There are mysteries and there are mysteries. The New Testament mysteries are the revelation of truths previously hidden (Eph. 3:9-11; Col. 1:26; 1 Pet. 1:11-12). But it is another kind of mystery I am thinking about today. The kind nobody can explain. These are mysteries observed around the breaking of bread meeting. Maybe you have noticed them, too. Here are seven:
1. That Christians should be absent from the meeting. It is a time appointed by the Lord to meet to remember Him. And yet some believers feel justified in being absent for the most trivial reasons on a regular basis. It is a mystery that believers should determine not to be there.
2. That the meeting should have long, fruitless silences. At times it is evident there has been little thought given to the Lord in anticipation of the meeting. Is it possible we cannot find one single truth concerning the Lord Jesus and His work that the Holy Spirit could bring out in our worship? What a mystery are fruitless silences.
3. That there is never a time of contemplative silence. There have been wonderful times around the table when it seems the brethren cannot be contained in expressions of worship. So full are the hearts of all the Lord’s people that worship, audibly expressed, flows like a river. But not all meetings are like this. While there can be fruitless, barren silence, there can be rich moments of quiet contemplation when every heart is drawn to Christ. This is not the time for impetuous blurting out of a hymn, but to be still in His presence. There have been times when you can hardly digest the thoughts of one hymn and you are on to another. The truth of some meditation is swept away with impatient demand for activity. Silence is not always golden, but sometimes it is.
4. That some brethren feel this meeting is a time for exposition, exhortation, or experience sharing. Well intentioned these things may be at other times, but this is neither the time nor the place for expository ministry on a passage of Scripture, nor is it the time to exhort the saints to Christian duty, or to ramble on with a story of personal experience. “This do in remembrance of Me,” were His words, not remembrance of thee.
5. That the Lord’s Supper should be a sing song. There are some beautiful hymnbooks around, containing rich expressions of worship that effectively capture the thoughts the Holy Spirit brings to us. And yet, sometimes the meeting seems to be one song after another. Brethren who should be rising to their feet with heartfelt expressions of worship (not eloquent expositions or prayers) are content to rely on the words of another on a continual basis. Don’t throw out the hymnbook. But don’t wear it out either.
6. That we should be so dull as to the Holy Spirit’s work in directing the worship. Do you think when believers meet for the express purpose of remembering the Lord that the Holy Spirit is uninterested or incapable of working? It is His delight to draw out willing hearts in worship, if only we will let Him. Often a meeting begins with a hymn or reading of Scripture that expresses some thought about the Lord. Another brother rises in prayer, emphasizing a similar line of thinking that has been brought to his mind. A sister is thinking about a scripture that also lines up with the same thoughts and, surprisingly, a young brother rises to read the same passage. And then it comes. A hymn or prayer or reading blurted out with exuberance that has nothing to do with the cumulative thoughts that have been expressed. Are we so dull? Is the Holy Spirit’s ministry so foreign to us?
7. That the close of the meeting should so quickly jump into misplaced hilarity. The meeting closes. We have been to the cross, the empty grave, the glory of heaven. Immediately there is an uproar of conversation and hilarity that is not the joy of the Lord but business as usual.
Yes, practical matters must be taken care of. But practical reverence demands a suitable conclusion to our worship. To rise in the presence of the Lord and audibly lead His people in worship is not something to be taken lightly. Nevertheless the solemnity of it all should not paralyze us either. We make mistakes, yet the Lord understands the heart. But neither let us be careless about the greatest privilege ever granted.