REMEMBER, PARTICIPATE, PROCLAIM (1 Corinthains 11:23-26)

In a few short hours, He would fall into the hands of men. Jesus would be betrayed by one of His own disciples, tried, and executed. He was the only person to ever walk the earth who was truly innocent. Yet, He would die for the sins of the world as the only sacrifice that God would accept. Before all this would happen, he would give His disciples something precious. It was simple, humble, but would carry great meaning. On the night God ordained for His redemptive purposes to be fulfilled, Jesus would give His disciples what some call the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, or Holy Communion.

This was not to be a meal for just anyone. This was meant for God's people — those that Christ would die for on the cross. Outsiders may be perplexed by it but for the Christian it is something from which we draw great comfort. The apostle Paul tells us why this is so in his first letter to the Corinthians. He instructs us that it is a meal by which we remember, participate, and proclaim Christ our Lord and Savior.

In 1st Corinthians 11:23-26, Paul is reminding his brothers and sisters about the meaning of Communion. The Corinthian church was using the occasion of getting together as a church to satisfy the individual. Some would eat till they were stuffed, others would get drunk. The poorer members, however, would go hungry. At a time when their focus should have been God and to love one another, it had become a time of division. The "have's" of the church were humiliating the "have not's". Christ's body was not united, but divided by selfishness. This was a situation Paul could have no part in — he could not commend the church for their unchristian behavior. They needed a firm, yet, gentle lesson as to why they came together and on whom they were to focus.

Paul communicates to them that the meal of which they were to share was to help them remember their Savior. He says that he received from the Lord that which he also passed onto them. He then quotes the very words of Jesus when He instituted the Lord's Supper. When He took the bread, he gave thanks and broke it. He gave it to His disciples and said it was his body. Whenever they did so later, they were to do so in remembrance of him. In the same manner He took the cup and said it was the new covenant in His blood. Whenever they drank it during the meal, they were to do so in remembrance of Him. Communion, then, throws us back into the past to the time of Christ's death for our sins. It reminds us that it was His body that was hung on a cross and His blood that was spilled to institute a new covenant — a covenant in which hearts would be changed and sins forgiven based on what He did rather than on what man tried to do but failed in their attempts to reconcile with their Creator. We take Communion, then, to remember that Christ really did die for our sin and that we need Him, for without Him there would be no hope.

Not only did Paul indicate that the Lord's Supper was a time in which to remember, it is a time to participate in Christ. In quoting Jesus' words "this is my body" and "this is the new covenant in my blood", our Lord indicates this isn't just an ordinary meal. In chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, Paul will say, "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" Somehow, then, we are actively participating in our Lord. The apostle considers this participation such a serious act that in 1 Corinthians 11:27 he tells the Corinthians that to eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner is guilty of profaning the body and blood of Christ. What does this all mean? In our Book of Common Prayer, we refer to the Bread and the Cup as holy mysteries. In ways we don't understand we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ when we receive the elements by faith. When we do so, there is assurance of His presence with us, that our sins are forgiven, and that we are truly sons and daughters of God. Where there once was hostility between rebellious sinners and a holy God, Jesus Christ made peace between the two. By grace, those who trust in Christ for their reconciliation with God are — right now as well as forever — at peace with Him. By participating in the Lord's Supper we enjoy fellowship with the Triune God and rejoice in the salvation that is ours despite what is going on around us in this world.

Not only is there remembrance and participation in the Lord's Supper, there is proclamation. Paul tells us that, "...for as often as your eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." In other words, the Lord's Supper proclaims not only Christ's death, but also our hope in His coming again. It tells us, and others, that Jesus Christ did in fact die for our sins. It also serves as an anchor in this world of uncertainty that Christ is indeed coming back again. He will do so, as the angels told the apostles in Acts 1:11, "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." When He does come back, our joy will be complete in that we will be resurrected, which Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 15:23. Instead of being a time of sadness, the apostle implies that taking the Lord's Supper should increase our joy. Death has been conquered and we will realize the fullness of that promise at our Lord's return. This is what's proclaimed by God's church when we participate in the Lord's Supper. Not only is it for our benefit, but to give God glory in that He alone has brought salvation to His people.

On this night when we remember the betrayal and death of our Lord, we are filled with hope. When Christ's enemies thought that they defeated Him, in actuality they were instruments of God to bring about the redemption of man and creation. The meal that has been passed down to us from Christ provides us an occasion to remember what He did, participate in Him through fellowship, and to proclaim not only His death, but also His second coming. May we take comfort in this meal knowing that we have peace with God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Our sins have been forgiven and we have drawn to Him, being called sons and daughters of God. May we proclaim the glories of His name as we go out from here by sharing the Good News that has set us free from sin and death. To our God be glory and honor and praise both now and forevermore!
 
Amen.

The Rev'd Eric Harvey, our guest preacher this evening, is a deacon in the Diocese of Mid-America currently assigned to St. Francis' Reformed Episcopal Church in the Woodlands, Texas.