The Lord’s Supper - An Observation

The Gospels’ account of the Last Supper depicts a man who knows that He will be leaving His friends. This man knows that His friends are going to be sorrowful when they can no longer see His face and have fellowship with Him, after all He has been with them for three years or so. They have lived, slept, eaten and faced perils together. During this time H e has been their source of strength and encouragement and now He is getting ready to depart. Some of them have expressed their concern on hearing this new. I can imagine that this was not a joyous occasion rather a solemn assembly. However, He has promised them that He will send them another friend to guide and support, just as He has done. Therefore, It is with sadness in heart that we find the Disciples partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ in Matthew 26. In I Corinthians XI the Apostle Paul reminds us of this sacrificial act of Christ . He also goes on to admonish us that we ought not to eat or drink unworthily, as we shall be considered guilty of the body and blood of the Lord……..

In my local assembly every first Sunday we partake of the Lord’s Supper and most times I don’t pay too much attention to those around rather just focussing on the gift and the giver. On this particular Sunday I found myself sitting at the back of the church and I observed that there are various classes of people who partake / participate in this monthly ritual.

At the Altar we find the presbytery, appropriately Vested. Then we have male officers who assist with and serve the people. Next we have a group of women (not necessarily officers) who ‘tabernacle’ the table and support the function of Lord’s Supper. What I observe is that all of these groups are properly attired, they are dressed as if going to a banquet / funeral, something special, not an everyday occurrence.

The next group of people are the majority of the congregation, men, women, boys and girls. For the most part I observe that they acknowledge the seriousness of the occasion and have a demeanour that reflects the occasion, even the way that they are dressed identify that this is not a normal, everyday light thing. However, I observe one group that I cannot fathom. This is the group who sit at the back. They are ‘Christians’, ranging in age from approximately 13 - 20. They are the loud, gum chewing, jeans that were pasted on, and workman’s bottom showing group. By that I mean even when standing you can see their underwear above their jeans and much more beside. The only time that they are quiet and show any semblance of respect, for the Body and Blood of Christ, is when they notice the minister approaching their row to serve them. As soon as he departs they continue texting, game playing etc.

My question is how did we get from the reverence of the Lord’s Supper to this rabble, that does not appear to understand the weight of the Gift? How have we brought up children who can view the former groups and not want to imitate the solemnity of the occasion? What do we teach our youth about respecting God, about respecting themselves /and others? What does it mean to this group to eat or drink unworthily? Should we just be happy that they are ‘in the house’, on a Sunday evening, as opposed to being on the streets?

By the way did I mention that this group consist of all females?