“The Holy Communion : from having before and after to not having before and after”

Ephesians 2:11-22, Summer Retreat 2003

Chinese by Szu Mao, English translated by Victor Lin

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John Calvin believed that the Holy Communion allowed the follower to share in the life of Christ by receiving the bread that symbolized the mystical body of Christ and cup that symbolized Christ’s blood. Because Christ is source of the life, he has the whole life, and can this life to give us. Therefore, he sets up the Holy Communion, by which his follower can shares his whole life through sharing of his blood and body.

Therefore, each time we receive the Holy Communion, we should consider four matters, which are: how were we like as a person before we knew Christ? How were we like as a person in process of coming to know Christ? Again how were we like as a person after accepting Christ as our savior? After knowing Jesus more completely, how were we transformed?

※ First, before we “knew Christ”, vs.11-13

I do not know how much you treasure your identity as a Christian? I do not know what special significance you attach to being a Christian? According to apostle Paul’s testimony, before “Knowing Christ”: we were aliens, we were called the uncircumcised by the Jews, we did not have a relationship with Christ, we were strangers to God’s grace, we were not elected to God’s kingdom, we were outsiders who did not share in God’s covenants, we live without hope, and we are far away God. This is the condition before we know Christ.

The holy communion is a junction point, the purpose of the holy communion is to declare that the Lord Jesus no longer looks at your past, does not count your past wrongs, does not fuzz over your past, and will not bring up things about your past. Jesus bears all your past and covered it on the cross with his precious blood. The moment you believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your savior, you have already separated from your past, your past has come to an end, and you can confidently come before Lord’s communion table, because this saving grace table was prepared for you.

※ Second, in… … “Trying to find Christ”… … vs. 13b-18

In addition Paul said, we who were once people far away God, after we gradually approach Christ, our life could have an enormous transformation, becoming a brand-new person. Becoming “a new person” was Paul’s own experience, and also his main thought: in Christ Jesus there is new life, this is the most important testimony of our faith. Because a “new person” does not have old baggage, does not have traditions, does not have a past, but has only the present and the future. Because for a new person, Jesus Christ takes the center stage of his live. In the letter that Paul wrote to the Galatians church, Paul also said: “For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! ” (Ephesians 6: 15) The circumcision, according to the Jewish viewpoint, is the most important ceremony and declaration of faith, also symbolizes makes a Jew’s glory. But, in the apostle Paul’s belief, if a person is in Jesus Christ, the circumcision is no longer the most important thing, becoming a new person is ultimate concern of our faith. In other words, if a person is not a new creation, even if one has undergone ” circumcision” (Galatians 5: 12) or ” baptism”, it is all in vain. It is only becoming a new person through Christ Jesus that we are able to model Christ. Once Jesus leaves us, our old selves will be revealed.

The Holy Communion shows us that our understanding of out Lord is still not enough, but we still need to pursue, still need to try to find out more. Every time we participate in the Holy Communion ceremony, we are taken into Lord’s life, the Lord’s crucifixion, Lord’s death, and his resurrection, and then we can join in Lord’s resurrection.

※Third, in… … “Accepts Christ”….. Afterwards, vs. 19-22

Paul said that accepting Christ is the most important turning point in our lives. Because we have accepted Christ to be our savior, we are no longer bystander or the stranger but we are taken in the God family, established in the foundation of apostle and prophets

with Jesus Christ the foundation ground. Therefore our life has hope, stability, and is no longer crooked.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of seven big marvelous sights in the world. For several hundred years, it has attracted innumerable curious tourists, but in th e heart of each visitor there was a common question: “When will this tower fall down?” The answer is in 2007, after four more years, after the construction has been completed for 810 years.

When people started constructing The Leaning Tower of Pisa, it was certainly not to build a slanting tower on purpose. After only it was finished, it started to incline, so that no one has ever really lived there. The scientist discovered that the tower inclination has the gradually increased over the years. The records showed that this place reached as high as 179 feet towers, must have inclined 1/20^th of an inch every year to reach the present inclines of 17 feet. Now all the Italy’s architects and the artists are trying to find solution to stop it from collapsing. To find out if the solutions are effective, we would have to wait until to day it collapses to know for sure.

Pisa in Italian means “the swamp place”. Consider constructing a tower in the swamp; is it not against common sense? It is like constructing a house on the sand, the foundation is unstable. As soon as the wind starts to blow and the rain starts to come down, if the house does not collapse, it would be a miracle!

Our old life was also unstable, frequently we experienced storm in our lives, but after we accept Christ as our savior, we received a refuge; our life has been built upon the rock. Our future will not be a dream, but will have to be saved indeed according to.

The Holy Communion is not only to commemorate Jesus Christ’s past, but also to remember that he will come again. The Holy Communion reminds us in today that we will share in future glory. The Holy Communion must continue to be held until our Lord comes again. Therefore, we must continue to maintain an intimate relationship with the Lord and continue to celebrate the Holy Communion to remember the Lord, until God’s kingdom comes and until God returns.

※ Fourth, the holy communion: from having before and after to not having before and after

In last week’s sermon, we mentioned “the vineyard parable” (Matt 20:1-16). We saw that from the beginning to the end there were five groups of workers who entered the vineyard to work at different times, but at the end they were all paid the same wages. How big is such kind of love? How deep is such kindness? Such kind gospel continuously warms my mine heart, the more I think about it the more it surprises me, the more it touches me. From human perspective there is what comes before and what comes after, there is a before and after value, there is a before and after time, there is a before and after price. But in God’s perspective, not having anything that comes before and after is turn into good fortune, such gospel is really great. Today during the holy communion, we must keep firmly in mind the precious truth: Christ’s holy communion does not divide things into east and west, nor north and south; In the Holy Communion there is no racial nor language barrier; In Christ’s Holy Communion, there is no before or after but only joyful reunion; the Holy Communion does not isolate but only provides love, acceptance and forgiveness.

Lord Jesus sets up the Holy Communion personally. This is last time that the disciple and Jesus held a banquet for the Passover festival; it is also the last supper. In the last supper Lord Jesus did several things: he pointed out the person who would betray him; After blessing the bread, he gave it to the disciples to eat to symbolize the breaking of his body; After giving thanks for the cup, he gave it to the disciple to drink to indicate an agreement that was sealed in his the blood which was shed for many people.

※ Conclusion

Fellow brothers and sister! Today we observe the Holy Communion together, not only to observe a historical event, or to celebrate a person who loved us so much that he became flesh among us, but also to remember the act of God saving grace. After partaking in Lord’s holy communion, we must to say to each other “Farewell, if God willing, may we have the chance to meet one day in front of God”. After partaking in Lord’s Holy Communion, we must embark of a new life to enter the world primarily to give testimony to God. After partaking in Lord’s Supper, our retreat will come to an end this year. Regardless of where you are, we will remember you, hoping that you will bring the Lord’s power back into your community, to continue to live in Christ, and may God bless you.