Greetings to you my brothers and sisters!
Tomorrow is Good Friday, which means tomorrow night we will post our Good Friday service online, as we have been doing with our Sunday morning services the past few weeks. Go to the New Life web site at 6 pm and the video service will begin.
Because we will not be able to gather together in our sanctuary for the service, we will also not be able to participate in communion, or the Lord’s Supper, as we normally would on Good Friday. This might raise the question of why we don’t try to practice the Supper online somehow, or whether you should practice the Lord’s Supper privately in your home either by yourself or with your family. Let me explain why I would advise against both.
In the Scriptures, the Lord’s Supper is something that is always practiced in the faith community. When Jesus instituted the sacrament in Mat. 26:26-29, he did so with his disciples. When Paul gives directions for the supper in 1 Corinthians 11, he opens the section with the phrase, “when you come together as a church . . .” In fact, this phrase is mentioned no less than four different times in this section (v. 17, 18, 20, 33), suggesting that this is not a trivial or unimportant detail in the way the Supper is conducted. Paul expects that the Supper is observed only when the church gathers together as a congregation, which is why we often call it “communion."
Another factor to consider is the importance of the visibility of the elements of the sacrament. A sacrament by definition is a "visible sign of an invisible grace,” meaning that it is something to be seen, touched and tasted. Of course it is true that you can see the bread and cup in private, but Paul says in 1 Cor. 10:17, “because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” This suggests that Paul wants us to lay eyes upon the bread in the the context of the gathered community, so that the symbolism of the one bread pointing to the one body can be witnessed.
The final reason why you should not serve communion at home is because of the very important practice of “fencing the table.” This is when Pastor Brian or myself gives directions about who should partake of the sacrament and who should not (1 Cor. 11:27-29). Unbelievers and those who are intentionally harboring unconfessed sin should not participate. Children who have not yet professed faith in Christ should not participate. These are important qualifications that are best handled by an ordained pastor during a proper worship service.
To these points you might respond that we are already doing corporate worship online, so why not do corporate communion online? The response is that we actually are not doing “corporate worship” online. We are worshiping in our homes through the aid of online video, yes, but that is not the same as corporate worship. That only happens when God’s people gather together physically in the same space to worship God through Christ.
Perhaps you have already been serving communion at home, especially since we were hindered from doing so as a church on the third Sunday in March. If so, let me assure you that you have not committed the unpardonable sin, and that your desire to participate in the sacrament is a godly and commendable inclination. But there are so many aspects of the Supper that are lost in private that it hardly deserves to be called “communion” in that context.
This current time of staying at home will not last forever. Very soon we will be together again, at which time the celebrating of the Lord’s Supper will seem that much more precious and valuable in our eyes and hearts. And be assured that grace from God is still freely available to you, as you approach him in prayer and in the Word through faith in Christ, the one mediator between man and God, who always lives to intercede for us.
My love to you in Christ,
Pastor Bob