The Lord’s Supper 05/17/2026

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Some days are for thinking
Coming to terms
With our lives
The ones given and lived
In the world as it is
With you

Help us make amends
Where it will be helpful
Help us stop doing
Those things
That call for amends
Help us imagine better solutions
Better outcomes
Better relationships
And step toward
Those visions
Help us to love our neighbor
In meaningful ways
Tangible ways
Timely ways
Help us to love our enemies
Those fearful
Those angry
Those vengeful
Those resentful
Those destructive
Who we find
In our lives
Help us to live
Our lives here
In this place
With the compassion
You lived.
With sacrifice when needed
With patience for
Ourselves and others
Always

Cause us to celebrate
To feast
Full of joy
At your
Littlest gift
In spite of ourselves
Knowing to our depths
It is your great goodness
Holding us always
Through it all
We thank you for this
Thank you
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God” Mark 14:22-25

Intro: These verses are the script for what we’re about to do

We’re going to reenact the story
– this is what Jesus meant for us to do
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26)
• in this ritual, there is the potential of a profound encounter
• he has given us something:
◦ for our eyes to see
◦ for our ears to hear
◦ for our hands to touch
◦ for our mouths to taste
◦ for our minds to contemplate
◦ for our souls to receive
– I am going to present this to you as a devotional thought
• what I mean, is something other than a Bible study tracking the literal meaning of each word
• instead, this is what I perceive happening in these few verses

Jesus took the bread in his hands and blessed it
– as he does this, the bread undergoes a transformation
• the bread becomes a thing, an “it”
“after blessing it broke it and gave it to them”
(“it” doesn’t occur in the Greek text, but it is implied)
◦ then the bread becomes a “this” – and then “my body”
• the transition from bread to the Lord’s body is the central action of the ritual
– the same transformation occurs with the cup of wine
• it becomes something else, “my blood”
• the bread and the wine are given new meaning
◦ they are now gifts – they are the gift of Jesus giving himself
◦ as we accept these gifts, a bond form between Jesus and ourselves

We know there is a variety of Christian church traditions

Different traditions refer to this ritual by three different names
– each name is drawn from 1 Corinthians 10 and 11
– and each name tells us something about our experience

1. Communion – 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
   “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread”
   • “participation” translates the Greek word koinonia
     • it means to share or have in common
     • this is the source of the word Communion
   • it speaks of the intimate bond that is formed with Jesus
     • but, as Paul points out, it refers to our bond with each other as well
   • John makes a lovely statement to this effect: “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship [koinonia] with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn. 1:3)
2. The Lord’s Supper – 1 Corinthians 11:20
   “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat”
   • Paul is scolding the church for how they ran their meetings (while some present were glutting themselves while others were near starvation)
     • so he begins by telling them that is not the Lord’s Supper
     ◦ but afterward he tells them what is the Lord’s Supper
     “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’”
     • here we are reminded of the nature of our relationship with Jesus, who is “Lord”
     ◦ that means, not only that we are devoted to do all that he taught and demands of us,
     ◦ but also that we have a Provider, Protector, and Pastor (Shepherd)
3. Eucharist – 1 Corinthians 11:24
   This is in the verses I just now read: “and when he had given thanks” (eucharistesas
   • we learn from this statement how we’re to receive the bread and cup
     • we thank God for sending his Son to make us his own
     • we thank Jesus for coming, revealing the Father to us, and for giving himself completely for us and to us, all the way to the end
     • we thank the Spirit, who meets us in the ritual, giving life to our prayers and participation, continually breathing the life of God into us

One last thought before we receive the bread and the cup

Of the four gospels Mark has the fewest chapters

He gives a condensed version in almost every story that is also told by Matthew or Luke
– Matthew and Luke provide information and more development in these stories
• I get the impression that Mark is in a hurry,
◦ as if he has to get everything written down before he forgets ot
◦ or that he’s worried he’ll die before he completes his composition
• from beginning to end, Mark frequently says “immediately,”
◦ rapidly pushing each event forward into the next
– and then, when we come to the end (of the most reliable sources of Mark’s gospel, which comes in verse 8) the whole thing looks incomplete!
• the other gospels report Jesus sightings after his resurrection
◦ Mark ends with women running from the tomb — that’s it; no mention of anyone seeing Jesus
◦ this wasn’t a mistake – the ending wasn’t cut off or lost
• let’s take a close look at what Mark has done

Throughout the story, Jesus has been forbidding people to report the miracle he worked for them
A Leper, “See that you say nothing to anyone”
Parents, “And he strictly charged them that no one should know this”
A crowd, when Jesus heal a deaf man, “And Jesus charged them to tell no one”
A blind man, whom Jesus sent home he admonished him, “Do not even enter the village”
Peter, when he identified Jesus as the Messiah, “And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him”
After his transfiguration, “And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen . . . .”
– but now, at the very end of the gospel, an angel at the empty tomb is telling the women who came there,
“But go tell his disciples” (that Jesus would meet them in Galilee) “GO TELL”
• finally! they are not only allowed to tell of the wonder of Jesus, they’re instructed to do so
◦ and what did they do?
“they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mk. 14:8)
– THE END –

Conclusion: How can this be the end?

How can Mark leave us in suspense like this?

Suppose we were to ask Mark,
“Hey, Mark, why didn’t you write the end of the story?”
Perhaps his answer would be, “Because we haven’t come to the end.
It is up to you to write the next chapter”
Or he could say, “You are the answer to that question. Will you live the life to which Jesus has called you? Will you go and tell the world about him? Will you show the world the resurrected Jesus by your integrity, compassion, and the joyful way you meet the most desperate needs of this world?”

The story goes on
That is why we need Communion–the Lord’s Supper–Eucharist
Jesus continues the story in each of our lives
So we do this in remembrance of him,
and our spirits are fed, refreshed, and renewed in him