Hi, this is the Him We Proclaim podcast, The Messages of John Fawnville. you're listening to season five called Two Keys to Spiritual Growth. Here's John with message number seven, called What's in a Name? Let me give you some Shakespeare, okay? Don't hold this against me.
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Sign me up for London, right? It's not gonna happen. That is one of the most famous lines in Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet.
Juliet is speaking to Romeo. and telling him that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention. And that she loves the person who is called Montague. She doesn't love the Montague name nor the Montague family. But of course, we know how this play ends up, right?
There's a tragic ending and it doesn't work out so well, so perhaps names did mean something.
So, this famous line in Shakespeare's play is often used to imply that the names of things do not affect. What they really are. The names of things do not affect what they really are.
So, my question is: is this true? Are names an artificial and meaningless convention?
So how important and influential, how significant are names? For example, let me give you some examples. A person's name is often the first thing that you learn about the person, right? And sometimes based on their names, we form judgments very quickly about those persons, whether it be right or wrong. That's what happens.
Hollywood names. We have these Hollywood trend names for kids. W and I was talking to Catherine about them the other day and they're They're quite interesting. And so we form judgments rather quickly about some of these names that we hear from Hollywood. But I was reading this past week an article in The New Yorker.
And this article in New Yorker this past week was entitled, Why Your Name Matters. It's very interesting, and the article begins by citing a 1948 study of two professors at Harvard University. And they published their research of 3,300 men who had just recently graduated from college. And they were looking at what their names had any, if their names had any bearing on their academic performance.
Now, you might be thinking, what a waste of research and money and time. And I was thinking the same thing, but I kept reading the article. And amazingly, these researchers found that men with unusual names were more likely to have flunked out of college. And they found that they were more likely to exhibit symptoms of psychological neurosis more than those who just had common names like Mike. It's very interesting.
Then they said this, they said, a really rare name. Has a negative psychological effect on the person who's called by that rare name. Then the article is skipped from 1948, it skipped to the recent 21st century. And it cited more recent studies which suggest that listen names can influence a choice of a person's profession. where a person lives who they marry.
The grades that they make in school. The stocks that they invest in and whether they're accepted to a school or hired for a particular job, and the quality of the work in a group setting, all based on their name. It was very interesting.
So perhaps Juliet, when she was speaking to Romeo her lover, right, she wasn't correct that a name is just this artificial and meaningless convention. The fact is, is that we as people We identify very strongly with our names and that they're an important part of the baggage, good or bad, that we associate with ourselves or whether we associate with other people.
Now the same is true of the names when it comes to the special meal that the Lord instituted on the night before his crucifixion. The fact is, is that all of us in this room identify very strongly with the names that we use for the table of the Lord. which is a name in and of itself. These names that we use or that we don't use are part of our ecclesiastical baggage, a part of the traditions that we have grown up in. And so, whether good or bad, we associate something with the Lord's table based upon the name that we use or here.
Certain ecclesiastical traditions that are not familiar to average evangelicals often have a negative effect on evangelicals. Let me give you an example. When evangelicals hear the names Holy Communion, Which is on our website, right? Or they hear this. Holy Eucharist.
There's almost an immediate recoil or a hesitation, or there's a caution, there's a yellow flag, there's a question mark, there might be a bias. And regrettably, these names can carry negative associations that in the minds of many, oh, that's Roman Catholic. I can't tell you how many times people have come to our church. And after church is over, out in the lobby, and good morning, good to see you. Thanks for coming.
By the way, is your church Roman Catholic? No Ha ha ha ha ha. That's a different universe. But it's these negative associations are unfortunate, and they're certainly nowhere close to the truth. Biblically speaking, There are three common names in scripture used for this sacrament.
The three names are this, the Lord's Supper. Communion and Eucharist. And what I want to do this morning is I want to show you that all three names are theologically and pastorally meaningful and significant to you. And I want to make the argument that we should use all three names, all three designations, so that we can have a fuller understanding. Of what this sacrament, of what the table of the Lord is.
And also, so that we can more fully and effectively communicate the richness. that is happening in this sacrament when we observe it in church.
Alright, so let's look at the first name. We're going to look at the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper. In evangelical church traditions, the Lord's Supper is the most common name. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 21, listen to the Apostle Paul.
He refers to this sacrament as, quote, the table of the Lord.
So he's saying with this designation that this table, this sacrament, this is his table, this is his table, this is the Lord's table. This isn't the church's table. This is not your table. This is not your individual quiet time with Jesus' table. This is the Lord's table.
In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 20, Paul says to the Corinthian believers, listen, when you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. This meal is the Lord's Supper. It is his meal. He came up with the menu, and he is the one who serves it. Jesus is the host, and Jesus is the servant.
He is the waiter. This is his meal. This is his table. This is his menu. In Luke chapter 22, verse 27, Jesus just had previously instituted the Lord's Supper.
And he's speaking to his prideful, glory-seeking disciples who are arguing amongst themselves who gets to be the greatest in the kingdom. You think they needed this table? And listen to what he says to them. He says, I am among you as the one who serves. How often do you think of Jesus as the one who serves you?
Jesus, his entire mission was comprised of a life of service, service, saving others. Matthew 20, verse 28, Jesus says that His divine service. His saving mission. Was the essence of his purpose in coming to earth? The Son of Man did not come to be served.
But to serve. and to give his life as a ransom for many. When we confess the purpose of Jesus' coming to us, for us in the Nicene Creed, which we'll do in just a few minutes. Listen to what the Nicene Creed teaches us here. Listen carefully.
For us. And for our salvation, he came down from heaven. Do you hear that? For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man.
For our sake. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. The authors of the Nicene Creed got it right. When you hear Jesus is your servant, you're hearing biblical theology, you're hearing scriptural truth, you are hearing Nicene theology, the confession of the church. And so, the first truth that we learn about this name, the Lord's Supper, is that Jesus is the host and servant of his meal.
This is his menu. This means that our Lord's primary action in the Lord's Supper is to serve. And listen, your primary action in the Lord's Supper is to come empty hands and receive. To be served.
Now, you may be wondering, well, what is served to us in this meal? What's on the menu? Right. What are the dinner specials today?
Well, this brings us to the second truth that the Lord's Supper, the name of the Lord's Supper, conveys to us. The second thing is this, that the Lord's Supper emphasizes and reminds us that we are being fed. The the Paul refers to the sacrament as a supper because we are being fed. What are we being fed with? This, by this special meal, we are being fed, we are being served through the mysterious, powerful, working intervention of the Holy Spirit with the true body and blood of Christ Himself, uniting us to that and who is in heaven.
Listen to the words of the Belgic Confession, Article 35. We do not go wrong when we say that what we eat and drink is the true natural body and the true blood of Christ.
However, the manner in which we eat it is not by the mouth. but in this Holy Spirit by faith. This banquet is a spiritual table at which Christ makes us partakers of Himself. Both deity and humanity, one person. With all his benefits, and gives us the grace to enjoy both himself and the merit of his suffering and death.
He nourishes, strengthens, and comforts our poor, desolate souls by the eating of his flesh, and refreshes and renews them by the drinking of his blood. That is the ultimate dinner to come to. This is the highest nutrition content you can receive. Jesus Christ and all of his saving benefits. And even though Christ is physically raised to the right hand of the Father in his physical ascension to heaven, we who are on earth now feed on his body and blood through the powerful intervening work of the Holy Spirit.
And so through this supper, the Holy Spirit feeds believers with the whole Christ. And with all of his saving benefits, and it's received through faith alone. And so this continual reception by faith alone forms believers into an ever-deepening communion with Christ, in an ever-deepening communion with one another, which leads us to the second name. The second name that is used to convey the richness of the sacrament is communion or holy communion. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, listen to verses 16 and 17.
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion, participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion? 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, we all commune.
of the one bread. And so Paul reveals that the Lord's Supper is not an ordinary meal. This is not Mo's on Sunday after church. That's the fond old tradition, right? It is cheap.
It is full of filling and it's quick. But Paul reveals that the Lord's Supper is not a Mo's meal. This is not an ordinary meal. This is a sacred meal. This is a holy meal.
Holy communion. Holy simply means set apart. Holy emphasizes that the communion experienced in the sacrament is not ordinary, it's not a common communion. In this meal, and I've mentioned this before, but I want to reiterate it: the communion that Adam and Eve had with God. And the communion that Adam and Eve had with one another.
And the communion that Adam and Eve had with all of creation. It was lost. And it was lost through their eating. in unbelief. And listen, that which was lost, that communion with God, with one another, and all of physical creation itself, all of that communion that was lost, is being restored through our eating and drinking in faith.
The Holy Spirit working through this meal is reforming his people into the image of Christ. He is binding each other in the body in faithfulness and love to each other. He is giving all of us a new identity and a new family. Amen. Yeah.
Listen to question fifty-five in the Heidelberg Catechism. What do you understand by the communion of saints? First, believers, all and everyone, as members of Christ, have communion in Him. We have communion in Christ, listen, and we have communion in all. his treasures and gifts.
Second. Then everyone is bound to use his gifts readily and cheerfully for the benefit and welfare of other members. Through the Eucharist, the Holy Communion, through this meal, God is shaping and forming every tribe and language and people and tongue and nation, not as a divided family like we have in our world, but in a counterculture that is in the church, the kingdom of God. We are all different, but one. And that's what this sacrament does.
It's the communion of saints. And so there is one Trinitarian benediction in Paul's letters. It's in 2 Corinthians 13, verse 14. Listen to this benediction. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship, the communion, the participation of the Holy Spirit.
Be with you all. This is the same word that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 10, where he says that when we partake of the cup of blessing and the breaking of the bread, we are communing with the body and blood of Jesus, fellowshipping with him. Through holy communion, we experience and we receive the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through holy communion, we receive the love of God. We receive and experience the fellowship, the communion with the Holy Spirit.
not only individually, but collectively as a body together. Um do you remember Luke's account of Paul's conversion in Acts 9. If you don't, I'm just going to remind you. It's okay. We call this communion holy because we are in such close communion with Christ.
in such close communion with one another. It is a holy set apart. communion, how close are we to Christ?
Well, in Acts chapter 9, verse 1, Luke says, Listen, now Saul, still breathing threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest. But listen to verse 4. Chapter 9, verse 4, Saul fell to the ground. I love that. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
Now, listen very carefully. Verse 1, Luke says: Saul is breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He is murdering the church. But Jesus says to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting? Me.
Jesus' question reveals, why are you persecuting me? Reveals how close this union and communion Christ is with his people. To persecute Christians is to persecute Christ. What you do to Christ's body, the church, you do to him. The believer's union with Christ, body and soul, is so closely united that whatever is done to the believer is done to Christ.
Paul makes this same argument concerning the natures of the believers' union and communion with Christ in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 explicitly. He's seeking to correct the Corinthian sexual immorality in the church, which was rampant in the Corinthian church. And listen to what he says to correct their sexual immorality. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ. Shall I then take away the members of Christ, my body?
and make my body a member of a prostitute. May it never be. Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body? with her. For God says the two shall become one flesh.
But the one who joins himself to the Lord. is one spirit with him. I want you to listen carefully. Paul is saying to the Corinthian believers who are so closely united with Christ that all who continue to visit these temple prostitutes as they've done their whole life. didn't realize their union with Christ.
Do you not know And listen. He says, when you do this, now that you are in Christ, united to Christ, communion with Christ, you are taking Christ's body and you're joining it to a temple prostitute. Who would join Jesus? to a prostitute. Through the gospel and faith, the Holy Spirit not only unites our souls, but also our physical bodies to Christ.
We are not ghosts. We are humans. Question one in the Heidelberg Catechism: I am not my own. But belong with body and soul, both in life and in death. to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
I just want to make an application about this. Just quickly, I can explain it in more detail later, but we belong body and soul in our salvation to Christ, who is redeeming not just my soul, but my body. And incidentally, then, that's why prayer for healing often accompanies the observance of Holy Communion. Holy Communion is recalling to God that He is the owner, and Master, and Redeemer of my body. and that he can heal them.
Even if he uses physicians to bring about this healing, he can heal them. And according to Paul, communion in First Corinthians 11. Without discerning Christ's body in the sacrament, it can bring sickness and physical death.
So, if this sacrament has that much power. over your body Then communion with Christ by faith can be healing. not only spiritually, but also physically. Christ reveals Himself as the means of healing of all our illnesses, and on the cross he effected the redemption of not just my soul, but my body. If that's the case, then I'm destined for final resurrection.
Heaven is not my home, as glorious as it will be. That's not my home. I'm destined for a physical resurrection in a physical created world. Heaven on earth is my home. in a physical created world.
That God calls very good.
Now, to be sure, Holy Communion doesn't automatically guarantee the fruits of healing of our physical infirmities.
Sometimes Holy Communion is the means by which the Holy Spirit is sustaining us in our weakness throughout this life, pointing us to the day of our physical resurrection when we will be healed. This is what Paul says in Philippians chapter 3. He says, Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory. My body will be just like the glorious body of my Savior. I will be Michael Jordan.
I would be Michael Jordan on steroids when I'm glorified. I can't wait for that. I'm going to take him one-on-one and I'm going to beat him. I'm from North Carolina. They lost to Duke last night, and I'm not in a good mood this morning.
But Jesus, listen, he will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself. But until that day comes, we remain committed to administering the ordinary means of grace that Christ is giving us while we trust Him for the extraordinary results, and that's up to Him. And so, Holy Communion confirms peace with God. It strengthens this communion of life between Christ and His people, the church. And it also strengthens communion between each other, believers, and the body.
Because for a body to be healthy, it must regularly receive sound nutrition. You can't live on Twinkies.
Well, you can for a while, but It will catch up, right? And so through regular reception of Holy Communion, the church is being taught and to be made into peacemakers, as Paul says in Ephesians 4, verse 3. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And this table creates that. This table, Holy Communion, nourishes and strengthens and increases the communion of life between one another.
As I said, of every tribe and every language and every people and every tongue, all united together in one body, the body of Christ. This is a mystery how this happens. In fact, the word sacrament comes from the Greek word mysterion, which we get the English word mystery from. These are mysteries up here. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 30 and 32, We are members of his body.
For this reason, a man shall leave his father and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great. What mystery, Paul? I'm speaking with reference to Christ. and the church.
We are members of Christ's body. And it's a mystery. And so in Holy Communion, the church communes as one body with the risen, glorified Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and they are communing with one another. And listen carefully. In Holy Communion, there is more going on than meets the eye.
There were powerful things happening at this meal. And such a tremendous gift leads us third and finally. to Thanksgiving. Which is why we call this Holy Eucharist. This is the third name for this meal.
Holy Eucharist is probably the term that we're most unfamiliar with, prejudiced towards, and resistant to using, and we shouldn't. This is a great mistake because Eucharist, Holy Eucharist, has a great strong biblical basis. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek term Eucharista o. The word Eucharist just simply means give thanks. Jesus used this term when he instituted the sacrament in the upper room with his disciples on the night before his crucifixion.
In just a moment, you will hear the words of institution. Listen to them. He took a cup. And when he had given thanks, That's the term you charista Eucharistosis. He said, Take this and divide it among yourselves.
He took bread, and when he had given thanks, Yucarista. He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. This designation Holy Eucharist means this. It first emphasizes that Jesus Listen, he is the one in the church leading out in the sacrament, giving thanks to God on our behalf because our thanksgiving is not acceptable without him.
He is at this table giving thanks to God. And then, secondly, because he does this for me and he leads out for me and giving thanks to God on my behalf, then it reminds me that the fundamental disposition, they call it Eucharistic piety. We need to like that word. Scott, write the word down. Eucharistic piety.
Scott's helping me with an important project. But... Eucharistic piety. What is the fundamental disposition that I bring to this table? It's not fear.
It's not reluctance. It's not a yellow caution light. It's not, oh, I don't know if I should do this today. What is the fundamental disposition I bring? I bring empty hands expressing gratitude in my heart for Jesus right now.
I come with a thankful heart. The reason for this is because the fundamental nature of the Eucharist is God's gift. The Eucharist is not the church's offering of a sacrifice for sin. The Eucharist is not primarily the believer's act of remembering, act of recommitment, act of rededication, act of pulling myself up by my bootstraps to make my obedience really mean it this week.
Okay. The fundamental nature of the Eucharist is God's gift, and the fundamental proper response to a gift is thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18, the Apostle Paul says, In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. How do I obey that command? Regular reception of the Eucharist not only teaches the church to be peacemakers, but it teaches us to be thankful.
It makes me have a heart of gratitude. The visible gospel at this table creates gratitude in my heart and therefore enables me to keep God's will in Christ Jesus. The Eucharist creates a thankful church as opposed to an ungrateful church. I was so happy a couple weeks ago when we received the letter that I mentioned to you that this visitor came and said, The one thing that I noticed about your church is all these people were so happy. Grateful.
Thankful. You know why? Because the gospel creates that and we don't even recognize it. We don't even see it. The gospel audibly and visibly causes me to fall on my knees in thanksgiving and praise to the Father for his glorious plan of salvation that he has fulfilled in the sending of his Son and is now bringing to completion in his church through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Holy Eucharist is a sacrifice, but it is a sacrifice of thanksgiving for the presence and gift of Christ, who is present, crucified, buried, risen, ascended, now glorified, and interceding for me now before the Father. And so, like the Apostle Paul, as we finish, we are compelled to say, Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession. It is precisely because the supper is God's gift to us, rather than our gift to God, that we are filled with thanksgiving, and that is the meaning of Holy Eucharist.
So, as we reflect this morning on the meaning and the significance of these three names for this special meal, let us not settle. on any one of these designations encamped there. But let us embrace the fullness and richness of God's revelation to us in these biblical names and together as one body rejoice in the indescribable gift that is ours in this holy meal. Amen. Amen.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this. Oh, supper. We thank you for the Lord's Supper. We thank you for Holy Communion.
And we thank you. for the Eucharist now. Help us as we come to have a disposition of a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving. for all that you have done for us. As we come to meet you in this visible gospel, we pray this in the name of the Father and of the Son.
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thanks for listening to the Hymn We Proclaim podcast with John Fawnville. Him we proclaim as a ministry of John Fondill of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida. You can check out his church at paramountchurch.com.
We look forward to next time.
