Stop, Look, and Listen A Sermon for Communion Sunday 1 Corinthians 11:23-28 Rev. Michael D. Halley October 4, 2015 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 Corinthians 11:23-28 New International Version (NIV) For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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. 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. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord s death until he comes. So then, 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. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God! Stop, look, and listen. These are words many of us learned in our childhood, words of caution as we approached a railroad crossing. When many 1
of us grew up, there were no automatic warning signals at railroad crossings and it was vitally important to be aware of trains which may be coming down the track. Stop, look, and listen are also good cautionary and instructive words for us as we approach the table of the Lord s Supper. Page 2 This passage we just read from Paul s first letter to the Corinthian church is the earliest written account of the Lord s Supper. The disciples who were there with Jesus on the night just before his death remembered what Jesus said to them and they continued to gather together around a table in memory of Jesus. And here we are, over two thousand years later, continuing this ritual of gathering around a simple table to share a simple meal. Stop. Yes, I said stop. Stop what you are doing. Stop. An odd word to modern people, wouldn t you think? We never stop, do we? It is go, go, go, all the time, it seems, doesn t it? 1 This past week I read a devotion written by Chuck Swindoll. It was entitled Quietness. Alas, he wrote, we are simply geared too high. Thanks to Alka-Seltzer, Excedrin, Sleep-eze, and Compoz, we repeat our nonproductive haste with monotonous regularity. As Peter Marshall put it, Swindoll says, We are in such a hurry, we hate to miss one panel of a revolving door. Even now, I suspect that many of you are not thinking of this present moment. You are mapping out what you will be doing this afternoon, or tonight, or tomorrow. It s hard to stop, isn t it? But stop we must if this supper is to have meaning for us. Stop and remember. Stop and think. Stop and pray. We should stop, and we should look. The Lord s Supper is considered a
2 sacrament in the Christian Church tradition. A sacrament is an important ritual or ceremony which points to what is sacred and important to us. This sacrament, the Lord s Supper, is highly visible. Page 3 Here is a table, set with very simple food, bread from the earth and fruit from the vine. The Bible does not specify what kind of bread it should be, nor does it say we should drink wine or grape juice. In our Navy and Marine Corps chapels we always provided wine and grape juice so that both traditions could be accommodated. I remember as a young boy experiencing the Lord s Supper in my home 3 church. It was so interesting to me, watching the ritual unfold before me. Our pastor and our deacons carefully served us the plate of bread and the tray of cups. It was beautiful to watch. But let s look not just to the table but to Jesus. Can you picture Jesus at that last supper he had with his disciples? Outwardly he was calm. He was with the twelve men with whom he had intimately shared the past three years of his life. He loved them. He cared about them. But he also knew that this was the last time they would be together. Tremendous suffering and pain would soon come to him, and Jesus was very aware of that. But look at him at the supper. You would not know what this man was about to endure. Look to Jesus and live. And we must listen. Listen to his words: This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me. What Jesus was saying is that his body and his blood were central to this new covenant. A covenant is an agreement. God s new covenant with us fulfilled the enormous demands of the Mosaic law and made our salvation possible through the once and for all sacrifice of his Son Jesus. Listen to this, these are words of life eternal.
Page 4 So we listen. But what do we do with what we hear? Pastor John Piper says that there is a mental action involved here. The Lord s Supper, he says, roots us, time after time, in the nitty-gritty of history. Bread and Cup. Body and blood. Execution and death. 4 If we listen carefully and look closely, the Lord s Supper reminds us that we are connected to historical events. There was a man, Jesus, the Son of God, and he did live and walk upon the earth. He did eat and drink. He did give his life. And this sacrament, the Lord s Supper, is a tangible reminder of these historical events. Yes, these are simple elements. Plain bread and grape juice. But they point to Jesus and we remember his life and his death for us. Stop, look, and listen. And Paul adds one more thing, a warning: examine yourself. So then, 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. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. What does Paul mean? Of course we are unworthy. Of course we are sinners. We have no standing before God apart from Christ. Only because of the cross can we stand before God. But we still must examine ourselves. Eugene Peterson in The Message 5 translates these verses like this: Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of remembrance you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe. A small country church in Wisconsin has a special tradition that they have used at the close of their communion services for a number of years. It is
Page 5 adapted from an ancient Jewish closing of the Passover meal. Since it is the hope of every devout Jew to celebrate the Passover at least once in David s city, the Jewish custom is to end the meal with a toast. Passover participants raise their cup and say, Next year, in Jerusalem! And at this little church in Wisconsin, the members raise their communion cups and say together, Next time, with Christ! Today is World Communion Sunday, an annual celebration of our connection with Christians around the world. Our communion liturgy today 6 is in celebration of this special event. Christ invites us all to this Holy Feast. As we gather this morning, we remember our sisters and brothers from above and below the equator, from the North and from Down Under, from every time zone around the globe. As today s sunlight inches across land and sea Christians gather to celebrate their place in God s family. All are invited and all are welcome. To prepare ourselves to partake of this Holy Meal, let us pray: O God of hope and healing, we come before you broken, yet seeking wholeness; isolated, yet seeking community. We yearn for the healing you promise us. We are selfish, yet we seek a generous heart. We are arrogant, yet we seek humility. We yearn, O God, for the justice you promise. Knowing that through Christ all things are made new, we come to this table to be recreated through the bread and cup, and to be renewed in our faith and commitment. We pray this through Jesus Christ, who died that we may live. Amen. On that night he celebrated the Passover meal with is disciples, Jesus took bread, broke it, and passed it to his disciples, saying This is my body, given for you. May this bread connect us more closely with God and with our neighbors near and far.
After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, passed it to his disciples, and said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you for the remission of sin. May this fruit of the vine remind us of how much we are inter-connected around the world. May this simple meal bring us into union with you, O God, and with your people and your world, united in the One Body of Christ. Almighty God, we thank you for this bread, and for all you provide to sustain us. Above all, merciful Father, we thank you for Christ your Son, given for the life of the world. Amen The body of Christ, given for you. Page 6 Almighty God, we thank you for this fruit of the vine, and for every good gift that gives us joy. We thank you above all for Christ our Lord, by whose blood you have bought us and bound us to be your people in an everlasting covenant. Amen The blood of Christ, shed for you. Let us pray: Gracious God, here at this table we have been in the company of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer. You have revealed your loving ways to us in broken bread and poured cup. Now, as your light has illuminated our lives, help us be a light for others. Amen 7
Page 7 All Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. As we preachers often say, I get milk from a number of cows, but I churn my own butter. Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome! 1. Insight for Today, September 29, 2015. Charles R. Chuck Swindoll (born 1934) is an evangelical Christian pastor, author, educator, and radio preacher. 2. We observe two sacraments, the Lord s Supper and Baptism. 3. My home church is Highlawn Baptist Church, St. Albans, West Virginia. 4. From his sermon, Why and How We Celebrate the Lord s Supper, preached on August 13, 2006, http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/why-and-how-we-celebrate-the-lords-supper. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringgod.org and.chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the author of more than 50 books. 5. The Message (MSG), copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson 6. Taken from Come, for the Meal is Ready!, written by written by Ana and Tod Gobledale, found at www.ucc.org/worship/pdfs/come-for-the-meal-is-ready.pdf. 7. From 15 Great Communion Prayers, www.prayers-for-special-help.com/communion-prayers.html
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