Chruch of the Reconciler Sermon for June 7

Below you will find my very first sermon which I will be preaching at the Church of the Reconciler this coming Sunday.

The Sermon is inspired by the word of God found in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ 25In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
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Why are you here today? What is God’s purpose for you being here at the Church of the Reconciler? Are you seeking spiritual nourishment or physical nourishment?
We have many people in this room today that are hungry! You may have had something to eat this morning or you may not have. You may have been given a sandwich or a bag lunch as your breakfast. I have seen some of you eat your meal and you are not satisfied, and want more. That is truly understandable knowing that you may or may not know where your next meal is coming from.

I am going to talk to you about a meal, a meal which came out of the Jewish tradition of Passover. You all know the meal I am referring to. This meal is well known across many nations and many people. This meal knows no boundaries and its power does not waiver, nor fail; whether you are poor or rich, black or white, or red or yellow. This meal brings all people to their knees ands calls upon us to recognize our Savoir in the context of this meal.

Many people would argue that this meal is just a remembrance. I think otherwise! Let me tell you a story. There was a young boy in a small Alabama town. He wondered about this meal that came around once every month. This boy one day was so curious he just had to know more. He went to his grandmother and asked her, “Grandma” I was curios, why do we have this meal with bread and wine once a month at church. What is it for? I hear the preacher read about it from the Hymnal and everybody comes up front and eats the bread and drinks the wine, but what is it. Why do we do it? The grandmother replies, “Son it’s just like the table says, it’s a remembrance”

Before we move forward, we must understand the term remembrance in the context of Jewish thought. Remember, Jesus was a Jew, so in a Jewish context and to a Jew remembrance is to acknowledge a vital presence of the past in the present. So this meal, a meal which was a Passover meal, a Covenant meal, and a Gospel meal is to be a meal of a real presence with Christ.

This meal I am referring to has many different names, most of us refer to it as Communion. The Eucharist is another term used for this meal, which is a Greek word for thanksgiving; it reminds us that the sacrament is a thanksgiving to God for the gifts of creation and salvation. We also refer to it as the Holy Mystery or Holy Sacrament as the word Mystery is derived from the Greek word in the New Testament mysterion. This Holy Mystery is one of the two Sacraments of the Church of which are Baptism and this Holy Mystery, (Communion).


The sacraments were instituted by Christ and given to the church. It, as I mentioned before is a gospel meal, and we should realize that it is to be done in order to proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. But the power is not in his death, the power is in the risen Christ! For we worship a risen Lord! A Lord of power! A Lord of Mercy and of grace! And he is coming again and he will come in a like manner as he departed in the clouds! As in Revelation 1:7 “7Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.So it is to be. Amen.”

Jesus Christ is himself the ultimate manifestation of a sacrament. In the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, God’s nature and purpose were revealed and active through a human body. The key word there is active. Active has many different meanings causing change; communicating action or motion; acting; opposed to passive. Communion is active, not passive. In communion, we have the risen Christ, over it; he is with us and brings us his gift of eternal life through his own sacrifice. In Communion, Christ satisfies our hunger and meets our spiritual needs and desires!

The Church is having a reawakening of the power of Communion and its grace and spiritual power. Through Communion Christ comes to us in mercy and in healing. Through communion we demonstrate an outward sign of an inward grace. When you come to the table, this table of remembrance, it is more than a remembrance. It is your opportunity to experience Jesus Christ! He gave of his body and poured out his blood for you and I so that we may not perish in our sins, but have everlasting life!

My most memorable experience in communion was an Ash Wednesday Service in the spring of 2004 at Cave Spring UMC. During this service we took communion using intinction which is the dipping of one’s bread into the wine, just like we do here at the Church of the reconciler. With this in mind, I want to draw a word picture of the communion experience I had on that Ash Wednesday Service and why it was so powerful an experience for me. In this church we would walk forward to receive the sacraments just as Jesus went forth with the cross, just as Christ offered his body on the cross first, so are we given the bread to remember his body first. Then, as he was pierced and the blood poured forth, for the forgiveness of our sins, we take the bread and combine it with the wine just as Christ’ body was saturated with his own blood we saturate our bread and fulfill the commandment “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” How powerful is that?

Now let’s move forward to the actual crucifixion. As Christ, hanging on the cross, took on the sin of this world he cried out “My god, my God why have you forsaken me.” At this very moment, literally the sin of the world fell upon this man and like we do, in our own pain, cried out to God! Christ did not suffer on the cross just so we could remember him? He experienced excruciating pain and suffering on the cross so that we could be redeemed. He took on more pain and suffering than any of us here today ever has encountered no matter our personal situations or tragedies in our life they do not come close to the sacrifice he made for us. Let me repeat this, he took on the sin of the world for you, for me, for us! Jesus Christ did not suffer on a cross, die and come back from the dead so that we can just remember him. Do you recall the earlier part of the sermon where I mentioned that remembrance in a Jewish context is to acknowledge a vital presence of the past in the present? Christ wants us to be able to experience him at the table. He is alive! He is risen! When you partake in Communion, you are communing with Christ himself. I want to go back now and ask you those three questions I asked at the beginning of the sermon. Why are you here today? What is God’s purpose for you being here at the Church of the Reconciler? Are you seeking spiritual nourishment or physical nourishment? I know many of you are hungry here today and seeking physical nourishment. However, my next questions is are you as hungry for Jesus as you are for bread? Jesus said I am the bread of life! (John 6:48)

In 2nd Timothy Chapter 2 v. 8 we read “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel.” To remember a risen Christ you must encounter him, and at his table you can. Lift up your hearts! Look past the sacrament to the one who is giving it to you.

John Wesley participated in communion an average of four to five times a week. You here at the Church of the Reconciler are lucky, not every church grants there congregation the honor of receiving communion on a weekly basis. I have been personally moved and have felt the presence of Christ here at the Church of the Reconciler during the participation of communion. It’s sad that some churches only sporadically share in this Holy Mystery a few times a year. There are many reasons why they sporadically participate in this Holy Mystery, but none really matter when we consider the price Christ paid so that we could partake of this Holy Mystery and meet him here at this table!

In 1 Corinthians 10:16, it says: 16Is 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? When we come to the table it is in participation with Christ. You are active in communion; it is truly not just a remembrance as it says on the table.

In Luke, 24 Simon and Cleopas are walking to Emmaus and they encountered a stranger on the road. They are discussing the events of Jesus death and resurrection with this stranger; of course whom we all know was Jesus, whom they were kept from recognizing as they walked. Jesus then ask them what they were talking about as they walked. They of course were talking about the events of the crucifixion and resurrection. They respond to Jesus by asking him “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things which have taken place there in these days? They continued to walk together and the two invited Jesus to dine with them. In verse 30 it says: When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight

This scripture is another example of participation in the Holy Mystery. In the blessing and breaking of the bread, our eyes are opened to the wonders of Jesus Christ just as Simon and Cleopas were. When you come to this table today, please realize that you are not just taking bread and wine as a remembrance of Jesus Christ, you are participating in the Holy Mystery, the semblance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, broken and poured out for us for the forgiveness of our sins.

I hope you can see through the scriptures and through my sermon today, that the Holy Mystery, the Sacrament of our Lord and Savoir, is not just a remembrance; it is a participation in the blood and body of Jesus Christ. He suffered and died and rose again to save us all; and until he comes again each time we come to Communion he is there with us and we can recognize him.

Christ comes and hands us the bread and wine as himself. Let us now open our eyes and recognize him!

Amen!