Past, present, future
June 30th, 2024 – Communion Meditation
Today I want to focus on the mysterious and marvelous way in which the celebration of Communion invites us to more fully embrace and enter into the past, the present, and the future of our life in Christ.
Hebrews 9:11a, 12-15, 24-28 (NRSV) – “11 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come … 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God! 15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant … 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
As we consider the past, in Communion we remember and give thanks for God’s lavish gifts of creation, preservation, and redemption. Most of all, we remember and give thanks to God for Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for our salvation.
As we consider the present, in Communion we commune with the crucified and living Christ, who makes himself present with us right here, right now, in the power of the Holy Spirit, through the eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup. In Communion, we who partake of the elements are made one body, one people in Christ.
As we consider the future, in Communion we enjoy a foretaste of the great messianic banquet when Christ comes again and when God’s restoration of all things will be completed – the fullness of God’s reign of justice, freedom, and peace.
In Communion the past, present, and future all come together. In Christ, we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. All glory to God!
On the night when the Lord Jesus was betrayed, he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Let us eat together.) In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (Let us drink together.) For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
