This week, I've posted more extended notes of my talk so that this post could be used as a reference for teens (or adults) who want some basic questions about The Lord's Supper or Water Baptism answered in a relatively easy-to-understand way.
This week, we looked at two of the strangest things you might witness if you were to go to church on a regular basis; THE LORD’S SUPPER, also known as COMMUNION or THE EUCHARIST, and WATER BAPTISM. These are two rites or traditions that are practiced by probably 98% of all churches…and you may have even seen them yourself….BUT WHAT DO THEY MEAN, and WHY DO CHRISTIANS DO THEM?
1. BREAD & WINE (COMMUNION, THE LORD’S SUPPER)
The Lord's Supper involves eating and drinking bread and wine. Generally, at some point during a service, people will pass around bread and wine as you’re sitting down, although in some churches they might even ask you to leave your seat and go up to the front to get the bread and wine yourself! Now, it’s not always bread and wine. Some churches substitute the bread for crackers or something gluten free, and a lot of churches use grape juice instead of wine because they want as many people as possible to participate and don’t want to serve something that contains alcohol to an alcoholic.
When I was a little kid and my family started going to church, I thought the LORD’S SUPPER was one of the weirdest things ever! I mean, it was kind of like having a snack time in church…but it wouldn’t happen every week…usually only once-a-month, and when they passed the “snack” around, they weren’t giving you a bowl or even a handful (you know, enough to tide you over until lunch), but they would want you to take just ONE SMALL PIECE. Then, when they passed around the grape juice, they weren’t handing out juice boxes, but they had these SUPER TINY cups of juice that barely contained a mouthful! I don’t think I had ever seen cups that small before! And THEN, when they gave us this microscopic “snack”, we were supposed to hold onto it until everyone got theirs and the pastor said it was ok…and then EVERYONE would eat or drink it at the same time! You can see why the Lord’s Supper is a pretty weird thing for people who’ve never been a part of a church service before.
As I got older, I began to understand that this wasn’t some weird monthly snack time where we all pretend that we’re giants holding tiny food, but that there’s ACTUALLY a reason why Christians take part in the Lord’s Supper—in fact, they’ve been doing it for a COUPLE THOUSAND YEARS! In the Bible, it tells us that just before Jesus was arrested and crucified on a cross, he shared a last meal with his disciples. You’ve probably seen the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting that depicts it! The Last Supper is actually recorded by FIVE different authors in FIVE different books of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and 1 Corinthians)- which rarely happens…so that gives us some clue as to how important it is.
Now this wasn’t just some normal meal. Things got a bit weird, because after Jesus passed out a piece of bread to all of his disciples, he said “THIS IS MY BODY THAT’S BEEN BROKEN FOR YOU. EAT IT REGULARLY TO REMEMBER ME” (Luke 22:19)! That’s kind of a weird thing to say, isn’t it—the bread was his body and we should eat it? Jesus then passed around a cup of wine and told his disciples, “THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE COVENANT. IT IS POURED OUT TO FORGIVE THE SINS OF MANY PEOPLE”. DRINK IT REGULARLY TO REMEMBER ME! (Matthew 26:28) I’m sure the disciples were thinking, “What in the world is Jesus talking about here? Why is he calling the bread his BODY? Why is he talking about drinking his blood? That’s just messed up!" Jesus finished by saying, “TAKE PART IN THESE THINGS TO REMEMBER ME. WHEN YOU DO THIS, YOU’RE ANNOUNCING MY DEATH UNTIL I RETURN AGAIN” (1 Cor 11:26)
So, first things first—Jesus wasn’t actually telling his disciples that cannibalism is ok, but he was saying that the bread and wine were symbols of what would happen to him. The disciples wouldn’t have understood it at the time, but just hours later, Jesus would be arrested, beaten, and tortured and he would die on a cross- and EVEN BEFORE ALL THAT HAPPENED, Jesus was saying that something pretty amazing would happen through his death. God was going to make a way for all of us to be forgiven of our sins and have our broken relationship with God restored.
While Jesus was passing out the bread and wine to his disciples, he was telling them to “DO THIS OFTEN TO REMEMBER ME”. So, that’s why Christians all over the world regularly participate in the Lord’s Supper. It’s important that we REMEMBER how much we need Jesus and what he did for us! At our last CATALYST we talked about how sin (this tendency to go our own way instead of God’s way) dirties us up, pollutes us, and separates us from God—but through what Jesus did on the cross, God offers us a brand new start—a chance to be clean and have our sins forgiven!
Generally, the things you do REGULARLY are things that are essential for survival—eating, breathing, working, bathing….and Jesus is saying that it’s really important for us to REGULARLY remember our need for him! We need to REGULARY remember how much God loves us—and how, when we mess up, he wants to forgive us and clean us back up again. So, the next time you see the Lord’s Supper happening at a church—now you know- it’s not miniature snack time, but it’s a time where we think about our need for Jesus and thank him for what he did for us!
2. WATER BAPTISM
The other thing you might see in churches is this strange thing called Water Baptism. Water Baptism is such an important part of the church that most churches actually have "baptismal tanks" installed somewhere near the stage--that's right- they actually work it right into the building design! That's not always the case though- some churches will baptize people in lakes, rivers or swimming pools! Wherever water is handy!
Water Baptism generally involves someone getting in front of the whole church and stepping into a giant tub of water (which is kind of odd, because we don’t normally get in a tub with an audience watching—but this is different than that—you have to wear clothes!). Then, the pastor will usually say a few words and actually DUNK the person underwater! (which sounds like a pretty fun perk of the job, but the pastor doesn’t hold them underwater though—it’s usually a pretty quick ‘down and up’). When the person comes out of the water—the whole church is usually cheering and screaming and celebrating! You’ll never forget the first time you see something like that, because it just seems so bizarre!
So, why do people get baptized in water? Why do people cheer and celebrate when it happens? Well, the first time we hear about baptism in the Bible, this guy named John (who is actually known to us as JOHN THE BAPTIST) is telling people by the riverside that they need to turn from sin and make their lives right with God, and when people were deciding to do this, John was dunking them underwater in the river as a symbol that their sins had been washed away! Matthew 3 (along with a few other places in the Bible) tells us that right before Jesus began to teach people about God and do miracles, he asked John to baptize him. At first John didn’t want to do it, because he knew that Jesus wasn’t just some ordinary dude—Jesus didn’t have any sin to be forgiven---but Jesus told him that it was important. When John baptized Jesus, something amazing happened. The Bible says that people heard THE VOICE OF GOD—OUT LOUD—say, “THIS IS MY SON, AND I LOVE HIM. I AM VERY PLEASED WITH HIM.” (Matthew 3:16-17) and then the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove (which meant that people somehow visibly noticed the power and presence of God landing on him...not that an actual bird perched on his head.)
In Matthew 28:19-20, it tells us that after Jesus died and rose again, he gave his disciples a special mission- “GO INTO THE WORLD, SHARE THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD’S LOVE WITH OTHERS, AND BAPTIZE THEM!”…so the disciples started doing that right away! In the Book of Acts alone, it tells us 6 different times that when people believed in Jesus, the next step was that they were baptized in water right away! (Acts 2:41; 8:12; 8:38; 10:48; 16:15; 16:33; 19:35)
Just like the Lord’s Supper, Baptism is a symbol. It symbolizes how through Jesus, God has cleaned us up and given us a brand new start. Getting dunked in water doesn’t actually wash your sins away, it doesn’t do anything magical, but it’s a symbol of what God has done on the inside! It’s also a way for you to make a public declaration that you’re a Christian- someone who has decided to follow Jesus. So, that’s the reason why people get baptized in church- that’s the reason why people will cheer and be all excited about it-- because it’s that person saying, “Jesus has forgiven me and I’m serious- I want to follow him with my life”.
Now, there are some churches that baptize babies (including ours), but FUN FACT- that’s more of a church tradition—it actually never specifically mentions babies being baptized anywhere in the Bible. It does tell us in a few places that families were baptized (Acts 16:15; 16:33), but it never specifically mentions children, and in those cases, baptism happened after people believed in Jesus, so while you COULD argue that infants were baptized, it's a bit of a stretch.
Usually, when a baby is baptized, the parents bring their baby to the front of the church and instead of dunking them underwater, the pastor sprinkles them with a little bit of water. When churches baptize a baby, it’s a way to ask God to bless that baby, that he/she would grow to know and follow Jesus, and it’s a way to welcome the new addition to the church community. It’s also an opportunity for the parents to make a promise to raise their child in a way that they would know and follow Jesus when they’re older and it’s an opportunity for the congregation (the people in the church) to promise to help those parents and that child!
Now, because it doesn’t mention anywhere in the Bible about babies being baptized and that, in the Bible, water baptism always happened after someone made a personal decision to follow Jesus, most churches do BABY DEDICATIONS instead (which is exactly the same thing but doesn’t involve water). At Arlington Woods, we do both- depending on what the parents prefer—but they mean the same thing. That said, unless you go to a Roman Catholic church (which almost exclusively baptizes babies), you’re way more likely to see older kids or adults being baptized—something people do when they are old enough to understand the decision they’re making.
So there you have it. This week we looked at two rituals that most churches do on a regular basis. Churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper regularly to remember what Jesus did and remind ourselves how much we depend on God’s love and forgiveness. Because Jesus told us to do it regularly (probably because we're so forgetful), that's why most churches do it at least once-a-month when they get together. Water baptism is a public declaration of the change that Jesus has made in our lives- again, something Jesus told us to do and something that was done all through the New Testament!
So, if you’re a Christian—if you’ve asked God to forgive you and have invited Jesus into your life, deciding to follow him, you’re someone who can take part in the Lord’s Supper when it happens. If you've never been baptized in water before, you should really consider it. Talk to your parents (if you're a teen) or a pastor about it. It’s not something that you need to do to be saved from sin. It’s not a requirement for getting into heaven, but it’s something Jesus told us to do as a way of showing and telling others that we love God and want to follow him with our lives.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR HOME
1. Ask your teen about what they learned about The Lord's Supper and Water Baptism this week! If your teen hasn't been baptized, share with them your experience when (if) you were baptized. Why did you do it? Why was it meaningful? If you were baptized as a baby, talk to your teens about why your parents thought that was important. Encourage them that baptism isn't something someone forces you to do- it's something you do when you're old enough to understand your decision to love and follow Jesus. If they're interested in being baptized, have a chat with your pastor about it!
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