Sermon Notes for May 6: The Lord's Supper: A Chance to Make it Right

Readings:

Psalm 33.16-22

Hebrews 10.19-25

Luke 22.14-30

Introduction

1.     The challenge for Christians of every generation has always been the same: will we continue to place our hope in God and the life that He has promised us, or will we replace that hope with a counterfeit hope?

a.     Amos Lee: “Sometimes we forget what we got, who we are, and who we are not. I think we got a chance to make it right…”

b.     When we gather together to worship, we have that "chance to make it right"—to remember  “what we got”, “who we are”, and “who we are not”.

c.      Our gathering is a time to re-orient our hope back to the one true God—and to abandon all counterfeits!

2.     What are the counterfeit hopes in your life?

a.     Psalm 33: position, power, technology

b.     Ecclesiastes: pleasure, power, education…vanity, all is vanity, a chasing after the wind.

c.      Today? Government, fitness/body image; sexual promiscuity; a particular vision of the good life; food; status; education; shopping; what else?

d.     The aim of many advertising campaigns is to create a counterfeit hopes for your life—we are relentlessly bombarded with messages of counterfeit hope every day.

Exposition of Hebrews

1.     The author of Hebrews is writing to a group of people who are turning to counterfeit hopes: 2.1; 3.1, 12; 4.1-2; 4.14b

a.   Historical context: What really matters: Peace, security, and prosperity—and all this comes through supporting the Roman way of life…

b.     Compartmentalize your faith; if it makes you feel better, great, but don’t take it too seriously

c.      Individualize your faith—stop gathering with others who share the same hope; iJesus.

2.     The exhortations:

a.      Let us draw near to God

b.     Let us hold fast the confession of our hope

                                               i.     The challenge is persevering in our hope; patient endurance

c.      Let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works

                                               i.     Hope gathers as we gather together to remind each other of our true end, who we really are, and who we are not…

3.     Basis:

a.      Through his sacrificial death, Jesus has paved the path for a better way

b.     God is faithful to his promises (Hebrews 5.1-10.18)

c.      The Day is drawing near…our lasting city (13.14)

                                               

The Lord’s Supper

1.     Our hope in a suitcase; redemption and restoration.

2.     The Lord’s Supper protects us from counterfeit hopes—even counterfeit Christian hopes:

a.      For too long some have mischaracterized the goal of the Christian faith as one in which we will be liberated from this evil material world and live as disembodied spirits in eternal bliss with God. In this telling of the Christian narrative, our real problem is that we live in a material world (not in the Madonna sense!), and that we must wait for heaven until we can do anything of real value (except perhaps evangelism). The Lord’s supper presents a much different picture. It narrates a world in which partakers are preparing themselves to rule for eternity in God's renewed creation. 

3.     Remembering forward: proclaiming His death until he comes

a.      The future dimension of the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:14-30)

b.     Proclaiming his death until He comes (1 Cor 11.12)

Conclusion

Sometimes we forget what we got, who we are, and who we are not. The Lord’s Supper gives us a chance to make it right, to re-orient our affections towards our only true hope, the one true God and the life He has given us through Jesus Christ.