Elder Morrow: When I began participating in Lord’s Supper as a teenager, it was something I did because I read in the Bible that I should. It was purely an act of obedience with little regard for significance. Sometime in young adult years, the meaning began to soak in.
For me today, Lord’s Supper is my annual opportunity to express in a physical act my gratitude to Jesus for dying in my stead. His broken body and shed blood (symbolized by the emblems taken in the Lord’s Supper service) opened the doors of heaven to me so that I may have intimate fellowship with my Creator and Savior on a daily basis. For that I am eternally grateful.
In addition, Lord’s Supper unites believers worldwide. When I participate under the full moon where I’m living, I remember that those who love Jesus and worship under the full moon wherever they live are more than the little congregation with whom I worship. It especially unites my heart with those in the areas where I once lived and worshipped. To me, Lord’s Supper effects a oneness of the body of Christ more than any other event.
Elder Walker: Once again, we near that time of the year when God’s people observe a memorial above all memorials: the Lord’s Supper. Not only do I have a special kind of feeling during this season, I also cannot help but feel that our forefathers had a special feeling too as they looked forward to a special Passover with Jesus. They looked forward to a reminder of past deliverance from physical Egypt, as well as deliverance from spiritual Egypt through Christ the Messiah who was to come. For they held on to the promise made in Genesis 3:15 that the Savior would come.
The first time John laid eyes upon Christ, he said the joyous words “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, KJV throughout). These were not just prophetic words, but words of celebration. “Behold the Lamb.” What great joy John must have felt, knowing Israel’s long wait had come to an end.
As the Lord’s Supper draws near and I try to present the occasion with words fitting for the memorial, my feelings overwhelm me. I cannot contain them without tears overflowing, remembering “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (15:13). Knowing that no greater love was ever shown — to me — than what the Father showed through His Son Jesus, should move any person emotionally.
Every year I am reminded that God chose me before I chose Him. That’s a special kind of love — the kind of love that humans seldom think about or feel. The Lord’s Supper reminds me of the special love that was shown and how enriched I am by it. I never had much in terms of earthly wealth, but I have been adopted into God’s heavenly family (Ephesians 3:15) and now I’m able to enjoy “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (v. 8).
Yes, the Lord’s Supper reminds me of the riches I enjoy through Christ, but also that God no longer looks upon me as a sinner (poor, blind, and naked) but as a saint (1 Corinthians 1:2; Revelation 14:12). That’s something special, something wonderful. Even at times during the rest of the year, I may fail to remember that, but the Lord’s Supper reminds me who and what I am. I am no sinner, but a saint. God says so, and God cannot lie.
With the Lord’s Supper nearing, I’m reminded of all that God has done through His Son, of how our forefathers must have felt when they realized what God had done through Christ for us and in us.
May this special time not be something we ought to do, but a time of rejoicing, a time when our hearts are filled with emotion. I’m not ashamed to say so.
Max Morrow is a former editor of the Bible Advocate and now pastors at Owosso MI.
Wesley Walker pastors the CoG7 in McAlester, OK.
