The Privilege of Communion

The Privilege of Communion

For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till He comes.

I Corinthians 11:26

As we linger over our contemplation of the Lord’s Supper, we arrive a moment of consideration of the privilege which the Communion Feast affords us.  Paul offered a divinely inspired commentary on Christ’s institution of the Feast.  He says,  ‘For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till He comes.’ There are several aspects to this privilege.  We have the element of regular participation.  This participation is, ‘as often as.’  It does not indicate that we can somehow remember the sacrifice of Christ too often.  This is something in which we can participate as often as we have opportunity. Another aspect of this privilege is that we have the opportunity of proclamation.  By our participation in this communion feast, we ‘proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.’  As we participate in the Communion Feast we are declaring that Christ has offered the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, and that He is the only Redeemer.  Beyond that, when we participate in the Lord’s Supper, we enjoy the element of expectation.  We participate in the Feast with the expectation that He will come again.  We ‘proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.’  This is a great privilege in every way.  It enables us to embrace the issues of time and eternity and to see them in perspective.  This is what makes the Communion Feast such a valuable event in which we can participate, ‘till He comes.’

Our Good and Gracious God,
we praise You that You have given to us the privilege of Communion.
We rejoice that as we come to the table,
we meet with Christ as He has revealed Himself.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning