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The Silent Sermon
Topics: faith, Christianity, communion, last supper, sermon, preaching, theology
Anonymous user Thu Dec 20, 2007 09:04:26 PST
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0 responses 0 comments Location: 26180 Plateau Way, Tehachapi, CA 93561

The unique thing about the death of Christ is that Jesus acted out a visible sermon during that Last Supper.  Communion itself is a great preacher of the death of Jesus.  Charles Ryrie from Dallas Theological Seminary says, “The Lord’s Supper is an acted sermon, looking back on Christ’s life and death.”  One scholar tosses out this twist, “The ordinance is a verbum vi-si-bile, a ‘preaching’ of the entire church in silent ministry.”  The fact that you preach a silent sermon every time you share in communion can be seen in 1 Corinthians 11:26:  “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”  In different translations of the Bible, this verse reads: “You are heralding”; “You are telling how the Lord died”; and, “You reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master.”

Did you know that every time you celebrate communion, you are preaching a dynamic, but silent sermon?  You may not be preaching a message from the platform, but you are preaching a sermon from the pew.  You are actually broadcasting your faith in the fact that Jesus personally sacrificed His body and blood for you.  The Greek word for proclaim is ka-tang-gel’-lete.  It means to declare, preach, promulgate, show, speak of or teach.  The word is used in the sense of making a solemn announcement by word of mouth.  When you take the little piece of bread and eat it, when you take the cup of juice and drink from it, you are not just going along for the ride.  You are declaring!  You are preaching!  You are teaching!

In Corinthians 11:26, Paul is getting across the idea that the Lord’s Supper is not just a time to commemorate the Lord.  It is also a time to confess the Lord.  Charles Hodge, an astute theologian of the last century, wrote these words in his commentary on 1 Corinthians:  “The Lord’s Supper is and was designed to be, a proclamation of the death of Christ.  Those who come to it, therefore, should come, not to satisfy hunger, nor for the gratification of social feelings, but for the definite purpose of bearing testimony to the great fact of redemption and to contribute their portion of influence to a preservation and propagation of the knowledge of that fact.”

By the way, like any other sermon, communion is public.  As a result, it often has a positive effect on those who witness it.  In his commentary on this section, Albert Barnes points out the public nature of communion: “The ordinance was to be so far public as to be a proper showing forth of their belief in the death of the Savior. It should be public. It is one mode of professing attachment to the Redeemer; and its public observance often has a most impressive effect on those who witness its observance.”

Every time we come to the table, we not only declare that Christ paid the price for our sins.  We are also declaring that Christ lives, and that His death has significance for others too.  So the Table is more than a remembrance for our sake.  It’s also a proclamation for the sake of others.  It’s a testimony to the world that we are not ashamed of our Lord or of the blood that He shed for us.  It’s bearing witness to the fact that we belong to Jesus and are obedient to Him.  It’s proclaiming, “The Lord has died for me”.

— Jeff Kaplan is the senior pastor of Bear Valley Church in Tehachapi.  To find out more about Bear Valley Church, please visit their website at www.bearvalleychurch.org or call the church at 661-821-0183.                                

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