| Note: No sermon is quite the same when you read it. You miss the inflections, the expression that you gain in the hearing. The words below are only a close approximation of the sermon, taken from handwritten notes. Nevertheless, the words (as best as can be deciphered!) are shared with you here. The Webmeister |
Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost When we receive the Eucharist, we receive life. In Jewish culture at the time of the Old Testament, blood was seen as the source of life, whether that be for a person or animal. And it was for this reason that in the Old Testament, there are laws that forbid consuming blood under any circumstances. In fact, animals slaughtered for food needed to be drained of their blood first before they could be eaten. So, in Hebrew culture, to speak of drinking blood, particularly that of another person, incomprehensible, much like it is today. What then are we doing, when we receive communion? When we drink from the chalice, and the person administering it says "The Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation," what do those words mean? What is that we're really drinking? The idea of imbibing flesh or blood at the Eucharist today is perhaps as awkward sounding as when Jesus first blessed bread and wine and called them his body and blood. Imagine the eyes that were raised when Jesus said those words from John "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life." What? Receiving life from drinking another person's blood? Receiving life by eating bread or flesh? How can that be? This idea, the idea of the Eucharist that Jesus describes was something completely foreign to Jews living at that time, because scripture commanded them never to drink blood. Nevertheless, after the death of Jesus, Christians began sharing a sacred meal of Thanksgiving, in which bread and wine, blessed as the body and blood of Christ, were consumed. And as we know, this meal, this Eucharist, has now become central throughout the Christian world. Whether it is on Sunday, or at a wedding, or a funeral, or on any other occasion, the Eucharist continues to have profound meaning for millions of people. Why? Because for those who participate in the Eucharist, it is a moment of connection with God. Because in the Eucharist, we have a mysterious participation in the ongoing life of Jesus and in that connection, we receive life. When we partake of the body and blood of Christ at the Eucharist, our lives are joined with his. Now, there are probably some of you here who believe that when you receive the bread and wine at the altar that it is the actual body and blood of Jesus. And there are also others of you who believe differently; perhaps you believe that what you are receiving in the bread and the wine here is a memorial of Christ's sacrifice for us, a symbol, but not the actual body and blood of Jesus. The debate about what a person actually receives at communion is as old as the church itself, and is a question I cannot answer in this sermon because Eucharist, the moment when our lives and the life of Christ are joined together, is a holy mystery that cannot be explained. And in all honesty, I don't believe that being able to identify what happens at communion is all that necessary. We know God is present. We know that our lives are changed, and perhaps that is enough. When we receive the Eucharist, we receive life. But the life we receive from the Eucharist, is life that is meant to be shared, not held onto. I think we would be remiss were we to hold onto for ourselves whatever it is we receive here. We would be missing out were we to walk away from this place holding onto what we received, and not sharing it with anyone. As we receive bread at this table, so are we to be bread for the world, living in such a way that we nourish other people's lives. And as we receive wine at this table, so are we to be wine for the world, bringing people joy and hope in the midst of their struggles. As we are nourished through the Eucharist, so are we to share that nourishment with others. And in sharing that nourishment with others, more life is generated, and the power and beauty of the Eucharist is relived. And the beauty, the power of the Eucharist is needed in this world, broken by greed and war and death and injustice. Perhaps you've heard that if the whole world's population were reduced to a village of one hundred people, then fifty percent of the entire world's wealth would be in the hands of six people. And out of those one hundred people in that village, seventy would be unable to read. In fact, fifty people out of a hundred in the village would suffer from malnutrition, eighty people would live in substandard housing, and only one person out of the entire hundred would have a university education. As that hypothetical village illustrates, the world is in desperate need of love, of life, whose source is Jesus. And that very love, that life, is what we come back week after week and are hungry for, and that is what we receive here. And what we receive here, the world is in desperate need of. We are called not to hoard the bread and the wine for ourselves, but to share the bread and the wine with our neighbor, so that they might experience the love and the life of God. What you receive here this morning is meant to be shared with the world. Bread and wine. Body and Blood. Hope and Life. Amen. The Reverend James M. L. Grace August 20, 2006 *Past sermons may be found here. |
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