(1) Worshipping God (19th October 2008)
(2) Do we need churches? (2nd November 2008)
(3) When shall we meet? (9th November 2008)
(4) Preparing for worship (23rd November 2008)
(5) A living temple not a stone one (30th November 2008)
(6) Deciding who does what (7th December 2008)
(7) Talking to God (11th January 2009)
(8) Listening to God (25th January 2009)
(9) Preaching (15th February 2009)
(10) God-centred singing (22nd February 2009)
(11) "It is more blessed to give" (1st March 2009)
(12) Jesus' meal (8th March 2009)
Ever since the time of the Lord Jesus, Christians have gathered together in meetings. For some Christians, this has not been possible due to persecution, ill-health or other circumstances. But generally Christians have always gathered. However, many questions arise concerning our gatherings such as: “what are they for?”; “when should they occur?”; “who should do what?” and so forth. Christians have offered various answers to those questions and in this new series of sermons, we're going to look at all those questions and try to discover what we understand to be the right answers. Now two principles should underlie our search for answers. Firstly, we need to understand the main purpose of our meetings and that is: to worship God. Secondly, we need to understand what guides us in our worship and that is: Jesus through his Word. Thinking about worshipping God, we need to consider firstly that we have been made for relationships of love – with others, and with God. God himself has always known love, for God is three in one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who have always loved one another completely. We were made in the image of God, like little echoes of him, and therefore we are made to love. And that includes loving God, for since Adam God has always come and entered into relationships with people. However, this has never been a relationship of equals for God is the creator and we are only the creatures. So our love for God must always include honouring, trusting and obeying him in recognition of who he is. Furthermore, our love for God should be total. As Jesus says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mk 12:30). We are to put God first in every way, in every part of our lives. We constantly want him to be recognised, through our lives, as the great creator and giver of life. When we do this, we are worshipping God. As Paul says in Romans 12:1, Christians give their whole lives in worship to God. However, although we worship God throughout our lives, it's also good to have particular times when we give our full concentration to worship and that's what our meetings are for. They are the high points in our week, when the worship of God in daily life can become more intense because other things are laid to one side. But how do we know what to do in our gatherings? Well in John 4 Jesus says that God desires people who worship “in Spirit and in truth”. Our approach to God is through the Lord Jesus because he alone can bring us to the God who is spirit. Christian worship is Christ-centred. We learn about him, and from him; we believe, trust and follow him. He is the truth about God and through him we come to our Father in heaven. In practice this means that we are to discover what pleases God – and therefore how to worship him in our gatherings – by studying the Bible in the light of the coming of Jesus.
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Human beings were made to relate to God; indeed to love God totally (Mk 12:30). Christians seek, therefore, in every part of life to bring glory to God (1 Cor 10:31); offering all that they are in worship to God (Rom 12:1). However, whilst we seek to worship God throughout our lives, we also need times of special concentration upon God. Just as in a marriage, a husband will show his love for his wife in many different ways – how he spends his money, chooses his job – but included in those ways will be special times of intimacy, when he gives his wife his full attention; Christians need the same with their God. But is it enough for a Christian to do this privately, in his own home? Or does God want us to gather with other Christians? In other words: is church necessary or just an optional extra? Well, the New Testament is clear that the normal Christian life is one which is lived as a part of a church which meets together. But this sermon couldn't look at all the Bible says about this, so it concentrated upon one line of thought, beginning with Jesus' prayer in John 17:23. There Jesus prays for visible unity to be displayed by Christians, which imitates the unity found between himself and his Father. Now that unity will be lived out in many ways between Christians as they show love for one another. But for it to be visible in the way Jesus prays, it must include those times of public gathering to worship God. Why is this so important to Jesus that he prays for it? Well because the public unity of Christians displays truth about God. Firstly, it shows that Jesus has overcome sin and re-established love between God and us, and between ourselves too. Throughout history the Christian church has shown that people who don't mix together and maybe hate one another – like Jews and Gentiles, slaves and masters – can be brought together once they have come to faith in Christ. But greater still is that such love between people is then an echo of the love which God himself enjoys within the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit loving one another completely. By being that echo of God, Christian gatherings display truth about what God is like. So how, then, should all this be implemented? Firstly, those who are committed to Jesus need to be identified and Jesus has given baptism as the public sign of this: all true Christians should be baptised. Secondly, Christians should clearly be a part of a local Bible-loving church (in many churches like our own this is described as “becoming a member”). Thirdly, church should have public meetings so that visitors can see what Jesus has done for his people. Fourthly, Christians must be careful to gather for worship with an attitude of unity and reconciliation,lest they provoke God to anger (Mt 5:21-26)
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God matters more than anything else in the world and Christians are to live their lives showing that – a life of worship to God (Rom 12:1). Part of doing this is to gather with other Christians when we can give our full concentration to God as a united people. But how much time should be given to gathering together? Well the Bible does not explicitly tell us, but this sermon presented four points which guide a church in making that decision. Firstly, Genesis 1 shows us God himself working in a 7-day weekly pattern: 6 days creative work; 1 day resting. As image-bearers of God, people function best if they follow the same pattern in their lifestyle. That's why God implemented this pattern in the fourth commandment that he gave to the Israelites (Ex 20:8). God also told them to use the day for “sacred assembly” (Lev 23:3) – time to gather to worship Him. The first Christians then continued with this pattern of life, except that they gathered for worship on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) ie Sunday. In this way they didn't impose Jewish lifestyle on Gentile converts to Christ and left the Jewish Christians free still to gather on Saturdays at the Synagogue. Sunday was also appropriate because it was the day the Lord Jesus rose from the grave, bringing eternal life. So Christians today still seek to meet every week on Sunday. Secondly, our gatherings should be orderly in reflection of God's way of behaving (1 Cor 14:33). Therefore we need to know when our meetings will begin, so that all the believers can be gathered and ready. The simplest way to do this in our culture is to have a definite starting time. This should be set at a time which best helps as many church members as possible, to get together in an orderly and peaceful way. And once set, the believers in a church should commit themselves to being there on time, if they are able. But how long should a meeting then last and should there be more than one meeting in the weekly life of a church? Well, this was our third point. The Bible does not specify meeting lengths or frequency but it does give various principles to guide us, two of them being these: we need to be generously thankful towards God (Luke 7); and we need to do all the things which God wants us to do. So in deciding its meeting arrangements a church takes these into account and seeks to decide how best we can worship God together in a united way. However, as was said in the fourth point, in all of these plans we are to remember God's mercy. Jesus rebuked Pharisees who had turned the Sabbath into a day of rules without mercy (Luke 6). Our Lord's days should be marked by mercy: God's mercy to us, and attitudes of mercy between us (including those who cannot be present).
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Down through Church history preachers have encouraged believers to prepare for gathered worship and much can be said on the subject. But in this sermon we looked at just four points. Firstly, we prepare for worship by remembering how pleased God is when Christians come together for Him. More than that we remember that blessing comes to gathered Christians because Christ is with us, as seen in Matthew 18 where Jesus talks about his direct involvement with believers acting together. The gathering of the church is therefore central to a Christian's life and we prepare for worship by reminding ourselves of that fact during the week. We are to say to ourselves that although we will not see him visibly, Christ will be with us. Secondly, we prepare for worship by praying. The Bible makes plain that Christians are praying people (eg 1 Thess 5:17) and if we do not talk with God then that will deaden our relationship with him, making gathered worship seem empty. However, prayer can be hard so we need to work at it. It's good to plan for times of prayer and also to use our free time to pray. In prayer we should pray about all sorts of things. To do this we can pray over things we read in the Bible, as well as all the different aspects of our lives. But especially we should pray for the church meetings themselves. Thirdly, we prepare for worship by examining our hearts. Jesus spoke some harsh criticisms against people who claimed to be worshipping God but in fact were distant from Him (Mk 7:6). Pastors of churches are in this danger when they are obsessed with their job rather than their Lord. But it's not just pastors, all Christians can fall into a situation where their heart is not in the worship that they are claiming to offer. Now this is not just saying that they “feel cold” about worship – that can happen for many reasons. Rather this is about being casual towards meeting together and therefore allowing other things to intrude upon the worship being offered (such as gossip beforehand, or tiredness, or thoughts of other things.) Christians should not be casual about meeting to worship God. And in particular we should deal with our sins. Jesus solemnly warns against trying to worship God when division exists between believers (Mt 5:21). God hates all that spoils his people and so we are to repent and sort out sins, and our relationships, in preparation for worshipping Him. Our hearts are truly to be in our worship of God. Finally, we prepare for worship by looking forward to the return of the Lord Jesus. Christians live now in the light of real hope for the future (Rom 13:11) and we are to have an expectant joyful longing for the return of Christ. To do this we need to stir up our thoughts about what Jesus' return will bring: looking at the promises in the Bible. That should help to increase our desire to be with Jesus when he meets with his people in worship. Of course, often we'll be unprepared for worship and still find God to be merciful in blessing us. But as far as we can, we should prepare for worship.
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Worship at Israel's temple was an experience which affected all of your senses in very powerful ways. So should Christians today look to reproduce something similar in our gatherings for worship? What practical arrangements should we make for our services? Well, we can begin to consider this question by seeing that in 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul speaks of the church – the gathering of Christians – as God's temple today. He speaks of the church as a place where God lives by his Holy Spirit. He writes that therefore God will react with great anger against anyone who pulls the church apart, as some in Corinth were doing. So God has pulled down the older Jerusalem temple of non-living stones (it was destroyed in 70AD) to put up a better one built from living stones – those who have repented of their sins and believed in the Lord Jesus as their saviour. This means that whenever somebody comes into a gathering of Christians, they are entering a holy place. As Paul says later, an unbeliever ought to find himself saying of Christians, “God is really among you!” (1 Cor 14:25). This fact, by itself, should cause us to place a high value upon Christian gatherings. However, it also guides us with regard to practical matters of meeting together. For example, recognising that God is living amongst his people shows us that there are no holy locations any more. In Old Testament days God had to separate himself from those who worshipped him and therefore he had the Most Holy Place in the temple, where only the High Priest went and that once a year. But Christians have been cleansed from all sin and therefore can be close to God without drawing his anger (Heb 10:19). So holy locations are no longer necessary; rather, as Jesus said, true worship can be offered wherever people gather who have God's Holy Spirit and the truth (Jn 4:21). Secondly, as well as there being no holy locations, there are no holy buildings. Christians do not need to worship in a consecrated building with special symbols on the walls. We only need a building which is suitable for the living temple to gather inside. A specially designed building (what many call a “church”) may be helpful because it can be developed especially for worship and indeed other Christian activities. However, it is not necessary and the early Christians met together in a variety of places. Then thirdly, there is no need for holy objects like statues or altars. The only things which need to be present are those which help Christians in their worship – tables, lectern, etc. Could that include symbolic objects and pictures? Possibly, so long as the second commandment is kept in mind: nothing should be regarded as representing God to his people. But what about Christians themselves? How should they dress? The basic Christian concern should be to have visible a character worthy of God (1 Pet 3:3). In terms of our clothes, we should dress to glorify God but not to draw attention to ourselves. We always remember that our attention is to be upon the God whom we worship.
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Once a group of Christians have gathered together to worship the Lord who then does what? Which people stand up and take a public role? This sermon looked at three principles which help us with this matter. Principle one is that all Christians in a church are contributing to worship simply by being present. We previously saw that Jesus prayed (Jn 17:20-) for the loving unity of his people because that testifies to who Jesus is (see also Jn 13:35) and reflects the life of the Holy Trinity. So each Christian who meets with other believers in peacefulness and love is bringing praise to the Lord. We are to keep in mind that attending worship is not like attending a show – there are no performers and audience; all believers present are taking part in the worship of God. As we saw in the last sermon, the Christians in a church together make up a temple of living stones and therefore every stone has its place when we gather. All of this means that it's not just the vocal and visible people who are contributing to worship when a church gathers – it's every believer. Then, principle two is that when Christians gather, we need somebody to lead on behalf of us all. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:40 that worship should be orderly not chaotic. To achieve this we need somebody to take a lead. But the one who leads only does so to help all present to worship God together. Neither the leader, nor the congregation, are to slip into thinking that the one leading is putting on a show for everyone else – he isn't. Connected with this we're not to think of preaching as something separate from worship – it is simply a part of it. Christians meet to do things together which bring praise to God and that includes the sermon – whether we're the preacher or a listener. Finally the third principle we considered was: “who should lead?” and we thought about this in a general way (further details will be discussed in coming sermons) using four points. Firstly, anyone leading worship should be a professing Christian because worship is about united Christians praising their Lord. However gifted an unbeliever may be, it's not appropriate for them to lead Christians in worship until they've turned to the Lord themselves. Secondly, anyone leading worship should belong to a particular local church. This shows their unity with Christian brothers and sisters, and means that they can be properly held to account for what they do. Thirdly, anyone leading worship should have the ability, given by God, to do that. Romans 12:4 tells us that Christians in a church have different gifts from the Lord and that we're to use them appropriately. There's no “promotion” in a church; there's no place for pride or jealousy. We simply have different gifts and only those gifted for leadership in worship should exercise it. Fourthly, the elders in a church have overall responsibility for the worship. Ephesians 4:11 says overseers have to prepare God's people to serve the Lord. So the elders will either lead worship themselves or identify those who should lead.
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When Christians pray, they are simply talking to God. God loves talk. It's one of the first things he does in the Bible (Gen 1); within the Trinity there is conversation (see the gospels); and God speaks to us through his Son (Heb 1:2) Since God loves talk, he made us – his image-bearers – to talk and he expects us to talk to one another and to him. So all Christians should pray and this is easily seen in the New Testament, which is flooded with people praying along with examples of prayers and teaching about prayer. Much of this prayer will be private, as recommended by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 6:6. But, as we see in the Bible, Christians also pray together. It should be a natural desire for Christians to speak with their heavenly father when they are together, whether in a church service or other places such as one another's homes. But how should we go about praying in a church service? Firstly, it should be in an orderly way so that all the others who are present can understand (1 Cor 14:16); so one person should pray out loud at a time. In doing this the elders should play their proper role of leading, guiding and teaching the church by undertaking regular public prayer. However, Paul also calls upon all Christian men to play a part in public prayer (1 Tim 2:8) and elsewhere makes it clear that, indeed, all Christians – men and women – may contribute to public prayer (1 Corinthians 11). But what should the person leading say to God? In one sense, anything. However, they should be aware that others need to be able to say “amen” to the prayer so it should reflect things the group as a whole knows about. And each prayer should also have God's concerns and viewpoints in mind. One of the easiest ways to do this is to turn our Bible reading (whether in private or at church) into prayer, taking the things we read and praying them back to God. Especially we can do this by using the many examples of praying which God has given us in the Bible as the basis for our own prayers. But what about practical aspects of praying? Well in terms of our voice, we should speak naturally as ourselves. There is no need to put on a special voice or use special words to pray. We should pray with respect and love, using Biblical ideas. We should also speak loudly in case some are hard of hearing. But the prayer should come from the heart and sound like us, not someone else. And if that means it includes emotion then that is fine, since Jesus himself “offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears” (Heb 5:7) Then with regard to posture, the Bible describes people praying in all sorts of positions: sitting, standing, hands up and so on. We should adopt a posture which reflects our attitude to God and which helps us to pray without distractions for us or others. In terms of length – we should pray for long enough to say what is needed to honour God and help our fellow Christians to pray with us. And when listening to others pray, we should concentrate and seek to make the prayer our own.
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Christians believe the Bible to be a book written by God. We do so because we follow Jesus and he held this high view. In his time the Bible was only the Old Testament and Jesus showed that he regarded it as God's word. He: described it as God speaking (Mt 19); quoted it with authority (Lk 4); said that it all mattered (Mt 5); said it prophesied about him (Lk 24). However, Jesus also added his own teaching to the Old Testament; his words were new words from God (Hb 1:2). He did this by instructing his 12 apostles – firstly when he was with them and then, after he'd left, by the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26) Then he told his apostles to pass his teaching on (Mt 28). This process began at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit enabled Christians to start speaking about Jesus (Ac 2). However, the remarkable thing was that they did so not just in the local language but in different languages from around the world – a sign that Jesus would send his teaching everywhere. This miraculous process continued for many years in the first churches. Through the apostles, and other prophets too, sometimes in foreign languages, Jesus taught his people all the truth he wanted them to know. But slowly that process died away as this truth was established and all that was now needed was to teach it clearly and hand it on to future generations; the apostles and prophets had done their job and laid a foundation for the church (Eph 2:20). However, Jesus' teachings weren't only passed on verbally but were also available in writing: 22 letters and 5 special books; so these were collected together and made available to all the churches. And these writings – the 'New Testament' – together with the Old Testament, make up our complete Bible. In the light of all this we can see a number of lessons. Firstly, it is vital for Christians to hear, read and learn the Bible's words because they are from God. Privately we need to do this, but also in our public meetings - the Bible was written to be read out loud and we're encouraged to do so (1 Ti 4:13). Which parts should we read in public? Well it's certainly good to read the passages which are related to the sermon and also passages which help with praying. But some churches also systematically read their way through the Bible using a reading plan or a lectionary, both of which can be a helpful. How long should the readings be? They should be long enough to understand, which means the length will vary according to the type of book – poetry, law, etc. Who should read? Often it will be the preacher (1 Ti 4:13). However, in the early church people of every sort (Ac 2:17) were prophesying so it is right to have others reading the Bible too. But whoever reads, they should do so appropriately for the type of book and not flatten it into a monotone. Of course we have to read a translation of the Bible's original languages, which is never a perfect science, but the early church's multiple languages shows it's right to do this. Christians must take Bible reading seriously for blessing is to be found in doing this (Rev 1:3).
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In a Sunday worship service someone will preach: speak to the group from the Bible. This sermon set down a few principles for preaching, although they were limited because the topic is large. We started with “why preach?” Basic answer: we have preaching because the Bible encourages it; giving examples and commands to do this (2 Tim 4:2). There are two basic purposes in the preaching which occurs in Christian worship (preaching has other contexts and purposes too, not covered here). Firstly, to talk about God so that Christians can centre their attention upon Him and praise Him. Secondly, to teach about God because Christians are to grow in their understanding, so that they think and live differently (Heb 5:11). Given these purposes the content of preaching must be Bible-based. Sometimes that might mean a topical sermon based upon Bible ideas. More often it should mean a sermon which flows out from a particular section of the Bible, so that it is shaped by the way God wrote the Bible. Who should preach? The Lord Jesus established the principle of male leadership for his church and so those who undertake the public preaching should be men (1 Tim 2:11). However, although God has chosen men for this leadership role, the Bible describes women contributing in many other speaking ways such praying or reading the Bible. Furthermore, the men who preach should only be those who have the necessary ability to do so (Rom 12:6) and one of the church's duties is to help a man to identify whether he does, or doesn't, currently have that ability. Also all preaching should either be undertaken by the church elders or with their approval since they are charged with protecting the church from false teaching (Acts 20:27). In what way should a preacher speak? Firstly, as himself because a preacher is one with the people to whom he's speaking and is not simply engaged in a public speaking contest. Secondly, according to the subject so that he reflects the Bible's rich variety and doesn't flatten it into all sounding the same. Thirdly, according to his situation so that he's speaking appropriately for the people who are actually listening to him. In style the preaching will often be authoritative speaking with no interaction, as used by Jesus, Paul and others, because this gives time for decent explanation and application. However, this doesn't disallow other times which include questions or discussion. How long should a sermon be? That really depends on the abilities of the preacher and those listening to him, and may vary at different times in the life of a church. Finally, how should we listen to preaching? If we are struggling to listen we must pray and then ask why. If the preacher is at fault then speak to him. But we must also examine ourselves for factors which hinder us and which need dealing with. Positively, whilst listening we ask ourselves “what can I praise God for?” and “what have I learned?”; we find ways to aid concentration; we pray for God's Holy Spirit to help us all (1 Cor 2:4)
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In the middle of the Bible is a songbook written by God: the book of Psalms. It's clear from this and from elsewhere in the Bible that God loves singing, and that's not just in general but also specifically when believers are meeting together (eg 1 Cor 14:26). There are at least two objectives in believers singing together. Firstly, in order to praise God (Eph 5:19). This means we sing about why God is worthy of our love, admiration & adoration. Praise is the telling out of the greatness of a person (Ps 9:1). Singing is a powerful and moving way of praising God. But then secondly we sing in order to learn about God (Col 3:16). Songs have an amazing ability to stay in our minds and this is to be used by Christians to help us hold onto Biblical teaching. However, if our singing is to tell out about God's praiseworthy characteristics and in order to learn about God, then one thing is clear: our songs must have rich content. A Christian should know after singing that he has not just expressed emotions but has actually sung certain things about God: to God's praise and for the believer's learning. In order to achieve this our songs should be based upon the Bible's teaching, including quoting the Bible and using its imagery. This also means that, like the Bible, we should sing songs which cover a wide variety of topics. It further means that we should sing songs which stretch our minds at times. Some things the Bible teaches take time to appreciate and understand; we should expect, therefore, some of our hymns and songs to be the same. However, although singing is good we must not overplay its role in worship. In our society music and singing have a high profile; in the New Testament they are barely mentioned. This indicates that we must be careful not to raise up the place of music in a worship simply because our society treats it this way; we must reflect the Bible's balance. Related to this we must not think of our singing as an end in itself. Our singing is not our worship; our singing simply helps us to worship – that's to say it helps us to give our attention to God. Also our singing should not be about giving a performance but rather our singing is a servant to help us give love to God. Keeping this in mind helps us to judge which instruments and tunes to use. The New Testament does not discuss musical instruments at all. This points us towards the fact that what matters are the voices. Therefore, the musical accompaniment should help us with our singing and not draw attention to itself, becoming a hindrance to our worship. Who should sing in worship? Normally the whole church together since this expresses the unity created amongst us by the Spirit (Eph 5:18). What should we sing? All sorts of Christian song including the Psalms of the Bible (Eph 5:19) We are to sing a variety of material, including songs from other lands and other centuries of Christian history, as well as our own. Ultimately we want more God-centredness in our singing that it would be a real experience of the Trinity (Eph 5:18-20)
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We begin the subject of Christian giving by remembering that Christians are the children of a heavenly Father who will provide for them in every way, forever (Mt 7:11; Jn 14:2). However, this should never excuse laziness since the Bible also teaches that all who can earn a wage should do so in order to provide for themselves and their dependants (1 Th 4:11; Ac 20:34). Furthermore, Christians must watch out for coveting (Ex 20:17) which Jesus warns us about (Lk 12:15). The love of money can easily take control of us so that we look to money for our security. A Christian can lose anything – including life – and still know that he has everything. How can we protect ourselves from coveting? By regularly giving to others, remembering Jesus' words “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Ac 20:35). We must firstly pay our own bills, but once we get into choices and luxuries – and it's right to enjoy the good things God has made – we must also look for opportunities to give, and in so doing seek to be content with whatever lifestyle we have (Phil 4:12). Now in giving, we start with the principle of giving more than just money; we must be prepared to give of ourselves (2 Co 8:9). Of course to do this may cost us money, for example if we miss out on overtime or a promotion to have more time for others. But to whom should we give? To those in need – whether financial or other kinds of needs. We start with family responsibilities (1 Ti 5:4) including those in our local church which is our family under God (Ja 2:15). We are also to look for those needy people we can see nearby, as the Good Samaritan did (Lk 10), who need our help – remembering that Jesus told us to love our neighbours and even our enemies. But beyond that there is also a place for giving to those further afield, such as needy people affected by disasters and troubles elsewhere in the world. Especially we have a responsibility to help needy believers far away, as we see done in the New Testament when Paul transfers gifts around. However, we must always remember to help in a wise way which will not lead to any temptations to covet. And our giving should be marked by a generosity which is felt within our lives (Mk 12:44) and with an attitude of joy seeking the blessing Christ speaks about rather than any feelings of resentment (2 Co 9:7). But should churches collect money or is it only for individuals? Well Paul certainly encouraged church collections for the poor and needy (1 Co 16:2) and in Acts we see the early church distributing help to those in need.(Ac 2:35). A church also has bills to pay and should seek to do so honourably and on time, particularly to those who are working full-time on behalf of the church (1 Co 9). So giving to the church should be for these purposes: helping the needy and paying the church's bills. It's not clear from the Bible whether this should be during a service of worship; each church must make it's own decision about that. But what every Christian and church must do is have the same attitude as the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Co 8:9).
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Reading the New Testament it soon becomes clear that Jesus and his followers liked to eat with one another, and indeed with others too. These shared meals were a reflection of the loving unity which existed between them (Acts 2:44-). This was especially true when Gentiles were converted and would dine with their Jewish brothers – something mostly unheard of, given the strict Jewish laws about “cleanness”. Indeed this development in Christian churches caused tension which had to be resolved (Acts 15; Gal 2). However, the Christians did not only eat everyday meals together but one special meal which had been given to them by Jesus himself (1 Cor 11:23). A meal which we know as “the Lord's Supper”. This meal is full of symbolism which Jesus taught to his disciples on the night before he died. That evening Jesus made careful plans for a secret (and so undisturbed) passover meal with his disciples (Lk 22). The passover meal was kept annually (and still is) by the Jews to remember God's rescue of them from Egypt, at the time of Moses. Pharaoh and his people were punished by God for their cruel and stubborn refusal to release the Israelites from slavery. These punishments ended up with Passover night when many Egyptians died (Ex 12). However, many Israelites would have died too if God had not provided a sacrifice to protect them. At God's direction each family killed a specially chosen lamb, ate its meat and marked their doorposts with its blood. This special meal was then later celebrated annually by the Israelites in remembrance of God's mercy. At his secret Passover meal, however, Jesus changed things and gave his disciples a new, and better, meal to celebrate from then on. He did this firstly by turning attention away from the lamb's death to his own, using bread symbolically to represent his body (Lk 22:19). In doing so Jesus was teaching his disciples about how through his death they were going to be rescued from God's punishment, but in a much more wonderful way than at the Passover. They were going to be rescued from God's punishment of sin forever, through the death of Jesus. But Jesus didn't stop with the bread, he then handed round some wine, describing it symbolically as his blood and telling his disciples to drink of it (Lk 22:20). At the Passover the lamb's blood on the doorpost showed that a life had been given up to allow others to live. Jesus was teaching his disciples that the pouring out of his life, would do the same for them except in a much bigger way. The Passover lamb only gave life for one night; Jesus' death would give eternal life to all who trusted in him. So by changing the Passover meal into something new, Jesus preached to his disciples the wonderful saving purpose of his death which would establish a new covenant (agreement) between God and His chosen people which would last forever (Lk 22:20). However, the Bible's teaching about the Lord's Supper does not stop there. It also speaks of how the Lord's Supper encourages Christians humbly to love one another by imitating the self-giving love Christ has shown to them in his death. Jesus spoke of this just after his secret meal, telling his disciples not to try and lord it over others but to serve others (Lk 22:25), which is just how Jesus behaved. A similar point comes through in Paul's letter to the Corinthians when he warns them that their greedy, selfish attitudes are a despising of the Lord's Supper and are bringing God's judgement on them (1 Cor 11:17-34). In the light of this Christians must take great care when coming to eat the bread and drink the wine.
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