• February 2022

    • The Lord’s Supper

      Author: Rev. Douglas McCallum

      Dear CPC family,

      I hope in the coming weeks to preach a short sermon series on the Lord’s Supper. We currently celebrate this sacrament once a month, but the elders have recently been discussing the possibility of increasing the frequency of our sacramental meals. We therefore thought it would be good to have some teaching on the subject before we make any changes.

      In this month’s letter, I won’t be looking at the theology of the Lord’s Supper (that, I hope, will come to light in my sermons). Instead, I want to consider a common practical problem that Christians encounter when they come to celebrate this particular sacrament: how do we benefit from the Lord’s Supper? I’m sure I’m not the only Christian who sometimes feels that he’s not making the most of this meal that Christ has graciously given to his church. Perhaps, like me, you also fear that sometimes you are eating the bread and drinking the wine in a rather formulaic manner. How can we avoid such formalism and truly feed upon Christ to the nourishment of our souls?

      In answer to this question, I have found the wisdom of the Larger Catechism to be an incalculable blessing. In its teaching on how to benefit from the Lord’s Supper, it asks three basic questions, which cover what Christians are to do before, during, and after the sacrament is celebrated.

      The first question asks, ‘How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it?’ Just as you would make sure that you are properly prepared for an important meeting, so we are to ensure that we prepare ourselves before meeting with our Lord in the sacrament. Indeed, how can we reasonably expect to benefit from the Lord’s Supper if we haven’t spent at least some time getting ourselves ready for it?

      The Catechism gives a number of ways in which we should prepare ourselves, but one that it highlights is ‘serious meditation.’ I know this isn’t always easy (especially if you have young children!), but the night before or maybe on the morning of the service, we should seek to set apart a good amount of time for serious and focused meditation. We should examine ourselves, repenting of our sins and seeking God’s forgiveness. But more importantly than that, we should fix our minds on the Lord Jesus and meditate upon the wonder of his sacrifice for us. If we come to the Supper having already spent time with Christ, then I believe we are more likely to experience and enjoy his presence in the sacrament itself.

      The Catechism also asks, ‘What is required of them that receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in the time of the administration of it?’ Again, much is said in response, but, as in our preparation for the meal, so in our actual partaking of the bread and wine, the focus of our hearts should be on Jesus. The Catechism talks about ‘receiving of his fulness, trusting in his merits, rejoicing in his love, giving thanks for his grace.’ Wouldn’t these be good things to think about the next time you come to the Table? Eat the bread and chew upon the one in whom the fulness of deity dwells bodily and whose body was pierced for your transgressions. Drink the wine and imbibe the blood that was poured out in fulness of love and grace for you. Thereby you will feed on your Saviour by faith.

      Finally, the Catechism asks, ‘What is the duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper?’ An important strand of biblical teaching is that the efficacy of a sacrament (or, indeed, of the preaching of the word of God) is not tied to the moment of its administration. You might not feel as if you’ve benefitted much from the Supper. That might be, says the Catechism, because of negligence in your preparation or reception of the sacrament. But that is not necessarily the case. It might just be that, despite your best efforts, you derive no present benefit. What do you do then? You ‘wait for the fruit of it in due time.’

      God has promised to bless his sacraments to his people. Much as we want to experience the grace of Christ when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we must remember that, even if we don’t, God by his Spirit nevertheless uses it to communicate his grace to us and to build us up in our faith. While there is much for us to do before, during and after the Supper if we wish to benefit from it, the most significant action at the Supper is that which is carried out by God. He is the one who spreads his feast before us. May he graciously enable us to feast upon Christ.

      With every blessing,

      Doug