Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is, "Helpless." I read from Romans 5: 6-11 (NLT). All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
There is powerful imagery associated with the word “helpless.” Before we can even begin to define helpless, our minds are filled immediately with images of helplessness. With our words, we try to describe what we see. Helpless is not a pretty sight. I see a common thread in all these images. The helpless person has no power within themselves to affect the situation they are in. For example. A newborn baby has no power to save itself. An elderly man or woman with dementia has no power to save themselves. A terminal cancer patient who has exhausted all treatment options has no power to save themselves. A sinner has no power to save themselves. All are helpless and need help. As human beings, we have the power to help the helpless, but there is no human being that can save the sinner. As humans, we often fall short and approach providing help with filters. Does the helpless person deserve our help? Is he or she worthy of being helped? Is the predicament they are in of their own doing? Is the person an enemy, and should I offer help to my enemies? Paul addresses human filters in his letter to the Romans and contrasts them with the help of God. By whatever algorithm you use, human beings in toto are dirty, rotten scoundrels and undeserving of any help from God. But that is how God is different. He saw how utterly helpless we were and sent His Son to die for the human race. He provided a way for us to be “made right” with Him and delivered us from our rightful condemnation. Even more, He made us His friends. The helpless sinner was helped, and for those who have been delivered, it is the greatest source of joy in our lives and worthy of all our gratitude. Where in the world would we be now without Jesus? Jesus let us know one way in which we could show our gratitude to Him. He asked that we set aside a time to partake of bread and drink wine from a cup to remember His suffering and death on a cross for us. No longer helpless, but helped, helped by God. Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, we all recall the moment when we realized our helpless state. We came to realize that we were sinners condemned to death, and we were powerless to help ourselves. But in our moment of greatest need, we heard the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and were saved by faith in Him. Yes, Abba, Father, we are filled with gratitude, and as we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember Your Son, Jesus. In His name I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!
