[Sermon Archive]

This Week's Sermon MAUNDY THURSDAY 09 April 2009 "There Is Nothing Better Than Communing with Our Lord in Unity" 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 LSB Series B Vicar Gerald D. Heinecke Soli Deo Gloria!

I enjoy hanging out with people, being active, and participating in as many things as I can. But some people are not like that. They prefer to express their individualism by participating in one specific group, or clique. In the movie "10 Things I Hate About You," Cameron, who is new to the local high school is being walked around by a fellow student and being told about all the different groups that one can hang out with such as the basic beautiful people, the white rastas, the cowboys, or MBAs. Such a wide variety of people created a unique culture.

It got me to thinking about the church at Corinth. They were set in a city full of culture and a brilliant people, a thriving Greek metropolis. But they were also a church ripe with strife and discord. They too were full of cliques and people wanting to assert their "individuality." If you recall 1 Corinthians 1, there were a number of groups who claimed to be followers of different people, Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ. In chapter 12 Paul discusses the importance of all people being an important part of the church. These topics come up in a subtle but profound way in our brief text tonight. Paul talks about a participation in the blood and body of Christ. Paul's point is:

On this Maundy Thursday we observe one of the two new commands that Jesus gave to his disciples. Paul's main thought is our participation in the Lord's Supper. The actual Greek word for participation has a number of different translations into the English. participation also brings to light a different word, which we find in our text, communion. Listen to our text, The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ? So we have a participation, a communion in the body and blood of Christ. Communion is synonymous with the Lord's Supper. Packed into this word are also questions about whom do we commune and how does this effect our Christian lives?

In the Lord's Supper, what do we say as we distribute the elements? The body of Christ, given for you. The blood of Christ, shed for you. It is through these simple means that the fullness of Christ is given to you. The bread and the wine point us to the bold reality of the relationship you have with Christ, a union with him through faith and Baptism into his body.

So you are in communion with Christ. You became members of his body through Baptism, in which was bestowed faith and all the rights as becoming children of God. This is no superficial relationship. It is one as complex and mind-blowing as the marriage between husband and wife. Christ has made himself one with each of us, first in your baptism and then for the rest of your lives as you confess your sins, and receive absolution for the forgiveness of sins. As the Holy Spirit continues to strengthen your faith in him who has called you from the depths of the depravity of your sin you are reminded of the importance of the oneness, your communion with Christ.

Yet your communion does not just end with him as we see in verse seventeen, Because there is one bread we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. This verse is loaded with theological implication! In it Paul sets up the next four chapters of his epistle. We who are many are not the same, but rather we are individual people with varying ideas. Indeed you are a many and varied people, but you have a unique unity. Because of your individual unity with Christ there is an even greater reality that occurs. This intimate fellowship with Christ begun at each of your baptisms is continued through the rest of your life in the eating and drinking of his body and blood becomes the basis for a communion not just with Christ but with your fellow Christians.

Note the metaphor used in verse seventeen. One bread equals one body. This concept of one bread is lost in today's communion wafer. During the time of Paul they did not have communion wafers. They would use an unleavened piece of bread and would all partake of that one loaf. This is significant in that each person in the community shared of that loaf whether that person be rich or poor, free or slave, male or female. Such a thing did not occur in that culture. Servants did not eat with masters; yet here Paul reminds them of that very thing. What a wonderful concept that you are united in your eating and drinking of Christ's body and blood regardless of race, station in life, or sex!

In this individuality a problem exists. You would rather be many individuals then one body of believers. Hence the reason why cliques exist. Christianity in general and Immanuel specifically continues to struggle with evangelism, that is the spreading of Word of God to those who do not believe or have fallen from the faith. The main problem is that we expect, no we demand, the ability to remain as individuals and to be able to do what we want. The Christian church is under fire from within itself as we live in this age of individual truth and choice.

There may be those who are rich that demand they get their way or their money leaves the church. Others may become offended rather than thankful when the Church speaks up to those who refuse to come to the divine service to receive God's gifts of grace. There are those who may be aghast when the church speaks against the common sins of society which may have intruded on the family such as homosexuality, living together outside of marriage, or abortion. Christianity is plagued with the breaking down of scripture as gender roles are destroyed by women seeking the office of Holy Ministry, and closed communion continues to be seen by many as attacking one's Christian beliefs rather than being done for the sake of ones soul.

Why does the church struggle with evangelism? People want to keep their church lives separate from their daily lives. In a sense two cliques are created when you do this. How can we be upset that there are few young people in the congregation if we don't invite our family and friends to come to the divine service? How can we be upset that there is no evangelism if each of us do not talk about the good news of our Lord and Savior's death and resurrection for the forgiveness of all our sins? How can we be upset when a family member's lifestyle is declared sinful when the Word of God clearly says that it is?

We should be glad something is said because the desire that we should ultimately have is the intimate fellowship of the Christian believer found only in Christ. People do not come to faith by magic. They come to faith by hearing the Word so that the Holy Spirit may work through the means which God has given us. This unification of many into one body calls for a removal of all factionalism and individualism that sin creates. This communion can only be realized in the confession of our sin and in the truth of God's unchanging Word.

We live in a challenging time. The desire to remain faithful to the truth of God's Word pulls at a person's desire to remain an individual. But only through our unity as one body will we ever realize how our individual gifts help the church as the Holy Spirit work through Word and Sacrament. You will only know the unity found in the truth of God's Word by being here in the Word. That is the joy of it all! We know that while we are each sinners, God is ever faithful! He promises to come to us through his means of grace always!

Recall our Gospel text. The Sacrament of the Altar is given to us by Christ. It is rooted though, in the Old Testament, in the peace offering. The peace offering was a meal offered by God to his people. Instead of burning up the whole sacrifice, the meat drained of blood and stripped of fat was given back to the Israelite family to be eaten in the presence of the Lord. It was a called a peace offering because in it the Lord gave them the gift of peace through the meal. That is, he gave them the forgiveness of sins, wellbeing, harmony, life, and salvation.

The peace offering is a reminder of how faithful God is. In the Lord's Supper we come to the ultimate reality of God's faithfulness to us. He gives us not only his body but the life giving blood. We participate in the peace offering given by God himself. His very Son, the once-for-all sacrifice. He has given us the promised means by which we can be in Christ. How great a blessing we have that God has followed through on all his promises and provides means by which we may be in a right relationship with him.

In him we can trust, knowing that what we eat is the true body of Christ and what we drink is the true blood of Christ. In this eating and drinking the truth of Christ's amazing work for each person comes to a head. We see Christ dying on the cross. His precious blood is shed for each individual person; his body given into death for each individual person so that all people may know the truth of God's Word and be saved.

With each person receiving the truth of God's all encompassing grace the church becomes a unified whole. In our unity is found the realization of Christ's great command. Take, eat this is my body and take, drink this is my true blood. Through it we learn that there is nothing better than communing with our Lord in unity. There is the ultimate realization of Christ's work, salvation for all people.