To the Ends of the Earth

When we celebrate this meal, we do so in imitation of Jesus who having given thanks for the bread/cup gave it to his disciples to eat/drink. This is why it is our custom to have the elders serve one another and then distribute the elements to the rest of the congregation. With the wine, we offer the common cup and we also have the little cups available to those who prefer, but the idea is meant to be the same: we are one loaf and one cup. We are one body in Christ, and his blood flows through us. This is why we serve one another. Just as in a body, the different parts need each other; we confess and display that here. So the elder or deacon or other assistant may hand the bread or the wine to each row, but then maybe your wife hands you the bread or your son or daughter passes the wine to you. Maybe a member of another family passes you the tray of cups. This is as it should be. We are one body, one family made up of many parts held together and empowered to work together and serve one another through the working of the Holy Spirit. But our celebration here also pictures the promise of the gospel. The blessings of the new covenant are pictured in Ezekiel as water pouring out over the threshold of the temple, and as the prophet follows the flowing water it becomes ankle deep and then up to his waist and then it is too deep to wade through and it flows out and purifies the seas. This is what the gospel has been doing for the last two thousand years. And we are a witness of that fact sitting as we are on the other side of the world and two thousand years from that first upper room in Jerusalem. We are that body with the blood of Christ coursing through our veins; we are that river of blessing and forgiveness flowing out from the cross to the ends of the earth. You are God’s forgiven people, you are in the blood, you are his family. Come and rejoice.