Reformation Sunday ~ October 30, 2005

Today we celebrate Reformation Day. We sang the most famous hymn of Martin Luther “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” based on Psalm 46. And now I would like to base my message on a sermon by Martin Luther delivered on Maundy Thursday, 1523. I chose this sermon for two reasons. One being the obvious – using words from Martin Luther for this Reformation Sunday. The second is the connection Luther makes in this sermon with the Lord’s Supper and Stewardship. Since October is our Stewardship month I thought this would be very appropriate for our reflection today.

The title may seem a little unusual too, especially the word cake. Here “cake” refers to bread or any baked item where the separate ingredients come together to form one “cake.” In this sermon Luther talks about the importance of the Lord’s Supper in the faith life of a Christian. About halfway into the sermon Luther highlights two benefits of the Lord’s Supper.

“The Holy Sacrament produces two things: one is that it makes us brothers and fellow heirs of the Lord Christ, such that it makes us one cake with Him; the other that we also become common and one with all other people upon earth and also all become one cake. These two benefits Paul emphasized in I Corinthians 10.”

The Lord’s Supper, of which we will celebrate here in this service, is more than just a ritual. It is God’s means of grace – His way of coming to us and creating a common union with us. That is where we get the term “communion.” Through God’s grace conveyed through Jesus Body and Blood we come into communion with Christ and all His benefit. This is a profound event. Every time we come to the Lord’s Table we are in fellowship with Jesus. Martin Luther says it this way.

“Therefore since you have His flesh and blood, thus you have all the power which God Himself has. That is, we become one cake with the Lord Christ; we walk in the fellowship of His benefits and He in the fellowship of our misfortune. For here are thrown together His godliness and my sin, my weakness and His strength, and thus all is held in common. What is mine becomes His. What is His, I also have. This is a high unspeakable grace, over which the heart must become joyous and courageous.”

Luther deepens our understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Here Luther takes us deeper and says that not only do we receive the benefits of Christ but that Christ actually takes what is ours – sin – on Himself for us. It is an interchange, a fellowship with Christ. He comes to us and takes on all our sin, our brokenness, our failings to the cross and dies in our place. And then He gives to us forgiveness, life and salvation. It is a powerful interaction that happens in this holy meal. It is a fellowship between Christ and us. This is unique to Christianity. I know of no other religion that claims that their god has this kind of intimate fellowship with his/her people. What a powerful gift we have in the Lord’s Supper, a fellowship with Christ.

In the Apostle Paul’s writings he uses the Greek word ‘koinonia’ to explain the type of fellowship we have as Christians. It is a word denoting a strong bond, partnership, union with other people. You may have heard the term used before as reference to the fellowship of Christians. But what really interests me is when the Apostle Paul used ‘koinonia.’ There are two main ways he employs this word. The first is in reference to the fellowship we have as Christians in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 10:15-16). Because of Christ’s redemptive work we are united as the Body of Christ in partaking of Christ’s body and blood.

The second place Paul uses ‘koinonia’ is in relation to collections for the poor (Romans 15:26). Paul spent 20 years of his life collecting funds and gifts for those in need in Jerusalem. A great famine struck Jerusalem around the time Paul was out on his missionary journeys. He saw it as vitally important that the church rally around this need and provide for those who had lost much in the famine. Often when Paul was thanking people for their gifts it was around this project – to help those in Jerusalem.

Paul shows us that when the Body of Christ comes together around a need it creates ‘koinonia’. This is just as powerful as the fellowship we have with Christ in the Lord’s Supper – we also, through the Lord’s Supper, are called to share in each other’s lives and the lives of the world through our care. This is what Luther says:

“I give myself for the common good and serve you, and you make use of what is mine of which you are in need. Thus I am your food, just as you make use of bread when you are hungry that in turn your body may help and give strength to the one who is hungry. Therefore when I help and serve you in all need, I am your bread... If it happens that I am a sinner, and you by God’s grace are pious, you strengthen me and you share your piety with me, pray for me, intercede before God for me, and cast all of it upon yourself. You swallow up my sin with your godliness just as Christ has done for us. Thus you partake of me, and I in turn partake of you.”

This is Stewardship – when we use our God-given resources (everything we have and are) for the care of others in need. And it is a two way street here too. Sometimes we are the ones with the resources to give and other times we are the ones in need of other’s resources. Or as the New Testament says, “Carry one another’s burdens.” When the church of Christ pools its resources and used them to help those in need then we are being the very light of Christ in the world. I understand piety here as the obedient actions of Christians to care for others with the love of God. We are to show mercy as Christ showed mercy to us.

“Thus we Christians also do with each other, take upon ourselves that of another, so that one person bears the sin and failings of another and serves the other with his piety.”

I believe the church today has given up some of the “mercy” tasks that were ours originally. Did you know that it was the Christian church that started hospitals, orphanages and hospice care? Now don’t get me wrong, I think these organizations are doing a fine job of caring for people in need. I’m just asking the question – Why did we give them up as the Body of Christ? Early on in the book of Acts we see the followers of Christ showing the importance of showing mercy. Stephen and 6 others were chosen to help the widows and wait on tables. The disciples were said to “have everything in common.” Not that they lived in a commune but that they saw the importance of using all their resources to help those in need either within the church or in the world. Care of each other was how ‘koinonia’ was formed.

That has implications for our focus on stewardship. What can we do as Mount Olive Lutheran Church? What resources do we have to fill a need in our community? How are each one of us in our own unique ways going to contribute to the mission of Mount Olive? These are things we need to think about as we pledge our treasures and talents to God and to the mission of Mount Olive for 2006. How can we contribute to the common good of society and in so doing shine the light of Christ’s love and grace and mercy?

I also truly believe that Stewardship is about discovering who we are and what we are passionate about in life (these are our God-given resources) and finding a need that can be filled by our resources, our very lives. And when we come together as Mount Olive and rally around a mission that helps those in need we will experience the ‘koinonia’ that comes from Christ. May we dedicate all that we have and all that we are to the Lord this year as we carry the light of Christ to the world. Amen

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[1] This sermon was translated by Rev. Matthew C. Harrison, Executive Director LCMS World Relief and Human Care. Available online in PDF format at www.lcms.org and go to the resources section of Lutheran World Relief.