Bread of Life
Sermon for May 29, 2005
1. Good
Morning. Let’s Pray
– O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be
pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2. Opening
Comments: It’s
We, at TCC have been on a journey
since leaving the Presbyterian denomination of entering more and more fully
into the depths of our historical Christian faith. And the deepest place in this journey is into
the Eucharist. It has been referred to as the Source and
Now that’s a pretty massive statement don’t you
think?
What does it mean – the SOURCE and
Christ is the Source and
BUT how real is it really?
Is it really symbolic or is it
substantial? Is it mere
remembrance? Is it merely a symbol to
remind us of Christ’s magnificent sacrifice for us? For many this reminder – this symbol, is
enough as a stella reminder
of our Lord’s infinite love for us – but is it more than this? Is it really more than this? And if it is – what more is it? What does the “more” mean for us?
3.
God’s Word. To answer
these questions we need to turn immediately to God’s Word.
Please turn with me to our
reading in Deuteronomy chapter 8 beginning at verse 2: In these verses Moses is giving a sermon to
the Israelites on the point of their entering the Promised Land. Moses reminds them of all that had happened
to them during the years of their desert wandering so that when they entered
the land, enjoyment of its fruits and comforts would not cause them to become forgetful
of their dependence upon God. Is this what’s happening this morning?
Is God reminding us about something?
Please listen now as I read:
Deut. 8:2 Remember how
the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble
you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or
not you would keep his commands. 3
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which
neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on
bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Now jump forward to verse 16 He gave you manna to
eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to
test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
What do we see here? God provides for even His disobedient
people. Not only spiritually but
physically!
We’re not talking
only about God’s spiritual provision but His physical provision but one could
argue that they two are really of the same fabric. God loves them and so He provides for them in
their need – which is first of all physical – Heck they’re in a desert!
But all of this
provision is to the end that they would become faithful once again – that they
would learn to rest upon Him – to trust in Him!
Do you and I really trust God to provide
for our every need – both physical and spiritual?
If you suddenly found
yourself in a wilderness with no way out – what would you do?
Would you trust God
enough to turn to Him and say “H E L P!!!!” Or would you rely upon your own efforts?
Guess what? We’re in a desert right now! It’s called the great grey desert of the
World! C.S. Lewis referred to it as the
“Shadowlands.”
Oh! there are oases in this desert – places
and
people who are ministers of God’s consolation to us – the Abbey, our family,
our Church building, our Church community, our close friends, the Holy Spirit,
God’s Word, AND – The Sacrament of Communion but more of that soon!
So in this passage we’re reminded that
God provides for our every need and we’re being called to trust ourselves to
Him! Are we going to be endlessly
begging God to give us this and give us that or are we simply going to REST and
entrust ourselves to His sovereign Care.
By the way, this is what
Now remember that word “Manna” - which neither you nor your
fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on
every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
God spoke Manna into
palpable existence – it was truly Bread from heaven. When God speaks matter – Manna – happens!
4.
The Epistle reading. Now please
turn with me to our Epistle reading – 1 Corinthians 10:16-17. Paul is telling us about the Sacrament of
Communion. Listen carefully to this
sublime word:
1Cor. 10:16
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the
blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body
of Christ? 17 Because there is
one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
In these verses Paul
is reminding us that as we eat the bread and wine of Communion we are
“participating” in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
What does he mean
when he uses the word “participation” – we’re “participating” in the Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ!
The word translated
“participating” is koinwni÷a,
koinoœnia, and it means
“fellowship, the close association between persons, emphasizing what is common
between them; by extension: participation, sharing, contribution, gift, the
outcome of such close relationships.
What’s Paul getting at here? When you participate or fellowship with
others you become “involved” in their lives!
So it is in Communion - We becoming “involved” with Christ! We’re becoming involved in His resurrection
life – here and now. We’re literally
becoming palpably involved with Him!
Not standing off at a distance
and marveling at His glory and wonder – NO!
We’re becoming intimately involved with Him – we’re participating IN
Him!
But there’s something else
here. Look again at verse 17:
17 Because there
is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one
loaf.
We’re not only “participating” or “fellowshipping”
IN Christ but we’re becoming One people as we
“participate” in Him.
Communion is about UNITY in Christ and WITH one
another!
Hmmmmmm! Think about that.
5. OK now
let’s turn to our Gospel reading: You
should know that these verses are considered by some to be the most sublime of
all words in God’s Holy Word. Let’s read
them with appropriate reverence for in them God is telling us a magnificent
truth: Here we go -
John 6:51 I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will
live forever. Now that is one heck of a statement! Did you hear it – “If anyone eats of this
bread, he will live forever! Now think
about that. Jesus isn’t talking about
something symbolic here – the word eat literally means
to “munch on” “to consume.” It’s used of
eating palpable food. It’s not a
ritualistic word.
Now listen to the next statement: It’s still in verse 51 towards the end:
This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of
the world.” Now watch the reaction of
many of those who were listening to this:
52 Then the Jews began
to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?” You see there was no doubt in the minds of those actually
listening to Jesus that He was actually speaking about his real flesh. Let’s read on:
53
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. Now Jesus used these same words which amount to a promise “has
eternal life” just a few verses earlier when he said,
John
3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” Here He’s talking
about Jesus!
John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes
him who sent me has eternal life and
will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. Here He’s
talking about God the Father.
Clearly God the Son and God the Father give us eternal life but Jesus uses these same same same words when He’s speaking about Jesus’ Body and Blood!!!!
53
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day.
Now let’s read
on – verse 55 For my flesh is real food and my
blood is real drink.
Did you hear that? “For my flesh is ‘real’ food and my blood is ‘real’ drink!”
The Greek word translated “real”
is aÓlhqh/ß and it means “pertaining to being real and not
imaginary.” It means “pertaining to
being in accordance with historical fact — ‘true, truth.’
Let’s read on - 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Another word for that might just be “participate” don’t you think?
Ah! Back to the word “manna” –
it was “real” food in the Old Testament and so too it is no less read in the
New Testament – real food – the Eucharist – the real Body and Blood of Jesus
Christ! In the Eucharist Spirit and
Matter MEET!
53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day! This is the promise that draws us inexorably to God’s Communion table – life lies on that table in the form of His Body and Blood!
6. Now let’s reflect on what all of this means to us here and now today shall we?
In receiving the Eucharist God gives us life eternal! As He gave life to the Israelites so too He is giving us life today but not life that will end in death but life that will never end!
Listen to Fr. Richard Leonard reflecting upon this sublime reality,
“When
we receive the Risen Christ in communion it’s not a symbol of His presence or a
sign of His life to which we say ‘Amen.”
It’s Christ Himself who hosts us, who gives us Himself so that we might
be transformed into His image and likeness.
In modern language Christ says to us at every Mass, ‘Here I am, broken
and poured out in love for you. Take me. I’m here for you!”
This is what the Eucharist is all
about! -
‘Here I am, broken and poured
out in love for you. Take me. I’m here for you!” And as we partake of Him –
as we “participate” IN Him we receive life – life eternal!
We do
not receive these things as common bread or common drink, but as Jesus Christ
our Savior who became incarnate by God’s Word and took flesh and blood for our
salvation.”
I was ordained to be a minister of Word and
Sacrament. Where does the Sacrament of
Communion relate to the Word?
Leonard J. Vander Zee wrote about this in
his book entitled, ‘Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper,”
“Why
do we need to sacrament of Holy Communion alongside the Word? The sacrament offers us something the Word
alone cannot: deep assurance that is exactly fitted by God to our human need
and receptivity. The Lord’s Supper is a
physical handle faith grabs hold of, allowing us to grasp God’s promises with
our bodies as well as our minds . . . The sacrament ‘incarnates’ the Word, in a
way analogous to how Christ was the original incarnate word.”
What have we got to offer the world? What should we be very very excited about offering those around us who are destined for death? Life – the life that comes to us In Christ and in participating in His Body and Blood!
We are “life bringers!” to a shadowy death-bound world!
Let’s not apologize for who we are and who’s we are!
Let’s not skulk around the fringes of our world apologizing for our
zealousness! Let’s be who we are
“Life-Bringers!”
Bring the lost to Christ – bring them around His Table – Bring them to
HIM! And bring them into His Kingdom
where life eternal is to be found! Amen!
Let’s Pray!