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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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What Are You doing Here? |
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I
Corinthians 11:23-30 Sixth
Sunday after Trinity July
19, 2009 What are you doing here? Every few weeks we gather to celebrate one of the most beloved ceremonies in the history of the world. We call it Holy Communion, and, indeed the liturgy is very moving, and beautiful. But why do we do it? What is the meaning behind it? These are the things I want to talk about today. I want to say three things this morning. First, in Holy Communion we remember the sacrifice of Christ. Second, in Holy Communion we proclaim the sacrifice of Christ. Third, in Holy Communion we proclaim our personal faith in Christ. The very first thing we do in Holy Communion is to remember the sacrifice of Christ. Remembering is a very important part of the Christian faith. It is critically important that we remember the things God has done, for if we forget what God has done, we will forget God. God Himself tells us to remember what He has done. When He delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage He told them to remember what He did for them, and He gave them the Passover Feast to be observed every year to remind them that He called them out of bondage and brought them into a pleasant land of milk and honey to be His people and to receive His blessings. When they crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land God told them to build a landmark of stone to remind future generations that God stopped the mighty Jordan so His people could cross it on dry ground. When children saw the pillar and asked what it meant, the fathers were to tell the great story of their redemption. Thus, each generation would be reminded, would know, would remember. The Bible is given to us that we may remember the mighty acts of God. How would we know what God has done without the Bible? How would we know about the Red Sea, the Passover, Gideon, Ruth, and David and Goliath without the Bible? The Gospels were written that we may remember the life and ministry of Christ. How would the human race remember that He healed the sick and raised the dead and died for our sins and rose from the dead if we did not have the Bible? Christ gave the Sacrament of Holy Communion as a means to “co-memorate” His sacrifice on the cross. “This do in remembrance of me,” He said as He broke the bread (Lk. 22:19). “This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me,” He said as He gave the cup (I Cor. 11:25). So, as you come to the Table, let your mind be on Christ and His sacrifice, remember. In Holy Communion we proclaim the sacrifice of Christ. The elements, that is, the bread and wine proclaim the sacrifice of Christ. “This is my body which is broken for you,” Jesus said (I Cor. 11:24) as He broke the bread. “This … is my blood, which is shed for you,” He said as He gave them the wine (Lk. 11:20). Our actions at the Lord’s Table proclaim the sacrifice of Christ. Breaking the bread pictures the body of Christ broken for us in the crucifixion. Pouring the wine pictures His blood flowing from his body as He suffered there for us. In this way the Lord’s Table proclaims the Gospel. As Paul put it in I Corinthians 11:26: “For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come.” Our words proclaim the sacrifice of Christ. We repeat the words of Christ, “This is my body, this is my blood.” We also explain them. Here is the message of the bread and wine. Here is what it says to one and all. You are a sinner. We don’t like to hear that. We like to think of ourselves as good people. According to Dale Carnegie, the warden of Sing Sing prison wrote: “Few
of the criminals in Sing Sing regard themselves as bad men … most of
them attempt … to justify their anti-social acts, even to themselves,
consequently maintaining that
they should never have been imprisoned at all”
(How to Win Friends and
Influence People, p. 5). This is human nature. There is an old story about a young preacher who went to a country church to hold a camp meeting. At the end of the first night one of the meanest scoundrels in the county went forward at the “invitation” to become a Christian. Feeling pretty good about this, the young man went to the local pastor’s home after the service and reminded the older man about the conversion. “It only took me one hour to get that man saved,” he said. The older minister smiled and said, “Yes, but it took me five years to get him lost first.” The fact is, we must learn that we are lost before we can ever be saved. We are so skillful at telling ourselves how good we are that we have a difficult time seeing our own faults, much less admitting that we are sinners. People tell me all the time how good they are, and by human standards, they usually are. But have they done all the good things they ought to have done every time they had an opportunity? Ask them that and they will say, “Well, no, I’m not perfect.” People tell me all the time that they don’t do bad things, but have they never done anything bad? “Well, no, I’m not perfect.” That’s the point. God is perfect. God is absolute goodness with no fault at all. And He is too Holy to look upon those who commit sin in any way. In other words, our sins make us unfit to live in the presence of God, and God is everywhere. The Bible says “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” It also says “the wages of sin is death.” Death in these verses is a symbolic term signifying a place of eternal sorrow and separation from God. We call that place, “hell.” Here is the point; we were all on the road to hell. In fact, we were in the fast lane to hell. We were born sinners and we have by our own choice rejected God and chosen sin. Just as we chose sin, we must choose God if we are to go to Heaven. You must intentionally choose to trust in Christ. You must confess your sin to God, and trust Christ’s death on the cross to save you. This is an intentional act of the will. It is a choice you make. Those who do not make this choice are choosing to stay in their sin. They are choosing hell. I urge you, don’t be one of them. This is a major point of the Gospel. A second
point of the Gospel is that God’s perfect love wants to allow sinners to
live He does not want us to
merely to exist, but to enjoy all the best things He can give to us. But how can He do that for sinners? The answer is, He punished Himself for our sins.
That is what the cross is all about.
That is why Jesus’ body was broken.
That is why His blood was poured out.
He suffered the punishment you and I deserve.
He died for our sins. We
proclaim this every time we come to the Lord’s Supper.
We “shew the Lord’s death till he come.” Third, in Holy Communion you proclaim your personal faith in Christ. As you take the bread and the wine into your body, you proclaim that you have taken Jesus Christ into your deepest being as Lord and Saviour. You proclaim “I believe the Gospel.” Unlike the prisoners at Sing Sing, you are telling the world that you are a guilty sinner who deserves to go to hell, but have been saved because you believe in Christ in biblical faith and your sins are forgiven. The Lord’s Table is for those who have chosen Christ. In fact it is a public announcement that you believe in Him and you have chosen Him forever and that you intend to live for Him. That is why the Table is not open to everyone, only to those who can say they believe as I have just described it. But Communion alone is only part of your proclamation of faith. Along with the profession comes baptism and fellowship in good standing as a communicant member of a visible congregation. All of these are part of your profession of faith in Christ, for professing Christ also means following Christ. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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