Refraining from Communion (Devotional Notes)
I was reading Leviticus 10 this morning, and two passages caught my attention (emphasis added):
8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”
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16 Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? 18 Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.” 19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?” 20 And when Moses heard that, he approved.
First, I know I’ve read this scripture before, but it just never dawned on me that God ever talked to Aaron. I always thought He talked to Moses. But, choosing a priest that He would never talk to seems rather absurd to me suddenly. Aaron must have really cleaned up his act from Exodus, where he helped forge the golden calf! And verses 16 to 20 tell us the extent to which he cleaned it up!
I see a direct parallel between Aaron’s eating of the sin offering and the institution of communion. I wonder if the apostles saw it, too. I think they must have.
I have long asserted that whenever you see what appears to be a uniquely Christian institution or principle in the New Testament, it is likely to have been an Old Testament concept first… and eating the body of your sin offering is clearly an Old Testament concept!
“But wait a minute! Doesn’t that only apply to priests? Communion is for everyone who is saved, not just for priests.” True enough, but several times in Revelation, John describes the saved as priests:
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. — Rev. 1:6
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. — Rev. 5:10
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. — Rev. 20:6
In other words, the role of priest, and their eating of the sin offering was foretelling the relationship with God that all people would one day have open to them.
Now, look back at Lev. 10:16-20. Aaron refused to eat the sin offering because he did not believe it would please God, despite God’s command to do it… and he was right!
In Lev. 10:1-3, Aaron lost his sons, who died from their disobedience. In verses 4-7, Aaron had to watch his sons’ dead bodies be carried away by his cousins Mishael and Elzaphan, who were now instructed to watch out for their own lives. Next, in 8-11, God talked directly to Aaron, instructing him to refrain from wine and strong drink before entering the tent of meeting, lest he die. Clearly, this was not a good day for Aaron. He may have held his peace, as described in verse 3, but I think he was pretty nervous. Whether he was not right with God in his heart, or was simply distracted, the fact is that he could not at that moment partake of the sin sacrifice with sincerity… and that is how seriously God wants us to take the partaking of communion.
As God was telling Aaron, wine is not there for us to be drunk in God’s presence. Why do you suppose, Aaron might want to be drunk? I think the stress of his day explains that! But later, Jesus would give that wine new meaning… it was (symbolically) His blood. We are to drink it in remembrance of Him. The unleavened bread, like the sin offering, is (symbolically) His body. We are to eat it in remembrance of Him… but I believe that requires a right heart. Without a right heart, it is mere obedience. Aaron could have obeyed, but he understood the purpose of God’s instruction, and when he explained to Moses why he could not partake, Moses backed him up. More importantly, so did God. How do I know?
Beyond the fact that Jesus teaches us that it is the heart that God sees, notice that Aaron’s “disobedience” (if you want to call it that) did not get him killed. It certainly kept him out of a state of communion with the Lord, but then partaking of it would not have changed that. Aaron needed his heart to be in the right place, and God honored that by letting him keep his life. I have no doubt that Aaron eventually got to the place where he could eat of the sin offering with an attitude that would honor God.
The next time you partake of communion, I invite you to examine yourself. Examine your heart, and ask whether you are doing this because the people around are doing so. Ask yourself if you are going through such a hard time that you simply cannot partake out of thankfulness; be honest, because God already knows. This is not some law for you to follow, or an argument that improper partaking negates Christ’s sacrifice. It is not to argue that God will burn you up or withhold His blessings from you. I have taken communion because those around me were doing it, and I am still here, but I didn’t leave church that day aligned with Him. I have also taken the bread and the wine (usually matzah and grape juice), and at the last second was given the right heart with which partake, a heart I didn’t have when the plate went by.
Because only you know how your relationship with God works, these aren’t guidelines for whether to watch the plate pass; please take the wine and bread as it goes by. Then pray. This is an exhortation to, with the wine and bread in your had, examine your heart. Give the concerns of that day, even that moment, over to God, and ask Him for the ability to partake communion with a heart of love, a heart of gratefulness, an inner attitude that would ultimately glorify Him, in memory of the loving sin offering He gave for you. If after that prayer, you are not right, then refrain. Make amends with those you need to. Pray and fast if you must. Read your scripture. David probably wrote a Psalm about where you are at!
God has given you an action to do… communion. But it isn’t that action that makes you right with God. It is being right with God gives that action meaning. God has given you grace. Notice that God still spoke to Aaron; He will still speak to you. Just listen.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
We partake of the wine and the bread to remember as often as we do it
to remember His sacrifice for us and we do it because he commanded us to do it. I is not the literal body of Christ and His blood like RCC see it.
It is not a sacrament we have to do to be saved.
It is the new Passover Christ instituted for us to partake.
God Bless,
BrotherMark
February 18th, 2008 at 9:37 am
BrotherMark,
I agree with everything you wrote. My main point in my post is not meant to contradict it. I just think that it is not the obedience that gives the act meaning, but the heart with which it is done… but with the right heart, it is a command for us to obey.