Supper breaks the walls of centuries. . . .

      Communion with the living Christ is the soul of the 'breaking of bread'. Pentecost is continued and made permanent in the church when the company of those who rest in the 'confidence that we have through Christ toward God' commune with the Spirit of the Lord.

      In a world where language is debased to serve the selfish and greedy purposes of men and nations, and is too seldom rooted in a 'gold standard' of reality before becoming currency, it is refreshing to ponder on the fact that Christ comes to us in something done. The mighty acts of the Lord have at all times been the cause of rejoicing and the ground of hope. God has predominantly been known by his actions in leading, judging and blessing Israel; God gave his only Son for us men and our salvation.

      It is in keeping then that the church's dependence upon Christ for its continuing life and the unity of those loyal to him should be expressed and fostered by a common act of communion. In France, for instance, a restored unity among Reformed churches has led to the supper taking its rightful place in public worship; it is no longer regarded as an 'additional' service. It is surely not worthy of the nature of the supper that it should be made an instrument of division between Christians. It is the Lord's Supper, and his action in it is not confined by a church decision.

AT THE TABLE OF THE LORD WE ARE BROUGHT FACE TO FACE WITH THE FACT OF JESUS.

      The lack of an external authority teases the minds of many who are not Roman Catholics, but in this act of communion we are confronted by our 'external authority', Christ Jesus. The best scholarship but adds to the glory of this Man.

      At the heart of our faith is this irremovable fact of a Person of who it was said, "No man ever spoke like this man". No man ever acted like this Man either; no man could have shouldered the burden of suffering, and sin, and death; no man can save his brother though he would die to do it. But Jesus relieved the worst suffering, forgave sin, conquered death. In the face of these things, what could the disciples say but that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself". "We are convinced that One has died for all . . . and he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

AT THE TABLE OF THE LORD WE ARE BROUGHT FACE TO FACE WITH JESUS CHRIST AS HE IS--NOW.

      The act of God in Christ is made personal; it is addressed to us now. Calvin's method of interpreting the Scriptures is spoken of like this: 'How energetically Calvin, having first established what stands in the text sets himself to re-think the whole material and to wrestle with it till the walls which separate the 16th century from the 1st century become transparent."

      Christ has acted for the benefit of all mankind, and we are no further from that work in the 20th century than the men of the 1st century among whom the work was done. Our Lord could say: "I have come down from heaven", but thankfully we remember that our experience of Christ is not a wistful memory, for in the supper we are able to "eat the bread of God", that which, in our Lord's words "comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

      In the present tense "comes" and "gives", we find the key to the meaning of the supper for every faithful heart. The walls of the centuries disappear and Christ is our contemporary. "He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them." Christ is the life of the believer, and only they who abide in him and he in them can produce the fruits of the Spirit. In this sense, then, Pentecost is made permanent in the church through the supper; "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him."

      There is nothing magical in all this. But the supper is no mere memorial of Christ's death. Paul tells us bluntly that whoever eats and drinks unworthily (i. e. without love towards God and his brethren) is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, he adds to his guilt and injures himself. Those who rightly receive the supper spiritually receive Christ. There is a real action of the living Christ in the supper when a worshipper makes the response of faith and obedience and loyalty to him in life.

      William Temple has said: "The reality of our communion with Christ and in him with one another is the increase of love in our hearts. If a man goes out from his communion to love and serve men better he has received the real Presence. If he feels every thrill and tremor of devotion, but goes out as selfish as before, he has not received it. It was offered but he did not receive it. . . . " (Cf. Baillie 100-101)

AT THE TABLE OF THE LORD THE CERTAINTY OF THE FINAL VICTORY OF CHRIST IS BORNE UPON US.

      He is the earnest of that event, "when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven". Here is an indication of his abiding presence "until he comes'. It is not within the capacity of our minds to conceive of the end of time, but necessity is laid upon us to hope all things, and work as those who have experienced the "powers of the age to come", for we have a confidence that :"God has put all things in subjection to him, then the son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to everyone."

      Our understanding of that event is as meagre as was the conception of the true nature of the Messiah by those who were "looking for the consolation of Israel." Although the when and how are obscured in the imagery of language and by the bottle neck of our minds, the well-spring of all our faith is that the resurrection of Christ is but the first-fruits of a great harvest. Our hope of immortality depends not on what we are but on what Christ is and has done. "For all the promises of God find their yes in him".

      Of these things does the supper speak to us.