Lord God, as we celebrate the meal that precedes
your sacrifice, help us remember that celebrate
is such a loaded term. Because in order to get
to the true celebration, we have to go through
the pain. We have to see what it is to shed the
blood, to tear the skin, to know what it is that
you had to go through to achieve for us what
we could never achieve on our own. So Lord God,
we thank you for this night. Even as we acknowledge
what you've done, but also that we see that you
are present with us, not for judgment, but for
mercy. In Christ Jesus, amen. Howdy. I did not
grow up Lutheran. I know, I know. Oh my wordness,
the scandal of it all. Oh my goodness. I grew
up in a church where we would do communion. where
people would sit in their pews and we'd pass
around loaves of bread and some wine in these
cups that would go around. It was the men at
Shevitz, so, you know, really, really sweet.
So as you're a kid, you're like, ooh, this is
really good because you think it's like Walsh's.
But then the whole time is at different stages
as you're growing up, you're trying to figure
out what in the world this communion thing is.
Whenever I was a child and I saw my parents as
they were eating it and I thought well, this
is fun snack time Hey, you get a little juice
to get a little bread. That's okay I wonder why
do we don't have other snacks during this time.
It would be much more satisfying I'm sure now
granted right afterwards was our Donuts and cake
time. So I've probably Associated the two together
but as I got older and I realized that it was
time for me to be receiving it and I knew that
it was something that was special and I kept
thinking what is it about it that's so special
that I need to make sure everybody's focused
they're praying they're they're doing something
and I'm like what exactly is it that they are
doing we didn't have catechism confirmation the
same way that others might so it was still this
mystery to me But then later, as I end up coming
to know the fact that communion is a sacrament,
and it began to ask this question of what does
that truly mean? What does it mean for something
to be a sacrament? You see, while we know in
the strict sense that there is a means of grace
there, is that God's grace is reaching us, what
does that even mean? Is it the moment where we
accept and believe Jesus is Savior? Well, no.
We've already done that before we come to the
altar. Is it something where we are initially
being visited with God in a sense of some sort
of opening of the clouds and the dove descending?
No. We saw that in the baptism of Christ in the
Jordan. So what exactly does it mean for there
to be this sacrament of communion? And in my
mind, There are different things that come to
mind when I think of what it is to do something
the same way someone had done it previously,
and one of them is an enactment. Where oftentimes,
like for myself, is that I would go to Comic
Palooza and dress up as my favorite comic book
character, but in reality, the best cosplays
are oftentimes the people going to reenact the
Battle of the Alamo. Because in reality, isn't
that truly a cosplay? Is that you're deciding
which character to dress up as and reenact what
happened? And why? Why is it that we reenact
things like the LMO or the fight for the revolution
or various other things that have come up over
time in history and how many ways in which there
might be battles that would be revisited from
different world wars is to remember and to see
what that sacrifice truly was. That's the thing
about the enactments, is that whatever the sacrifice
is, it happened and its effects are still lived
out today. If Texas or the U .S. were not in
existence, would we still have those enactments?
Absolutely not. Because there would be no point.
But the reason why those types of reenactments
are so special is because the sacrifices made
then are remembered because they still work today.
Their effects are still felt. But then there's
also a second thing beyond just remembering what
has happened. And this is also what we end up
seeing when we are visiting what has happened.
Every time that there is some dramatized crime
scene on a tv show and what do they do is that
they have some sort of visiting of the crime
itself the scene the place and even trying to
visualize how everything was placed and why because
they want to understand because with this is
that in revisiting what happened is that it's
also understanding why it happened the way it
did Why did Jesus have to celebrate this meal
when He did? Because He knew what was about to
happen. There was no more time remaining. It
had to happen now. And it had to happen with
bread and wine. Because this meal was meant to
be more than just the usual Passover. It was
meant to be the Passover that brought about the
true sacrifice of the Messiah. But then even
looking at that and realizing that as the disciples
were celebrating, it would end up be the beginning
of mourning. Because even as the celebration
happens with the bread and the wine, is that
the wine would also be the beginning of mourning,
the blood that would be shed. But that also brings
us to the third. of being gathered together in
that place with His disciples, even as tonight
we are gathered together as His disciples. My
grandmother never let me call her grandmother
or grandma. It was always Memaw. Because grandma
made her sound old. So Memaw would have us over
for typically Thanksgiving and Christmas and...
There were all these foods that we would have
there. And I remember one time coming in every
day having cookies and cheeseburgers with my
memaw and realizing I had gained 20 pounds in
one week. And then the times when Thanksgiving
would have stuffing that always had raisins.
Why were there raisins in the stuffing memaw?
Or the time when she made a peppermint pie that
had giant chunks of peppermint sticks in it where
you were trying to chew your way through and
wonder, Memaw, did you make this by scratch?
But when Memaw passed, we no longer gathered
together with all the family in the same way
or in the same place. Why? Did we no longer eat
Thanksgiving? Did we no longer have a relationship
with one another? What we finally realized is
that it was too hard. Because we knew that if
we went back to that house and ate that meal,
my memaw's presence would be there the whole
time, and her loss would be too hard to bear.
That's the thing about the meal, is it's the
place where love is embodied. We ate those raisins
in that stuffing and loved it Because those raisins
were the wrinkly form of my memo's love We spent
the time laughing But also reveling in who she
was But also knowing who she is with us And that's
the thing about the meal is that the meal is
more than food more than drink, it's embodiment.
Because even as we know that where two or three
are gathered, Christ Jesus is in our midst where
more clearly than the very place where he has
said, this is my body, this cup is my blood of
the new covenant. As we see this meal, where
we are gathered today to celebrate with his presence,
he is proclaimed as we are proclaiming. That
as we eat it and we drink it, we are proclaiming
and showing the need to be fed by Jesus. We cannot
be fed by anything else in this world. There
is nothing else that can possibly feed our souls
the way that Jesus feeds us. And that Jesus only
feeds us by going to a cross and shedding Himself.
You see, what's strange is that this This place
of sacrifice is both celebration and mourning.
But it is one that draws us together and creates
a bond. Because communion is for community. Because
when we gathered together, it didn't matter if
my mom and my aunt had had a fight. They were
going to stand there and discuss who was getting
the ham and who was getting the turkey. It didn't
matter if my mother was upset that my papa had
been smoking. We were still gonna sit around
that giant fire where the turkey was being fried
and still let her complain at him. Because still
in the midst of that was love and grace. And
that's the thing about what we see is that this
is meant to be a meal of grace. This is a place
where wherever we've been is that we are brought
together as people who love one another, whether
we like it or not. But Paul points out the idea
of what it is to be unworthy. And that's the
thing about this. If this were just bread and
wine, would it matter if you were worthy? I am
not worried about whether I am worthy or not
whenever I go to Subway. I don't worry about
whether I'm worthy or not when I stop by Specs.
I am not worried about whether I am worthy or
not whenever I sit around with a bunch of people
eating queso and watching a game. But I am worried
about whether I'm worthy when I'm here. Because
it's more than bread and wine. And when we lose
the sense that Jesus Christ is present with us
doing what He's doing, and we come to this not
realizing that what we are doing is a combination
of knowing He's here, but also knowing why we
needed Him here in the first place, then we,
being unworthy, end up destroying our very souls.
Because then, when we come together, we dismiss
why this was so important. We dismiss why it's
important that we gather together. We dismiss
why it was important that as we do so, we examine
ourselves and remember that we are the ones who
need that forgiveness. Because if it's just bread
and wine, then you could just eat it and drink
it and not even care. Or even as the people did
back then, to wonder, could I get a little more?
But when we realize not just that we are here
in the presence of Christ, and that Jesus giving
His life for us is saying you are forgiven, then
we also affirm that as we eat and drink it, that
it is ours. And no one can take it away. You
cannot rip the bread out of my stomach. You cannot
scoop out the wine from my body. It is in me
now. and it is now a part of me. You cannot take
it away once I have consumed it. It is mine.
And nothing can take away the blood and the body
of Christ from me. And they cannot take it from
you either. They cannot come up to you and say
you don't deserve Jesus enough to receive Him.
And you say, I never deserved Him in the first
place. They cannot say Jesus couldn't possibly
want his forgiveness for you and you say he wanted
it for everyone They cannot possibly say you
did not remember him enough because you could
say it doesn't matter because he remembered me
on that cross and that when we come here we are
being fed by and in the body of Christ That is
why we gather here tonight. And that is why it
is that we eat this and we drink this. And why
it matters. Because it's not the carbon and hydrogen
and oxygen that combines into these breads that
are all of these lovely sugars that somehow stick
around the midriff in the thighs. And it is not
the juices that somehow come forth. and make
this end up tasting so sweet or so dry depending
on whatever Lynn ordered that week. But rather,
is that Christ Jesus has promised each and every
one of us that His body and blood is ours for
salvation. So today, as the body of Christ Let
us consume the body of Christ. Because that is
the only thing that brings us forgiveness and
lets us know with all confidence that nothing
can take it from our cold dead fears. Thanks
be to God. Amen. Please rise.