The Lord’s Supper reminds us that we are the family of God. When we come together around the Lord’s Supper, we draw closer to each other, because we know that what God has done for all of us. We owe it to God to be a healthy family.
We know that on the night that he was betrayed into the hands of those who would kill him, “Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to his disciples.” In John’s Gospel he had already told them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” He was telling them and us, “You will find love, strength, and fulfillment in your relationship with me and with each other.” We symbolize our relationship with God and with each other by serving each other the bread. Jesus feeds us all and brings us together.
“He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” The cup of grape juice is the color of blood, which is life. It draws us into communion with Jesus who gave his life for us. We are his people. He loved us enough to give his life for us. “This is how we know what love is,” wrote John, “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for each other” (1 John 3:16).
The covenant in the blood of Jesus brings about a relationship between God and us. We fulfill the covenant from our side by accepting his love for us and loving him back by doing what he tells us to do.
This is the day after the Fourth of July. As we thank God for the freedoms we have in America, let’s commit ourselves to leading people to turn to God as we know him in Jesus, and to turn away from the false gods of pleasure, power, fame, and selfishness. The sins committed in worshiping those false gods are destroying our country. We can best serve America by being a healthy church full of people who love and obey the true and living God and lead by example.
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