3.1.26 - Our Common Unity: Communion | CRC Sunday

Devotional

Day 1: The Earnest Desire of Christ to Share the Meal

Jesus expressed a deep, intentional longing to share the Passover meal with His disciples. This was not a casual invitation but a moment of profound significance, chosen specifically before His suffering. It was an act of love and a deliberate step toward fulfilling His purpose. In this meal, He was establishing a lasting practice of remembrance for all who would follow Him. His earnest desire extends to each of us today, inviting us into this sacred fellowship. [50:27]

And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15 ESV)

Reflection: What does it mean to you personally that Jesus earnestly desired to share this meal, and by extension, a relationship with you? How might accepting this invitation change the way you approach your day?

Day 2: Remembering the Final and Perfect Lamb

The Passover meal points directly to the Lamb of God, whose sacrifice provides eternal redemption. The original Passover in Egypt required a lamb’s blood so God’s judgment would pass over a household. Jesus, celebrating that very meal, revealed Himself as the ultimate and final sacrifice. His body, broken for us, is the once-and-for-all payment for sin. This remembrance anchors our hope not in our own works, but in His finished work. [52:28]

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 ESV)

Reflection: In what areas of your life are you still tempted to earn God’s favor, rather than resting in the complete work of the Lamb? How can you actively remember His sacrifice this week?

Day 3: The Call to Divide and Share with One Another

When Jesus took the cup, He instructed His disciples to divide it among themselves. This act of sharing signifies more than partaking in a ritual; it is an invitation to share our lives with each other. It breaks down barriers of division, calling us to extend grace and community across all human-made lines. The table is a place of common unity, where we recognize our shared need for Christ’s grace. [57:12]

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.” (Luke 22:17 ESV)

Reflection: Who is someone you find difficult to share life with, and what would it look like to spiritually ‘divide the cup’ with them by offering grace or seeking reconciliation?

Day 4: The Profound Cost of Our Communion

The bread and the cup are powerful symbols of a tremendous cost. Jesus’ body was given and His blood was poured out to establish a new covenant. This was not a minimal payment but the ultimate price for our redemption. Remembering the cost guards our hearts against treating grace lightly or reducing communion to empty ritual. It calls us to a life of grateful response and surrender. [01:00:13]

…and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24 ESV)

Reflection: When you consider the cost Jesus paid, what is one thing He might be inviting you to surrender or offer back to Him in gratitude?

Day 5: Our Common Unity in Christ at the Table

The table of the Lord transcends every earthly division—time, space, generation, race, and culture. Our primary identity is no longer found in what separates us but in who unites us: Christ. This common unity compels us to pull out a seat for others, just as a seat was pulled out for us. We are called to be ambassadors of this invitation, offering reconciliation and community to a divided world. [01:04:29]

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28 ESV)

Reflection: How can you actively demonstrate this ‘common unity’ by extending an invitation—either spiritually or physically—to someone who feels unlike or separated from your immediate community?

Sermon Summary

Communion anchors memory, justice, and mission in a single, simple meal. Luke 22 presents the Passover moment when the final Lamb sits with friends, breaks bread, and pours the cup—an urgent invitation to remember a sacrifice that fulfills every prior symbol of deliverance. The bread becomes the body given for sinners, the cup becomes the new covenant sealed in blood, and both insist on active remembrance rather than ritual habit. The Passover origin places the meal inside God’s justice: judgment passed over those who mark their doorposts and freedom offered to a people who accept the cost. The last Lamb completes that story once and for all.

A story of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street shows why the meal matters amid catastrophe. When a prosperous community burned and survivors faced loss without earthly justice, believers still gathered at their church and shared the meal to hold on to a shared identity and hope. Communion functions as common unity (com + unis): a physical, spiritual practice that pulls people across race, class, and grief into one table where a seat already waits.

The meal also models mutual care. Jesus commands the cup to be divided among them, which reframes communion from a private transaction into a shared commission. The table both receives the gift of the Lamb and calls those who have been given that gift to offer a seat to others. Communion reveals cost: it insists that the body was broken and blood poured out so others might live, and it calls for lives lived in response, not in attempts to add to what Christ accomplished.

Finally, communion looks forward. The meal pauses history under the promise that the table will one day be fulfilled in the kingdom of God when the Lamb will be seen face to face. Until that time, the Spirit dwells among gatherings, and the practice serves as both remembrance and mobilization—an invitation to sit, to be reconciled, and to pull another chair forward for a neighbor, a stranger, or an enemy.

Key Takeaways

1. Communion remembers the final Lamb Communion ties the Passover lamb to the Lamb of God, insisting that one perfect sacrifice completes the work of redemption. Remembering the Lamb forces a clear-eyed view of both the depth of sin and the magnitude of grace, so gratitude becomes the natural response rather than moral self-justification. This remembrance orients daily life around what Jesus accomplished, not around efforts to supplement it. [50:27]
2. Communion binds across brutal divides The meal forms a tangible unity that endures when justice fails and systems betray the vulnerable. In the face of atrocity and loss, sharing bread and cup holds identity together and creates a sacred micro-community that resists isolation, fear, and tribal retaliation. This unity does not erase difference but reframes relationships under one covenantal claim: a seat already exists for the other. [48:59]
3. Communion reveals the cost of grace The broken bread and poured cup make visible the price paid to reconcile sinners to God and to one another. Recognizing the cost prevents cheap grace or moral self-congratulation and calls for lives of repentance and sacrificial service. True response flows from gratitude, not from attempts to earn what already stands finished. [59:38]
4. Communion invites others to the table The command to “divide it among yourselves” turns remembrance into mission: those who have received the meal must offer it to others. Invitation becomes an act of love and justice—pulling out a chair for neighbors, enemies, and the overlooked. Sharing the table practices the kingdom now, even as it waits for its final fulfillment. [53:38]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[38:58] - Greeting and Housekeeping
[40:01] - Scripture Reading (Luke 22:14–20)
[41:23] - Opening Prayer and Purpose
[42:21] - Why the Meal Matters
[44:18] - Black Wall Street: A Story of Loss
[46:11] - Violence and the Church Shelter
[48:59] - Choosing Communion in Grief
[50:27] - Passover, the Lamb, and Fulfillment
[53:38] - The Cup Shared: Unity Command
[58:20] - Bread Broken: Cost and Sustenance
[60:30] - The New Covenant in Blood
[66:15] - Invitation to the Table
[67:43] - How Communion Will Be Served
[75:52] - Corporate Reading and Reflection
[79:26] - Closing Prayer and Dismissal

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
*Luke 22:14–20 (NIV)*
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

---

Observation questions

What specific actions did Jesus take with the bread and the cup during the meal?
What did Jesus say would not happen again until the kingdom of God comes?
How does the story of the Tulsa believers illustrate the purpose of communion in a moment of profound loss and injustice? [48:48]
What connection does Jesus make between the Passover lamb and his own sacrifice? [50:27]

---

Interpretation questions

Why would Jesus command his disciples to “divide the cup among yourselves,” and what might that imply about the nature of Christian community? [53:38]
How does the broken bread and poured cup visually communicate the cost of grace and the reality of sin? [59:38]
In what ways does communion serve as both a remembrance of the past and a foretaste of the future kingdom?
Why is it significant that Jesus instituted communion during Passover, a meal centered on deliverance and justice?

---

Application questions

Communion reminds us of the final Lamb whose sacrifice completes our redemption. How does regularly remembering Jesus’ sacrifice affect your daily attitude toward sin, effort, and gratitude?
The meal forms a tangible unity that endures when justice fails. Is there a division or estrangement in your life—whether from a person, group, or even a part of yourself—where you need to actively remember the shared identity we have in Christ? What would it look like to “pull out a chair” for them in prayer or action? [48:59]
The command to “divide it among yourselves” turns remembrance into mission. Who in your life needs an invitation to the table—whether literally through a shared meal or spiritually through an introduction to Jesus? What is one practical step you can take to extend that invitation this week? [53:38]
Communion reveals the cost of grace: the body was broken and blood poured out so we might live. How does recognizing that cost keep you from treating grace lightly or slipping into self-righteousness?
In the midst of personal or collective grief, how can the practice of communion—whether alone or with others—anchor your heart in hope and identity when earthly justice or answers are absent?
Jesus said he would not eat the meal again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom. How does this promise shape your perspective on current suffering, waiting, and longing?
The table both receives and sends. How does your participation in communion strengthen you to offer forgiveness, pursue reconciliation, or serve others sacrificially this week?

Sermon Clips

And oftentimes, we can kind of focus on skipping through like doing the meal because it's a good thing and we know we're supposed to do it as a church and Christians and we we can do this stuff and get right to the cross which is the most important part I would say. But we can't lose the significance of the meal in the moment. And why he says continue to do the cross one time, done, nothing. But he says, can continue to do this. Keep this up as often as you can. Remember this moment. [00:43:10] (26 seconds) #RememberTheMeal

What else can you do? What good deeds can you do to add to that? What righteousness can you bring to the table to say, look Jesus, look at me. I know I know you did all this stuff but look how I'm better than them so look at you, I deserve. Right? Right? Because that's where our heart goes, it's it's tempted to do that. Every last one of us in here, we are tempted to do that and you have to check yourself and say am I adding to what was done? Right? Or am I just operating from what was done? Those are different. [01:01:13] (29 seconds) #GraceNotWorks

The word communion is is two things there. You got com which is with and together and then you've got unis which is union or togetherness and oneness and union. And so, with so many things that divide us right now, whatever you want to take, scroll along your feed and take your pic. Right? With all the stuff that divides us right now, you can really look at that word communion and see that it actually means common unity. [00:49:13] (24 seconds) #CommunionIsUnity

This is beautiful. Never seen this before. Jesus waits for us. He says, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. I read that this week and it just shouted to me, I'm waiting for you. I will not eat it again until it's fulfilled in the kingdom of God. But in the meantime, I'm present by my spirit. I'll never leave or forsake you. I'm right there, two or three gather, all those promises. In the meantime, do this in remembrance of me as often as you can. [01:05:36] (40 seconds) #JesusIsWaiting

Am I just moving forward and saying this was done for me in great the truth is is is tough. You can't know how good the good news is unless you see how bad the bad news is. And that's and that But that grace allows me to step in and say thank you so much. Now, how do I go offer somebody else a seat at the table? Because you didn't have to do this for me. And I don't have to go do it for them. But because you did it for me, because I wanna be like you, I'm gonna go do it for them. Whoever them is. [01:01:42] (28 seconds) #PayItForwardGrace

Not just this ritualistic drink, is good. It's good to do ritual. It's not a problem. If the ritual is rooted in the right stuff, not a problem with that. But I wanna share not only, like Jesus is sharing his very life with us, I wanna share mine with you too. Take this and divide it among yourselves. [00:57:35] (15 seconds) #ShareLifeNotRitual

What unites us across time, space, generation, votes, war, bombs, politics, money, socioeconomics, algorithms, idols in out external and idols internal, what unites us across all of those things is a table where a seat was pulled out for you and me, where the Lord said, I will wash your feet if you sit down here. And we say, you shouldn't do that. And he says, if you don't let me do this, you missed the point of everything I did. And and if you let me do this, now I need you to go do it for others. [01:04:12] (36 seconds) #UnityAtTheTable

If you're saying, I'm good with the moral stuff, but I don't know about Jesus as Lord and God yet, then no pressure to do this. In fact, I encourage you not to. You don't have to impress anybody, and nobody's gonna look at you sideways. But I I want you to come fully aware of the cost that was paid for you and what the cost of discipleship is. Christ gave up everything for me. I give up everything for him. I turn from my sin that he paid for. I repent and believe in my savior who gave his life as a ransom for many. I wanna be in the many. [01:06:51] (30 seconds) #CountTheCost

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What is the deeper purpose of communion?

Why did Jesus connect communion to Passover?

What does the new covenant in his blood mean?