The Lord’s Supper and Special Effects

I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was sitting in a darkened theater watching movie preview trailers, when suddenly I was enveloped in a world of things to come – swirling spacecraft, stirring music, and the heavy-breathing, deep-voiced villain of Star Wars.  I can easily recall that the final scene in the preview was a direct attack by a dark-side fighter that exploded in a ball of fire.  Amazing!  And unlike anything I’d ever seen.  Though it was more than 40 years ago, I still recollect the excitement it generated and I couldn’t wait to see the movie!

So, let’s be honest – did you get that same feeling of excited anticipation the last time you shared in the Lord’s Supper with your church?  Silly comparison?  I think not!   Whether your church asks you to share the Lord’s Supper together weekly, quarterly, or when you show up at Christmas and Easter, it IS an event to be eagerly anticipated.  Why, you might ask?  I acknowledge that the Church’s practice of remembering the Passover exchange between Jesus and His disciples might lack the visual pizzazz of Hollywood and may even seem to lack rudimentary planning at times, but it is the content and INTENT that are vital. 

You can read the story of the Last Supper in the Gospels, but the apostle, Paul, wrote this for us, making sure we understand clearly, not only the content, but also the intent of sharing in the Lord’s Supper:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.  1 Corinthians 11:23-26

“Until He comes.”  WOW.  Cue the music and prepare to be amazed!  Talk about special effects!  When you take the Lord’s Supper, what do you see in your mind’s eye?  I usually think about His meal, then His prayer time, then His suffering and crucifixion.  I celebrate His victory over death and partake in the elements of the ritual in gratitude for my salvation.  Maybe my problem is I usually stop there, instead of remembering that one day, I’ll be dining with Jesus Himself! 

After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.  While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.  They said…”why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”   Acts 1:9-11

Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle.  On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley…Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.  Zechariah 14:3-5

You recognize the Mount of Olives, right?  That’s where Jesus prayed in the garden, “If it’s possible, let this cup pass from me.”  Then He drank from it anyway – the cup filled with the punishment for your sin and mine, paid for by His blood.  Someday, you can thank Him in person for what He did for you.  Until then, eat and drink in remembrance.  But get ready, because He’s coming again soon.  Cue the music!

Maranatha (Revelation 22:20),

Jacob