Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and last Sunday for us was Communion.
Our church celebrates the Lord's Supper the first Sunday of every month. So last week Ken and I were praying about being a lot more intentional regarding Communion; you know, taking time to examine our hearts? Asking God what sinful habits we can turn away from? The verse we used when preparing for the Lord's Supper last week was Galatians chapter 2, verse 20 where it says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” It was a great verse to get your heart ready for receiving such an important and powerful sacrament last week.
But you know, I’m still thinking about the whole point behind Communion is to remember. It’s interesting that God didn't command a sacrament to commemorate His birth, or even His life. He didn’t institute a sacrament to memorialize His miracles, or even His resurrection. Man, you’d think he would have us do something very special to remember that, but no. Not even His resurrection. Only His death does Jesus ask us to remember again and again and again.
And wouldn’t you agree that too often we take a casual approach to the Lord's Supper? On the way to church maybe we remember, Oh, yeah, it’s Communion today. And we think, Oh good, a shorter sermon; something different in the order of things this morning. And as we receive the bread, instead of thinking about the Lord’s broken body, we hold the cup and notice a broken fingernail. Sometimes I know that I come to Communion unprepared, not paying attention to the housecleaning that my heart needs. Once in a great while (when I sleep fitfully the night before), I bow my head and close my eyes with the others for a time of quiet reflection and repentance, and I yawn, welcoming the chance to just close my eyes; and then I find myself snoozing, more than fighting to confess my hidden faults. It’s only when Ken lifts the bread to my mouth and the cup that I realize, “Bother! I am so sorry, Lord Jesus; I should be more ready. And I wonder before I take the bread and juice, Joni, are you honestly sincere about repenting? Do I appreciate through this communion all that Jesus has done for you?”
Oh, friend, sometimes I get so tired of my flesh. My spirit really is so willing, but my flesh is so weak. And I guess I’m so relieved that“... He knows my frame and He remembers that we are but dust,” like it says in Psalm 103, verse 14. He remembers time and again and again and again that I am made out of clay, that without Him I am nothing. That’s why I looked so forward to Communion last week, for that moment I carefully crunched into that dry cracker and I felt it break apart and I thought of how Christ’s body was broken on that cross. I savored the bread in my mouth, swallowed, digested, and knew it was becoming bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. That’s why I'm glad for Galatians chapter 2, verse 20, “It’s no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Oh, friend, you and I must never forget that. As long as you have Communion, remember and remember again. And while we’re remembering, there’s something else we mustn’t forget; something else we must rehearse time and again. And that is this December: the Christmas story. Today is your last chance to visit my radio page at joniandfriends.org to get your free copy of The Christmas Story – a great gift to give someone who doesn’t know the Lord. And it’s yours today at joniandfriends.org.
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