Bread of Life, Cup of Blessing October 2, 2011 A sermon by The Rev. Dr. Laura Barnes Coney Danville Congregational Church United Church of Christ
Leviticus 23:5 Festival of Passover (in Tagolog by Becks Salentes) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month between the two evenings is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord; seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work. And ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the lord seven days; in the seventh day is a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work. Matthew 26:26-28 The Institution of the Lord s Supper (in French by Kristin Pankonin) 26 While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 The Institution of the Lord s Supper (read in Spanish by Bruce Rameker) 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, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. 25 In 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. 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord s death until he comes. Do you remember the first time you had communion? I have memories as a small child who could not WAIT for tray of crackers to get to me. The adults took such tiny pieces and when my Mom reminded me I could only have ONE I was NOT happy! It seemed like it was just a taste and then I wanted MORE! MORE! MORE! (Story of my life... but that is another sermon). When we come to the table of the Lord and leave wanting MORE I think that is all right. MORE of God and less of me is a good thing! I love how the children of our church can go to the kitchen after service for MORE of the wonderful bread from our table. I think that is the right approach would you like more Bread of Life? Here you go enjoy! Blessings! 1
I can remember a time as a young mother at Lafayette- Orinda Presbyterian Church when our children were quite young. Becca and I were coming down the center aisle for communion together, and she was about six years old. She decided to choose a very quiet moment to loudly announce she was NOT going to have ANY of that dead guy s blood. No way. No how. No matter what I did to ensure her it was grape juice, she was not going to taste it. I had not prepared her very well for the Lord s Supper. In fact, I don t think I even talked to her about it at all. I have since rectified that situation by going to seminary and talking about it all the time. How prepared are we today to receive communion? What does it even mean to be ready? Communion is sacrament, or sacred act that invites us to examine our inner life. Martin Luther defines sacraments as honoring the ordinary. 1 How ready are we to honor the ordinary in our own lives? How can we best review the ordinary moments of our lives, the places where we are in the wrong, or have made a mistake or allowed something or someone to get between us and God...and then let them go and get ready? In the Roman Catholic church, members will go to confession to prepare themselves to receive communion. They will admit where they have been wrong, where they need to change and their regrets over having said or done something to hurt another person. Once absolved by their priest, they are then ready for communion. I think some aspects of confession are healthy and suggest we consider some form of confession ourselves. During the Prayers of the People today, we will an opportunity in the moments of silence to admit where we have been wrong this week and to ask for forgiveness...mostly to remind ourselves we are human and we need to be reminded of that from time to time. 1 Shaper, Donna. Sacred Chow. Hansen-McMenamy Books, LLC. El Paso, TX. 2009. p.49 2
To be spiritually prepared to receive communion simply means for us to come to the table with our best selves, or just as we are to be filled with willingness to allow Jesus all the way inside our lives it also means we are to find strength to embrace the changes a Christ-centered life requires. It is that simple...yet such a daily challenge for most of us. During communion, Jesus asks us to Do this in memory of me (1 Cor 11:26)... what, exactly does that mean? What are we to remember? Let s look back at the history of communion to see if there are some clues for us there. The roots of our beloved sacrament come from the Jewish holiday of Passover. Jesus was celebrating Passover at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26) with his twelve disciples when he lifted up the bread and the cup and invited us to remember... this statement would make a lot of sense to a First Century Jew. You see, Passover was a very powerful time of remembering. It still is one of the world s most ancient religious festivals. It is a time to honor freedom and of liberation for all of God s children. Passover is a time to remember the night thousands of years ago when the Angel of Death passed over the houses of the Hebrew families that had lamb s blood sprinkled across their thresholds (Exodus 12:27). From the book of Exodus, we are told that on the morning following the Passover, the Pharaoh of Egypt released the Israelites from slavery. They were freed to follow Moses out into the wilderness, across the Red Sea and toward their Promised Land of Canaan. Passover is the first of three major Jewish festivals the other two being Shavot, the Festival of Weeks and Sukkot (Leviticus 23:33), a joyous festival that celebrates the tents they lived in for forty years as they wandered in the wilderness. As a matter of fact, when we all go to Beth Chaim on Saturday, Oct 15 th to celebrate our tenth annual Witness Our Welcome, or WOW service, they will be at the end of their Sukkot festival. We will have our WOW recep- 3
tion out on their patio in a large booth, or tent, called a sukkah...so don t forget to come! Now, back to Passover... As a Jewish rabbi, Jesus would have observed Passover every year of his life. One main focus of Passover is to notice the places in our lives where we need to change our actions and our perspectives I would like to read an excerpt from The Open Door: A Passover Haggadah to you. A haggadah is simply a guide that helps Jewish people through the evening of Seder, or Passover eve. In her introduction, Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell writes: On this night, we discover how single travelers can pursue a common destiny, how individuals become a people. One by one, we break through our own narrow places, naming the pharaohs that oppress our lives and our spirits. We lift and point to symbolic foods that serve as signposts on the path toward freedom. Once again some of us for the first time we glimpse the possibility of liberation. Each year, the Seder challenges us to change our perspective it helps us reframe our people s ancient story. A Jesus lifts up the bread and the cup, the symbolic foods of Passover, the disciples are asked not only to remember the liberation of their ancestors in ancient Egypt, but also to reframe the ancient story by looking ahead to the freedom Jesus offered them. And now, two thousand years later, we are all called to remember the freedom we can find in Christ as we share the Bread of Life and Cup of Blessing during our own communion. Let us all remember this freedom, release the pharaohs that oppress our lives and our spirits, remember we no longer have to be enslaved do this in memory of me In Godly Play, we tie the practice of communion to the story of the Good Shepherd and to the imagery of Psalm 23. The telling of the story this way helps us to embrace the mystery of communion. It opens the door for us to begin to understand the importance this sacrament has in our lives as Christians. 4
As you can see, there are some Godly Play story pieces up here to help me tell the story better, to help us prepare to enter the mystery and to help us to embrace the deep and hidden mysteries of our sacrament of communion. A long time ago, there once was a man who did such wonderful things and said such amazing things that people wondered who he was. Finally, they just couldn t help it. They had to ask him who he was. When they asked him, he said, I am the Good Shepherd. I know each one of the sheep by name, and they know the sound of my voice. When I take the sheep from their fold, they follow me. I walk in front of the sheep to show them the way. I take them to the good grass. As the sheep follow their shepherd to the good grass, so each of us is invited to follow the Good Shepherd to this table. This feast is open to all, from which none are excluded and all are welcome no matter who they are or where they are on their life s journey. Now, I wonder, do you remember where you were when you first were invited to this table? Did you ever want more? I wonder who explained communion to you and if you understood? I wonder when you feel closest to this table and to the bread and juice? I wonder what this feast means to you now I wonder where you might hear the words of the Good Shepherd I wonder if you feel ready to come to this table Amen. 5
Scriptures for further reference: Mark 14:22-24 The Institution of the Lord s Supper 22 While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, Take; this is my body. 23 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. 24 He said to them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Luke 22.19-71 19 Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. 20 And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Wondering Questions for further thought: Now I wonder if the people around this table are all happy? I wonder if you have ever heard the words of the Good Shepherd? I wonder when you feel the closest to the bread and to the wine? I wonder what this feast means to you in your daily life? The meaning of Communion from the UCC Book of Worship In the sacrament of Holy Communion, also called the Lord's Supper or Eucharist, meaning "thanksgiving," Christians hear, taste, touch and receive the grace of God revealed through Jesus Christ in a unique way. Communion is: a joyous act of thanksgiving for all God has done, is doing, and will do for the redeeming of creation; a sacred memorial of the crucified and risen Christ, a living and effective sign of Christ's sacrifice in which Christ is truly and rightly present to those who eat and drink; an 6
earnest prayer for the presence of the Holy Spirit to unite those who partake with the Risen Christ and with each other, and to restore creation, making all things new; an intimate experience of fellowship in which the whole church in every time and place is present and divisions are overcome; a hopeful sign of the promised Realm of God marked by justice, love and peace. The United Church of Christ Book of Worship reminds us that "the invitation and the call [to the supper] celebrate not only the memory of a meal that is past, but an actual meal with the risen Christ that is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet at which Christ wi11 preside at the end of history." http://www.ucc.org/worship/communion/ Borg, Marcus J and John Dominic Crossan. The Last Week. Harper.San Francisco, CA. 2006. p.116-117. Shaper, Donna. Sacred Chow. Hansen-McMenamy Books, LLC. El Paso, TX. 2009. For more information on Jewish holidays: The Jewish Virtual Library an American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaism/holi daya.html Elwell, Sue Levi. The Open Door: A Passover Haggadah. Central Conference of American Rabbis. New York. 2002 (Jewish year: 5762). 7