The Lord’s Supper, as an outward sign of an inward grace.

An outward sign is something that we can see, feel, hear, smell or taste. Humans, being mortal need tangible things. Our minds more easily grasp what our senses experience.

This is why Jesus used parables about things that his audience knew about first hand. Further, knowing that we flawed humans would reach a point when even the meaning of simple parables would be uncertain and disputable, Jesus framed his most important lessons with tangible things that would not pass away as our society developed.

In that day bread was the basis of any meal. Bread represents food in general. We may someday reach a point when actual bread is no longer a significant part of our lives, but there will always be food.

In that day wine was essential to all but the most meager meal. We might outgrow the use of wine in our meals, but we will always need to drink. In this way Jesus has tied together our dependence on the physical nourishment of food and drink with our dependence on the spiritual nourishment that God calls us to participate in at his table. By equating bread with his body, he makes clear that he will die to make this nourishment available to us. “Other beings give up their life so that we can have food, nutrition and life” (Burgess, After Baptism, p123). People living in cultures where meat does not come prepackaged from a store are more keenly aware of this connection. Although we may be capable of making synthetic food, ultimately only death provides the possibility of life. If a pig had not died I could not have bacon for breakfast. If Christ had not died on the cross (given us his body and blood) we could not live in Christ today. Jesus taught this in imagery that spoke strongly to his audience of the day, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die” (John 6:48-50).

This is one of the promises that occur in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus promises us that if we partake of the spiritual nourishment that is represented by the bread and the wine (body and blood of Christ) that we will live forever. Just as our mortal bodies need food and drink in order to live our mortal lives, our spirits need nourishment and can live forever given a constant supply of that nourishment. God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the source of that nourishment. The celebration of the Eucharist calls us to be open to receive this nourishment. We may not celebrate the Eucharist everyday, but like mortal nourishment, we function best if we nourish our spirits daily. This is where the other side of the promise comes in. By participating in the sacrament we promise to be open to the food and drink God offers to us. We need to be reminded to do this. That is why we have this sacrament. That is why Jesus asked us to do this. If we eat the bread and drink the juice, but do not open ourselves to God, we break this promise even as we make it. Fortunately God never breaks his promise to us. Perhaps we will do better the next time we celebrate.

In addition to nourishing our spirits, the Eucharist can serve to bolster our faith by reminding us of the gift that God gave to us by giving his son up to crucified for our sins. If God can have so much faith in us as to sacrifice his son, then he must love us very much. We may be assured of his love and with this assurance we may be able to try a little harder to live like Jesus. We may be a little more able to trust in God, to open ourselves to him and surrender our lives to his will. Even when a person does not consciously believe something, the repetition of an act of faith does build an unconscious faith. We may become better in spite of ourselves if we keep at it and participate often.