Luke 22:19: And Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ?This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.?E
In this morning?s sermon, we considered how the liturgical changes that we have made are rooted in Scripture. Scripture must always be the standard of liturgical form and content. We are to worship God in the way that He instructs, and that instruction is found in the Bible.
That is the principle we have followed in performing the Lord?s Supper. Scripture teaches that Jesus did certain things at the last Supper, and that He instructed His disciples to ?do this as My memorial.?EThat is what we are striving to do: Jesus took bread, and told us to ?do this?E therefore, I take bread. Jesus gave thanks, therefore I give thanks. Jesus didn?t pray a prayer of ?consecration?Ebut a prayer of thanks, so that?s what we do. Jesus broke the bread; therefore I bread the bread. And so on.
Why is this important? Why should we be concerned at all about the details of the rite of the Supper? Why not just break the bread without a prayer? Why not dip the bread in a cup of wine so that we get both together? Why can?t we have the wine first, and then the bread? Frankly, I can?t explain the importance of each of these details, just as I imagine that no priest could fully explain the importance of the specific actions of a sacrificial rite. There are reasons, but the reasons are less importance than the obedience. Jesus didn?t say, ?Understand this?Ebut ?Do this.?E
Scripture teaches that the seriousness of sins varies according to circumstances: Who sins? Where has the sin taken place? The greatest sins are those committed directly before God?s face, in worship. Here especially we have to be careful that we are doing what God have instructed us to do.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
