Sermon (April 3) - "An App for That: Communion"

During this forty day Season of Lent leading up to Holy Week and Easter, we’ve been focusing on six spiritual disciplines in hopefully a new and fresh way. These are spiritual apps that God has given us to download and put into use in our lives.

Today’s spiritual app is one that is familiar to many of us, the spiritual app of Holy Communion. This spiritual app has many names. In our church we often call it Holy Communion. We get the word communion from the Greek word, “koinonia” which means fellowship and sharing. Through Holy Communion we share in the death and risen life of Jesus and we often do this together as God’s people.

This meal is also known as the Eucharist, which is probably the most known way to refer to this meal among all Christian bodies. The word, “eucharist” is a Greek word that means “to give thanks.” Whenever Jesus broke bread, he offered a word of thanks to God. So we could say that communion is a “thank you meal.”

Another name for this meal is “the Lord’s Supper.” And this reminds us that it was during an evening meal with his disciples in the Upper Room, when he was having supper with them, that he offered the bread and the cup in a new way.

And finally, another name for communion is “The Mass.” “Mass” is a Latin word which means “to be sent out” and part of receiving communion is to remember that this meal equips us to be sent out to share the good news of Jesus Christ in our community and world.

These are the four common names for this meal. Communion, Eucharist, Lord’s Supper, & Mass.

This morning, I want to have us think about Holy Communion from three different angles; past, present, and future.

To help us see Holy Communion from the perspective of past, present, and future, I want to begin by sharing with you a time several years ago when Penny and I took our family down to Disney World in Florida over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday.

We were living up in the northwest Ohio area at that time. Our kids were around 2 and 4 years old. My sister and brother-in-law lived in the Miami area and that’s where we were going to stay during our trip. But at the time, our kids were more excited about going to Disney World. I remember how our two year old couldn’t stop talking about wanting to go on the Dumbo ride. That’s all he talked about for days and weeks leading up to our trip.

The year we drove down to Disney World was also the year of the Disney movie, “Beauty and the Beast.” Penny and I made the big mistake of buying the soundtrack of this Disney movie, because for that 20 hour car drive, we listened to this thing over and over again. I still experience a sense of panic whenever I hear one of those songs.

(The song, “Be Our Guest” begins playing.)

So, all the way down to Florida, our two year old talks about the Dumbo ride, and they listen to this Disney movie soundtrack over and over again, helping them to feel like they were at Disney World even though we were still miles and miles away.

And then the really good part was seeing our family and spending Christmas in sunny Florida. I got to see a Miami Dolphins football game as well as Alabama and Colorado play in a bowl game.

But of course, the best part of all, was the day we took the kids to Disney World. They loved it. And guess what was the first ride we stood in line for? The Dumbo ride. We still talk about how the Dumbo ride was the highlight of that long trip.

I tell that story because; this is a story about past, present, and future. We left our home in Ohio which became our past as we continued on our trip. The future was that we would eventually make it to Disney World and for one of us to ride on the Dumbo ride. And for what seemed like most of the trip, the present was when we were making the several hour car ride from Ohio to Florida. And by listening to the Disney movie soundtrack, it kind of felt like we were already in Disney World.

Holy Communion is a spiritual discipline that brings the past, present, and future all together in one meal.

Let’s first focus on how Holy Communion brings the past to this meal. The Holy Communion meal was born out of another meal called the Passover meal which Jewish people celebrate every year. The Passover meal is a meal that looks back to the past to help God’s people not forget what God did centuries and centuries ago when he delivered his people from slavery in Egypt and led them into freedom and into the Promised Land.

Now, there are a lot of stories throughout the bible, but this is probably thee most significant story of them all, because without this story, God’s people would never have been formed. It was this exodus event, this deliverance, this rescue, this saving moment of God’s people that would forever define the people of Israel.

And every year during the springtime, people of the Jewish faith are instructed to share in a meal to help them remember their freedom from slavery in Egypt and how God rescued and saved them. This Passover meal which includes spoken words to explain the meaning of the meal is what helps Jewish people to remember what God had done for them.

It was at a Passover meal like this when Jesus was gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room. They followed the menu and the script perfectly until Jesus changed the words which most likely shocked his disciples who were at the table with him.

When Jesus took the bread, he changed the words to say, “Take and eat, this is my body.” And when he blessed the cup, he said, “This is my blood. Drink this in remembrance of me.”

By changing those words, Jesus was preparing his disciples for his death on the cross. They didn’t understand any of this at the time, but later, they would remember that Jesus said these words about himself. Like how God had rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt by dying on the cross, Jesus would rescue us from our slavery to sin and death.

So every time we receive Holy Communion, it’s an opportunity for us to remember who we are as God’s people and what Jesus Christ did for us when he died on the cross.

But then there’s also the present dimension that Holy Communion offers. Holy Communion isn’t just about remembering the Passover story and how Jesus died on the cross for our sins. It’s also a time for us to experience the presence of Jesus Christ.

Most Christian denominations view Holy Communion as a Sacrament. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there are seven Sacraments while many Protestant denominations, including the United Methodist Church believe there are two Sacraments, Holy Communion and Holy Baptism.

So what does it mean for something to be considered a Sacrament? A Sacrament is something that Jesus instituted for us to do in his name and where he promises to always be present in our midst. There are many other spiritual disciplines like prayer and worship that help us experience the presence of Jesus in our lives, but Holy Communion and Holy Baptism are considered particular ways in which we can know with assurance that Christ will be present.

Over the centuries, the church has wrestled with how Jesus is made present through the Sacrament of Holy Communion. There are different opinions on this and it’s something for us to think about as well.

Very briefly, here are the theological terms describing these different ways.

First is the doctrine of transubstantiation. Transubstantiation is a belief held by the Roman Catholic Church that says that the bread and wine of Holy Communion are actually changed into the body and blood of Christ when the elements are consecrated. The bread and the wine may not look like they have changed, but in reality, they have changed according to this view.

This doctrine takes seriously the words of Jesus when he said to his disciples at the Last Supper, “This is my body and this is my blood.”

Another doctrine is known as consubstantiation which is held by many evangelical churches and especially those who are from the Reformed tradition such as Presbyterians. This view maintains that although Christ’s body is in heaven, when Holy Communion is received, the power of the Holy Spirit nourishes us with the presence of Jesus Christ.

The Church of England from which United Methodism draws its roots leans toward consubstantiation as a way of explaining how Jesus is present through the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

Whenever we celebrate Holy Communion here at First Church and this would be true of United Methodists in general, an appointed pastor shares what is called, “the words of institution,” that is, the words that Jesus spoke when he was with his disciples in the Upper Room.

And then if you notice, we also invite the Holy Spirit to be present with us and upon the gifts of the bread and the cup so that they might become for us the body and blood of Christ.

All of this is to remind us that when we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion, it’s not just about remembering something that Jesus did for us a long time ago. It’s also to experience the presence of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit in the sharing of this meal. And that’s a very powerful thought.

We’ve looked at the past and the present. Let’s look at the future dimension of Holy Communion.

Perhaps of the three; past, present, and future, the dimension that we might not think about as much is this one, the future.

I’ve often share this in the bible studies that I teach here at the church, that the bible has a linear view of history. And that means that time is leading somewhere and it doesn’t just go around in circles. God created the world. God made a covenant with Abraham. God rescued the Israelites from slavery. God sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross and rise again. God formed the church for us to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. And here’s the future dimension. We believe that one day Jesus will come again and will make all things new.

It’s this future dimension that is our ultimate hope. Or if you’d like from my opening travel story, it’s like the Disney World Dumbo ride. For our two year old, that was the ultimate destination.

For the Christian, the ultimate hope is when Jesus will return and by a special act of God’s grace, all of creation will be renewed the way it was all meant to be. And it will be at that time when there will be no more mourning, crying, pain, sin, or death. That’s where we’re heading. That’s the good news of our faith.

Christianity isn’t just a past looking faith, although it’s important to remember who we are as God’s people. And it’s not just something that we focus on in the here and now. But it’s also a hope-filled faith that looks ahead to when God will restore all things.

In the “Great Thanksgiving” prayer for Holy Communion, the congregation states this belief so well when the people say, “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” There is that past, present, and future dimension in one short line.

To help illustrate this future dimension of Holy Communion, in the Old Testament, when the Israelites were still in the wilderness waiting to enter into the Promised Land, they first sent spies to check out the people and the land.

Ten of the twelve spies lost heart because of the opposition that would be facing them. But in the middle of that sad story was a glimmer of hope. The spies came upon a dry stream bed where there were large luscious grapes growing so heavy that a branch with a single cluster needed two of them to carry it.

Because of those incredible grapes, they ended up calling that place, Cluster Brook. And they ended up bringing the grapes back to the people of Israel. And those grapes became a sign of hope of what the future held for them once they would enter the Promised Land.

That’s a great biblical illustration of how whenever we receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, that the past, present, and future all come together at the same time in that very sacred moment when we receive the bread and taste from that cluster of grapes by drinking from the cup. In that moment, the future and the past rush into our present moment and that’s why we call it a Sacrament.

A lot of people want to know how often we should receive Holy Communion. The answer is, as often as possible. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, would encourage the early Methodists to receive it at every opportunity since it was a way to experience the grace of Jesus Christ.

And sometimes, we might not want to receive the Sacrament because we don’t feel close to God or we feel that we’ve done something that has disappointed God and we feel hypocritical to come and receive. Or maybe we might not want to receive Holy Communion because we just don’t see the need for it or see what a difference it can make in our lives.

On February 2, 1779, a student at Cambridge University in England made the difficult decision to go ahead and receive Holy Communion at the campus chapel service which was a requirement of the university at that time whenever you would begin a new term.

This young college student didn’t want to receive the Sacrament because he was not very religious and he felt that it would be hypocritical to do so. He finally decided to go since it was a requirement of the university. But before he went, his conscience told him that if he must go, that he should at least be respectful.

So he went and received the Sacrament. And because of this experience, his life was transformed. After he graduated, he was ordained, and soon after, he was appointed chaplain of Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge where he pastored for the next 55 years until shortly before his death in 1836.

His ministry helped to transform the lives of many undergraduates, one of which was William Wilberforce who devoted his life to the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire.

The name of this man, whose life was transformed all because he made the decision one day to attend a chapel service and receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion is Charles Simeon, and to this day, he is remembered on the Anglican calendar of Christian saints.

And so, if you’re looking for a way in which God can bring the past, present, and future together in one holy moment and bring transformation to your life so that you can be a blessing to others…

There’s an app for that. It’s called Holy Communion.