1 Corinthians 11:23-32 When
there is a disagreement or argument in our marriage or family that leads to
hard feelings, there is really only one way forward and that is for us to say
“I’m sorry, please forgive me” and then for us to hear “I love you and forgive
you.” That is the only way to restore
broken relationships.
Often times, when that confession
and forgiveness has taken place, there will be a concrete demonstration of that
forgiveness: maybe a hug or a kiss or a
note or a gift—something tangible that says:
“things are right between us”—something concrete that says “I love you
and I forgive you”.
And we know of course that those
words of love and forgiveness-- and those tangible tokens of a restored
relationship-- are not just a once in a lifetime event in our lives together,
but they really do form the very center of our relationships. So it is tonight.
We come into the presence of the
Lord confessing our sins. We know we
have done and said things that have harmed our relationship with God and one
another. We know that there is a
distance between us and God and us and one another that ought not be there and
we confess our wrongs.
And then we hear that Good News that on account of what Christ has
done for us, we are forgiven—that things are right and renewed between us and
God-- and a foundation has been laid for a right and renewed relationship with
one another. What a blessing that
forgiveness and love we receive from God is!
But there is even more. In
Holy Communion the Lord gives us a concrete, tangible gift that puts flesh and
bone on his love and forgiveness: he
gives us Christ’s true body and blood.
The same body and blood that our great high priest offered up on the
cross as the once-for- all sacrifice for the sins of the world, is placed into
our mouths for us to eat and drink as a special assurance that things are right
between us and God on account of Jesus, giving us the forgiveness we need in our
relationship with God and one another.
The apostle Paul says: For I received from the Lord what I also delivered
to you…
On this day, in Christian churches throughout the world, this meal
of love and forgiveness is being celebrated just as it has been every day and
in every place for the last two thousand years.
What Christ placed into the hands of the apostles two thousand years ago
was placed into the hands of the pastors who followed them down through the
centuries and then is placed into our hands and mouths here tonight.
That is why we have no right to change anything of what our Lord has
given to his church on earth. Not the
words, not the meaning, not the gifts themselves: the bread which IS Christ’s body and the cup
which IS Christ’s blood is given to us for the forgiveness of sins so that we
would remember his sacrificial love and proclaim it together to the world. The Bible says that:
The Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for
you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took
the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you
drink it, in remembrance of me.”
On this night, when the disciple
gathered to celebrate the Passover, they remembered how their forefathers had
been enslaved in Egypt, they remembered the hopelessness of their people, and
they remembered the mighty deliverance of their Savior God and how slaves had
taken refuge from the Angel of Death under the blood of a lamb and then left
their slavery as the dearly loved people of God.
All
of this was in their hearts and minds as the Lord, the One proclaimed by John
as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, took bread into his
hands and said “this is my body” and took the cup of wine and said “this is my
blood”—the new covenant promised by the prophet Jeremiah when he said:
"Behold, the days are
coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my
covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this
is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer
shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the
LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says
the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more."
That
is what we receive tonight—the new covenant of forgiveness and love that is
found only in the body and blood of Christ—the new covenant where we call to
mind and receive again and again the Good News that on account of Christ God no
longer remembers ours sins.
Like
every covenant enacted by God, this new covenant of forgiveness and love, this
new covenant of a right relationship with God because our sin have been
forgotten, has been enacted by the shedding of blood of the Lamb of God.
And
every time we receive it, the reality of his love and forgiveness is proclaimed
to us again and again so that we might proclaim it to the world again and
again. The Bible says that:
For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Wherever the church has existed for
the last two thousand years this meal has been celebrated and as the bread is
lifted up with the words “this is my body given for you” and as the cup of wine
is lifted up with the words “this is my blood shed for you” the forgives and love
of God has been received by those present-- but also proclaimed to those
outside the church.
In this meal that we receive tonight, the church says to the world,
and Trinity Lutheran says to San Angelo:
Christ’s body was broken for you, Christ’s blood was shed for you, his
love and his forgiveness are for you.
And when we begin to understand that these gifts of God’s love and
forgiveness are for our eternal benefit-- but also so that the world around us
might hear the good News of Jesus--all questions about how often we should
celebrate Holy Communion are put to rest.
We need the forgiveness that is given at this altar- and the world
needs to hear of the forgiveness that is proclaimed at this altar- and because
this meal is so critical to our salvation and the salvation of the world, it
needs to be received in a worthy manner.
The Bible says that:
Whoever 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. Let
a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body
eats and drinks judgment on himself.
We are not left to our own devices
when it comes to what constitutes an unworthy manner of receiving Holy
Communion. The apostle Paul, inspired by
the Holy Spirit, tells us exactly what that is:
not discerning the body of the Lord.
And
he goes on to say that someone who eats the bread and drinks the cup in an
unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment on himself.
That is why we are to examine
ourselves before we come to Holy Communion.
We ask ourselves: Do I believe
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching of the Holy Apostles that
this is Christ’s true body and blood? Do
I believe that this body and blood is given to me for the forgiveness of my
sins? Do I come to this altar confessing
my sins and desiring to be done with them and do I believe that my living
Savior is here, offering me his love and forgiveness and strengthening presence
to begin again?
That
we are to examine ourselves in this way before receiving the body and blood of
Christ—that we are to know the answers to these questions before eating the
bread and drinking the cup-- is why we do not say to every person who worships
with us: come to the altar.
Instead,
we ask them to share our confession that the words of Jesus and the apostles
are true: that this is Christ’s true
body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.
We ask them to have a knowledge of the things of God and the teaching of
Holy Scripture so that they can examine themselves and receive these gifts in
faith—because the consequence of not doing that are severe. The Bible says that in the Corinthian
congregation unworthy reception of the Lord’s Supper:
is why many of you are weak and ill, and
some have died. But if we judged
ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are
disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
In that Christian
congregation, God was exercising his temporal judgment upon those who were
coming to Holy Communion in an unworthy manner, having a different confession
regarding the Body and Blood of the Lord.
People were weakened, became ill, and even died.
For Christian pastors and congregations who actually
believe the Word of God, we have to take these words seriously. It ought to be our firm desire to see
everyone be able to come to this altar and receive the gifts of forgiveness and
love that are truly given here in Christ’s true body and blood.
But that same desire has to be guided and informed by
God’s Word which says that not only forgiveness can be received here—but also
God’s judgment. So it has always been in
the presence of Christ: forgiveness and
life for those who believe—but judgment and death for those who reject him and
deny him.
The Good News for us here tonight is that we know who is
present among us under bread and wine:
the Savior who laid down his life for us on the cross—the great High
Priest who takes bread and wine and says “this is my body, this is my blood
given for you” as a special assurance that you are forgiven and loved. Amen.
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