B – 18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 6 August 2006
Matthew 26: 20 – 30
** 1 CORINTHIANS 11: 17 – 34 ** [Non-lectionary]

A Sermon by John C. Bush, Interim Pastor
First Presbyterian Church
Birmingham, Alabama

Today we will gather around this Table to celebrate one of the most ancient of Christian rituals. What is this little meal all about? Why do we do it? Why do we celebrate it more frequently now than some once did? Perhaps you have heard me say I think frequent communion is important, and wonder why I think that. Others wonder about the variety of ways it is served, and about who should be invited to partake of it.

Good questions all; and not a simple one in the lot. No single topic has divided Christians more profoundly than this one. Questions related to the Lord’s Supper were at the heart of the Protestant Reformation of the 16^th century, and they continued to be divisive even among the churches of the Reformation. In fact, one of the documents in our Presbyterian Book of Confessions – "The Heidelberg Catechism", completed in 1562 – was written specifically to provide a basis for ecumenical understanding between us and the Lutherans in light of our differences regarding the nature of the Holy Communion.

All Christian churches agree that Jesus gave us this ritual at the last Passover meal he ate with his disciples – which is why it is called "the Last Supper" or "the Lord’s Supper." There is an account of this event in three of the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is absent only from the Gospel of John, where the meal is not a Passover (or Seder) but occurs on the day before Passover. This, by the way, highlights one of the many historical and biblical errors perpetuated by Dan Brown’s blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code. Leonardo’s painting draws upon John's Gospel, and focuses upon the betrayal and sacrifice of Jesus, rather than on the institution of the Eucharist. According to one art historian, Leonardo’s title for that painting, in fact, is not The Last Supper, but rather is The Betrayal – a theme typical of the Venetian Renaissance. Leonardo was attempting to depict that electrifying moment when Jesus announced that one of the disciples would betray him. (John 13:21.)

The oldest written account of the Last Supper is the one given by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian church, which we just read. This letter from Paul predates the earliest of the Gospels – the Gospel of Mark – by at least a decade. The language used in all of the accounts is virtually identical, indicating that the preservation of this particular tradition was of major significance to the early Christian community. Clearly, the celebration of the Supper carried great spiritual and theological weight for them, as it should and does for us.

The most divisive question has been "what actually happens in the Sacrament?" In what sense are these elements of bread and wine (or, in our case, grape juice) truly "the body and blood of Christ?" Is Christ really ‘present’ in these elements of bread and wine? That one question in itself would require much more time than the confines of a single sermon permits. Briefly put, there are four basic views of what is called the real presence of the Lord in the Sacrament. One is that the substance – that is, the essential nature – of bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ. That view is called transubstantiation, and is most characteristic of Roman Catholic teaching. [That, by the way, is a Catholic doctrine we Protestants seem to have been quite intent on misunderstanding or misrepresenting. The change of substance – the Latin is substantia, which means the essence -- has nothing to do with the physical properties or molecular structure of the elements themselves. But, truth be told, many Roman Catholics also misunderstand their church’s teaching in this regard.]

A second view is that the nature of the elements does not change, but the body and blood of Christ are present within, alongside or "underneath" their essential nature. That view is called consubstantiation, and characterizes the teaching of such churches as the Episcopal and (with some differences) the Lutherans.

A third is that Christ is not present at all – that this is not a sacrament but is simply a memorial meal through which we recall that such a thing as this happened some two thousand years ago. This is the view of Baptists and certain other churches.

Our Presbyterian view is none of the above. We believe that Christ is, in fact, really present in this meal; it is not merely a memorial remembrance. But the essential nature of the bread and wine is not affected. Christ is present to us in the act of receiving the bread and wine in faith. The Westminster Confession of Faith, in discussing how God makes covenant with humankind, concludes with the observation that "when Christ the substance was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper." [Chapter VII.]

Now, I’m quite sure this all-too-brief summary raises more questions than it answers. As John Calvin said, "if anyone should ask me how this takes place, I shall not be ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And, to speak more plainly, I rather experience it than understand it. Therefore, I here embrace without controversy the truth of God in which I may safely rest. He declares his flesh the food of my soul, his blood its drink. I offer my soul to him to be fed with such food. In his Sacred Supper he bids me take, eat and drink his body and blood under the symbols of bread and wine. I do not doubt that he himself truly presents them, and that I receive them." [INSTITUTES IV.32]

Which is why it is important for us to come to this feast often. In my mind, every Sunday would not be too frequent. The earliest Christians celebrated it every time they gathered – which, in the beginning, was every evening. That is how important it was to them – and should be to us. To those who claim that it is "too special" to be done very often, I respond that is like saying that since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, we shouldn’t eat it very often. Calvin held the same view. He said, "it was ordained to be frequently used among all Christians. ... It became the unvarying rule that no meeting of the church should take place without the Word, prayers and the partaking of the Supper, and almsgiving." However, neither he nor I were ever able to convince a Session to go along with a weekly observance. So our practice has been to celebrate the Lord’s Supper at least once a month, and on other special liturgical occasions.

Some of our Presbyterian forebears – the Puritans, in particular – have been concerned about the admonition of Paul, in the passage we read, about eating and drinking "in an unworthy manner" and the spiritual dangers associated with that. What does that mean? In the Puritan strain of our Presbyterian heritage, this was taken to mean undergoing an intensive time of personal introspection to determine whether I was "pure" enough to partake. That view is preserved in our Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.

However, it is not the only view we Presbyterians have taken of that question, and it is not my view. Out of our Swiss heritage – which is closer to Calvin himself than Westminster turns out to be – comes the view (set out in The Second Helvetic [that is "Swiss"] Confession) that we are urged "in the celebration of the Supper of the Lord to be mindful of whose body we have become members, and that, therefore, we may be of one mind" with our brothers and sisters in the church. The Church is the body of Christ, which we are admonished to discern as we gather for the Sacrament.

This, it seems to me, is the emphasis Paul was making in the passage we read, which is why I selected the extended portion of it to read today. His warning of spiritual danger is set in the context of a divided church in which certain members – the more affluent and sophisticated ones – were separating themselves from others. Rather than embracing the whole church in all of its diversity, and giving special place to the poor and less fortunate, some were indulging themselves and excluding others. "For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk."

Now, to make sense of this you need to be aware that in its earliest setting the Lord’s Supper was often part of what we would call a "pot luck dinner." The meal began with a ritual breaking and passing of bread, and it concluded with a ritual blessing and passing of a common cup on wine. That was the earliest form of the Sacrament, and there were children present. Which is why we invited baptized children to come to the table with us.

The spiritual problem was that not everyone in the congregation was "discerning the body." Now, what does that mean? What is the "body?" Clearly the reference is to "the body of Christ." And where is that body to be found? Not – we believe – on the table in the form of the bread, but rather in the gathered community of faith, the Church. This is the body of Christ. Those who excluded some of their brothers and sisters from the supper were not discerning the body of Christ – being aware of the quality of their relationships with others. Not accepting the principles of accountability and compassion for one another in the community of faith.

"So then, ... when you come together to eat, wait for one another." The word translated here as "wait for" can also mean "wait on" – in the sense of serving one another. And that view, it seems to me, is consistent with our doctrine of the nature of the church as the Body of Christ, in which we are to serve one another in the Lord. Again, John Calvin. He says in this regard that we should consider "whether after Christ’s example, [we are] prepared to give [ourselves] for [others] and to communicate [ourselves] to those with whom [we] share Christ in common; whether as [we are] counted a member by Christ, [we] in turn hold all [others] as members of his body; whether [we desire] to cherish, protect and help them as [our] own." [INSTITUTES IV.40.]

So, then, as we prepare to come to the Table of the Lord, here the invitation of Christ himself: "Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if those who hear my voice open the door, I will come in to them and eat with them, and they with me."

[COPYRIGHT 2006, John C. Bush]

NOW TO THE GOD OF ALL GRACE
WHO CALLS YOU TO SHARE GOD’S ETERNAL GLORY
IN UNION WITH CHRIST:
TO GOD BE THE POWER
AND THE GLORY FOREVER! AMEN.