Northside Church - Sydney
24 Hours// That Changed the World – Week 1: The Last Supper
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well I just arrived at Adelaide Airport and my wife Bev was there to greet me at finding from Sydney. Just before we got on board the flight I'd called her to say the flight was running on time and she seemed fine, everything was cool. And then as she was walking toward me in the terminal I guess she was crying and she had a look on her face which was terribly distraught. Oh my gosh and as we kind of embraced each other I said to tell me what is wrong, what's happening? And she continued to sob she said, Graham it's your mum, she's had a massive stroke. This had happened in the time I was on the flight. My mum was already in Adelaide. We were there, it was a Friday, we were there because on the Saturday my son was getting married. And we knew that the atmosphere at that wedding was going to be a little somber because six weeks before my father had died. So as a beautiful journey with me over the years you'll remember that that was 2004, the really challenging year for the Ag News. And so that wedding went ahead. My mum, I mean half a family you know the other side they didn't know about my mum but I tell you that night was a night of mixed emotions, turbulent emotions. On the one hand we're trying to be all happy you know for the wedding and the reception, been planned for months. On the other hand we knew that just less than 15 minutes away my mother was in an emergency ward, not fighting for her life at that stage but very gravely ill. So that was the night we gave thanks to God for mobile phones because we had them real handy and we left a little early and all that but it went ahead but I'll always remember the mixed emotions. It's very hard isn't it? To maintain a smiley face if you're in a setting where that's expected but on the inside your heart is breaking. I mean sometimes people have to live life like that. That's a journey for a lot of people. It could be the journey for some of you here this morning. Emotional turbulence. Guys I can't help but think that's what Jesus was experiencing on this final night before his crucifixion, this night of instituting the last supper. I mean when he sat down with his disciples in the upper room his emotions must have been in turmoil because on the one hand the Passover was and still is today for the Jewish community a time of great rejoicing, a time of great celebration and great thanksgiving but on that particular night 2,000 years ago Jesus his heart was heavy because he knew that only hours away there would be betrayal, there would be excruciating suffering and there would ultimately be the cross. And so like I say it's not easy when you're meant to be all happy and joyful on the outside but your heart's breaking on the inside. Jesus chose to be with his disciples. That's a great point of this passage. He could have rang in sick, could have come up with some excuse, could have gone to the garden early to sort of pray and meditate and get ready for what was ahead but no no he fulfilled the commitment and as we read the scriptures is very important, very clear why he did that because on this special occasion he was about to give this time on a tradition of the Passover a whole new meaning. He was about to institute a series of actions that would become the centrepiece of the Christian church in terms of its ordinances and its traditions. The use of wine or grape juice as we use it and the use of bread. Incredibly powerful and symbolic. Now as many of us are aware there is deep symbolism in every aspect of the Passover. You don't have to be Jewish to have had a Passover meal. Maybe some of you have back in my last church over a period of years we used to have a Passover meal every Easter and it was so popular we had to, we would choose each year which congregation got to find out about it first because if the morning got to find out about it was gone, it was booked out because we could only take 120. If the night found out about it first it was gone so we used to alternate year to year as to which congregation found our first very popular and we had an expert come in here and you all about the tradition and we did the whole thing, the whole meal brings the whole thing alive as to why it's so special for the Jewish people. The meal, the meal it was of course was instituted, it's there because of the release from captivity on the part of the Israelite nation, 1200 years BC. Certain types of food are served and of course the meaning behind the selection of food is very important. Bitter herbs are served to remind the people of the bitterness of those years of slavery and the herbs are dipped in salt water to remind the people that there were lots of tears during those years of captivity. A lamb was killed, today lamb is served because a lamb had to be sacrificed on the night of the Exodus out of Egypt, it's all very very symbolic. In the first century as today the symbolic elements are intended to help those participating to remember, that's the whole purpose, just to remember these great events, to remember the great events that led to the liberation of the Israelite nation. But here's the thing, Jesus introduced a new dimension to the Passover designed to ensure that future followers would remember him, would remember his death on the cross, would remember their liberation from the power of sin. And this of course this is the evocative, the very evocative symbolism behind the bread and the wine, the bread symbolising his body, broken for us, the wine symbolising his blood that was shed for us. Today in most Christian churches around the world we do what we now know as the Lord's Supper or communion, but it's based on, this is the biblical origin of it, the Passover recorded here Matthew 26. In our churches every Sunday, that's not the case in all churches, but in our churches every Sunday for one very important reason, there's one verse, one verse tucked away in the New Testament, Acts chapter 20 verse 7, it says they met on the first day of the week for the fellowship meal. In other versions it says to break bread, and it's a clear reference to communion. And when our movement, when churches of Christ came into existence back in the early part of the 1800s in America, the timing for communion was a huge point of debate, people would get into huge arguments, you know, across the church boundaries about, you know, how often was it weekly, was it monthly, was it quarterly, you know, and our founding fathers, the Campbell said, this is crazy, this, why would you want to argue about that? So they diligently searched the scriptures, found this one verse, how many do you need, one verse, Acts chapter 20 verse 7 on the first day of the week, and so that's why in our movement we have communion on Resurrection Sunday, the first day of the week, and it's pretty much worldwide within our churches. The important question is why do we celebrate it, like why is it so special, why is it really, it has been for years, pretty much the centerpiece of our, of our services. Well, to my mind the answer is reasonably simple, and I want to share several things with you. Followers of Jesus Christ celebrate communion in response to a command, that's the first thing. Jesus said do this in memory of me, that's pretty clear. When Jesus says do something we as followers best listen to that, best observe, best take notice of that, he said do this in memory of me. So we do it also as a way to commemorate, of course, just as Jesus, or rather just as the Jewish people drew great inspiration from the Passover meal, which serves as a reminder of their release from captivity. So Christians view communion as a simple meal, but rich with meaning, rich with symbolism, designed to ensure we never forget the events of our salvation is something else. We celebrate communion as an expression of community. I mean, you think about it, communion is the great equalizer, isn't it? The communion table is the great equalizer. We take the emblems not on the basis of rank or on the basis of our standing in the church or in the community, not on the basis of their order of importance. I told the first congregation that I went to a church once in America where they took up the offering on the basis of importance. It was very scary. You had to bring your offering forward and they asked all the tithers to come forward first. Exactly. A little bit of a shift up the spine and then the half tithers and then those who were giving to some special mission and we were there as a guest and it was more or less okay than the rest of you. We were going to learn before. I can tell from the look on the minister's face which group he would prefer you to be in. First group. Well, we don't do that either with offerings or with communion. It could be a good idea with offerings, but we're not about to introduce it just yet. The thing is, look, everyone is equal. Everyone is equal at the Lord's table irrespective of wealth, position or influence or the absence of those things. Communion provides an opportunity to show the unity which can exist among a group of people. I love coming into this service every Sunday. Our three services and just look around and with my pastoral knowledge of the church to look around and just recognize the diversity of people we have in this church from different backgrounds, socioeconomic, ethnic backgrounds, different struggles, some really struggling with problems of addiction and other things. We're all one in Christ and we all gather around the table where all equal and it's a great way to express community. People often criticize the Christian church for its fragmentation. Oh, the church can't agree on anything. Well, we do agree on communion. Oh, we serve it in different ways and we go to various traditions, but essentially it's down to we're remembering Jesus through the bread and through the wine. It's a command from Jesus. It's a way to commemorate. It's an expression of community. We also celebrate as an opportunity to communicate. We're communicating something here. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 26, look at this, he says, "Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." There's an element of proclamation in communion. There's an element of communication to the world declaring that we believe in Jesus. I'm going to keep doing this until he comes again. There's probably a case for having a lot more outdoor communion. We do it in a here where, pretty much speaking to the converted, more or less, mostly. Maybe, of course, in the first century, many of the communes would have been in open air as homes became too small to accommodate the growing numbers of people going to the churches of the first century church. But the offense is one more element to communion and our reason for celebrating it as we do, and it's this. Communion defines who we are as Christians. Communion defines who we are. When Jesus met with his disciples in that upper room, those guys, as Jewish, as zealous Jewish people, they would have been very mindful of the fact that that meal, that Passover meal, that meal defined them. They belonged to a nation that had been delivered from captivity. They were a people who had been set free. Those memories defined them, defined their nation. They could look back and recognize that God had moved and set them free, and they were celebrating that in a special way. These events had shaped their destiny. In a similar way, as Christians, communion defines who we are in terms of the freedom we experience through Jesus. Because of his death, we've been set free, free from the punishment of sin, freedom from the power of sin over our lives. We can actually draw on the power of the Holy Spirit to give us victory over actions and attitudes that might otherwise drag us down. That's Christian maturity moving increasingly into that season, that era of victory. On one occasion, Jesus said, "If the sun makes you free, you'll be free indeed." Some versions say, "If the sun makes you free, you'll be really free." The SON, "If the sun makes you free." So we come to communion remembering that those events in the upper room long ago are able to shape and define us as people. Memories can do that. Memories can define people. You're aware of that. It raises a question. What memories define you? What memories define you? Which events in your life have helped to shape who you are today? You know, hardly a week goes by that in my pastoral work, I don't sit down and talk with people who look back on some very, very sad and very heavy memories. In some cases, it's a difficult childhood, an abusive parent, a failed business, a debilitating disease, a crisis of some kind, a failed marriage. And in many cases, these memories have so affected the person's thinking, so affected their whole approach to life, that it's fair to say that this event or this series of events actually defines them. They've been able to break away from the influence of these sad and very difficult moments in their lives. Whereas, and it's a big whereas, and this is the heart of the good news. The message with which we've been entrusted, this is the very scent of it, the message being conveyed in communion has the power to redefine us all. How does that grab you? The message contained in communion has the power to redefine us all. Therein lies the potency of what Jesus has done for us in living, in dying, in being raised to life. This is why the Last Supper, set in the context of the Passover, really is an event that changed the world. It's an event that changed the world. Why? Because it has the capacity to change us, you and me. It just has that level of power and potency. It has the power to give us a brand new definition of who we are, people redeemed, people restored, people reconciled to God, people saved, people forgiven by grace. This is all part of the new identity that we have in Christ, irrespective of any memory that we may have in the past. This is the brand new life that is promised in Jesus Christ. This is why we're in business. This is the core of our business. The question this morning is, have you experienced that grace? Has your life been redefined by what God can do for you through Jesus? Are you walking in freedom? Are you allowing the sun to make you free? Really free. You can this morning. During our ministry time, you can step out and say, you know, I want this for me. I want to pray that Jesus Christ will come into my life. You can do that this morning when we have our ministry time. You know, I love the prominence given to communion in Church of Christ. I really appreciate that. I'm a third generation Church of Christ person. My very first memory of communion was in the little hall that was operated by the Country Women's Association. Any members of the Country Women's Association? No, probably not. It's a bygone era. The CWA, oh, it may still exist. I don't know. But they had a little hall. They do. Wendy, thank you for that. I want to be on your team when we do those quiz nights. This was the Country Women's Association Hall in Penriff. My parents, along with a few other people, were foundation members of the Penriff Church of Christ. I was just a little boy in short pants. We would go there on a Sunday morning. Part of my job was to, along with a couple other kids, to help clean the hall up, because there was bottles everywhere and cans. Because the night before, invariably there'd been some sort of function on. Generally, a football party or an engagement party or something. So we'd clear all this stuff away. Then they'd get a little table. It was like a little piano table, really, very small. They'd put a little lace cloth on it and put the emblems on there. Look, I didn't fully understand what was going on. I'll be honest. I just a little boy. But what I did get was I got the feeling that that meant everything to my parents and to the people who gathered with them. It meant everything to them. Because they did it so carefully and so diligently. It was serious business. Now, since then, like many of you, I've had communion in all kinds of settings. I had communion once in a one room church in the Indian town of Pune. The church met in this one room and you could barely, the servers were actually stomping on feet and to get the emblems around, you know, was so tight. Like some of you, I've had communion in big cathedrals in Europe and mega churches in America. I'm a banks of the Murray River during a houseboat weekend. You think of the places you've had communion. But, you know, I think my view of communion changed forever. And my perception of what we're doing here was just strengthened. When in 2001, I went to Israel and in the ancient walled city of Jerusalem, I went to an Anglican church. And during that service, the Anglican priest took a cellus and he raised it above his head. And he said, "On the night in which he was betrayed in this city, Jesus took the cup." And like, wow, I don't expect to hear that again. In my lifetime, I may, but unlikely. Friends, these are real events. This actually happened. This is the event that can define the symbolism behind communion can define who you are and who I am in Jesus Christ. This actually happened. I'm so glad we celebrate communion as we do every week. It's a precious time. It's a time for reconnection. It's a time for reaffirmation. It's a time for all those, those c-words I mentioned earlier. Are you walking in freedom this morning? Has the sun really made you free? Let's bow in prayer, shall we?