There is a game I play called "I wonder what they were like." I wonder, what did Julius Caesar sound like when he spoke? I want to ask Napoleon how he lost the battle of Waterloo. I wonder what it would have been like to hear a Martin Luther tell a joke or teach a class.
And yet, there is no way really to win this game. No matter how much I read, study, travel I will never be able to know these great characters in the way I know any of you. I can only read of them and imagine them in my mind. Yet I know not the color of their hair, the smell of an embrace, the sound of their laugh, or the feel of their handshake. Many would put Jesus into this category
Maundy Thursday, however, destroys that thought. For on this night, the night of his betrayal, Jesus took bread, broke it and gave it to his disciples and told them to take and eat, this is my body, then took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to them saying, take drink this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for your for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
In this Supper, he gets to know his people and we get to know him exclusively. In it he satisfies our needs. Through it he unites all believers together as one body. Dear Friends, as we close our Lenten celebrations, I invite you to ponder this special participation in Christ, as St. Paul urges the Corinthians to do in our text for this evening.
Part I: It is an exclusive participation
As we turn to our text, listen to Paul's question to the Corinthians, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread we break a participation in the body of Christ?" In these words, Paul lays out for us the divine miracle of the Lord's Supper: We exclusively participate with the Lord Jesus Christ.
With these words of Paul, it is clear that at the Lord's Supper, under the species of bread and wine, we come into contact with the gracious, bodily presence of our Savior. It is an intimate participation of the very body and blood of our gracious Lord. And the purpose of this feast: Our groom embraces us again and tells us, "I love you." And with his blood on our lips and his body in our mouth, how can we doubt it?
Yet, it is also a chance for us to embrace our Savior. We embrace him with arms of faith. We squeeze him tight with our thanksgiving. We kiss his face with lip of praise. What an intimate meal this is, between Christ and the believer. This is the power of the Lord's Supper. We are given a taste again of our salvation and a foretaste of the glory waiting to be revealed in us. We give to him our praise and thanksgiving.
Yet, our Lord is a jealous God, and when he gives himself, it is to be an exclusive relationship. We heed the warning of Jeremiah, "How gladly I would treat you like sons and give you the most beautiful inheritance of any nation…but like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O House of Israel, declares the Lord."
How would you feel about a bride who brought a boyfriend to her wedding reception or left her groom standing at the altar? "What a harlot," the cry would ring out. Such is true of all of us if we attend this supper without recognizing this exclusive participation with Jesus and go to the supper unrepentant of our sins, or, just as bad, don't go at all!
Are we to be like the invited guests to the wedding banquet who make excuse upon excuse for not coming? I'm too busy with work. I've got my earthly family to take care of. I just don't feel like it. How lame and wicked such excuses! The Lord has graciously given his very self to death so that you might have life. He desires you participation and fellowship! Shame on us all when we abuse the supper by delinquency!
Or are we like the harlot of Haggai? Do prostitute ourselves at the supper by failing to recognize and repent of our sins. Do mechanically go through the motions without a though of Paul's warning to us, "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself."
Remember the Jesus Christ is really present here in this supper! Therefore, with humble hearts and thankful hands, go before him. And here, with repentance, we receive the most satisfying gifts that the human soul can desire!
Part II: It is a satisfying relationship
Let's take a look at our text again. What really is Paul referring to in this verse? He has to be referring to the words of institution of the Lord's Supper. Listen to another translation of this verse, "Is not the cup of blessing which we consecrate…" Paul is taking us back to the upper room where we see that inseparable from the body and blood of Christ are the blessings that go with it.
Many church fathers referred to the Lord's Supper as medicine for the soul. Others referred to it as streams of living water which cause us to thirst no more. Others still have made reference to the Lord's Supper giving nourishment. But all these references have the same basic thought: The Lord's Supper is a satisfying participation because it gives us something we are always sorely in need of: faith, forgiveness, release from guilt, freedom from sin and power to live a god-pleasing life.
In the Large Catechism, Luther writes, "Holy Communion is appropriately called food of the soul, for it nourishes and strengthens the new creature. We are born anew in baptism. However, flesh and blood have not lost their old skin. There are so many attacks upon us that we often grow weary and faint and even stumble. Therefore the Lord's Supper is given as daily food so that our faith may be strengthened and grow stronger and stronger."
Think of the Lord's Supper as a divine appraisal. To get an insurance policy on a ring you own, you need to go to a jeweler. No before you go, you have the ring. You recognize it has some value. But you are not adverse to changing the oil wearing it, washing your hands with your ring on, or even carelessly taking it off because you want to let your fingers breath a bit.
But when you go to the jeweler, he cleans the ring, and you see it sparkle like it never has before. Then he takes out his loop and examines it. Then he writes his appraisal. It is 10 times what you thought the ring was worth. Needless to say, you are no longer going to treat it shabbily, you are going to keep it clean, and make sure the insurance is up to date.
Participation at the Lord's Supper has the same effect on a believer's faith. Jesus Christ's atonement has value, much like a gold ring. But a gold ring has no value whatsoever unless the person wears the ring and recognizes its great worth. This is what faith is: seeing the great value of the salvation Christ has given me.
Faith, however, wavers. As Jesus told Peter, "The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!" Our old nature leads us to undervalue our faith, and if not stopped, will lead us too take off the gold ring of salvation and cast it aside completely. But the Lord's Supper is Christ Jesus himself telling us, "Given for you! Shed for you!" And in these words I realize all the blessings that come from faith in Christ: Salvation, forgiveness, and new life.
So, eagerly, I rise from the Supper thankful, encouraged and strengthened. My soul is healed, I grow in faith, and I am strengthened for Christian living. Only this Supper where I see my Lord faith to makes the beating heart of faith palpitate that much faster!
Part III: It is a unifying participation
Let us turn to our text once again, "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf." There is one final blessing that comes from this participation with Christ: believers are joined in true unity with each other!
Paul is focusing in these words on unifying power of the Lord's Supper displayed in our celebration. First, the celebration of the Lord's Supper shows our unity in the affirmation of the Real Presence of Christ in the Supper. We practice close communion, which means that all who come forward for reception have openly confessed they believe that Christ is really present in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper.
Secondly, our celebration of the Lord's Supper shows our unanimous confession of all Christ taught. What ties us together is not the single thread of belief in the real presence, but the unbreakable iron chain of all that Christ has taught. This is why confirmation instruction is more than just an explanation of the Lord's Supper. We are united in all that Christ has taught!
Finally, our celebration of the Lord's Supper shows our unity in sharing each others burdens, joys and sorrows. One of the things that break the heart of more than a few pastors and parishioners is when people forget what church is all about and what is the relationship between believers in the church. Too often, gossip, slander, cliques will form in a church because somebody did not do something in the church they liked.
Fights break out over where the flowers should be, what version of the Lord's Prayer should be used, how the snow was plowed and so on. And on the basis of these rifts, anger wells us, slander is spread, people stop coming to church in protest because they don't like this person or that, this service or that. And then the devil sits back with glee as we tear each other apart!
When you go to the supper, you see real bond of a Christian congregation: Faith. Therefore, more clearly than any other place, you see you were not called to bicker and as to who is the greatest in the kingdom of God, but to serve the Lord who served you and to love as God first loved us in Christ.
The supper is the great unifier of Christian Love and a reminder that, as far as it falls to you, to be at peace with all in the congregation. God did not call us out of the darkness of sin and death for such evil and wicked ways, but, with the gifts that God has given us, to serve our brother. When they sin, correct them. When they repent, restore them. When they carry a burden, be a friend to them, offer them help, and take their words and actions in the kindest possible way.
And with such a unity, we are fortified to stand against Satan. Think of a box of wooden matches. A single match has the power to strike a flame, but it is also easily snuffed, broken and discarded. But together, we can light many fire, we are not easily broken, lost or cast aside. The unifying power of the Supper strengthens the collective faith of the Church and is its fuel for the spreading flame of the Gospel.
Yes, friends, tonight we gather to take this meal. But we do more. We get to know our Lord in a way most special and intimate. We partake of his forgiveness and have our souls healed. We grow in love and unity with each other as we give a unified confession of our faith to the world, so that more might see our light and praise our Father in heaven. What participation!
Amen
Sermon for Maundy Thursday
Text: I Corinthians 10:16-17
Preached at Mount Olive Lutheran Church
April 13, 2006
