I Corinthians 11:23-26 * April 1, 2010 * Maundy Thursday * Pastor Pagels

In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:

Did you ever stop to think about how busy Jesus was on this day, the day Christians call Maundy Thursday? He celebrated his final Passover with his disciples (and before he even sat down he washed all of their feet). They ate together. They sang together. They prayed together. And after they left the Upper Room the Lord prayed some more.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed long: “God, please let there be another way.” He prayed hard: “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” And finally the Son of God prayed to his heavenly Father: “Not my will, but yours be done.”

Then there was the betrayal by one of his own...and the arrest under cover of darkness...and the mockery of a trial in the middle of the night. So many events, so much action packed into just a few hours. But if you had to pick just one thing, if you were asked to identify a single event that defines this day, what would it be?

I know what I would say. For me Maundy Thursday will always be the day when the Lord gave his disciples a special gift, the same gift he shares with his disciples this evening. Of course, I'm taking about Holy Communion. The sacrament is so important that the events surrounding it and describing it are recorded four times in the New Testament, in Matthew, Mark, Luke and I Corinthians (our sermon text for tonight).

Even though there are four accounts that have come to us by four different authors, there is a remarkable consistency to the message. Compare them side-by-side and you will see that they all have all of the following in common: Jesus taking and breaking bread, Jesus offering a word of thanks/blessing, Jesus saying “This is my body” and taking the cup and relating its contents (his blood) to the (new) covenant.

But when I say that the accounts are consistent, I do not mean that they are identical. Each of the authors has his own style, and each account provides some unique details. For an example, listen again to the final verse of our text. Paul is the only writer who tells us that “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes” (26).

What does that mean? It means that receiving communion is not just eating bread and drinking wine. It means that the Lord's Supper is more than a memorial meal. It means that whenever we approach the table and receive the sacrament we preach Christ crucified...

WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED IN HIS HOLY SUPPER

I. We receive his body and blood

II. We proclaim his death until he comes

Jesus and his disciples had celebrated the Passover before, and celebrate isn’t too strong a term. The Passover feast was supposed to be a festive occasion, a joyous occasion, a time to come together and remember how God had delivered his people from slavery in Egypt. But this Passover celebration felt different. On this night the mood in the Upper Room was more subdued, and Paul explains why.

This was the night when Jesus was betrayed (23), and everything that was about to happen to him was weighing heavily on his mind. On more than one occasion the Lord had explained that he would be arrested and convicted and put to death, but the disciples either didn't understand or they didn't understand that these things would happen so soon.

Jesus knew that his time had come. Jesus knew that he had no time to spare. So while they were all together in one place, when he was alone with his followers Jesus took the opportunity to give them a special gift: “The Lord Jesus...took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new testament in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me’” (24, 25).

This was no time for speaking in riddles. This was not the time to conceal the meaning of his words in parables. In a sense this was Jesus’ last will and testament. He needed to be clear. He needed to be concise. He needed to speak in such a way so that his words could not be misunderstood.

And what is clear and plain in English is even more so in the original Greek. In the Lord’s Supper, in, with and under the bread and wine we receive Christ’s body and blood. The very body he sacrificed in our place. The very blood he shed on the cross. We can’t understand this divine mystery, but at the same time we can’t misunderstand these inspired words.

And the gospel writer Matthew, the disciple who was in the Upper Room, who was reclining at the table, who listened as the Savior spoke these words, he tells us what else Jesus gives us when he gives us his body and blood. The Lord said: “Take and eat; this is my body...This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (26:26,28).

When we take communion we receive Christ’s body and blood. But even more that, when we receive the Lord’s Supper we receive the forgiveness of sins. When we receive the Lord’s Supper we received the forgiveness of sins. Think about that! How much do you think about that? How often do you treasure up all these things and ponder them in your heart? Or instead of taking these words to heart how often do you take this gift for granted?

Paul reminded the Christians in Corinth, and perhaps he needs to remind us that a person “ought to examine himself before he eats the bread and drinks of the cup” (I Corinthians 11:28). Paul had to warn the Corinthians, and maybe he needs to warn us that “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” (I Corinthians 11:27).

If we are just going through the motions when we take communion we need to get down on our knees and repent of our sin. Instead of taking this priceless gift for granted we need to take a good hard look at ourselves. If you don’t know how to examine yourself, if you aren’t sure what questions to ask, there is a list of questions in the front of the hymnal, questions that are designed to help Christians prepare for communion (what follows can be found on page 156 in the front of Christian Worship):

Have I been disobedient, proud, or unforgiving? Have I been selfish, lazy, envious, or quarrelsome? Have I lied or deceived, taken something not mine, or given anyone a bad name? Have I abused my body or permitted indecent thoughts to linger in my mind? Have I failed to do what is right and good?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions (and who of us can’t), there is still hope for you. If your guilt feels like a millstone around your neck, if you are weighed down by your sins, if there is a specific sin in your life that won’t stop bothering you, I have good news for you.

Jesus did what you and I couldn’t do. He lived a perfect life for you. He died on the cross for you. In the Lord’s Supper in a special way he comes to you. And when the Lord Jesus says “this is my body, which is given for you” and “this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for you,” you can be sure that your Savior is speaking directly to you.

In communion Christians are on the receiving end of many things. We receive a bite of bread and a sip of wine. We receive Christ’s body and blood. We receive the personal assurance that our sins are forgiven. But don’t get the impression that in the sacrament the recipient is entirely passive.

On Maundy Thursday Jesus commanded his disciples to “do this” (in fact, the word “Maundy” is related to the Latin noun, “mandatum,” which means “command”). Two thousand years later his disciples still “do this.” And when we come forward, whenever we celebrate the sacrament, Paul reminds us that we do something else. We proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

I did a little word study on the verb, “proclaim,” in verse 26. Most of the time the NIV translates it “preach” or “proclaim” (as it does here). The basic idea is to get a message across using words. The only exception I could find was right here (in I Corinthians 11).

Paul wanted the Corinthians to share the good news of Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. But in addition to sharing their faith, besides talking with people about their Savior Paul reminded them that there is another way, we might call it an additional way, for Christians to proclaim the Lord’s death. When we take communion we are sending a powerful message. Without saying so much as a single word we preach Christ crucified in his holy Supper.

I remember one of my seminary professors saying that when a pastor prepares a sermon he should preach it to himself first. Perhaps we could say that same about Christians and communion. When we take communion we are reminded of what God did for us Good Friday. We think to ourselves: “My sin is great, but my Savior is greater. In his Word the Lord tells me he loves me, but on the cross he showed me how much he loves me.” And every time we eat and drink we remind ourselves, we proclaim to ourselves: “Jesus sacrificed his life for me.”

Communion isn’t something Christians do in private, however. We are part of a church, a community of believers. We come together to celebrate the sacrament. We stand next to each other. We proclaim the Lord’s death to one another. By our practice we remind each other that we are a communion of saints, and the faith that unites us is strengthened every time we take communion.

Finally, when we receive the sacrament we also send a powerful message to Satan. He doesn’t want us to proclaim the Lord’s death. He doesn’t want us to remember Jesus’ sacrifice. He wants us to forget. He wants us to doubt. More than anything in the world he wants us to fall. He objects: “How could God ever love a sinner like you? How could God possibly forgive you? And how can this simple meal forgive sins? It defies logic. It doesn’t make sense. If you believe that, you must be a fool.”

He’s got a point. The idea that Jesus gives us his true body and blood in communion doesn’t make sense. The belief that God gives us forgiveness in communion isn’t based on logic. The belief that God forgives sins through the death of his Son. The belief that God forgives us at all. The devil isn’t the only one to call it foolishness. Paul said it too: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18).

Through the eyes of faith the message of the cross doesn’t look so foolish anymore. For us who are being saved the message is powerful. The gospel gives us the power to defy the devil, to believe the unbelievable, to stand up and stand together and proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

And by the grace of God that is what we do every time we partake of this holy Supper. When we stand shoulder to shoulder in the front of the church, when we eat the bread, when drink from the cup, every time we “do this” in remembrance of the One who died so that we might live, we preach Christ crucified. Amen.