Seven Benefits from the Lord’s Supper

“The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.”

That is the definition of the Lord’s Supper that we affirm from the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and it defines the what, how and why of what we are doing together when when we partake in the meal.

I think we get that. We get the doctrine and the mechanics of the Lord’s Supper. But how does partaking in the Lord’s Supper together actually benefit us? Or to put it another way, if we did not observe the Lord’s Supper together, what would we be missing personally?

Consider these seven things for the next time we gather to take the Lord’s Supper together. Of course this list is not exhaustive but these are the primary ways that we experience the grace of God through the Lord’s Supper.

• It is a regular opportunity for self-examination. Paul tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith; the moments leading up to taking the Lord’s Supper is a great time to do that.

• It is a regular opportunity to check our relationships in the church. Before partaking in the Lord’s Supper is a vital and appropriate time to reconcile differences with people in the church as well. That’s exactly what Paul has in mind when he tells us to “discern the body” as we eat and drink.

• It is a powerful reminder of our forgiveness. We are seeing something that represents what Jesus did for us so long ago.

• It is a reminder of the passing nature of the physical and the eternal nature of the spiritual. As we eat that bread, we remember that man does not, as Jesus said, live by bread alone. The Lord’s Supper bridges the chasm between what is temporary and reminds us of what is eternal.

• It keeps our eyes looking toward the Second Coming of Christ. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 that we are to take the Lord’s Supper until Jesus returns. What a visceral and sensory reminder that there is a day coming that we won’t chew the bread and drink the cup of the Lord’s Supper anymore; because we will be with the Lord Himself!

• It is a warning of judgment for those who don’t partake. Perhaps for pastoral reasons you’ve been advised to not partake. Or perhaps you can’t partake because of unresolved relationships in the church. What could be a glimpse of heaven becomes a hint of hell. And that is remarkably powerful.

• It is a reminder of what is at stake in our unity as a church. Unity isn’t important just because it makes life in a church more enjoyable. Unity is important because it pictures the Gospel. And nowhere is the Gospel made more visible than the body of Christ assembled and unified around the body of Christ.

• There’s probably significance we just don’t understand this side of heaven. Jesus took this meal remarkably seriously as it was one of the final acts of his earthly ministry. The apostle Paul took it seriously as well. We may very well arrive in heaven someday to discover that it is a means of grace in ways we have never comprehended here on earth.