May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
Christ
is risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
If
you look around this morning, you can see our connection with the past. In churches that were built in the middle
ages, the acoustics were purposefully built so that sound would not only
travel, but you could clearly hear chanting, the lessons, sermons and
especially the liturgy which all pointed to Jesus Christ from any seat in the
church. The highpoint for all services
was the celebration of Holy Communion, which was celebrated as Jesus intended, on
every day the church gathered for worship.
But to hear the words of institution not only reminded people of Jesus
entrance into the world, but His sacrifice for all of mankind.
This
morning before us, I have a microphone and its holder. It is meant to be a reminder, not only that
we need to hear, but more specifically what we need to hear. Let’s pull out our bulletin insert this
morning and answer the question, How can
bodily eating and drinking do such great things? The Sacrament of the Altar How can bodily eating and drinking do such
great things? Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words
written here: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words, along with the bodily eating and
drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament.
Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: “Forgiveness of
sins.”” Let’s ask God to help us believe His
promise made to us today.
Heavenly Father, the Word we hear spoken in the Words of institution tell
of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.
Enable us to believe these promises You make to us today, for all of the
saints of Emmanuel gathered here today.
AMEN.
Clearly every Sunday we use the technology that was developed in the last
millennia to hear the Word of God clearly spoken here at Emmanuel. Whether it is the pulpit mike to hear me
preach, the lectern mike to hear the lector read the lessons of the day or even
the wireless mike I have around my ear that enables me to be heard even from my
office over the PA system. We have
technology that helps us hear the Word of God.
But what we are hearing is only part of the equation. Like any good mathematician, they always want
an equal sign. Because on the right side
of the equal sign, there is a result.
In our celebrating the Holy Supper this morning we have a clear result, and
that is what we hear when we understand clearly the answer to ‘How can bodily
eating and drinking do such great things?’.
What we receive in this meal is clear, it is the forgiveness of sins,
life and salvation. When we gather
around the altar, come up and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus whether
around the altar or continuously, we receive the greatest gift of grace from
Jesus Christ of His Body and Blood.
But it is not just receipt, but our hearing the grace offered and
provided for us in the meal that we receive God’s greatest gift of grace. This is why I have a microphone and stand up
here. When we clearly hear God’s gift
and offer for us, we understand more fully what God is offering us through the
sacrament. Not only His precious Body
and Blood, but life and salvation and the ‘forgiveness of sins’.
In the words, ‘Given and Shed for you for the forgiveness of sins’, God
is clearly offering us the greatest free gift of life and salvation. Last week we heard how around the bed of
Marty Spomer, his family received this gift and shared one last meal together
as a family of faith.
Today, I want to tell you about Margaret.
She was a special lady. Known in
the community as a woman who gave to the local arts council, served on the
hospital auxiliary and was active in the VFW woman’s auxiliary, because John
her husband had served in both World War 2 and Korea. In the church she was constantly active. Not only in bible studies, small-groups, but
also in the altar guild. Margaret always
served with Vickie her lifelong friend, confidant and buddy after John had
passed away.
One Sunday after cleaning up from communion, she had been thinking and
made one request of Vickie, her lifelong friend. She said, “When I die, would you do me a
favor?” Vickie said, “Sure.” Thinking it was something like put flowers on
her grave or make sure they used the pall for the funeral. But Margaret said, “Would you make sure that
they put a fork in my hand when I am buried?”
Taken a back, Vickie, said, “Why do you want to be buried with a fork in
your hand?” Margaret said, “Because when
I get to heaven, I know I am entering the greatest feast ever made as Pastor
told us this morning. But I also want to
be prepared to eat right away and not have to wait for someone to hand me a
fork.”
In that one statement, Margaret stated clearly and emphatically, the
truth of what we receive in the Feast God is preparing for us. It is not just a meal that will be finer than
any other meal made with human hands. It
is not just a meal to feed our bodies.
It is a meal that we need to prepare for here on earth. It is a meal with spiritual dimension and
divine results, in essence the other side of the equal sign. We need to prepare for our receipt of God’s
gift to us of life and salvation each and every day here on earth. Just as the farmers prepare the soil with
watering it before planting, fertilizing it in order to give the corn the best chance
of a great harvest and insuring the water continues to shower it by the
irrigation wells running through the summer, both night and day. We need to prepare for our entrance into
heaven and our receipt of God’s feast offering us eternal life, salvation and
grace and every blessing.
We can prepare today by hearing clearly God’s call of each of us here
this morning to have a better relationship with Him. Not only in heeding the call to prepare for
the sacrament, but also in preparing our hearts just as we do the soil and our
homes for guests as well as like Margaret with the fork a her burial. For when we prepare for God to bestow upon us
the gift of grace offered to us in the sacrament and in His Word, we receive
not only grace upon grace, but the greatest blessing of eternal life. We will clearly hear His call and can heed
His desire for us to receive His blessings that He offers. For it was on the Cross of Calvary that He
not only offered Himself, but Jesus Christ offered Himself in order for all of
mankind to be in His kingdom. And this
especially includes all of the saints of Emmanuel gathered here to hear His
Word through a microphone that sits on a stand like we have this morning and to
receive the blessing that He offers us in Word, but especially the sacrament
for all who have heard the Word of God in the forgiveness of sins. AMEN.
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