Uncommon Things We Believe Series

#9 We Believe We Should Partake Of Lord's Supper Each Sunday
I Corinthians 11:23-26

Communion has become monthly, quarterly, and annually practiced as a memorial celebration in Christendom.  Even the day of the week has become optional to many. Our common belief in every Sunday observance, therefore, makes us uncommon.

What explains our "uncommon" practice. First, Some Clarification.

We do not consider the Lord's Supper in a sacramental way. A sacramental view would mean that the ceremony itself has a certain power to impart a blessing apart from the heart of a participant. In this view, the emblems of Communion are felt to have intrinsic power. However, the Bible teaches that the emblems offer no blessing unless the heart of a participant is right with God (1 Cor. 11:17-31).

We simply eat bread and drink grape juice when we do no partake biblically (I Cor. 11:20).

Therefore, we do not believe that the Lord's Supper actually becomes the body and blood of Christ.

Jesus used a metaphor in Matthew 26:26-28.  This is seen clearly by looking at I Corinthians 10:16-17.

Paul states that it was "bread" that was actually eaten. The "sharing" or "communion" in the body and blood of Christ had to do with the relationship of the bread and the fruit of the vine to Jesus. Jesus body and blood were thus symbolized by the bread and the cup.

Regarding the place of biblical authority in observing the Lord's Supper, we believe that inference is as effective in establishing truth as is an explicit statement.  There is no explicit command in the Bible to partake of the Lord's Supper every Sunday. In fact, there is no direct command to meet on Sunday for any thing.

Nevertheless, we commonly believe that authority for an every Sunday Communion can well be determined through inference.  

A biblical example. The Bible teaches that we are to sing praises to God as Christians (Eph. 5:19). Additionally, the Scriptures teach that silence (no explicit or implicit teaching on a given matter) does not authorize (Heb. 7:11-14).  

The New Testament is silent regarding instrumental music in Christian worship. By inference, we can, therefore, be sure that only vocal music is authorized for the worship of the church.

The Biblical Case For Having The Lord's Supper Every Sunday, And Only On Sunday.

Jesus commanded that the church partake of the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:23-26; cf. Matt. 28:20).

The church had a special assembly every first day of the week-Sunday (I Cor. 16:1-2; cf. 11:18, 20; Heb. 10:25).

This day was known as the "Lord's Day" (Rev. 1:10; Jesus arose on the first day of the week-Lk. 24:1-2).  On this special day, the church was to gather to partake of the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:17-34).

In Acts 20:7 we see Christians coming together to break the (v. 11) bread-to eat the Lord's Supper (cf. Acts 2:42 where the Greek definite article distinguishes the total assembly action that was Communion).

Paul, though in a hurry to get to Jerusalem (Acts 20:16), purposefully stayed seven days with the brethren in Troas until Sunday came (Acts 20:6), and then he departed the next day (Acts 20:11).

We thus find that Christians met on every first day of the week to eat the Lord's Supper. There is no other day associated with partaking of the Communion in the Church Age. Very appropriately, Christians meet on the day of Christ's Resurrection to remember His death.

But What About...?

A. The Bible doesn't say "Don't partake, except on Sunday."

Remember, silence does not authorize. The Bible also doesn't say "Don't have a steak dinner for Communion."

B. Wouldn't Communion be more special if we only observed it occasionally?

That is not a real issue, the real question is what does God want us to do? What about worship in general: giving, praying, singing, hearing the Word, should we only do them infrequently?

C. Is it ever a wrong time to do a good thing?

It is wrong to do something at one time if God reveals another time. Could the Jews have observed Passover at any time? I Corinthians 14:26-33 teaches that even miraculous contributions to a church service were not to be given at just any time.

Conclusion

1. There are commonly many different observance schedules people use for the Lord's Supper.

2. The uncommon way of observing every Lord's Day is nevertheless commonly seen as the New Testament way.

(Plantation is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale...just 10 minutes from Miami-Dade County, in the heart of college and pro sports country,  and 20 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean). Last modified: July 10, 2008