Communion

3/1/2001

a question...

I have been studying on communion for several months now. I believe that whatever ritual we perform that makes men think they are holy and feel self-righteous about themselves, there is a missing truth. So when I met these people and they put this great emphasis on the “love feast” and communion (being part of the meal) every Sunday, I of course started seeking even more for the “truth.” Do you have revelation from the Father on what was really happening? I feel like out of the four gospels (and 1 Corinthians, which is recalling the one gospel) it only says, “Do this in remembrance of Me” in one. It also talks about washing of the feet, and He mentions that we should do as He has shown us. I don’t believe He is talking about feet =). They were eating a meal because it was the Passover feast. I believe (not complete) that Jesus was using the bread and the wine to show them a deeper truth. I don’t believe that He was showing us a new ritual to perform. And why, if it is soooooo important that we “do this thing,” the other gospels leave out the part about “do this.” The question is, what is “THIS”?

Marg

No time now, but you’re mostly right.... In Acts 2, the 3000 were “devoted to breaking bread.” Now, this IS speaking of what we call “the Lord’s Supper” (not a common meal, as was the case apparently in Acts 20 when they “broke bread”). So WHY were they “devoted, laying siege, to the breaking of bread”—the Lord’s Supper? Because it was a ritual to do? NO. Because it was magic bread (as the catholics and “high church” people handed down as a sacramental ritual with magical powers)? NO. Because it removes guilt or sin or makes us better Christians? No. So WHY did they “LAY SIEGE” (the Greek) to breaking bread, right up there with prayer and the Apostle’s Teaching and fellowship/sharing all things commonly?

Just because. It was close to their hearts to share in the Feast that Jesus spoke of, declaring visibly, until He returns. It was a declaration of their “one-loafness”—1Cor. 10, 11 and discerning of the Body of Christ as ONE. And, in fact, if they WERE NOT ONE—”your meetings do more harm than good, and it’s not the Lord’s Table AT ALL!” The ritual obviously MEANS NOTHING, if their lives don’t reflect the REALITY of the ENTIRE CHURCH AS ONE, DAY IN AND DAY OUT, IN THE COMMON AFFAIRS OF LIFE! “Contending as ONE MAN for the Faith” (Phil. 1:27). “Joined and knit together by every supporting ligament” (Eph. 4:16). “We being many are ONE!” IF the LIFE of the people doesn’t reflect this Truth, God says that they “eat and drink condemnation upon themselves” and it’s not even the Lord’s Supper anyway! And they shouldn’t bother to meet at all, since God is judging them for it. Wow.

So, it’s important to God. But, it’s not magic bread. It is a declaration to heaven and hell and earth of a UNION of LIFE, eating and drinking with Him anew in His Kingdom. AND, it must reflect the reality of our LIVING SITUATIONS DAILY AMONGST HIS PEOPLE, or it is a bogus ritual that God strikes some sick and others dead over (1Cor. 11). Being “DEVOTED” to doing it, and LIVING the Reality of it, MUST go hand in hand. And yes, God is very much involved in SUCH a “Communion” as this.........

Great stuff, eh??!!

Love,