In some mega-churches you can
sense the change in worship. We’ve gone from our grandparent’s hymns of
faith (and the King James Bible) to modern music (and Bible paraphrases).
It is all so upbeat and cool. Everything is light-hearted and
happy. Until, of course, the time rolls around for Communion. It’s
then we miss the solemn nature of grandfather’s church. Then we notice
how Communion now seems to be an interruption of the cool and upbeat.
Why are we in such a hurry to get
through Communion?
· The
preacher has a lot to say and time is short. Perhaps the preacher
should be advised to stick to the timetable—to make time for God’s message of
forgiveness.
· The
organ music in Communion sounds like a funeral. Well it should.
It brings to mind the death of Christ, His sacrifice of atonement.
· We’ve
got to hurry through it, otherwise the Presbyterians will get to the restaurant
first. You would deny the Christian the bread and wine of life to
fatten yourself faster?
Why is this so irritating?
It’s because the heart and mind do not have time to switch between the upbeat
cool to the solemn. We may ask, then, what a Christian should be doing
before he takes Communion:
· To
take Communion is to open the door through which Jesus will come and dine with
us. We should therefore prepare a suitable place for him, and that place
is the human heart. Remove the distractions of this world; clean the sin
and invite Him in.
· We
should welcome Him with a quiet soul, not contorted by the world. His
words do not come by the speaker system, but by the still, small voice.
· Having
done this, we should receive the Lord’s Supper with reverence. This is a
solemn occasion, in which one handles holy things. We should do this with
a fitting attitude.
If the time to prepare is too
short, the time to reflect is also. When a Christian leaves the Lord’s
Supper, his mind has been renewed—or should be. Perhaps we might look at
what is cut off by ending the Lord’s Supper so abruptly:
· Can
you take the Lord’s Supper and not confess your sins? We should go from
Communion ever ready to confess our sins, which he is faithful and just to
forgive.
· Having
received the pure forgiveness of God, how can we refuse to give the fallen
forgiveness of man?
· We
should go carrying more than forgiveness—reconciliation. We should walk
out with the intent of reconciling with those who need to be reconciled to
us—and those who need to be reconciled to God.
Enter with reverence; receive
God’s own Son; go out to share what you have been given.