16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?  And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? - 1 Corinthians 10:16, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.

In the name of the One who was, and who is, and who is to come, dear Christian friends:

"Jesus comes to us."  That is the theme of our midweek Advent services this year.  Last Wednesday, Pastor Leyrer preached about how Jesus comes to us in a manger.  Next Wednesday, Professor James Kiecker from Wisconsin Lutheran College will preach about Jesus’ second coming, when he will come in his majesty.  These two ideas form the central theme for the Advent season.  We look forward to Christmas and the birth of baby Jesus in Bethlehem, and we prepare our hearts for Jesus the King who will return on the Last Day.

But where does that leave us now?  What about the two thousand years and counting between those two comings?  For all we know, it could be another thousand years or more before Jesus returns in his heavenly glory.  Is Jesus still with us today?  Does he come to us here and now?  The simple answer to those questions is "Yes."  Yes, Jesus is still present with his people on earth, in a somewhat different way.  This evening we will take a few minutes to meditate on how

Jesus Comes To Us…In A Mystery

If you were wondering what that mystery is all about, the sermon hymn for this evening should have given you the answer.  The beautiful words of that hymn remind us that Jesus comes to us regularly in the Lord’s Supper, the meal that Jesus himself instituted the night before he was crucified.  Jesus comes to us in a mystery.  In Holy Communion…

1. Jesus gives us his true body and blood.

2. Jesus gives us the forgiveness of sins.

Paul wrote: "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?  And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ" (I Corinthians 10:16)?  Paul’s question for the Corinthians was rhetorical.  The point is this.  When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are eating bread and drinking wine, but we are also eating Christ’s body and drinking Christ’s blood.  It is a "participation."  The same word is translated "communion" in the KJV.  When we eat the bread and drink the wine in communion, we also receive Christ’s body and blood. In Lutheran circles, this is called the doctrine of the Real Presence.

Does this teaching appeal to logic?  No.  Can it be proven scientifically?  No.  How these four elements can all be present in the Supper remains a mystery to us, but it is only one of the mysteries contained in the Bible.  Many other clearly stated Bible doctrines fly in the face of human reason.

For example, is it possible to explain the doctrine of the Trinity?  Or has the eternal existence of God ever been proven?  Can anyone honestly say that they understand how Jesus is true God and true man in one person?  Luther once compared the mystery of the Real Presence with these other mysteries of the Bible.  This was his conclusion:

"O Lord God, he who cannot believe that Christ is in bread, in a grain of wheat, will far less believe the doctrine of creation.  That all creatures were made out of nothing is a sublime article.  He who does not accept this will still be farther removed from believing that God is man and, above all, that there are three persons in one Essence.  Reason will have nothing to do with that.  It is an easy matter for me to believe that Christ’s body is in the bread, but it is difficult to believe that so many extraordinary bodies in heaven came out of nothing.  I cannot comprehend this; it is impossible for me to do so."

In the twenty centuries since Jesus gave us his Supper, countless books and treatises have been written about its meaning.  Many learned scholars have tried to explain this mystery.  Some have concluded that Jesus’ words cannot be understood literally.  It is physically impossible for bread and wine to be or become something else, especially human flesh and blood.  Therefore, these words only make sense if they are taken figuratively.  For them, the Lord’s Supper is nothing more than a memorial meal of bread and wine with no real power or significance.

On the other side, there are those who do believe that the body and blood of Christ are truly present in the Lord’s Supper, but they assume that a transformation has taken place.  The bread and wine miraculously turn into Christ’s body and blood.  They ignore the words of Paul that call this sacrament a "participation," a "communion" of the bread and wine, body and blood.  Both of these teachings make logical conclusions based on reasonable assumptions.  Just because they are logical, however, does not mean that they are right.

Of all the different writing genres today, one that has endured the test of time is the mystery novel.  The popularity of this writing style has even given birth to mystery dinner theatres and a variety of Who-done-it board games.  So what’s the appeal of a good mystery?  I believe that readers enjoy mysteries because they are allowed to participate in the story.  The reader goes along with Sherlock Holmes or Encyclopedia Brown or whoever and finds the different clues in order to solve the mystery.

Whether the reader had the right suspect in mind or not, he can rest assured that the mystery will be solved in the final chapter.  The detective will always catch the murderer with his superior intellect.  In the end, all of the reader’s questions will be answered.

When it comes to God’s Word, the same rules do not apply.  Some theological questions can’t be answered on this side of eternity.  There are some things that we will never know because God has chosen not to reveal them to us.  In fact, human reason must be checked at the door because our weak and frail minds cannot begin to understand the ways of God.

Luther did not trust his own intellect to tell him that Jesus is bodily present in the Lord’s Supper.

Neither do we believe that Jesus comes to us in the sacrament because some sainted theologian has given us the key to unlock the mystery.

We believe in the Real Presence because Jesus said: "This IS my body."  We believe in the Real Presence because Jesus said: "This IS my blood."  We believe in the Real Presence because Paul said that the body and blood are a "participation" with the bread and wine.  We believe that Jesus gives us his body and blood together with the bread and wine for the same reason that we believe in the Trinity or eternity or any other teaching in the Bible, by faith in the clear and plain words of God.  God says it.  We believe it.  That settles it.

I have to confess that the idea of calling the Lord’s Supper a mystery did not originate with me.  If you have a good memory, you may remember that the phrase was used in one of the Lord’s Supper hymns in our old hymnal, TLH.  The hymn writer Matthias Loy wrote, "An awe-full mystery is here To challenge faith and waken fear: The Savior comes as food divine, Concealed in earthly bread and wine" (304:1).

Loy called the Lord’s Supper an "awe-full mystery," not awful, A-W-F-U-L, as in something terrible or something to be avoided at all costs.  The Lord’s Supper is "awe-full," or full of awe.  Perhaps "awesome" would make more sense today.  Why is the Lord’s Supper something to be regarded with awe and wonder?

For one, Jesus himself gave it to us.  Christ’s institution of the Lord’s Supper was so important that the Holy Spirit caused it to be written down in the Bible not just once, not twice but four different times by four different authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke and the apostle Paul.  Lutheran theologians have fittingly called the words of institution Jesus’ last will and testament.  The Lord’s Supper is a special gift that Jesus gave to his church just before he ascended into heaven.

The sacrament also inspires awe in the heart of a believer because of the power that God has attached to it.  When Jesus gave the bread and wine to his disciples for the first time, he said, "This is my body…This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt. 26:26, 27).

How can a bite of bread and a sip of wine be so powerful as to forgive sins?  How can eating and drinking do such great things?  Listen to the words of Luther’s Small Catechism: "It is certainly not the eating and drinking that does such things, but the words "Given" and "poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins." These words are the main thing in the sacrament, along with the eating and drinking. And whoever believes these words has what they plainly say, the forgiveness of sins."

The words of Jesus on Maundy Thursday are living and active.  Through those words, Jesus speaks to us today.  We have the same promise that whenever the sacrament is distributed at this altar, Jesus comes to us and gives us his body and blood.  Kneeling at the Lord’s altar is an awesome privilege.  Through those elements connected with the Word, God gives us forgiveness of sins, pardon and peace.

For us, the mystery is not HOW Jesus can do this.  The real mystery is "WHY?"  Why did Jesus give up the perfection of heaven and come down to this sin-filled earth in the most humble way?  Why did Jesus give up his life for us and demand nothing in return?  Why does Jesus forgive us every time when we bring our failures and shortcomings to his throne of grace?  Why does God allow unholy, undeserving sinners to approach him and find the peace of forgiveness in his Supper?

This is one mystery that we can answer.  The answer is love.  Pure grace, totally undeserved love, led Jesus to come to us the first time in the manger.  Love motivated him to give up everything, even his own life, for us.  Out of love for loveless sinners, he invites the guilt-stricken and downtrodden to come and receive the assurance of forgiveness as they receive his body and blood.

It may seem strange to you to hear a sermon about Communion during Advent.  This may be the first time you have ever heard a sermon about the Lord’s Supper in a service in which it was not even offered.  But I can’t think of anything more comforting or more reassuring to consider than God’s Word and sacraments as we prepare our hearts for his coming.

Jesus comes to us. In a little over two weeks we will welcome the baby Jesus on Christmas Day.  We light the second candle on the Advent wreath, the Bethlehem candle, to prepare for his birth.  At the same time, we look forward to Jesus’ return in majesty on the Last Day.

To be honest, we do not know which of those two days will come first.  But in the meantime, we have the assurance that Jesus comes to us right here, right now.  The same Lord who assures believers, "Surely I will be with you always," also says, "This is my body."  The same Lord who says, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you," also says, "This is my blood."  May God lead us to grow in our appreciation of his Word and sacraments.  May the Lord continue to be with us as we prepare for his coming this Advent season.  Amen.