Communion Is Serious Business

Dinner guests are a big deal.

When my wife and I host someone for dinner, we make sure we thoroughly clean the house.  We carefully select the menu to include some of our favorite and best foods.  We find entertainment for the kids so the adults can talk after the meal.  We go out of our way to make sure dinner goes well.

When someone comes for dinner, it's a special occasion.  As my parents would say, we have company.  That meant the night was specifically reserved for someone and that should not be interrupted. 

In the same way, the Lord's Supper is a special dinner.  It's not a meal, but a remembrance.  We remember what Jesus did on the cross for us, and we also remember the promise he gives us to return again. The communion was made for us, as believers in Christ, to celebrate the risen Christ and to anticipate his second coming to usher in the kingdom of God.

As believer, we take the communion together, as the body of Christ.  It identifies us with Jesus and with one another. It is a shared communion between believers and Jesus.  It's an important event in the life of the church.

Yet too often we treat it casually.  We don't consider the meaning behind the elements. We want to hurry up and get to lunch.  We treat it as a ritual, something we have to do every so often.  We don't take time to remember Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul warns the Corinthian believers, and us, that we must be judge ourselves before taking the communion.  Our hearts must be right and void of bitterness, unconfessed sin, relationship problems or unworthy attitudes.  We must be ready to encounter a very holy God.

In the Old Testament, the Jewish people made sure they were clean before approaching God.  If not, they could die as a consequence.  Paul uses the same logic.  If we treat God and his supper as common, we will face earthly judgment for disobeying the Lord.  The Lord's Supper is serious business.

As we consider the bread and the cup, we must do so in a spirit of confession and repentance.  It is better to not take it at all, then to take it cavalierly. 

We must judge ourselves.

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