Luke 24:13-35        05/04/14

Sermon        “That is Why We Gather at Table”

Ever since the early Christians met secretly in homes to remember the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the church has been celebrating the Lord’s Supper. Of all the things we do in the church, this one event should hold the most meaning for us, and it should cause us to be humbled by the message behind the celebration.

Far too often, the Communion celebration is looked upon as being a duty.  Something we must do, and we need not do it too often.  And yet the Book of Acts speaks of gathering on the first day of the week for the breaking of bread.  Luke reminds us this morning: “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.”  At this table we recognize Christ as our Lord and Savior.

John Calvin said the Lord’s Supper is “a bond of love” intended to produce mutual love among believers. It is to inspire thanksgiving and gratitude. Because it is at the very heart of Christian worship, Calvin argued that it should be observed whenever the Word is preached, or “at least once a week.” It should be shorn of all superstition and observed in its biblical simplicity. Calvin considered the Lord’s Supper to be a divine gift given by Christ himself to His people to nourish and strengthen their faith. As such, it is not to be neglected, but rather celebrated often and with joy. 

This time we call Communion is an opportunity for the church that worships the Lord Jesus Christ to remember with joy what He did for us at Calvary and the garden tomb. It is a time when we can reconnect with the history of our God and Gospel message.  The table of the Lord is where we are free to be equals.  It is a time to reflect upon our walk with Jesus as individuals.

Today, we are going to receive Communion once again. But, before we do, I want to share with you the great gift that the Eucharist is to the church. 

Each time we have communion we open with the invitation; we are reminded that this is to be a joyful feast of the people of God!  .  And it continues with this reminder “…this is the Lord’s table our Savior invites all who believe in him to the feast he has prepared for us this day.”  This meal we come together to share is prepared for us by our Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ takes the common elements of bread and fruit of the vine, and makes them sacred.  This meal is not of our doing, we are all invited guests. 

Then the words of Christ are repeated.  Take eat, this is my body given for you.  Christ’s life is not taken from him; his life is given for us.

Take and drink the cup of the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. 

Christ creates a new a covenant; it is a contract between God and us.  The old covenant that God had established with His people required obedience to the Old Testament Mosaic law. Because as Roman’s reminds us, the wages of sin is death, the law required that people perform rituals and sacrifices in order to please God and remain in His grace. The prophet Jeremiah predicted that there would be a time when God would make a new covenant with the nation of Israel.

Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and created a new covenant between God and His people. The old covenant was written in stone, but the new covenant is written on our hearts, made possible only by faith in Christ, who shed His own blood to atone for the sins of the world. 

When you come to the table you may feel your heart is heavy, too heavy to lift up.  You may feel there are things in your heart you don’t want to lift up to God.  But that is why we gather at this table.  And because of the new covenant no matter the heaviness of your heart there is a place at the table for you. 

Then we begin our history from the very beginning before we were created.  Why do we go back that far?  We are forgetful people.  From the time of our creation we kept losing sight of God.  We could not always focus on whom we belonged to and who we were and are called to be. 

All those millennia when we people were unfaithful, God’s love remained steadfast. 

Just this week, I was speaking with someone who was praising God for their healing.  And I said, you know I remember when I first came here you were on a transplant list, and now look at you.  And she said, you know I forgotten that. 

Sometimes we can only see what we are going through this day.  We forget God’s faithfulness; all of what he has done for each of us.  And by placing before us God’s history we see that he will never leave us or forsake us.

It is important to see the many times people gave up on God.  It reminds us although we have not been faithful, through all of our wanderings and rebellions God never gives up on us. 

We open our hearts to the holiness of God and remember with thanksgiving and humility that it was God who sent Jesus Christ as our Savior.  We recount the ways that he touched lives and confess his violent death.

We celebrate and remember, the price paid for us and our salvation.  This is solemn and somber but it is joy filled because Jesus paid the price that we should have paid for our sin.  He who was sinless bore our sins and paid our price.  He took our death so we could have life.

We are a Trinitarian people and so we lift up the Holy Spirit.  For it is the Spirit’s presence that unites us with Christ and through Christ we are united with believers in every time and place.  Then we commit together to accept the call to be the body of Christ in the world.  We accept the call to serve.

And you can see at the table that we don’t gather as single church, we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ all around the world.  Christians who speak English, Chinese, Italian; Christians is store front churches, house churches grand cathedral, little white country churches.  We gather with that great cloud of witnesses, those Christians who have gone on before us- our parents, grands, great-grands all the way back to that first table; Jesus and the Twelve. 

We pray that the bread of life and the cup of forgiveness bring us to the heart knowledge of Christ’s redemptive love and by his love be transformed to new life in Christ.

We return to the prayer that Jesus gave his disciples; the prayer of provision and guidance.

“The Bread we break is the Bread of Life.  The Cup we Share is the Cup of Promise.  These are the gifts of God for the people of God.”

This ancient meal is the truly the gift of God and meant for each of us the people of God.  And that is why we gather at table. 

Blessings and love,

Pastor D.