Sermon - January 31, 2010
31 January 2010
Topic: MEAL – Embodiment of Christ
Today, we will be receiving Christ in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine. Today, even if you don’t see the face of Christ in another person, or hear of his saving grace in the scripture readings or this sermon, Christ promises to come to you and me in the meal we will share. Christ makes himself known each and every time we gather at this altar. We have this promise. We have this reality before each and every week we gather in this place.
I am giving the fourth sermon in a series of five sermons on why we do what we do in worship on a Sunday morning. The first sermon talked about how our liturgy, our worship, can lead to faith formation. The second sermon was about our how our gathering helps us to focus on the Word and the Meal that come later. Last week, I spoke about the Word and how that Word is delivered to us in a variety of ways. Today, I will speak about the pinnacle of our worship, the MEAL of Jesus.
Indeed, it was on the night in which Jesus was betrayed, the night before he died on the cross, that he gathered his disciples into one room for a final conversation and meal. In the midst of their conversation, it the midst of their meal, Jesus took some bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke the bread, and gave it to each of the disciples and said, “Take and eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”
And then, he took a cup of wine from the table, blessed it, gave it for all to drink, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.”
The disciples in that room must have been absolutely overwhelmed by what Jesus said. First, they didn’t really understand that this was their “Last Supper” with Jesus, and they certainly didn’t grasp that the body and blood of which he was speaking would be broken and shed in very real terms the very next day.
The “communion meal” which Jesus gave his disciples was something brand new in their experience. No doubt, they had sat at table with Jesus many other times. But this time, Jesus said some things at the meal that literally changed the way they, and we, believe.
Jesus said, “This is my body. This is my blood. Eat it and drink it remembrance of me.” And from that day forward, Christians began feasting on the very Presence of Christ as he comes to us in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine.
We literally take Jesus at his word when he says, “This is my body, this is my blood.” That’s why we can confidently come to this table, week in and week out, knowing He is here among us. It is also why we take on a new persona as we “take Christ into our bodies.” By “taking in Christ,” Christ’s body becomes part of our body and we, by our actions in the world, become embodied sacraments.
Mother Teresa, who worked among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India just a few years ago said this about her work, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is a hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is a sick Jesus. I must bring some healing to him. “ Mother Teresa saw Jesus in the face of every human being.
Like Mother Teresa, with respect to Haiti, we could say, through our donations and by our prayer, we have been serving Jesus. As members of the Body of Christ, indeed, as people who embody Christ in who we are and what we do, we become sacraments to those who need love and healing wherever in the world.
I want to say three things about the way Lutherans today celebrate what we call Holy Communion.
First, over the last 100 years, the Lutheran Church across the world has been undergoing liturgical renewal and has been re-establishing the norm of celebrating Holy Communion at each and every Sunday service, each and every week. This renewal has taken on greater numbers of adherents in the last 50 years, but probably none more than in the last 10 years. Why?
Because, as the book of Acts tells us, the earliest church gathered each week for “the breaking of bread and prayers,” (Acts 2:42) This “breaking of bread” was Holy Communion and it reminded them of the life, death, and resurrection of their Lord and Savior. It helped create and sustain community, and it energized the earliest Christians for mission.
The disciples, from their Jewish background, were very accustomed to worship that included the singing of hymns, reading of scripture, a sermon and prayers. Now they had something that was uniquely Christian to add to their worship, namely, the MEAL which Jesus gave them on the night of his betrayal.
This congregation, Good Shepherd, has been celebrating weekly Holy Communion at each and every Sunday service for almost 20 years. Christ has graced himself upon us each and every time we gather. If you haven’t seen Christ yet today, you will when you come to the MEAL. If you haven’t encountered the Risen Christ anywhere else today, you will when you come to the MEAL. For Christ promises to be present to us in, with and under the forms of bread and wine each and every time we receive the MEAL.
Secondly, I want to say something about who should be receiving Holy Communion. As many of you have heard me say at funerals and at weddings when people from other denominations are present for the service, I say what Lutherans believe, namely, “This table is not so much a Lutheran table as it is the Lord’s Table. As such, everyone who believes Christ is present in the bread and wine is invited to receive at this table.”
We come to this table at the invitation of Christ. And insofar as I understand Christ, Christ welcomes all to feast upon his presence, welcomes all to receive the forgiveness of sins, and welcomes all to fellowship with others who also believe.
Children are included in this invitation. We all know the admonition of Jesus when the disciples wanted the children to leave Jesus alone. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of heaven belongs.” (Matthew 19:14) Hence, we invite children to commune. Right now we prepare third graders for the reception of Holy Communion but the Lutheran Church actually has no age barrier for the reception of Christ’s MEAL. In fact, some argue that if we can baptize infants, why can’t we commune infants? The Orthodox Church communes children as soon as they are able to eat. Our congregation council is going to wrestle with this very subject at our next council meeting.
Finally, I want to say something about this feast which is but a “foretaste of the feast to come.” In our creed, we say, “I believe in the communion of saints.” We also know of the scripture references to heaven as a place where a huge and magnificent banquet awaits all who believe.
If, indeed there is a communion of saints, and if, indeed there is a banquet in heaven that awaits, then, our eating and drinking here at this table is a wonderful way for us to commune with those who have gone before us. Our loved ones, our friends, our fellow believers, all who have died and are in heaven commune with us when we gather at this table. For me, and I expect for you, there is great comfort in knowing that Jesus gave us a wonderful MEAL that brings us close to those whom we love.
So we gather in worship to focus on God’s Word and to receive the Meal which Jesus gave us. Next week, we I will conclude this series of sermons and talk about what it means to a disciple of Christ and to be sent back into the world from which we have come. AMEN