So the point of the "Sermon Addendum" posts is to pick up things that may have been interesting to me in preparing the sermon but it fell to the need to edit. After all, the preacher cannot put everything in the sermon any more than the listener can listen to that whole sermon!
This past Sunday, we celebrated the Lord's Supper as a church. In the Baptist tradition, we generally hold to what's known as the "Memorial View" of the Lord's Supper, indicating our understanding that the elements of the Supper are intended to remind us of Jesus' sacrifice, His death, burial, and resurrection. The elements do not become something else, but they remind us.
Other traditions hold other views. Some view the elements as being transformed into the literal body and blood of Christ; others that the elements themselves are not changed but that Christ is present in them in a way He is not in the rest of life.
There are several good books (and a few bad ones) that dig into this, I won't try to sort it out here. Take a look at Understanding Four Views of the Lord's Supper in the Counterpoints series for a good introduction. The bibliography will open up deeper reading. I think there is something more than mere snacking happening, but I think the power of God's presence is mediated through the Spirit and the presence of one another more than anything else.
That greater debate is one thing that was left out of the sermon. After all, there's only a few hundred years of debate involved. It is a good example of how your introduction to a subject tends to hold on through the years. Likewise, we have divergent traditions of how often we do the Lord's Supper. Somewhere between every time the church gathers to only every so often. Southern Baptists tend to fall into the every so often tradition.
We also did not spend much time this time around about deep reflection before partaking. Many times we do spend effort there, based on 1 Corinthians' charge that we not take the Supper in an unworthy manner lest judgment fall. And that's a good warning.
But we should also remember that we are celebrating the Grace of God. So that was more of my emphasis this time around. It's worth remembering that we are now forgiven. That we are now part of the family.
While we should never take for granted what it cost to put us in the family, we should live like we are in the family. Grateful, not arrogant, but not afraid of our place in the family being taken away.
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To deal with SPAM comments, all comments are moderated. I'm typically willing to post contrary views...but I also only check the list once a day, so if you posted within the last 24 hours, I may not be to it yet.