Whenever we gather together to partake of the Lord’s Supper, I am automatically drawn to primitive Wesleyan hymnody as a helpful guide for how to approach the sacrament. While the tendency seems to be to relegate the Lord’s Supper to something marginal in the life of the church, to the Wesleys and the early Methodists it was actually central to life in the body of Christ. Consider this stanza from Hymns on the Lord’s Supper on how the sacrament is the Lord’s “choicest instrument” to convey his blessings on people:
Glory to Him who freely spent, His blood that we might live, And through this choicest Instrument, Doth all his blessings give. (HLS 42:1)
It is true that God takes pleasure in fasting and prayer, and He certainly conveys His grace through other channels, but for the early Methodists it is chiefly in the Lord’s Supper that both believers and sinners alike receive grace:
Fasting he doth and Hearing bless, And prayer can much avail, Good Vessels all to draw the Grace, Out of Salvation’s Well. But none like this Mysterious Rite, Which dying Mercy gave, Can draw forth all his promis’d Might, And all his Will to save. This is the richest Legacy, Thou hast on Man bestow’d, Here chiefly, Lord, we feed on Thee, And drink thy precious Blood. (HLS 42:2-4)
As we gather today to partake the elements, let us be keenly aware that what we are doing is more than merely a memorial. It is at this sacred table where all of God’s blessings – past, present, and future – may be found:
Here all thy Blessings we receive, Here all thy Gifts are given; To those that would in Thee believe, Pardon, and Grace, and Heaven. (HLS 42:5)
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