Word and Sacrament, pt. 2 March 30, 2015
Why do wecelebrate the Lord’s Supper every single Sunday? It’s a question that comes upin almost every membership class, and I’m always happy to answer it!
Historically,our church has roots in the Plymouth Brethren tradition, and one of thedistinctives of the Brethren is a weekly observance of Communion. Ourcontinuation of that practice is, in the first place, a humble acknowledgementof our own past. We did not invent how to do church in the last couple years,and our weekly practice of the Lord’s Supper reminds us of that. But there aresome theological reasons as well.
First, weobserve Communion every week for the sake of our members’ spiritual growth.Similar to the way God uses sunlight, water, and nutrients in the soil to helpplants grow, so He uses various means to help His children mature spiritually.Practices like Bible intake, prayer, and Christian fellowship are the means Goduses to help us grow in grace—hence, the term “means of grace.” One of the keymeans of grace for Christian growth is the regular observance of the Lord’sSupper. Jesus made reference to this when He said: “Whoever feeds on my fleshand drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (Jn 6:56). The Lord’s Supper isa symbolic meal, depicting our ongoing fellowship with Jesus and bringing usinto a deeper experience of that fellowship—what He graphically described as“feeding on His flesh and drinking His blood.” So we observe the Lord’s Supperbecause it contributes to our growth.
Second, theLord’s Supper and preaching work together to reinforce and enhance oneanother’s impact. Gospel preaching interprets the symbols in the Lord’s Supper;and the gospel reenactment in the Supper reinforces the message of preaching.Keeping these two together creates a synergy where the gospel proclaimed fromthe pulpit works together with the gospel presented in the Supper to leadworshipers into more profound levels of understanding and appreciation.
Thesethings being true, it only makes sense to us to keep the two marks of a truechurch together. We want to preach the gospel and then reenact the gospel viathe Lord’s Supper in every worship service. Or, to put it another way, we wantto preach the word and then observe its tangible results. Has God’s wordcreated new life? Has it sustained our fellowship with Jesus? When preachingleads to baptism and/or communion, we can be sure it has.