Communion

This is the Truth Network Welcome to Masculine Journey, and we are here again another week with another topic, and we're Sam-less in Seattle, so Sam's off tonight, and I'm filling in, so we're going to talk about... What's your name, sir? I don't have a name. I ain't got my new name yet. Everybody knows you, Danny. For the new one. Just listen for the southern accent.

You know exactly who it was. I think it's a good topic, Andy, because I came up with it. We're going to talk about communion tonight for several different reasons.

It's been on my heart a lot lately. The church I attend, we do communion every week, and I've attended churches where they do it every quarter. It can somewhat be reduced to a two or three minute session in a worship service, and it's so much more than that. It means so much more, so I wanted us to kind of dive into a little bit of the history of it, a little bit of what it means to us, and our experiences with it.

We're going to try to do that. I have to tell the story. When my son listens to this, he's going to roll his eyes. They were going to do communion the next Sunday. If you wanted to teach your kids about communion, you can have your kids in the sanctuary.

Cody's three, and so she tries to explain to him what they're going to do. They're going to have some bread and some juice, trying to explain to a three year old. What he basically heard was he was going to get a snack in church. During this whole process, they're passing out the elements, and he gets his little piece of bread, and he proclaims to the congregation, my cracker doesn't have any cheese in it. That was kind of what he got from communion. Maybe he's gotten much more since then, but communion means a lot to a lot of different people. We just kind of want to pull and tug at it for a little while. Anyway, I wanted to read scripture that you quoted when you give communion.

It kind of sets things off, and then we'll go from there. He also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and we were 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, he also took the cup, and after supper said, this cup is a new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. We read that a lot when we have communion. The premise behind it, and I'm going to get Robby's help here in a minute, is that Jesus was instituting what we refer to as foreshadowing. If you look throughout the Old Testament all the way through Revelation, you have to study scripture that way, but he's bringing into, I don't know what the word I'm looking for, the culmination of everything that has come from Passover and the sacrifices we were talking earlier, all the way into that and going, hey guys, this is it. And I'm it. And I'm inviting you in. And what a powerful thing, but it's also kind of a radical thing because he just instituted something new into Passover.

So kind of imagine that. So Robby, tell us about the bread. Well, you know, it's a beautiful thing. What obviously happened on that first Passover was that they had to slaughter a lamb that was without blemish. And, you know, this was something that had to be eaten.

It wasn't like optional. Like it had to be all of it consumed before midnight. Like, you know, so you had to make sure you had the right size lamb. And even to the day that Jesus was crucified, you know, they said there was over 250,000 lambs that were slaughtered that same day as Jesus was on the cross. And that idea of that, it had to be eaten, right?

This isn't optional. This is part of what you needed in order to get the forgiveness that was being offered through the sacrifice. And the other part was obviously the bread. And this was the bread of haste that this Jesus would show so many times what bread all meant, you know, to which it's a picture of his word actually is what it, you know, represents in so many different ways is we have a chance to eat it every day.

But it had to be unleavened. So the Jews, when they make that, which I made some this morning because we're going to share communion here tonight in a little bit. When they go to make this stuff, it's as simple. It's flour and water.

You can add a little oil, a little salt if you like, but to make kosher matzo, that's all it is, is flour and water. But the challenge is the second the water touches the flour, you have seven minutes before that thing has to be in the oven, which means you've got to roll it into a ball, make it into dough. And then once you have that dough, you've got to roll it out flat, flat, flat like the cracker that you described. And then you've got to poke holes in it, right? So they'll cook properly and get all the moisture out of it because, you know, that's kind of how you make it.

And away you go. And then you got kosher matzo. And, you know, the idea is he broke that bread that night with the same hands that would be broken. And clearly the wine represented his blood that would be poured out of those broken hands.

And, you know, it's an amazing picture. Like you said, it's a crescendo of the symphony that God had been orchestrating, you know, from eternity. Well, Andy, you had selected a clip that kind of elaborates on that. Yeah, it's that first Passover and what Robby just described. And it's just a short clip from the Ten Commandments that goes through what it was like during that time whenever the Passover was coming. And they were doing their meal preparation and the significance of it. I don't know if there's much more to add than that.

Well, I think that, you know, it's a beautiful, amazing clip. Because what you get is the communion there of family. And what God instituted in that Seder dinner was that they were supposed to teach the children because the children would naturally have questions about why bread or herbs. And why are we eating this unleavened bread and all those things that we're to teach the next generation.

And to this day they still celebrate it. Yep. I'll go play it. It is not forbidden to look upon the breath of pestilence and see where it is here. Do not look, Eliezer. Close the door, Joshua. Let death pass. Will it pass, Moses?

Will it pass? That is God's promise, Elisheba. Blessed art thou, Lord our God, who bringeth forth bread from the earth. There shall no evil befall you, nor any plagues come near you.

A thousand shall fall at thy side. Why do we eat unleavened bread and bitter herbs, my uncle? The herbs... Clamper! Clamper!

Take the other boat! The herbs remind us of the bitterness of our captivity, Eliezer. But it shall not come, my lady. This is the bread of haste that you will remember this night from generation to generation forever.

Hold the baby high! Keep them alive! They are my people.

All are God's people. Death is all around us! But it passes those who have believed the Lord. Always remember, Eliezer. He passed over your house. You know, that's... You know, it is a beautiful picture, Robby.

And I think those were Harold's neighbors or something. But the... He's not laughing. He is smiling, at least.

He's tired, because he meant himself. But anyway, we all have our Egypt. Sin is our Egypt. And that's a picture of the Passover. What was coming. And so that's that foreshadowing I was talking about. And that's painting a great picture.

And you can tie it all together beautifully. Harold, you got something to say? You can defend yourself, probably. I'm old. I know it. I don't mind being teased about it either. You're such a good sport about it. You really are. If there must be laughter, then that's fine with it being about me. We laugh with you. So when you think about communion, when you think about it, what's one of the first thoughts that come to your mind?

Anybody? Actually, it's kind of interesting, because you brought up the three-year-old's reaction. I was seven or eight and reading the Bible right after communion. And I got down at 1 Corinthians 11. It was where they did it from, and I kept reading.

And it was... Well, I'm going to read it rather than try to say it. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the Lord's cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. And I was in the third or fourth grade, and I was terrified. Because I wasn't supposed to take communion until communicants class in the fifth grade. And I had been taking it for a while.

So I figured I was going to get sick or die, which is a little further on from that. But that has become the most significant part of my worship is communion. Anybody else? Yeah, in fifth grade, minister invited me to communion, invited me into the lake with them to the communion. That's when I believed. That's awesome.

I don't know. I think there's a purpose in it. Because it's unique in the fact that... Not very unique, but it's unique. It's just unique in the fact that we pray to God every day. But we don't... And we think about the sacrifice, I think, at times and stuff. But this is something that makes us intentional to remember really what Jesus did. Because it truly was a sacrifice. And it's the foundation for everything else. Sometimes we just bypass that. And it gets us to where we're not thinking, well, yeah, I need a Savior daily. I need somebody to address my sinful nature and to sanctify me and that kind of thing.

If I've forgotten on a regular basis about what He truly sacrificed for, it's not good. Well, we've got a boot camp coming up November 20-23, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Check us out at masculinejourney.org. It was a great group and a lot of contacting was able to be done. It is a tight bond of men.

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Jim, that's your bump. I sent that to you because it is, first of all, my card's an acquaintance and I just love hearing them both teach and sing. And sadly, he's retired from at least the teaching recently. But he always has, for me, wonderful words that aren't what you normally think of. And they come to the table, he's prepared for us.

Well, he did. But the bread of forgiveness and the wine of release. And that is looking at the fact that he died for us and that's what we're celebrating each time. And it's a humble and a sacred celebration. But it's still celebrating what he did for us because we couldn't do it for ourselves. Very true. And that's what I contemplated quite a bit is that we bring nothing to the table.

And that's what the challenge is, especially for men, I think. We were talking about it at supper tonight. Usually me and I got to check or I got to check or I'll get to dip or something like that. But at this table, at the communion table, you bring absolutely nothing to the table.

You cannot pick up the check and you can't leave a tip. He's paid it all. And that's what he's saying is do this in remembrance of me. This is what I've done for you. This is a divine invitation. And the reflection that evolved in that, don't take it unworldly.

I think part of that is sometimes I think people sprinkle a little condemnation in that, which I don't necessarily agree with. But the reality of it is that, you know, if I'm not honored for what it really is and what he's really done in my life, I mean, that was a hot mess. And he delivered me because I couldn't have done it myself. I tried. I had so many resolves to quit drinking and drugging Harold, it wasn't even fun.

Every weekend, usually. But my resolve ended by Friday afternoon or whenever a paycheck was. But the reality of that is Jesus had to come get me. There had to be a Passover. And that's what I sense when I do communion.

I can remember once or when I was going to tell this or not, but I guess we are. I remember we were at a retreat or it was a Emmaus walk. And we did communion, did it a different way than I'd ever done it. I was used to the little no cheese crackers like my son had and little things of juice. But we had a cup, and they broke the bread, and we prayed over a piece of bread. We put them in a basket, and then we were to walk and get a piece of bread and then dip it.

I'd never done it that way. And then we went to the altar and prayed. And when I got up, Andy, there's a guy just wrapped his arms around me.

Big old rascal, too. And I never saw his face at that moment. But it was like the arms of Jesus just encompassed me. And after that day, I never was and still can't take communion without thinking about that and without almost tearing up sometimes. Because I realized that he did it all. And that's kind of the reflection part of what I think communion is about, is reflecting on who he is, what he's done, the amazing God that we serve, and the amazing things he's done in our lives. And none of us deserve it, but it's just because that's who he is. That's how much he loves us.

That's the life of the Holy Spirit. That's right. That's right. So, Jim, I think we're going to go with your clip. So we're going to mash it up a little bit.

All righty. In looking for a clip, I was going for war movies. I mean, with Memorial Day and Flag Day the last few weeks. I was in a patriotic timber there. And I went through four, five, six of them and decided to take a break. And off to the side where they're trying to give you other stuff you want to look at, I saw MASH. I said, well, I used to love to watch MASH when it was on. That was probably my favorite TV show.

So I'm going to take a little break. And that's when God, out of the blue, gave me my clip. And it woke up something in me.

To me, it's been a very personal thing taking communion all my life, really, especially when I was sneaking it before I knew I was supposed to do it worthily. But this clip I really identified with Harry Potter. This is Colonel Potter. He and his buddies in World War I were in a chateau waiting for bombing to stop outside. And they found some wine and were doing what soldiers do with wine and got down to the last bottle. And this clip is about that last bottle.

The shells were screaming and we were singing and toasting our friendship. Then we got down to the last bottle. This very bottle here. Any of you know what a tontine is? Yes, a tontine is a pledge.

Give that man a charude. The five of us made a pledge. We'd save this bottle. Colonel, we thought you were sick. I was sick.

Just thinking how all my friends are gone now. Felt a little sorry for myself, too, getting up in years. But I'm looking at things a bit different now. I've been a very lucky man. I've had some wondrous, joyous times.

That's what counts. We were so alive back then, it was something. But as much as my old friends meant to me, I think you new friends mean even more. So I'd like you to share this bottle with me. We'd be honored, Colonel.

As I recall, it was mighty smooth in 17. Well, it should be magnificent, though. Just one thing. I'd like to make the first toast solo to my old buddies. Here's to you boys. To Ryan, who died in WW1, the war to end all wars. To Gianelli, who died in the war after that.

To Stein, the joker of the crowd. And to Groski, my best friend, who just passed away in Tokyo. You were the friends of my youth, my comrades through thick and thin, and everything in between. I drink to your memories. I loved you, fellas.

One and all. This, and I'm pretty close now, but when I saw this, I teared up immediately. I could really identify with Colonel Potter in this, and that I had close friends in my youth, and we were inseparable. And there are a couple of them I still talk to now and then, but there's a couple more that aren't with us anymore. And then, one of the, what he said at the end, my new friends mean more to me. And what hit me there was the people I'm with now in church, and our pastor loves to say it this way, you know, these are our forever family. And they're forever friends, because we'll be together in heaven. And what really got me, and what was a totally different twist, to me it's always been very personal taking communion. That's just me and Jesus.

But the table is full, and I think something like two billion of us can come to that table. And we will be together forever. So this should be a party of celebration, but it's one that is done in reverence and awe at what Jesus did for us. And that is his, you know, and I thought about that, and the reason I like that clip was I thought about, here's Colonel Potter reminiscing about days gone by, kind of like what we were talking about earlier, and the people who've come along beside him. And we talk about the people who fathered us along the way, and in fatherhood and sonship and that kind of thing. And the ultimate father is the one who's given the invitation. And he's prepared the table. And we had talked about, or I talked about earlier, not maybe on the show, but that Jesus was teaching one time, and he said, you know, those of you that eat my flesh and drink my blood, and scripture says many of his disciples left him. The radical idea of what he was proposing was, I am the sacrifice. But that is preparing the table.

That is the whole thing. He does invite us, and Robby, you have a clip that sets that up beautifully. Except I don't think we have time to. You don't think we have time for that one? Because it's going on two minutes, and we got about two and a half. Okay. It just means you won't get to talk as long, and that's okay.

Sam does it to me all the time. I didn't realize how much time we had. No, no, no. It's okay.

It's all right. But the point that Jim is making is that, I think so beautifully, that you've got so many brothers and sisters. According to Mark 10-30, it says that you're going to get 100 mothers, brothers, sisters. And as you have those joyous moments of life, that in his presence is fullness of joy. And so those communions, that idea of that, is certainly to break bread with them, which is some of my most precious memories. We talk about it all the time in The Masculine's Journey. Your favorite memories in life are not going to be things you did alone.

No. They're going to be things that you did with your father, or you did with your best friend, or you did in communion because we were meant to be. It's not good for man to be alone. But on the other hand, it's really good when we're with people that we really, really, really love. And so to Jim's point, I love that clip. And of course, when it comes to a band of brothers that have fought with you through life, which comes at you really fast, it's an important thing. But this man over here, he was at that supper with Moses.

We don't want to miss out on what he has. Yeah, we had a good time then. Well, we've got a boot camp coming up November 20th through the 23rd down in Royston, Georgia. For those of you listening down in Greenville and Spartanburg, they're right down the road from what I understand.

I've not been down there yet. Don't forget Anderson. Anderson, yeah.

Anderson, well, anyway. But you can check us out on masculinejourney.org or on Facebook. And you can listen to any of these shows on any podcast platform. So we look forward to hearing from you. This is the Truth Network.