Sunday, August 3, 2008 (sermon)
 "In Remembrance"
Charles' habits at the local coffee shop were a mystery to the staff until they learned the significance of what he was doing... Join us as through the story of an 82 year old widower we reflect on the nature of the sacrament of holy communion.
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"In Remembrance" is a short story that narrates the memorial aspect of holy communion through the story of Charles, an 82-year old widower with a mysterious habit of sharing coffee and a muffin with a group of sparrows.
The following manuscript is a compilation of two meditations with further reflections on the nature of holy communion.
(1 Corinthians 11:23-25)
From the moment Christ initiated the symbolism of bread and wine as his body and blood, and instructed his disciples to “do so in remembrance of me,” communion has been in large about community; about being in relationship with others; with God, with family, with friends, with our neighbors throughout the world.
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On that night Jesus was to be betrayed, he sat in an upper room with the disciples that had traveled with him, eaten with him, watched him as he healed the sick and cast out demons, and had told him their joy when, after he sent them forth, they had been able to do the same! Although Jesus had prophesied and predicted several times what was about to happen to him, we can’t help but read the remembrances of this final meal with a recognition that the disciples still didn’t quite understand what he had meant.
So during this Passover feast, Jesus took bread and gave thanks to the Lord. In addition, when the supper was over, he took the cup and, again, gave thanks to the Lord. That night in Jesus’ life was very much about being in community with God; about communing with God.
Amid the fellowship and discussions with his disciples at the table – conversations that likely ranged from joyful participation in the Passover ritual and hymnody to fearful conjecture about the prophecies Jesus kept sharing to the kind of swaggering talk that often exists among men – Jesus pauses to give a special thanks to God for the gifts of bread and wine; for these simple elements that he is going to share in a meaningfully symbolic way with his disciples.
Later in the evening, Jesus continues to commune with God through his fervent prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he prayerfully asks that the cup be lifted from his lips. And in Jesus’ deep communion with God we see a faithfulness and obedience that arise in no small part from the closeness. Despite the fear or hesitancy that he shows, Jesus shows a greater willingness to follow the Lord’s lead and go on.
But in raising the bread and the cup, Jesus did not merely give thanks to God. He also shared each with his disciples. After he had given thanks, he broke the bread and shared it with his disciples. “This is my body, broken for you,” he says, and we can just imagine the questioning looks the disciples, stopping their side conversations, cast each other as Jesus gave each one a piece of bread. “Do this in remembrance of me.”
Some days later, two disciples traveling to Emmaus invite the stranger that has been walking with them to join them for their evening meal. They were pleased to invite such a man, because he was obviously a rabbi of sorts, so well schooled in their Law and Prophets. He had been able to describe for them in ways they never conceived how the Messiah had to suffer and die. Then, as they sit to eat, this stranger took the bread, broke it, and gave it to them. In that moment their eyes bugged out and they realized it was no stranger, but Jesus himself! And like that, Jesus was gone from their midst; but having communed with him, they could think of nothing else to do but immediately go back to Jerusalem and tell the other disciples, “we have seen the Lord!”
At the end of that Passover meal with his disciples, after giving thanks to God for the gifts of vine and grape, fermentation and wine, Jesus shared the cup with his disciples. “This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.” Likely feeling satiated with a good meal, the disciples each hear the words for the scandal that they are. Blood?! Hebrew Scripture and tradition made it clear that the blood of an animal was its life; their dietary laws since the days of Moses instructed that they were not to eat any meat that still had its blood in it. And now Jesus says, “This is my blood”? They likely passed the cup to one another with a great deal of trepidation and unease. “This cup is my blood… each time you drink this cup, remember me.”
Yet they came to know through time a truth made known to us in familiar words: “There is power in the blood, wonder working power.” Through his sacrificial gift of himself on our behalf, through the spilling of his blood in the streets and on the cross – traditional images made so stomach-turning, palpably real in Mel Gibson’s film – Christ offers to humanity a new covenant of grace. The unconditional love of God, forgiveness of our sins, and reconciliation into the family of God; a family we have all too often turned away from out of pride and sin. Through the breaking of his body and the spilling of his blood, moments which we are to take to heart in our ritual remembrance, Jesus offered to humanity the chance for renewed community; community with God, and with one another.
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The early Christian church took communion, for lack of a better word, seriously. Not that it was a somber occasion; the very name used for the sacrament of communion in several traditions, Eucharist, speaks to the joy inherent within it. (In Greek, “Eu” means “good,” which is much different than what our children mean when they say “Eww!”) Acts 2:46 tells us about the joy in those early celebrations, as aptly described in Eugene Peterson’s translation of the passage in The Message: “They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God.”
Communion in the earliest Christian communities was different than what we think of today; then again, the earliest Christian communities were different than we are today. In those early days of the Acts church, Christians gathered together in house-churches, not in large community-center style churches. They would meet in one another’s homes, listening to the apostles and disciples of Christ tell of their first-hand experiences with Jesus; listening to those with the spiritual gifts of preaching and teaching expound on Jesus of Nazareth as the awaited Messiah; hearing the good news preached by Paul and Barnabas that God was welcoming even the Gentile into his family as the salvation the Jews had once seen as an exclusive affair broadened into a world-wide celebration.
In the context of these house churches, Christians – including the Christians in the community of Corinth, to whom this morning’s letter is addressed – would break bread together, bringing and sharing a full meal that was both symbolic and participatory in the great feasts that Jesus spoke of during his ministry. They would begin this meal with the breaking and sharing of bread, remembering the words of Christ; and end the meal by sharing in the cup of Christ, receiving forgiveness and sharing in that forgiveness with one another as a community.
Only, over time a problem developed in Corinth. A fairly serious problem it seems, according to Paul’s words to them: “in the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good,” he begins. There is a problem among the Christians of Corinth, and it is a problem with their community: “In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.” Or, as Peterson puts it, “I get this report on your divisiveness, competing with and criticizing each other. I’m reluctant to believe it, but there it is.”
Paul has been intimately involved with the Christians in Corinth. Acts 18 describes how he founded the Christian community there, working alongside Aquila and Priscilla as a tentmaker, speaking and teaching in the synagogues. Like the other communities Paul helps to found, the Christians in Corinth hold a special place in his heart, and so I can hear the frustration and sadness in his writing to them about the divisiveness that he has heard among them.
Paul goes on to describe the problem in their community with one another by confronting them on their misuse of the sacrament of communion. Apparently, when the Christians gathered to worship and break bread together, they were not sharing equally with one another. Some would begin the meal early, before others even arrived to take part in the breaking of the bread. Some would bring a great deal to eat, engorging themselves while poorer brothers and sisters in the community were left with little to nothing to eat. The very act of communion serves as a reminder of the dis-connection this community was experiencing. The problem in Corinth is a betrayal of the very community that Christ was offering his disciples – namely, communion with God and with one another.
So Paul exhorts them to remember their connection to the Lord Jesus in this sacrament, reminding them of the mysterious ways in which through the bread and cup we connect to God, and to one another. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes,” Paul says, reminding the Corinthian Christians that in this mysterious act of remembrance they celebrate not just that first institution of the Lord’s Supper, when he and his disciples gathered for Passover, but the coming, final version when all Christians will gather to feast at the heavenly table of our lord.
One can hope that with time the Corinthians – who according to Paul’s second letter to them respond by challenging his authority – came to realize the importance Christ placed on community, and returned to a joyful and communal celebration of this sacrament.
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As sacrament, I approach communion with a healthy dose of awe and wonder, and I hope you do as well. As a sacrament, communion is a means by which God makes His amazing, awe-inspiring, unfathomable greatness and grace known to us; and through us! When I come to this table to receive these simple elements – the product of grain and fruit – I join a procession of Christians who have broken bread and shared the cup together over two millennia, and will continue to share in such for years to come! Communion, The Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist – this sacrament is an act of amazing mystery, for herein God meets me; God meets us, and God binds us together with one another and with Christians in all times and places.
Our liturgical prayer with which we communally bless these elements recognizes the timeless nature of the community that this sacrament binds us in. As we give thanks to God, we recall God’s presence, providence, and communion with the Israelites; we remember Jesus’ presence, providence, and communion with the disciples; we recall recognize the Spirit’s presence, providence, and communion with us in our world. And we pray for unity within our community, as we lift to God the prayer: “by your spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.”
Paul’s concern with the Corinthians was that through their disunity with one another and, by extension, with Christ, they ate this bread and drank this cup in an unworthy manner. They had forgotten the presence of God that infuses these simple gifts with a supernatural power.
When we gather to take part in this sacrament, we gather to remember and receive the Lord Jesus to our everlasting comfort:
Let us do so with a healthy respect – and joy! – for what we partake in.
Let none of us think that we are more worthy of this gift than another, for we come recognizing that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Yet let none of us think that we are unable to receive this gift, for in His mercy and grace God offers this gift – and His forgiveness – to us all!
Let us not come forward thinking that any one form of communion is “right,” nor that it is only meaningful to us if done in a special way. Let us recognize that God is present here with us, and this act is meaningful because of His presence.
Finally, let none of us think that there is any power in these acts in and of themselves. Yet let us also not forget that if we come forward to humbly receive the gift of Christ, the power of Christ will be present herein.
Consider again Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, as translated in The Message:
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1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:17-34 (The Message)
14So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.
15I assume I'm addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: 16When we drink the cup of blessing, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn't it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don't we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? 17Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness--Christ doesn't become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don't reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is.
17Regarding this next item, I'm not at all pleased. I am getting the picture that when you meet together it brings out your worst side instead of your best! 18First, I get this report on your divisiveness, competing with and criticizing each other. I'm reluctant to believe it, but there it is. 19The best that can be said for it is that the testing process will bring truth into the open and confirm it.
20And then I find that you bring your divisions to worship--you come together, and instead of eating the Lord's Supper, 21you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves. Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk. I can't believe it! 22Don't you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Why would you stoop to desecrating God's church? Why would you actually shame God's poor? I never would have believed you would stoop to this. And I'm not going to stand by and say nothing.
23Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. 24Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
This is my body, broken for you.
Do this to remember me.
25After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.
Each time you drink this cup, remember me.
26What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
27Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? 28Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
29If you give no thought (or worse, don't care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you're running the risk of serious consequences. 30That's why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. 31If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on. 32Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.
33So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord's Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. 34If you're so hungry that you can't wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family squabble. It is a spiritual meal--a love feast.
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Like Charles (in the story In Remembrance), in our act of communion we both remember and experience the presence of another: Jesus Christ. It is a simple act to share a meal. Most of us eat every day, and often with others. It is an act that a husband and wife can share together for decades, and one that Jesus and his disciples shared over and again along the banks of the Sea of Galilee, in the house of a tax collector, or in an upper room. In this simple, every day act of sharing a meal together, there are times when we may transcend our ordinary experience and experience the presence or joy of people and times past. In the same way, in communion Christians transcend the simplicity of sharing bread and wine and instead experience firsthand the life and death of Jesus Christ.
Amid a Creation that practically shouts God’s presence to us, God has also given us a variety of special ways in which we can specifically seek to know Him. We call these ways the “means of grace.” Whereas God can be known throughout Creation, we might call the means of grace the ordinary channels by which we experience His grace and presence. They are particular means God has given us in which we can wait for Him. Chief among these means are the three we are celebrating in worship these next three weeks: communion, Scripture, and prayer.
One of the differences people often notice between our denomination and the Catholic faith is how we view the awesomeness of communion. Catholics view God’s presence in communion as so great that only true Christians, meaning those in the Catholic faith, can participate in it. Methodists view God’s presence in communion as so awesome that we dare not try to restrain people from coming into his presence or experiencing his grace. Our differences with our Catholic brothers and sisters are not because either of us views communion any less than the other; but because both recognize how powerful and awesome this sacrament truly is!
For beyond both its mystery and awesome wonder, communion is also deeply intimate. When we come to the table, we come into God’s presence. Our experience of God’s presence in this gift is different for each of us, and our own experience may even differ from time to time. But God meets us in this moment. As you come to the table, God seeks to touch each of you, as we all receive of his grace.
We call this sacrament by several names, each name having a different emphasis on how we experience God here. We call it Eucharist, from the Greek for thanksgiving, emphasizing the thanks we give to God because of His love for humanity. We call it the Lord’s Supper, to remind us of the passover Jesus shared with his disciples, and also to remind us that the table and the sacrament are of God, not of human beings. We call it holy communion, emphasizing the intimiate connection to our holy God that is at the heart of this ritual act.
Whatever term we may choose to use, or however we might experience God’s expression of grace in communion, let us remember that communion with God or others is not limited to just the ritual of holy communion, but occurs in a variety of ways and settings. It is one of the great blessings of Creation around us that we can experience God in a great variety of ways. People experience God while praying, or walking through a field of corn, or spending a quiet hour with family.
The basic experience of holy communion – that is, our experience of the saving love of God – is not limited to this act. Yet within the ritual that we celebrate today, within this special means of grace that God has instructed us to participate in, we join with Christ and other Christians at a table where we remember and receive God’s love.
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(Read by Max McLean. Provided by The Listener's Audio Bible.)
