Author: Brian Burdett

Brian Burdett serves as the Lead Pastor of the Lake Ridge Baptist Church in Lake Ridge, Virginia. He's very much a work in progress by the grace and Spirit of God.

Why We’re Celebrating the Lord’s Supper in A Parking Lot (and Not at Home)

Posted on by Brian Burdett

I’ve never blogged before, as you’ll quickly discern. Frankly, I’ve never felt that I had that much to talk about on a regular basis (beyond what I already say on Saturday nights, Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights). However, we’re in a strange new season and suddenly there’s an awful lot I’d like to “think out loud” about. So I’m going to give it a try and I hope you’ll think out loud with me.

Mostly I plan to use this blog to unpack my thoughts about the changes I expect to stick around for awhile in the world and culture around us because of COVID-19. I will explore how “the church” in general, and one little church in particular in Lake Ridge, Virginia, should respond to these changes to better shine the light of Jesus Christ into the dark world around us.

But first, I thought I’d explain why we’re celebrating the Lord’s Supper in our parking lot this Sunday, rather than at home as many churches have done. The answer requires some biblical reflection on what the Lord’s Supper is and how it’s meant to be observed.

My brief answer is that the Lord’s Supper is a remembrance and celebration by the gathered body of Christ of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, observed by partaking bread and drink symbolizing the broken body and shed blood of Christ by which He established the New Covenant of grace. In his helpful little book, Understanding the Lord’s Supper, Bobby Jamieson more formally defines it as

The Lord’s Supper is a church’s act of communing with Christ and each other and of commemorating Christ’s death by partaking of bread and wine, and a believer’s act of receiving Christ’s benefits and renewing his or her commitment to Christ and his people, thereby making the church one body and marking it off from the world.

In this time of social distancing, many churches have celebrated the Lord’s Supper online in individual homes, either with materials on hand, elements provided by the church, or elements baked in the home. I have no doubt these were meaningful spiritual experiences for all involved. However, I am not convinced those experiences are actually the Lord’s Supper. I realize I’m in the minority on this and may be considered needlessly inflexible and doctrinaire. I can live with that until convinced by Scripture otherwise (which is certainly possible).

I believe the Bible teaches that the Lord’s Supper is far more than an individual experience. Rather, as we unpack 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, the Lord’s Supper is meant to be experienced in the context of the gathered local church. It’s meant to remind us and reaffirm the unity of the local body of Christ. We are commanded to discern (look around, seeing, hearing, and feeling) that unified body. We cannot do so from the comfort of our homes:

  • 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.“
  • 1 Corinthians 11:17-18, “But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you…”
  • 1 Corinthians 11:20, “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.“
  • 1 Corinthians 11:29, “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.“
  • 1 Corinthians 11:33, “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another“

1 Corinthians 10-11 is the Bible’s most definitive teaching regarding the practice of the Lord’s Supper. As you can see, the emphasis is on coming together as the body, the local church. That can certainly be done in groups of 10 or 20 hiding from persecution. I believe it can be done in groups of 10 or 20 meeting together in a home to reduce danger during a pandemic. But coming together as the gathered body of Christ isn’t something a single person or family can do at home while sheltering in place.

The elements aren’t what make the Lord’s Supper the Lord’s Supper. There is nothing special about the bread we eat or the juice we drink. Anything that appropriately symbolizes the body and blood of Christ will serve.

The pastors and deacons aren’t what make the Lord’s Supper the Lord’s Supper. We are just ordinary people, though called by God to serve in a specific capacity in the local church.

The body of Christ gathered to celebrate the broken body and shed blood of our Savior and marveling at the unity Christ died to create within us, that’s what makes the Lord’s Supper the Lord’s Supper. We could certainly use music, prayer, and preaching to create a spiritually meaningful simultaneous consumption of bread and juice in our individual homes, but it wouldn’t be the Lord’s Supper. And so we gather in a parking lot so that we may look around and see our brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice that in Him we are one, and remember what it cost to make that happen.

As a pastor, I could be wrong, but if I’m going to be wrong, I want to be wrong on the side of theological caution in regards to the Lord’s Supper. Why? Because 1 Corinthians 11:27 warns, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.”

We Can’t Fix the Country

Posted on by Brian Burdett

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” – Judges 21:25

The people of Israel failed to embrace God as their king, which was a required “part of the deal” in their covenant with God. The book of Judges reveals the terrible effects of that rejection of God’s authority: tribalism, idolatry, mistrust and abuse of others, misplaced loyalty, violence, sexual sin, moral relativism, human trafficking, human degradation, destruction, and civil war.

That sounds a lot like where we are today as we see and consume the poisoned fruit of radical autonomy’s mantra, “you do you, I’ll do me.” As followers of Christ, we must recognize that the way out of this is for everyone to recognize and obey the Lordship of Jesus. But wait before hitting the like button…

The way out of this mess begins with Christians really, truly committing to stop doing whatever seems right in our own eyes and truly kneel in submission before King Jesus. We need to get our own hearts, lives, and priorities right first.

Then we must do what we’ve been commanded to do by our King: make disciples of Him. If you lament the state of your country and long for her to be a “Christian” nation, please understand that biblically that isn’t a thing. Not in the New Testament. Countries aren’t Christian, people are.

A nation is Christian when all its citizens genuinely embrace Christ. The solution to our problems isn’t to “fix the country” or return to some past golden age. The solution is for followers of Christ to reach individuals, millions of individuals reached one at a time with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We do need to fix our broken culture and fallen world, but we don’t get to outsource that hard work to politicians or parties, because the solution isn’t political, it’s gospel. It’s not national, it’s personal.

Don’t Walk in the Dark

Posted on by Brian Burdett

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” – John 8:12

Even as light streams through the window and birds chirp on a spring morning, we must acknowledge that this is a dark world. There is the darkness of uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, finances, safety, health, freedom, policy, facts, and even truth itself. There is the darkness of loneliness, fear, despair, and depression. There is the darkness of anger, hatred, evil, and death very much at work in the world.

The more we try to figure things out ourselves and chart our own course, the deeper we eventually wind up in the darkness. But there is light! There is light available to all who embrace it: the light of Jesus Christ. Embrace Him as Lord and Savior. If you truly follow Him and what He taught as you navigate this dark and uncertain world, you will stay in the light. Jesus brings light into the dark places and when we follow Him, His light is always with us.

We will still have seasons of uncertainty, confusion, doubt, and despair. The darkness will always try to surround us. In those times we must resolve to simply follow Jesus – despite our uncertainty, confusion, doubt, and despair. Rather than wander off, we must follow closer in faith. Even when we don’t understand why He leads us as He does, we must commit to follow Him and we’ll eventually realize that as we do, we were and are, always in the light.

Forget the Condemnation

Posted on by Brian Burdett

“And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’” – John 8:7

Sin is very serious and must be dealt with. And it has been. The point Jesus so vividly teaches is that everyone has a sin problem – we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and standard for our lives (Romans 3:23). That’s a very, very serious problem because the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). On the topic of sin, we must look at ourselves before looking at others. Rather than condemning someone to die for his or her sin, we need to truly realize that we deserve eternal death for our sin, yet Christ was condemned to die for it instead.

Our sin separated us from God, leaving us spiritually dead. On our own, we cannot permanently defeat our sin, much less pay the penalty for it. However, Christ died on the cross to pay our penalty and to defeat the power of sin over us. He never sinned, but died so that in God’s judgment we would be forgiven for our sins. This is the gift of God’s grace that’s given to everyone who truly believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior. As we become more keenly aware of our sin and Who dealt with it for us, it should move us from a heart of condemnation to a heart of restoration toward those still trapped in their sin. We should desire to offer that gift of grace to those who, like us, are sinful. We are not to turn a blind eye toward sin, but rather in recognizing it, we must offer the life-giving cure for sin, rather than the life-robbing condemnation of a fellow sinner.

Real Words of Wisdom

Posted on by Brian Burdett

“The Jews therefore marveled, saying, ‘How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?’ So Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.’” – John 7:15-16

Though we certainly aren’t Jesus, there is a valuable lesson here for every follower of Christ. We don’t have to be as wise as God to sound wise – we simply need to speak the Word of God. Because of the power of God’s Word, we don’t have to be the smartest or best educated person in the room to speak, teach, and give advice impactfully. Indeed, some of the smartest people wind up looking ridiculous as they strain all belief and contort all logic to evade, distort, or dismiss God’s Word and wisdom.

Invest effort in knowing, speaking, and doing God’s Word. Make that effort daily and keep at it week after week, month after month, year after year. One day you’ll look up and be surprised as where you are compared to where you once were. People will marvel at your knowledge and wisdom and like Jesus you can respond, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.”