World Wide Communion

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

Sunday was World Wide Communion Sunday, a day when Christians around the world celebrate the Lord's Supper together -- sort of, considering our many time zones. Still, the idea that all of us are meeting at the Lord's table together is a powerful image of the church in unity.

Now that pandemic restrictions are lifted, we passed the elements in the traditional way. No more little creamer-style cups picked up beforehand. It may seem like a small thing, but the act of serving each other the communion reinforces the sense that we are one family, gathered around one table.

We used the hymn, Here, O My Lord. This is a favourite of mine, probably because it was used for every communion service in my childhood church. Dr. Kirk included it in his study of hymns for every day of the year. Here is an excerpt from that work.

The first thing we must remember when we come to the Lord's Table is that we have come to meet with Christ and it is here we see Him "face to face". He ordained the sacrament and He presided at its first observance in the Upper Room. He also told us to continue observing the sacrament as a means of remembering Him. . . .  if we come to the Table with faith, we know that here we "touch and handle things unseen" and there we meet the Lord and receive the benefits of His passion.

There are many names by which this sacrament is known but one of the earliest given to it was "the Lord's Supper." 1 Cor. 11:26 The supper is a meal for the members of the family who can sit down and enjoy one another's company. . . .The "heavenly table" is spread for us and our Lord invites us to his "banquet."

Unfortunately, the element of joy is missing from our communion services at times. Certainly we must remember the solemnity of the occasion, the passion of our Lord and the agony of His death. but here we also celebrate His resurrection and triumph over sin and death and surely that should call forth our praise. . . .

If we offer God our praise, He offers us His grace. We come to Him in our need, with a deep sense of our sin and failure, . . . and acknowledge that we "have no help but Thine." As we kneel in contrition and confession, our Lord meets us and grants us His absolution. We come also deeply aware of the weakness of our faith and conscious of our inability to engage in the battle of life in our own strength. How can we win the victory? Not only does the Lord have the answer, He is the answer: "my strength is in Thy might, Thy might alone." How reassuring it is for us to know that we do not need "another arm but Thine to lean upon."

The apostle Paul reminds us that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is a temporary institution. After recording our Lord's words and actions at the first supper, he adds these words: "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 1 Cor. 11:26 The sacrament, then, looks back to the Cross . . . but it also looks forward to His coming again in triumph and glory, and then the sacrament will no longer be needed.... Heaven will be a place of unbroken communion with our Lord Jesus Christ. The family of our Lord will gather together for "that glad feast above." Meanwhile, here on earth His people have a foretaste of what it will be like to eat at His table. . . . Christ has died! Christ has risen! Christ will come again!