Two thoughts dominate me in this very solemn hour.
The first is the clear sense of my call to the ministry of the word of God.
It first came to me over twelve years ago and took me from a future in the Engineering profession. It was that which took me to New Guinea, and which now has brought me to Newstead.
The second is the deep consciousness of the meaning of the Church of which I am a member.
This came to me later, first while I was engaged in my theological training, and it has since grown stronger.
It came first following a quotation that my College Principal made in the course of a lecture. He called the Church “the continuation of the incarnation of Jesus Christ,” and every word burned in my mind and has continued to burn since.
To me now it means that you, who are members of the Church, and I, are not only representatives of Christ on earth; we are collectively the continuation of the life that God sent to earth in His Son. We are the body of Christ. The living Christ lives on in us.
It means to me that this local church is a thing of incredible significance. For this Church is Christ living on incarnate in the world. It thinks with the mind of Christ, it feels with His hand, it sees with His eyes, it moves with His will.
These two thoughts possess me, and my prayer as I come among you is that I may be enabled to effectively preach His word, and also to share with you in making this place the true continuing expression of life of the Lord Christ.
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"And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
It was a dark and tragic moment when Judas, the traitor, went out of the lighted room—the evangelist very pointedly said, “and it was night.”
And yet, in that moment, the light in the room burned as brightly—and has been burning ever since.
For in that dark night Christ pledged himself to us—for ever.
The eternal Fount is hidden in Living Bread,
That we with Life eternal may be fed,
Although ’tis night.
And from that Upper Room there stretches an unbroken line of lights—down the centuries to our own day—which is, in fact, the same light.
Wherever the Church takes root, there its life is quickened, nourished, and displayed in the sacrament of the Lord’s supper.
Members come, and members go, but the same Christ is there, coming to His children with His forgiveness and His strength.
Here, we come around Him again, and we take the bread and wine from His hand, just the same as His other children took it from Him on that other night. We take it with gratitude and awe, and with great joy.
O Master, we believe it was also for us when Thou didst offer Thy disciples the wine in the Upper Room, and when Thou didst give to them the bread.
In faith we respond to Thy call to us to this fellowship meal, and we take from Thy hand this cup of salvation and this Bread of Life.
We thank Thee for this reminder of Thy love and life.
We stand in humility and awe as we hear again Thy words at the table, “This is my body and this is my blood,” and as we stand at the gate of Gethsemane, and as we look up at Thee, on the Cross.
We are filled with awe mingled with deep joy as we see the empty tomb, and as we hear Thee speak to us.
Fill us with Thy Spirit. Draw us to Thee as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we pray.
