The Lord’s Supper is Central to Worship

How do we worship the Lord best?  Do we worship God best when we sing that favorite hymn with gusto?  Do we worship God best when we write out that larger than usual offering check and put it in Sunday’s offering?  Do we worship God best when we help our neighbor through a difficult time?  Do we worship God best when we share the good news of salvation with others?  All those are truly excellent ways to worship God.  We must always do them more and more.

However, when it comes to worshiping God, we worship God best when we do nothing and let God serve us.  That sounds strange to us.  We want to do things.  We live in a world that says, “No pain, no gain.  You only get out of something what you put into it.”  But that’s not how God works.  Psalm 51:16-17 says, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

We worship God when we have a broken spirit.  We worship God when we are like the tax collector in Luke 19.  In humility we beat our chests and say, “God, have mercy me on a sinner.”  Of course, we do not impress God with the depth of our sorrow over our sin.  We do not earn forgiveness by our tears or by heaping spiritual insults on ourselves.  Rather, we worship God when we realize we have no good thing to offer him.  We worship God when can only cry out, “Lord, I need your forgiveness and blessing.  I can find no good thing to crave except what comes from you.  You alone, O Lord, can give me that wholeness and purity my soul needs.”  One of our hymns says it beautifully, “Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling;  Naked, come to thee for dress, Helpless, look to thee for grace.  Foul, I to the fountain fly – Wash me, Savior, or I die!” (Christian Worship: 389)

In the Lord’s Supper we partake in a high point of this kind of worship.  When we come to the Lord’s Supper we don’t come as proud negotiators bargaining blessings out of God. We come to Holy Communion as lowly, poor, pitiful sinners whose only claim to come is our Savior’s free invitation, “Take, eat.  Take, drink.”  In the Lord’s Supper God’s grace shines forth clearly. His love and his forgiveness fill this sacrament from start to finish.

So, do you want to worship God the way He wants to be worshiped?  If so, then let God shower you with His grace.  Let Him serve you His Holy Supper.  Let Him restore your broken spirit.  Let Him soothe your contrite heart.  Let Him receive your hurting, burdened soul into His loving arms.  Let Him remove your load of sin.  All this comfort is ours in the Lord’s Supper.  And God is glorified by all this forgiving and comforting. 

Keep on praising God by singing, giving, helping and witnessing. But also praise God by letting Him serve you with the Lord’s Supper. 

#2 in the series on Every Sunday Communion

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