Confessing Truth

We Proclaim Our Lord’s Death

10.31.21 [1 Corinthians 11:23-26] River of Life (Reformation Sunday)

It was a God-designed space. Grace-saturated grounds bursting forth with blessings as far as the eye could see. The plants were perfectly verdant. The animal life was prolifically varied. The trees were mature, productive, and delicious, too. A sublime river flowed through this stretch of paradise. God said it was all very good and even the most nit-pickiest people have to admit it was perfect. The Garden of Eden was a slice of heaven on earth. Designed by our Divine Majesty as his trust and gift to mankind. God put the man and woman he made in his own image and gave them this task: Gn. 2:15 Take care of it. Then he commanded the man Gn. 2:16-17 You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die. But many see this as the critical flaw in God’s design of the Garden of Eden. Achilles had his heel. The Death Star had its thermal exhaust port. And the Garden of Eden had the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Why did God create that tree? Didn’t he know all the problems it would incite? Why did God put it in the middle of the Garden? To some degree, the 2nd guessing is reasonable. A horrific chain of events erupted there. One can’t help but wonder if it was all avoidable.

Sometimes, we wonder much the same about the Supper we concentrate on today. We look around this space and we see so much good in God’s design. But there, in the middle of this taste of heaven on earth, is that hurdle, that hindrance, what is even at times viewed as a hassle. Doesn’t he understand how off-putting this Supper can be to newcomers? Doesn’t he know how hard it is to explain to friends or family members? Couldn’t he have given us this as a private ceremony, like a kind of personal spiritual comfort food?

The malaise that we battle is not modern. Misunderstandings and abuses had become prevalent in Corinth too. Though they were 1 Cor. 10:14 sensible people, they had convinced themselves that this was their own meal, to be enjoyed on their own terms, with whomever they deemed worthy. They were quick to shout about their rights to do as they pleased. It’s amazing how quickly the sinful nature weaponizes Christian freedoms against one another. It’s bewildering how easily the Old Adam repurposes the things that ought to bring God glory & instead put the honor, glory, and focus upon ourselves.

Paul rebuked their rank selfishness. He knew their gatherings were doing more harm than good. A meal that was meant to strengthen and unify the body was instead isolating individuals, sowing seeds of discord, and bifurcating the body of Christ into the have’s and the have not’s. Paul pointed them back to Christ’s institution of the Supper. Don’t forget the one loaf is a symbol of the unity we all share as the body of Christ. When you eat and you drink, you are participating in the body and blood of Christ. You are communing with God and his church. This isn’t just for you. This isn’t just about you. This didn’t come from you. This is the Lord’s Supper. This is his gift to you for a special purpose.

How would you feel if you saw someone misusing an expensive gift you gave them? Could you bear to watch a fine cashmere sweater used as a shop towel? Or a finely-tuned Italian sports car taken off-roading? Or an heirloom diamond wedding ring hocked at a pawn shop? Or a 30 day dry aged tomahawk steak, cooked to well done? Could you sit there and say nothing, simply because it’s a gift and they should be able to do with it as they please? Of course not!

Because these items are expensive, precious, and special they ought to be handled with care, respect, and appreciation. When we see rank abuses of gifts, we would like to recoup whatever remains and then refuse to give that person anything like that again.

And that is what we deserve. We deserve our Lord to take back this meal from us. How often don’t we come to the Lord’s table without really examining our hearts and lives? Have you ever found yourself celebrating this Sacrament alongside people you aren’t on speaking terms with? How can you rightly receive the love and forgiveness of God while nursing a grudge or harboring animosity to another member of the body of Christ? Let us not mock God.

But God recognizes the enormity of our weakness, foolishness, and selfishness. God knows how Satan loves to undermine God’s kingdom in his Church. Satan’s goal for Christians is rather straightforward. Separate Christians from Christ and his body. Period. He has different tactics he prefers. He is satisfied when people tell themselves they don’t really need public worship or the fellowship of a local body of believers. He rejoices when people, because of pride or anger, interpersonal drama or just plain apathy continually bypass the Lord’s table or even eat and drink to their judgment. Isolation, by any means necessary, is his aim. But when a believer won’t fall for these more corporate tactics, he will magnify our guilt and amplify our shame. He will threaten to shout out our most shameful thoughts and secrets. He will press down hard on our guilt-ridden consciences, all in an effort to convince us that we are not worthy of what God offers in this meal. No sinful man deserves this gift. But no sinful made created this Supper.

This Sacrament has not been invented nor introduced by any sinful man. Rather, without anyone’s counsel, advice, or recommendation our Redeemer instituted this meal as his last will and testament. Why does he do all this? His heart is filled with fervent yearning. That sinners may salvation see. Who to the Lord in faith are turning, So let us, too, come trustingly. Lord may your body and your blood, be for my soul the highest good.

Our selfishness and our sinfulness, as disqualifying as they should be, are the very reasons the Lord made his sacrifice and gives us this sacrament. That is what we proclaim as we eat and we drink. We need a Savior from sin. We need the Son of God to lay down his life for us. We are graciously gifted the Lord’s Supper because of our need, not because of our obedience. This meal is in many ways the undoing of the evil unleashed at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gives better food than what Adam took foolishly.

In the Garden, mankind moved in perfect harmony with God’s will. He once commanded them Do not eat for this will demonstrate your love for me. Now, to sinners, heavy laden by their own guilt and shame, God commands: Take and eat! Take and drink! This is my creative power, my gracious gift, a tangible token of my immense love. I’ve placed my very body and blood in your hands. I am really present in this sacrament. The God who said Let there be light now says let these humble elements be my body and blood given to my body for the full forgiveness of all their sins.

That is the remarkable reality of this Supper. In Matthew and Mark, in Luke and 1 Corinthians, Jesus speaks methodically and clearly, just as one must do when writing a will. He could not be any more clear that this eating and drinking are not merely a symbolic gesture. The one who has never spoken duplicitously or deceitfully, the one who is the way, the truth, and the life, speaks transparently of the miracle that is performed before our very eyes and distributed into our very hands. Take and eat. This is my body, which is for you. Take and drink. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are actively proclaiming my sacrificial death. You are exercising your faith and by this means of grace your faith is strengthened. What we receive may seem intellectually inconceivable, and yet very real and really good for our souls.

Just as a man naturally wants to take good care of his body, so Christ the perfect God-man, Eph 5:29 cares for and feeds his body. Here in this Supper, Jesus is generously bequeathing to us his greatest treasure—redemption from all unrighteousness and the strength to live up to your status as a holy, righteous child of God. Here we enjoy a foretaste of heaven’s banquet. Here we dine and sip upon the finest fare found on earth. By it, we are all blessed. Though it, we are all strengthened. As we eat and drink together, we are being drawn to our head and drawn to one another. We are united and supplied with the whole Gospel in this Sacrament.

Far too often we think far too little of the fellowship we have in this meal. As God’s invited guests, we rightfully recognize the vertical communion of this meal. Us with God. But as little Christs in a world increasingly more hostile to light and truth, we may feel like confessional communion is a burden rather than a blessing. But the sharing of this bread and wine, the reception of his real body and blood is a precious resource for the Church. It is the way that Christ Eph 5:29 feeds and cares for his body. This Supper is neither an outreach event, nor a private affair. Communion is designed by our Creator and Redeemer to be a corporate consuming. This is Christ’s gift of his life to his body, to strengthen and unite us.

We easily lose sight of that. Here at River of Life, every time we celebrate Communion, I begin with an announcement. I print a similar one in the worship folder. Maybe especially in outreach-minded congregations our public practice of confessional communion feels like it is hindering our growth. But what may feel like a shackle is a safeguard for the unworthy and a safe-harbor for those who have, by the work of the Holy Spirit, come to see their sin and their Savior’s presence in this meal.

The calamity of sin and the terrors of death erupted into this world when mankind ate what was forbidden in the Garden. The first Adam’s selfishness brought us suffering and death. The second Adam's sacrifice gives us spiritual strength and eternal life. As we eat and drink of this meal, we declare that our sins have been atoned for and death have been swallowed up. As we eat and we drink this divine gift from God, we proclaim our Lord’s death until he comes to bring us to the eternal wedding supper. Amen.