3 Ways To Make The Lord's Supper More Meaningful For You

Has taking the Lord's Supper (Communion) just become a ritual for you? Are you just going through the motions when taking it? Do you understand why you take it? 

To better understand the Lord's Supper, you first need to know some things about the "Last Supper". The Last Supper was actually the Passover supper for Jews held once a year to commemorate their release from Egyptian slavery by God's hand through the last plague when the angel of death killed all the first born of Egypt but "passed over" the first born of the Israelites who were spared by spreading the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. Moses then led them out of Egyptian bondage. 

The Passover supper or Seder had different components that symbolized different parts of the story of the Jews escaping slavery. The night before he died, Jesus and his disciples observed the Passover supper, but at the end of the meal, Jesus did something paramount: He instituted his own memorial! 

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. (Luke 22:17-20)

At that Passover supper, Jesus declared a New Covenant sealed once and for all by His blood on the cross, making the Old Covenant obsolete. The day after that Passover supper, Jesus, the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, offered His life on the cross.

Now we as Christians continue to this day observing His memorial: the Lord's Supper. The bread we eat is a reminder of the physical sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, while the cup we drink symbolizes the blood of Jesus shed to forgive our sins. 

So how should you approach taking the Lord's Supper as a Christian today? How can you make it more meaningful? From now on, when taking the Lord's Supper, here's 3 things you should try to incorporate:

1 -- A Personal Attitude

Get yourself into the right attitude. Remember that the Lord supper is a memorial. Have you ever visited a memorial such as the World War II memorial in Washington DC? How would you approach this memorial -- with what emotion? -- reverence, awe, humbleness, thankfulness, honor, and a sense of gratitude? That's the same emotion you should have as you prepare to take the Lord's Supper. 

2 -- A Personal Reflection

We shouldn't just take the Lord's Supper without examining our motive and our sincerity. The Apostle Paul scolded the Corinthian church for making the Lord's Supper an irreverent feast. He said not to take the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner -- with pride, or arrogance, or without acknowledging the sacrifice of Jesus for your redemption. Consider using your personal reflection time to include personal repentance, asking the Lord for forgiveness of your shortcomings.

So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)

3 --  A Personal Connection  

I love the term "communion". It literally means the sharing of intimate thoughts and feelings, both mentally and spiritually. Communion is the participation of the Lord's memorial with fellow believers, united in hearts and minds. But ever more than that, the Lord's Supper is a personal, intimate spiritual communion or connection with Jesus as well. In this sense, the Lord's Supper is relational!

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

The next time you have the opportunity to take the Lord's Supper, try to make it a habit to practice the 3 ways to make the Lord's Supper more meaningful: 

Attitude, Reflection, Connection.

One more thing.....

The Lord's Supper, Communion, is not just a silent, invisible, mental exercise. Because of the nature of taking the bread and the juice, it becomes a visible, physical demonstration of our belief in Jesus. In other words, by participating, you are personally, outwardly proclaiming and confessing Jesus as Lord!

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 10:26)

How The Eclipse Glorifies God

A total solar eclipse is an amazing, unique event in the sky. It's a rare occurrence and causes us to view the heavens with a sense of awe. But such a phenomenon should mean more to us than simply an astronomical wonder. 

And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (Deuteronomy 4:19)

The eclipse should be a reminder that there's a Creator.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

When we as believers look at the sky, the stars, the sun, the moon, and the heavens above, it should always prompt us to be in an attitude of praise and worship of our God. Whether it be an amazing sunrise, a beautiful sunset, a star filled night time sky, a full moon rising, or a solar eclipse, we should be in awe of God. It should remind us that we have a Creator.

The eclipse declares the glory of God! It glorifies Him because it proclaims the work of His hands. 

It's all summed up in the following verse:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1)

Psalm 19 continues to explain that the evidence of a Creator is evident to everyone, everywhere:  

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words;  no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:2-4)

I urge you to memorize Psalm 19:1. And I encourage you to say it out loud each time you look at the sky with amazement. Don't just look at the beauty of the sky and leave God out, not acknowledging and praising Him. Here is Psalm 19:1 once more:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1)

Make it your memory verse today.

 

Jesus And The Miracle Of The Speeding Boat

Let's take a glimpse in the life of Jesus just prior to the miracle of Jesus walking on water. At the time, He was on a roll, doing a string of incredible miracles. He was healing countless people who were sick. 

And a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. (John 6:2 NIV)

He was drawing huge crowds. The Bible calls them multitudes which can mean thousands of people. On one evening, the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away so they could go buy food for themselves since it was getting late. 

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. (Matthew 14:15-17 NIV)

This is when Jesus performed the famous miracle of feeding the 5000. He took the five loaves and two fish and miraculously kept multiplying them until everyone was fed, leaving 12 baskets of leftovers! What's astonishing is that there were actually more than 5000 people.

The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:21 NIV)

We can assume that were an equal amount of women there, and many children. So an estimate of 12,000 people being miraculously fed (men, women, and children) wouldn't be unreasonable. 

What about the speeding boat? 

That scene develops right after feeding the multitudes. And what a scene! It involves 4 incredible miracles. Jesus makes the disciples get in a boat and head toward the other side of the lake while He withdraws to the mountain alone to pray. The disciples, however, got stuck in the midst of the lake in the middle of the night, battered by wind and waves. Then Jesus comes walking on water! That's the first of the miracles, and no doubt the most dramatic. 

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:26-27 NIV)

What's crazy to me is that it seems Jesus was initially just making a shortcut to get to the other side of the lake and not necessarily planning to meet up with the disciples. Why walk around the lake, when you can just walk on top of the lake? And in Mark's version Jesus intended to pass by them. I guess Jesus was in a hurry to reach the other side!

Seeing them straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. (Mark 6:48 NASV) 

The second miracle occurs when Peter actually walks on water as well! Even if it's for just a brief time. 

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:28-31 NIV)

The third miracle occurs when Jesus calms the sea. 

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:32-33 NIV)

Next is a very interesting part of the story is overlooked by many. In John's version, a fourth miracle occurs besides Jesus walking on water, Peter walking on water, and Jesus calming the sea. That is, the boat immediately reaching the other side of the lake in a split second! 

Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. (John 6:21)

Some scholars say this is not a miracle but just a description of them making a bee line to the other side of the lake. Other scholars say this is absolutely a miracle. They "immediately" reach the shore where they were heading. And why not? Nothing is impossible for Jesus, especially in this dramatic scene loaded with supernatural events. He was intent on getting across the lake!

Thus the miracle of the speeding boat! Or the time warp boat. Or the Mach 3 (2310 mph) boat. 

One thing is for sure. Jesus was doing incredible things at that time, displaying powers only God can do, and it's still early on in His ministry. No wonder the disciples said, "Truly you are the Son of God." That's our Lord! Wow!