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.
For
those of you who remember back at Christmas Eve the early service. The church moved something. It wasn’t the Advent wreath that helped us
count down the weeks til Christmas. It
wasn’t the Crucifix that is very seldom used.
It wasn’t the offering plates or vases for flowers or the missal stand
on the altar. What moved was the Christ
Candle. For part of the year from
Ascension Sunday until Christmas Eve, the Christ Candle is at the Right Hand of
the Altar. This is the symbol of our
remembering what we confess in the Apostle’s Creed that “Jesus Christ ascended
into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father.” On Christmas Eve the Christ Candle moves to
the floor of the church proper to signify Christ coming down from heaven, just
as this is also the beginning of making the sign of the Cross with one’s hand
going from the head to the chest signifying Jesus coming from heaven to earth.
These
collective actions, of moving the Christ Candle and making the sign of the
Cross connect perfectly with Holy Baptism.
This is why in Holy Baptism after the individual is baptized, whether,
infant, child or adult they are given a small Baptismal Candle. The candle is lit from the Christ Candle or
even from the Altar and signifies and is a remembrance of our connection to
Jesus Christ and our baptism into His life, death and resurrection.
The
Baptismal and Christ Candle represent three things for us this evening, a
celebration, a remembrance and the hope that is found in our celebrating the
Baptismal rite. It is a celebration,
because in the waters of Holy Baptism with this Candle we celebrate God’s being
the light of the World and His entrance into the life of the individual and the
eternal impact God makes upon their life.
God reaches down from heaven and offers in Holy Baptism, life and
salvation through the Water connected with the Word of God. In this Holy Sacrament ordained and
instituted by God we find our connection not only to God but the link that God
offers for all of mankind freely and without requirement on our part.
Not
only is this a celebration, it is a remembrance of Jesus Christ being baptized
in the Jordan River. We remember this
connection and make it to, for and with ourselves. When I was in Israel, one of the ladies I
went to Israel with gave me after our return one of the most precious gifts, it
was an ornate bottle that contained water from the Jordan River as a reminder
for me of our trip and to be used during my future ministry to connect the
baptism of the person with Jesus Christ baptism in the Jordan. That remembrance still to this day connects
me clearly with God’s gifts offered for all of mankind through Water and Word.
For
not only do we celebrate the Gift given and remember Who the giver is, but as
we gather tonight the meal we partake in is a reminder of the hope God gives
each of us. Tonight as we celebrate the
institution of the Lord’s Supper it is a meal of hope. The hope is incomplete, because we still need
Good Friday in order to have Easter Sunday.
But in the Holy Supper we share tonight from the altar of our Lord, God
is offering us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation that is the hope for
all mankind. It is a hope that connects
not only we who gather here around this altar, but with all believers of all
time and place, including those who now rest in their Lord and Savior’s
arms.
The
Lord’s Supper is a meal that God connects to each of us today. This is why when we have this meal, we light the
two candles on the Altar as a reminder of the specialness and sacredness of the
meal. This is why we also light the
Christ Candle for our reminder of Christ being in our hearts and His Holy
Baptism and our connection to it and the Holy Supper He instituted. And why we give a small candle at Holy
Baptism for it to be used yearly at our baptismal anniversary as a celebration
of God’s gift of forgiveness in baptism, a remembrance that it is God’s gift
for us and it points to the hope we share in the promises of God through Water
and Word. For God offers Holy Baptism
and this meal of the Lord’s Supper for all of mankind, for the forgiveness of
sins because of His great love for each of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel
this Maundy Thursday. AMEN.
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