by Penn Clark
COMMUNION ON THE MOON
There is a little known "first" which took place when man landed on the moon with the Apollo 11 space mission. Buzz Aldrin had been given a small communion set by his pastor to take to the moon in his personal preference kit. After the Eagle touched down, Aldrin took out the communion set, laid out the elements, asked Houston for a few moments of silence and took communion alone on the moon. I think this is a great testimony of how we should look for ways to honor the Lord in all we do. It is also interesting to me that the first thing man ever did on the moon was to take communion.
While I think that is a neat historical fact, I am troubled when I think of how many Christians take communion each month who are just as removed from the rest of the Body as a man on the moon. They remain aloof, not entering into real fellowship with others. They stay alone or in their clique. They choose to leave their conflicts unresolved, leaving many barriers and walls up. Worse yet, they are not able to enter into the fullest fellowship with Jesus, which is communicated through His body. Yet, these same people would not miss a communion service. They might as well be taking communion on the moon!
In many of our churches, we take communion selfishly. Usually we are told that before we take communion, we are to remember that Jesus died "for you”. While this is true, do you notice that this was not what Paul emphasized at Corinth? He was using communion to remind them that Jesus died for the other guy, so they would treat each other differently. Communion certainly can be used to reflect upon the forgiveness Jesus provided through His shed blood. Yet, if that is all I take time to remember, how it benefits me, it is selfish. I should remember that He died for those with whom I struggle. That is something I forget all the time.
Nothing brings all classes and stations of life, all races, and both genders together like the blood of Jesus. He paid one price for all of us. It is the one point of entrance into the grace that we must all pass through. His blood is the great unifier! Yet this is something I am always forgetting. When I fail to remember these things, and take communion thinking only of myself, I might as well be taking communion on the moon!
For a believer to celebrate communion with one hand, and hold his brothers and sisters at a distance with the other, is to take communion unworthily. He might as well be an unbeliever because his attitude is the same. It is not only hypocrisy, it nullifies the very reason Jesus shed His blood and allowed His body to be broken. What can be more unworthy than lifting the glass to the Lord, to celebrate what Jesus has accomplished, then looking down your nose at those for whom He died? This is showing contempt for what Jesus did on the cross. Imagine having communion while rejecting those for whom Christ died? This is unworthy!
To read more of my study notes on Communion, click here:
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