Peace!
Rev. Dr. Christopher Ponnuraj
Minister
West Center Congregational Church
Thoughts on Maundy Thursday |
Thoughts on Good Friday |
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In the weeks ahead I will be talking about what it means to come together as a group to worship God. Today I want to discuss what it means to share communion as a part of a worship experience. Here in West Center congregational church, we make communion available every month—this habit of sharing bread and grape juice together as part of our Sunday morning celebration. Some churches have communion once a month, others once every three months, and still others every week. On average we have communion about 10 or 11 times in a year, we also do it the week before Easter Sunday on Thursday night because that’s the night Jesus first introduced to his followers this special meal on the night before his death.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement in England in the 18th Century encouraged his Methodists groups to go to communion as often as they could at the local Anglican Church. In his sermon, “The Duty of Constant Communion,” Wesley said “I am to show that it is the duty of every Christian to receive the Lord’s Supper as often as he can”. The First reason why it is the duty of every Christian so to do is, because it is a plain command of Christ. …. Observe, too, that this command was given by our Lord when he was just laying down his life for our sakes. They are, therefore, as it were, his dying words to all his followers. Don’t they realize that the Lord’s Supper is the greatest evangelistic tool we have? Paul in I Corinthians 11:26 says through the proper observance of the Supper “you proclaim the death of the Lord till He comes” John Wesley taught that Communion should be served to believers and non-believers alike. The Communion service is certainly a greater aid to evangelism than a cross on a church building, or on a necklace. Robert Tinsky was a renounced Jewish scholar. Dissatisfied spiritually, once he visited a Christian Church for the first time, seeking some religious truth. He was astounded by the observance of the Lord’s Supper. He didn’t understand it. He asked some young people seated near him what it meant. They faithfully told him the gospel story as portrayed in the loaf and cup. He was amazed that there was a God who loved humankind enough to give His Son to die for us and at the wisdom that created such a living memorial. He became a Christian and a faithful preacher of the gospel. Remember: So today I want to explain why we do what we do, so that even someone who’s new to the Christian faith might understand completely. When we share the Holy Communion we are doing what almost all Christians do: celebrating a relationship with the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, by taking seriously his own words on the night before he died -“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood poured out for you.” If this is familiar to you, you will probably be comfortable with observing or receiving the bread and cup. |
In I Corinthians 1:18 Paul writes, “For the message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost, but for us who are being saved it is God’s power.” The divine love of God is so powerful that magnifies the crucified Lord on the cross. This year we have completed meditating on the seven words from the cross.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do not forget the ABC of the cross: A: Cross is An Alter: St Paul in Galatians 6:14 “As for me I will boast only about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” For Paul the cross becomes the symbol of adoration. Isaac Watt wrote the Hymn “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died”. The cross is an altar, a place for adoration B: Cross is a Bridge: The cross bridges the union between humanity and God. The relationship between humanity and God was reestablished. We are reconciled with God. Let us reconcile with our family, friends, and our loved ones. Let us not try to separate, let us bridge, let us unit, and let us join together. C: Cross is a Crown: On the cross of Jesus, Pilate wrote “King of Jews”. So Cross is a crown, without cross we cannot enter into the kingdom of God. If we are willing to follow the cross and live a sacrificial life and a suffering life, we are assured of a crown. Amen |