Maundy Thursday

1  We Receive What Jesus Gives

You will find secret rituals around the world:

Mormons and Freemasons, for example, right among us.

But other religions have their secret rituals too.

Martial arts seem entwined with Eastern mysticism. There are Druids, witches, and pagan earth-worshippers. Even the Boy Scouts have the Order of the Arrow.

People seem attracted to secret rituals and knowledge.

But when they don’t understand some strange ritual,

it’s both attractive and suspicious at the same time.

Folks usually want to be in the inner circle,

but are opposed to circles that exclude them.

Christians have long been accused of conspiracy:

against the lawful government, and against their unbelieving neighbors.

We became very unpopular among the rulers of Rome,

just as now, many think the only good Christian

is one who neither believes Christian teaching, nor lives according to it.

For the same reason, there is great pressure upon Christians

to take sacred things and make them common.

It has always been hard in some ways

to believe, teach, and confess the truth God revealed,

and one of the most controversial Christian rituals

is what we call the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion.

Our Catechism calls it The Sacrament of the Altar,

which evokes suspiciously arcane images for some.

“What are Christians doing there?

Why do the most devout not allow others to partake? Are they sacrificing something — or somebody ? Are they gathering to drink blood and eat flesh? Do they intend to live by the death of someone else?”

Such questions and accusations brought physical persecution

for many ages, even to the present day.

Amid the controversy surrounding the Sacrament of the Altar,

this is the perfect day to learn again what it is,

and what it has to do with us.

Our theme is this: We receive what Jesus gives.

He gives His body and blood, for Christians to eat and drink. We should receive it in obedient reverence, thanks and faith.

2  1 Corinthians 11:23–32

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

2.1  He gives His body and blood, for Christians to eat and drink.

Since the biblical writers were inspired by God,

what they wrote is actually God’s Word.

By this we know that what scripture says is true.

This part of Holy Scripture is like the others,

written by a man that God chose for the purpose.

This is a letter from St. Paul.

Paul is a favorite punching bag

for those who don’t like some things taught in the Bible,

because he clearly states controversial truths,

and is a late-comer as an apostle.

Paul himself admits to being a late-comer.

At the time Jesus died and rose again,

Paul did not believe in Him.

Paul fought the teaching of Jesus,

persecuting believers as much as possible.

He even used the tactics

of the KGB or the Nazi Schutzstaffel.

But God converted Paul when Jesus Himself appeared to him,

on the road to Damascus.

Paul preached the Gospel, and wrote in Galatians 1:12,

For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

There were a few years after Paul was converted,

and before he was sent out as a missionary.

During that time, in Arabia, Tarsus, or both,

Paul was taught directly by Jesus.

That’s where our text comes from,

describing the Lord’s Supper.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you.

In other words:

he had personally taught the Church in Corinth exactly what he’d been taught himself by Jesus.

That means what Paul was about to write next

is Jesus’ own teaching on Holy Communion.

Not too long ago this text proved to be quite important,

because it reinforces the Lord’s Supper

as taught in Matthew, Mark, and Luke,

in a way that’s hard to get wrong.

In fact, the teaching of Christ through Paul here answers

all the controversy among Christians, and all the controversy with the unbelieving world

concerning the holy rite sometimes called

“The Sacrament of the Altar.”

So what, exactly, is the Sacrament of the Altar?

That’s answered by the words Paul taught the churches,

and which Jesus had taught to Paul.

The Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Those are the same words we use to consecrate bread and wine,

because we intend to do exactly what Jesus began.

The controversy about this centers on two parts:

where Jesus said, “this is My body” and “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.”

From these words, we know Jesus really means it.

Some people claim “is” means “symbolizes” or “represents.” It sounds possible that Jesus meant “this represents My body,”

but that theory completely falls apart on the words,

No, “is” means “is,” and Jesus means what He said.

If we taught that it does not mean what it says,

then we would not have the Lord’s Supper any more.

That’s why we should not commune with churches

that change the meaning of the words in their teaching.

They have a supper of bread and wine,

but not of the Lord’s body and blood.

Also, notice that He says “This is My body,”

not “part of My body.”

This is not some gross eating of human flesh,

but a partaking of the whole body He gave for us.

The Apostle Paul explained Jesus’ command to “do this,”,

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

This teaches the significance of the Lord’s Supper:

a communion in the one sacrifice for all sin.

Partaking of the Lord’s body and blood

gives us what He bought with them.

Paul also uses surprising words here and later:

“this bread” and “this cup.”

He demonstrates that what we eat there

is bread as well as the body of Christ,

and what we drink from the cup there

is still wine, as well as Jesus’ blood.

Our Confessions use the word “under”

to describe the relationship

between earthly element and heavenly gift:

Jesus’ body is “under” the bread, and His blood us “under” the wine in the cup.

We don’t have to be reluctant to talk about the Lord’s Supper,

or to explain it to the world.

It’s not rocket science. It’s much better, and simpler:

We receive what Jesus gives.

He gives His body and blood.

2.2  We receive it in obedient reverence, thanks and faith.

We receive what Jesus gives.

The Fall into sin was an attempt by man

to be in charge, to be the giver

instead of the recipient of gifts.

God had said, “do not eat this,”

but we literally ate our way into separation from God.

But now Jesus has given us a new kind of food,

and a command to eat.

By this eating, He joins us to Himself,

and the atonement He made upon the cross.

The food in the Garden of Eden and on our tables at home

is a gift of God to feed the human body.

The food of the Gospel,

found in Christian preaching and in the absolution,

is a gift of God to feed the human soul.

But the Sacrament of the Altar, the body and blood of Jesus,

is a gift of God to feed both our soul and body.

Doctors and scientists of our time

focus almost completely upon bodily problems and remedies,

which provide a more healthy life here on earth.

But Holy Communion is received by the body through faith,

with the power to heal and sustain the spirit.

That gives not only a better life on earth,

but especially eternal life in heaven.

How should we receive such a gift?

In obedient reverence, thanks, and faith.

But unless you believe Jesus’ words,

then you can’t possibly appreciate what we have here.

So we start by discerning the Lord’s body,

that it’s truly present, distributed, and received, and that Jesus provides it for our forgiveness.

Anyone who receives it without faith in Jesus’ words

will still receive Jesus’ body and blood, but without the forgiveness of sins.

That’s what it means to receive it unworthily.

Paul wrote: Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

Guilt is the opposite of forgiveness,

and guilt before God means judgment and punishment.

Paul spells it out so that we can’t possibly miss it:

For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

That’s why only confirmed members of our church

are invited to receive the Lord’s Supper:

We don’t want anyone to eat and drink God’s judgment,

if we can help it; not even our dearest guests.

So the apostle sets forth our practice, and it’s personal.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Do I believe the Christian faith,

as confessed by the Church in the ecumenical creeds?

Do I believe God’s description of my sinfulness,

and that I would perish forever without His rescue?

Do I wish to amend my sinful life wherever possible,

relying upon God’s help?

Do I believe Jesus’ words about this Sacrament,

that He offers His true body and blood, for the forgiveness of my sins?

Only those who can honestly examine themselves,

and wish to profess the faith we all believe

should receive Jesus’ body and blood offered here.

But when you know your true sinful condition,

when you know that you need forgiveness, and when you realize that God provides it here,

then nothing should stop you from coming.

Don’t let your impenitence over one sin: