August 4 New Promise

Luke 22:17-20 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
 
IN the church today, we remember Jesus’ promise here as the new testament or the new covenant of grace. As the Lord said, “do this in remembrance of me.” he established a sacred act, a sacrament. We are to do this remembrance regularly in the church through the sacrament of “Communion”, “Lord’s Supper” or “Lord’s Table”. Perhaps there are other terms.
    Different denominations also have different views of the bread and the wine (more often grape juice). We debate on how these elements represent Jesus’ body and blood. Such questions, too, as, “How often do we offer the Lord’s Supper? How do we, when do we distribute the elements?” turn our eyes from Jesus’ commitment to our own perceptions and traditions. Sadly, it seems Communion has too often become Disunion.
    Let’s then listen closely to God’s unifying will for his church: Jeremiah 31:31-34 “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”  God promised to make a new covenant. That night in an average room our Savior fulfilled the Father’s extraordinary promise.
    The church is to be a community in union with one another and with God. Remember his great, loving promise, “This is my body given for you…This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Our communion with the Holy God is not formed by how or when we do Communion. Jesus’ body broken and his blood shed shape the cross into the one pathway to the one God. Those who acknowledge his sacrifice in faith will be united in God’s eternal community.
    Keep your heart, mind and soul united with the Savior.
 
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for your eternal promise. Perfect in every way, you became the sacrificial lamb to remove my sin. I confess my sins. I confess you are my Lord and Savior. I pray I am one with you. In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.