Reformed
Sermon
HOLY COMMUNION IS ...
Thirteen Communion Messages
Martin Luther was reared by very strict Catholic parents. They rightly believed that the devil was real and constantly present. They believed that God was to be feared and respected. So anytime young Martin or any of their other children did something "devilish," they were severely punished.
Luther told about the day that he stole a hazelnut. When his mother found out about what he had done, she whipped him with a cane until blood came from his skin. Cruel and unjust punishment? I should say. But Luther said his mother meant well. She was determined that he know right from wrong and that he learn to fear the righteousness of God. And fear God he did! His fear of the Lord plagued him throughout his early years of development and even continued when he became a priest. All of his fear of God came to a head when he celebrated his first Mass, his first service of Holy Communion.
Luther believed, as the Church taught, that a priest was closer to God than any other human, except the Pope of course. Only a priest had the privilege of talking directly to God, everyone else had to pray through the priests. Only a priest had the privilege of performing the miracle of the Mass: transforming the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Despite these privileges, as his first celebration of Holy Communion approached, Luther became more and more frightened. He knew that he was not worthy to hold in his hands the flesh and blood of Christ. He wasn't sure that he was ready to talk directly to God. What if he did or said something wrong in Mass? What if he mishandled the Bread and Wine? God would surely be angry and punish him severely and swiftly as his parents had done years before.
Needless to say, when his first Mass began, Luther was quite nervous. When he came to the part in the service where he was to lift the bread and cup, saying, "We offer to thee, the living, the true and eternal God...." his voice left him completely. He thought to himself, "With what tongue shall I address the Almighty God? For I am but dust and ashes, full of sin, and I am speaking to the living, eternal and true God." His fear made him speechless! Luther did manage to get his voice back and finish his first Mass. But that even exemplified his innermost feelings about Holy Communion. At that point in his life he accepted the Roman Catholic teaching of transubstantiation. The doctrine that the bread and wine actually changed into the body and blood of Christ when the priest spoke the proper words at the altar.
Communion was mysterious and awesome. The Church was so afraid that lay people might spill the wine and in that way profane the sacred blood of Christ. The cup, the chalice, was withheld from the worshipers. The people received only the bread of Holy Communion. It was the priest's responsibility to drink the wine in behalf of the Congregation. In the same way that it was his responsibility to offer the body and blood of Christ as a sacrifice to God for the sins of the people.
Well as I said, in his early years as a priest Luther believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation and in the practice of withholding the wine from the laity. But in the midst of the Reformation, he rejected both the doctrine and the practice. He wrote that transubstantiation "is a monstrous word for a monstrous idea. The bread remains bread and the wine remains wine." (Theodore Tappert, The Lord's Supper, p. 12) Since the bread and wine do not actually change into the body and blood of Jesus, Luther argued that there was no reason to withhold the chalice of wine from the congregation. Therefore one of the radical changes which the Reformation brought was the serving of both bread and wine in Holy Communion.
Luther not only rejected the Doctrine of Transubstantiation - that the Communion Elements changed into Christ's Body and Blood, he also rejected the memorial view. This theological position held that the bread and wine were merely symbols to remind us of our Lord's Body which was broken and his Blood which was spilled on the Cross of Calvary. To be sure, they do remind us of what Christ did for us through his atoning death he said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." But for Luther and Lutherans, Communion is more than a memorial service in which we remember what the Lord did for us in the past. Holy Communion is a celebration of what he is doing for us in the present and what he promises to do for us in the future.
Lutherans believe not in transubstantiation or the memorial view but in the real presence of Christ in Holy Communion. They believe that Christ himself comes to the recipient - not simply the metaphysical substances of his flesh and blood. When we gather for Holy Communion, we believe that Christ is our host. He is really present in, with and under the forms of Bread and Wine to invite us to meet him at his Table of Grace. As we eat the bread and drink the wine in repentant faith, Christ comes to give us "forgiveness of sins, life and salvation" as Luther wrote in his Small Catechism.
For Lutherans, Holy Communion is not a sacrifice to God which some human priest makes in our behalf. It is not our remembering what Christ did for us on the Cross. Communion is not anything a human being does. It is something that God does for us! He comes with forgiveness of sins. He brings assurance of salvation. He gives strength for battling temptation and living the abundant life. Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your burdens upon the Lord and he will sustain you." Many of us become burdened with worries, concerns and problems. In Holy Communion, Christ invites us to come to him with repentant hearts, confessing our sins and he will relieve us of our burden of guilt with the assurance of forgiveness.
Christ is present in this special meal of grace. Christ is here to relieve us of our burdens if we'll let him. The trouble is that we won't trust our Lord enough to cast our burdens on him. Too many of us choose to hold on to our burdens as we add today's pain onto yesterday's sorrow and top it all off with worry about tomorrow. So many of us have not learned the tremendous lesson which Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:34) saying "Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will have worries enough of its own." God wants us to trust him to be present with us and then just live one day at a time!
In her book Nestle, Don't Wrestle, Corrie ten Boom tells an old Dutch parable about the clock which had a nervous breakdown. The clock had just been finished and placed on the store shelf with two older clocks on either side. One was an old table top clock which was very negative about life. To the new young clock, he said, "So, you're just starting out in life ... I feel sorry for you. Just think for a bit and see how many ticks lay ahead of you. You'll never make it! You'd better stop now." The new clock took the advice and began counting the ticks: "Each second requires two ticks which means 120 per minute, 172,800 per day; 1,209,600 ticks per week for fifty-two weeks - and that makes a total of 62,899,200 ticks in a year! Horrors!" said the new clock and then he had a nervous breakdown and stopped ticking. On the other side was a wise old mantel clock who overheard the conversation. She chimed in and said, "You silly youngster,
don't listen to all his negativism. He's been unhappy for years and wants you to share his misery. Think about it another way: How many ticks do you have to tick at one time?" The new clock replied, "Only one, I suppose." "That's right!" said the mantel clock, "That's not so hard is it - just one tick at a time. And one more thing ... don't ever think about the next tick until you have finished your last tick." Soon the new clock was running smoothly - just one tick at a time.
Let's make a pledge today that we are going to trust God and live one day at a time. Let's not permit our pain, burden of sin and our worries to mount up, instead let's cast all that into the hands of him who loves us - Jesus Christ our Lord. He cannot give us rest and renew our strength if we are unwilling to lay down our burdens of sin, pain, and worry.
Jesus is really present, in a special and mysterious way this morning in our celebration of Holy Communion. He is not here to change the bread and wine into his body and blood. He is not here simply to help us remember his great sacrifice for us on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus is here to forgive us, to strengthen us, to save us, to love us. He is here inviting us: "Come to me, my heavy laden children and I will give you rest. Cast your burdens upon me and I will sustain you!"
When you come to the Altar today I want you to believe, as Luther did, that Christ is really present in our celebration of his Holy Supper. Confess your sins to our Lord and hear him say that you are forgiven. Place all your cares, fears, worries and burdens into Christ's loving hands and know that he will strengthen and sustain you. Then leave the Altar refreshed, renewed and rejoicing.
Luther told about the day that he stole a hazelnut. When his mother found out about what he had done, she whipped him with a cane until blood came from his skin. Cruel and unjust punishment? I should say. But Luther said his mother meant well. She was determined that he know right from wrong and that he learn to fear the righteousness of God. And fear God he did! His fear of the Lord plagued him throughout his early years of development and even continued when he became a priest. All of his fear of God came to a head when he celebrated his first Mass, his first service of Holy Communion.
Luther believed, as the Church taught, that a priest was closer to God than any other human, except the Pope of course. Only a priest had the privilege of talking directly to God, everyone else had to pray through the priests. Only a priest had the privilege of performing the miracle of the Mass: transforming the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Despite these privileges, as his first celebration of Holy Communion approached, Luther became more and more frightened. He knew that he was not worthy to hold in his hands the flesh and blood of Christ. He wasn't sure that he was ready to talk directly to God. What if he did or said something wrong in Mass? What if he mishandled the Bread and Wine? God would surely be angry and punish him severely and swiftly as his parents had done years before.
Needless to say, when his first Mass began, Luther was quite nervous. When he came to the part in the service where he was to lift the bread and cup, saying, "We offer to thee, the living, the true and eternal God...." his voice left him completely. He thought to himself, "With what tongue shall I address the Almighty God? For I am but dust and ashes, full of sin, and I am speaking to the living, eternal and true God." His fear made him speechless! Luther did manage to get his voice back and finish his first Mass. But that even exemplified his innermost feelings about Holy Communion. At that point in his life he accepted the Roman Catholic teaching of transubstantiation. The doctrine that the bread and wine actually changed into the body and blood of Christ when the priest spoke the proper words at the altar.
Communion was mysterious and awesome. The Church was so afraid that lay people might spill the wine and in that way profane the sacred blood of Christ. The cup, the chalice, was withheld from the worshipers. The people received only the bread of Holy Communion. It was the priest's responsibility to drink the wine in behalf of the Congregation. In the same way that it was his responsibility to offer the body and blood of Christ as a sacrifice to God for the sins of the people.
Well as I said, in his early years as a priest Luther believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation and in the practice of withholding the wine from the laity. But in the midst of the Reformation, he rejected both the doctrine and the practice. He wrote that transubstantiation "is a monstrous word for a monstrous idea. The bread remains bread and the wine remains wine." (Theodore Tappert, The Lord's Supper, p. 12) Since the bread and wine do not actually change into the body and blood of Jesus, Luther argued that there was no reason to withhold the chalice of wine from the congregation. Therefore one of the radical changes which the Reformation brought was the serving of both bread and wine in Holy Communion.
Luther not only rejected the Doctrine of Transubstantiation - that the Communion Elements changed into Christ's Body and Blood, he also rejected the memorial view. This theological position held that the bread and wine were merely symbols to remind us of our Lord's Body which was broken and his Blood which was spilled on the Cross of Calvary. To be sure, they do remind us of what Christ did for us through his atoning death he said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." But for Luther and Lutherans, Communion is more than a memorial service in which we remember what the Lord did for us in the past. Holy Communion is a celebration of what he is doing for us in the present and what he promises to do for us in the future.
Lutherans believe not in transubstantiation or the memorial view but in the real presence of Christ in Holy Communion. They believe that Christ himself comes to the recipient - not simply the metaphysical substances of his flesh and blood. When we gather for Holy Communion, we believe that Christ is our host. He is really present in, with and under the forms of Bread and Wine to invite us to meet him at his Table of Grace. As we eat the bread and drink the wine in repentant faith, Christ comes to give us "forgiveness of sins, life and salvation" as Luther wrote in his Small Catechism.
For Lutherans, Holy Communion is not a sacrifice to God which some human priest makes in our behalf. It is not our remembering what Christ did for us on the Cross. Communion is not anything a human being does. It is something that God does for us! He comes with forgiveness of sins. He brings assurance of salvation. He gives strength for battling temptation and living the abundant life. Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your burdens upon the Lord and he will sustain you." Many of us become burdened with worries, concerns and problems. In Holy Communion, Christ invites us to come to him with repentant hearts, confessing our sins and he will relieve us of our burden of guilt with the assurance of forgiveness.
Christ is present in this special meal of grace. Christ is here to relieve us of our burdens if we'll let him. The trouble is that we won't trust our Lord enough to cast our burdens on him. Too many of us choose to hold on to our burdens as we add today's pain onto yesterday's sorrow and top it all off with worry about tomorrow. So many of us have not learned the tremendous lesson which Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:34) saying "Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will have worries enough of its own." God wants us to trust him to be present with us and then just live one day at a time!
In her book Nestle, Don't Wrestle, Corrie ten Boom tells an old Dutch parable about the clock which had a nervous breakdown. The clock had just been finished and placed on the store shelf with two older clocks on either side. One was an old table top clock which was very negative about life. To the new young clock, he said, "So, you're just starting out in life ... I feel sorry for you. Just think for a bit and see how many ticks lay ahead of you. You'll never make it! You'd better stop now." The new clock took the advice and began counting the ticks: "Each second requires two ticks which means 120 per minute, 172,800 per day; 1,209,600 ticks per week for fifty-two weeks - and that makes a total of 62,899,200 ticks in a year! Horrors!" said the new clock and then he had a nervous breakdown and stopped ticking. On the other side was a wise old mantel clock who overheard the conversation. She chimed in and said, "You silly youngster,
don't listen to all his negativism. He's been unhappy for years and wants you to share his misery. Think about it another way: How many ticks do you have to tick at one time?" The new clock replied, "Only one, I suppose." "That's right!" said the mantel clock, "That's not so hard is it - just one tick at a time. And one more thing ... don't ever think about the next tick until you have finished your last tick." Soon the new clock was running smoothly - just one tick at a time.
Let's make a pledge today that we are going to trust God and live one day at a time. Let's not permit our pain, burden of sin and our worries to mount up, instead let's cast all that into the hands of him who loves us - Jesus Christ our Lord. He cannot give us rest and renew our strength if we are unwilling to lay down our burdens of sin, pain, and worry.
Jesus is really present, in a special and mysterious way this morning in our celebration of Holy Communion. He is not here to change the bread and wine into his body and blood. He is not here simply to help us remember his great sacrifice for us on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus is here to forgive us, to strengthen us, to save us, to love us. He is here inviting us: "Come to me, my heavy laden children and I will give you rest. Cast your burdens upon me and I will sustain you!"
When you come to the Altar today I want you to believe, as Luther did, that Christ is really present in our celebration of his Holy Supper. Confess your sins to our Lord and hear him say that you are forgiven. Place all your cares, fears, worries and burdens into Christ's loving hands and know that he will strengthen and sustain you. Then leave the Altar refreshed, renewed and rejoicing.
