A sermon based on 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
Thursday, April 13, 2017 – Maundy Thursday
I have a few questions for you that I want you to actually answer, at least with a head nod, okay? If I were to leave Grace this spring and you were to get a new pastor right away… Do you think that you would still remember me, Pastor Rob Guenther, six months from now? Would you remember me a year from now? Okay, I know I'm pushing it a bit now, but how about two years from now. Would you still remember me then?
Okay, now I've got a dumb knock-knock joke for you. You ready? Knock, knock! ["Who's there?"] What?! You already forgot me? What happened to all that two-year talk? All right, I did warn you it was a dumb joke. But it's goofy because, of course you remember me while I'm right here in front of you.
To many, what Jesus said at the Passover meal that first Maundy Thursday might have also seemed like a dumb joke. In fact, it was quite ironic that he told his disciples that he was leaving them something to remember him by, but that something was himself. They were to remember him even while he was right in front of them. And we remember Jesus, even as he's right in front of us tonight: in our hands and in our mouths.
Our irony of the passion for consideration this Maundy Thursday is Jesus' command: "Do this… in remembrance of me" as he gave them his very body and blood. Our text is found in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29…
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
When I left Raleigh, a close friend and I exchanged gifts to remember each other by. I knew that he was a collector of antiques, so I left him a Bible that I picked up at a book auction that dated back to the mid-1800's. It was meaningful to him not only for the antique, but because every time he looks at it, displayed on an antique desk in his living room, he remembers me and how I taught him a lot of what the Bible says and means.
He, in exchange, taught me a lot about hunting. We went out to his property several times each year to hunt turkey or deer or just to work on the land, clearing a line of sight, planting food plots, or securing stands. In fact, it was on those trips that we talked theology which led him to take the Bible Information Class the year before I left. And when I took the call here, he gave me the .30-06 that I'd borrowed from him every time we'd hunt together—the same .30-06 I shot my black bear with here. Now every time I take it hunting, I think of him.
Have you left some item to someone close to you that they might remember you by? Has someone left something for you that you remember them by? Maybe it's a special keepsake or a piece of jewelry. Maybe a trinket or knickknack to remember a vacation you took together. Or maybe it's just a photo. But those keepsakes, help us to remember the people we care about.
That first Maundy Thursday, Jesus was about to leave his disciples. Oh, he would see them again, but on the other side of the grave, and that for only a little more than a month before he left them again. Then, they would be physically separated until their heavenly reunion. So Jesus gave his disciples something to remember him by, something special…
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
Jesus' token of remembrance was far more special than an antique Bible or a .30-06. He gave them his very body and blood. Now, if Jesus wanted to leave them just a symbol to remember him by, he might have left a lamb, to remind them of the Passover Lamb that pointed to his sacrifice by which God would pass over them in his wrath. Or maybe he would have left a simple tent, to remind them that this life is temporary while we wait for the eternal life to come. But he didn't leave them just a symbol. He left them himself.
And therein lies the irony. "I leave this that you might remember me when I'm gone. But "this" is me. I leave you myself. I won't really be gone. I'll be right there with you when you do this in remembrance of me."
We call this the "doctrine of real presence." That is, Jesus is somehow truly present in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. His body and blood are somehow, in, with, and under, the bread and wine. Even tonight, as we celebrate the Lord's Supper, Jesus is here with us.
Have you ever wondered why we sing the Song of Simeon after the Lord's Supper? Isn't that a Christmas story—where old Simeon held the baby Jesus in the temple court of Jerusalem? But just as Simeon marveled in joy as he held Jesus, the God who created the cosmos, in his hands! …So too, we marvel in joy that we who have just communed have held Jesus, the same God who created the cosmos, in his very body and blood, in our hands and in our mouths!
What a special gift of remembrance Jesus has left to us! He's left us himself! And with himself he gives forgiveness of sins every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper. This sacrament and its promise of forgiveness, connects you to Jesus' work on the cross: of taking your every sin on himself and paying the full penalty of hell in your place.
Now, when you receive a special gift of remembrance from a close friend, I'm guessing that you do as I do and treat that gift in a special way. So I clean the rifle my friend gave me out after every use. I oil it. I try my best to keep it clean and dry even on my hunts. I put electrical tape over the barrel to keep dirt from getting in. It's special to me for sentimental reasons and I want it to last. So I want to take good care of it. Similarly, I hope my friend doesn't eat nacho chips and cheese over the antique Bible that I gave him.
And similarly, Jesus wants us to treat his special gift with care as well. So he warns…
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
So what does it mean to eat the bread or drink the cup "in an unworthy manner"? Well you can picture me tossing my rifle in the back of my jeep and leaving it there only to toss some salmon and sand on top of it this summer. That would be an unworthy manner. You can picture my friend, tearing out pages of the antique Bible when he's run out of napkins at his barbeque. That would be treating it in an unworthy manner.
We treat the Lord 's Supper in an unworthy manner in a number of ways: 1) When we come to the Lord's Supper, not really sorry for our sins (what we call, repentant), but planning on sinning again as soon as we leave. That's treating the Lord's Supper like a garbage bin, hoping to drop off our trash only to fill up the bin all over again.
2) We treat the Lord 's Supper in an unworthy manner when we think we don't really need it. ("I don't really have any sins that need forgiving right now.") Or taking it flippantly without much thought, just because that's what everyone else is doing right now. (Which is sort of the same as #1. "I don't really want forgiveness right now," is to say, "I'm impenitent.")
3) We treat the Lord 's Supper in an unworthy manner when we come to the Lord's Supper not really believing that it's Jesus' body and blood, or that it has the power to forgive. That's tantamount to calling Jesus a liar. ("Thanks for the rifle, but I don't believe it actually works. This is a piece of junk.")
Now, to be sure, Jesus' body and blood are present in the Sacrament whether we believe it or not. Real presence doesn't depend on our faith, but on his promise. But to receive it in an unworthy manner, no longer brings forgiveness of sins, but judgment on the one receiving his body and blood so unworthily.
That's why we practice closed communion. It would be just as irresponsible for me to give the Lord's Supper to someone who didn't understand it, as it would be for me to give a loaded rifle to someone who didn't understand it. What is huge blessing to one person, can be deadly to another. That's also why I encourage proper examination with those question and answers on the back of the bulletin, so it's not harmful to you.
But what if you have taken the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner? Well, then you did eat or drink judgment on yourself. You sinned against Jesus and against his body and blood. But that's not God's final word to you. Yes, he may judge us, but "when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world." And ultimately, he left us himself (his body and blood) as a comfort to us; for the forgiveness of sins, even for taking the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner.
You see, even though my friend wants me to treat the rifle he gave me with care, he does still want me to use it. He wouldn't be pleased if I was so cautions with it that I stuck on the shelf in the garage to collect dust. It's a gift he hopes I use often. And I do take that rifle pretty much every time I go hunting.
Similarly, I may not hope that he sits down to read the antique Bible that sits on his antique desk, but I do hope that when he looks at that antique, he's prompted to read another copy of the Bible. I hope he uses it often.
And whatever gift you've given someone else to remember you by or they've given to you, you both hope the other will look at it or use it often.
In the same way, even though Jesus wants us to use his gift in a careful way, he definitely want us to use it! So if you have received the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner before, know that Jesus forgives you of that too. And, after you've examined yourself, don't leave his gift unused, sitting on the shelf in the garage to collect dust. But pull it out, dust it off, and use it again as the blessing Jesus meant it to be. Use it often—as often as you can!
Tonight, as we celebrate the Lord's Supper, remember Jesus and what he's done to rescue you from your sin. Remember that Jesus is right here in the Sacrament—his very body and blood in the bread and the wine—giving you forgiveness of every one of your sins. And then recommit to using the wonderful gifts he's left for you: not a rifle, but certainly a Bible! Not just bread and wine, but his very body and blood! Not just a remembrance of him, but for the forgiveness of sins. Yes, use them as often as you can!
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