Sermon for 3-10-24

I Corinthians 10, 16-17 and 11: 23-29

Lent 4, 2024

 

Seven barley loaves and a few small fish might not seem very delectable to Americans who can walk into any grocery store, choose from a variety of foods which only the people of the time of Jesus could dream about and then go home and cook up a meal fit for a king every day.      But to those people who followed Jesus on that day, these barley loaves and fish were a welcomed miracle meal.   After three days, these simple foods were given by our Savior to sustain them in their journey back to their homes.   The Gospel text reports that they ate and were satisfied.    The Lord met their most physical basic need: food.

 

In like manner, the Holy Supper prepared by our Savior may not seem very delectable or attractive to Americans who not only have a plethora of grocery stores, but have at their disposal every kind of thing to delight the flesh, entertainment, food, drink, luxury, and any toy the heart desires.    In this culture and against this backdrop, the Lord’s Supper does not appear very delectable as well.   It is pretty much like placing barley loaves and a few small fish against a steak meal at a fancy restaurant with all the atmosphere.

 

I suggest this morning that we too are tempted to look at the Lord’s Supper in the same manner as the world and perhaps even the majority of “Christians” today.      But through the inspired text of St. Paul, our Lord lets us see in the Lord’s Supper the greatest meal of all.    This morning, we refresh our delight for this Holy Supper as we look at:

 

THE GLORY THAT IS THE LORD’S SUPPER.

 

Luther once wrote in his Large Catechism under the section of the Lord’s Supper, “It must be known that people who deprive themselves of and withdraw from the Sacrament for such a long time are not to be considered Christians.”    I bid you to keep these words in the back of your mind as we examine the Lord’s Supper this morning.

 

Already in the early church at Corinth, to which the words we consider this day were written, a terrible disregard for the Supper had developed.    This first letter was written about 55 A.D. most likely from Ephesus.   Over a few short years, some of the members had so radically altered this precious jewel that it ceased being a Sacrament.

 

Some partook of it so carelessly and superficially that it bordered on the blasphemous.  Others made of mockery of the poor among them.    In order to correct this trend, among so many other problems, Paul, ever the evangelical pastor, sets before them the true wonder of God in this Sacrament.

 

One might ask, “What is so glorious about the Lord’s Supper?    It is just piece of bread and a little wine.”   Paul answers that challenge and tells us that this meal is “From the Lord.”   Thus, Jesus, the God of all Creation, is the Author, the Giver, the Host.    The very nature of this Holy Sacrament is divine and special.   Even if this Supper contains nothing more than a morsel of bread and a sip of wine, it is glorious because it “Comes from the Lord.”   This Supper is not an invention of the Church; it is not something which evolved out of centuries of Christian history.    This Supper is directly from the Lord.

 

Earlier I quoted from Luther, “It must be known that people who deprive themselves of and withdraw from the Sacrament for such a long time are not to be considered Christians.”    Given the origin of this blessed Sacrament, it appears that church people who spurn this sacred Supper and seldom, if ever, partake of it are forgetting that no One less than their Savior instituted it.   They are despising Christ.    No doubt, through their Catechism instruction, they have learned that Christ established this meal who still invites them to His Table.

 

Yet, somehow it has never registered with them how glorious this Supper is; they have seemingly never learned that our Lord gives us a taste of heaven here on earth.     They have the feeling that it is a tasteless church rite, dreamed up by some bishop or pastor or group of pastors from the past and therefore purely a human ceremony.      How pitiful!    Paul wanted the Corinthians and you and I preserved from such an heresy and pagan idea.   Paul, the apostle of Christ, wants you and I to see that this is no ordinary meal but rather, “The Lord’s Meal.”

 

However, that is not all.    In response to the question, “What is so glorious about the Lord’s Supper,” St. Paul points to the historical start, that is, that it was begun by our Savior, “On the night in which He was betrayed.”   Think about that.   That was the mournful evening immediately prior to His crucifixion.   This was the beginning of His sorrowful walk to the Cross where He would give His body and blood for the redemption of all people from the horrible curse of sin.

 

At the most crucial point in all of human history, the point at which God Himself would suffer in order to reverse the curse brought on by the rebellion of Adam and Eve, Jesus institutes the Holy Supper.  Instead of thinking about Himself, Jesus is concerned about you, about your spiritual well-being.    Should this not make us wonder?    Never has there been and never will there be an event like this where God walked on this earth in human form, prepared His Supper for all and then suffered, bled and died for the entire history of sinful man.

 

And when the Bible in four separate places says that it was at the peak of our Savior life that the Lord’s Supper had its beginning, does that not cast an aura of eternal importance about it?   How can any Christian treat this Supper lightly?

 

Yet, the glory that is the Lord’s Supper does not end here.     The humble elements of bread and wine, are united in a special “sacramental” way with our Savior’s true body and blood.    Paul writes, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” 

 

In other words, the two become one.    As the Apostle John says, “Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”  As Christians we become one with God; we have an intimate relationship with our Lord who is our bridegroom.   As God says of marriage, “The two become one.”     Thus, this is heavenly food, no longer mere bread and wine.  But rather the Body and Blood of Christ.

 

Now notice, Jesus do not merely say, “Eat this bread and drink this cup in remembrance of Me.”   He added the remarkable words, “Take eat, this is My Body given for you; this is My Blood of the New Testament (Last will and Testament.)”

 

These words were spoken to impress upon the disciples that this was no common meal He was ordaining but a most glorious heavenly meal.   He was serving them something more than bread and wine   According to the power and nature of His person as the Creator of the Universe, Christ was presenting invisibly yet actually the same Body and Blood given and shed for the sins of all humans on the cross.  We call this the “Real Presence.”

 

Now I want you to think about this.    When St. Paul reprimanded the Corinthian Christians for their irreverence in the celebration of the Supper, he powerfully confirmed that the words of Christ must be taken literally in their first and proper sense.    He even warned them of trifling with the sacred meal noting this: “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.    That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.”    Paul will not allow the Corinthians to trifle with this Holy Supper and neither should we.

 

But the challenge still arises, “How can these things be?”    Is that not the same question Nicodemus asked Jesus regarding Baptism?    What was Jesus’ answer then?   “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”    In other words, Nicodemus, you need to believe.

 

Likewise, we take the words of Christ by faith; we simply take God at His word.   Thus, if we abide by the words of Jesus; when we set aside our own human reason, we cannot help but sense how marvelous it is to receive the Sacrament not only with the heart, but also with your mouth, the very Body and Blood of Christ.

 

But now, the best is saved for the last.   Once again one might ask, “What is so glorious about the Lord’s Supper?”      The answer is stated in these words of our Savior: “For the forgiveness of sins.”   This is the priceless gift your Savior gives you at His Table.      Why might it be that people absent themselves from the table for long periods of time?   If someone does not see the sins that are invited into his or her life, sins that are coddled, sins that bring down the wrath of God, the Lord’s Supper will seem unimportant.

 

What about you and me?     The people who followed Christ on that day needed that meal for they were starving for that earthly food.    You and I have so often followed, not our Lord for three days, but so often the desires of our flesh for a lifetime.      Would you deny that you have often broken your baptismal vow?

 

How do you reconcile your lust with your vow to follow faithfully the Word of God?   How do you excuse your anger, your lack of compassion toward your neighbor, your complaining in the face of adversity and setback?    What do you say of yourselves when you become impatience with the way the God of Creation takes care of your earthly needs     Should we not use this day again to hang our heads in shame?

 

This Holy Supper is not a sacrifice you make; it is not something you do for the Lord.    It is a Sacrament, that is, something the Lord does for you.    The Lord’s Supper is the Holy Spirit’s means of freely conveying and bequeathing to all believers, with the solemn binding force of a Last Will and Testament.

 

Paul reminds us what this means: “Once a last will and testament is ratified, even if it is only a human will, no one sets it aside or adds to it.”  (Galatians 3: 15)     This testament of forgiveness was ratified by Christ through His death and resurrection.     Jesus fulfilled the Law of God for you.    Jesus died the death of hell for you.   You need not apply for the job of Savior, it has already been filled.

 

In the Small Catechism, Luther speaks of the benefit of the Holy Supper: “For where there is forgiveness, there is life and salvation.”     Dear Christian, do you not see what a glorious gift our Savior has given us in His Holy Supper?   This is where Christ has compassion on you and me as we follow Him, not merely for three days, but for our entire life.

 

How could we not want to partake of this Supper often?    Instead of sending us away still burdened with our accusing conscience, Jesus has us “sit down” at His table.    Here in this Holy Supper, He feeds us, not with a few barley loaves and fish, but with the most precious food of all eternity.   Come again this morning and partake of the elixir of life.    You the sinner are for whom Jesus set His table.  Go back to your homes filled with the food of forgiveness in Christ.   In the Name of Christ, Amen.