Though it is a personal message specifically for them, I thought it might also be an encouragement to you as well.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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.”                                        1 Corinthians 11:23- 24 ESV

While we have been apart for more than two months one thing which I have missed the most is being able to share communion with you. You may be wondering if there is some way we can still remember this holy meal. The answer is a resounding yes! We can still be together in heart if not in person in the three important parts of our Lord’s last supper. First we Repent. Just as Jesus prayed with His disciples, we must also pray and not only give thanks as Jesus did, but also ask for forgiveness so that God can clean our hearts and prepare us for communion.

Second; we Receive the bread and the cup; but not only from the hands of a priest or a pastor. Instead we recall Jesus as the Living Bread. He is the one who is giving Himself to us. It is from His hands that we receive such a gift. He also passes us the cup which holds His life spilled out on the cross for ours. As we receive His life into us He washes our past away and gives us new life in Him. Last of all we do this and Remember. It is not that we are recalling something forgotten but instead it is an honoring of His death and a celebration of His life; until he comes again. Oh I am looking forward to the day when I can be with you again to have communion. But until then be sure to repent; receive and remember as often as you can because our hope is our looking forward not to a return to normal but to the return of Jesus to this world!

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