CMLC 2025-04-17 Sermon (Maundy Thursday)

Lord God, as we celebrate the meal that precedes

your sacrifice, help us remember that celebrate

is such a loaded term. Because in order to get

to the true celebration, we have to go through

the pain. We have to see what it is to shed the

blood, to tear the skin, to know what it is that

you had to go through to achieve for us what

we could never achieve on our own. So Lord God,

we thank you for this night. Even as we acknowledge

what you've done, but also that we see that you

are present with us, not for judgment, but for

mercy. In Christ Jesus, amen. Howdy. I did not

grow up Lutheran. I know, I know. Oh my wordness,

the scandal of it all. Oh my goodness. I grew

up in a church where we would do communion. where

people would sit in their pews and we'd pass

around loaves of bread and some wine in these

cups that would go around. It was the men at

Shevitz, so, you know, really, really sweet.

So as you're a kid, you're like, ooh, this is

really good because you think it's like Walsh's.

But then the whole time is at different stages

as you're growing up, you're trying to figure

out what in the world this communion thing is.

Whenever I was a child and I saw my parents as

they were eating it and I thought well, this

is fun snack time Hey, you get a little juice

to get a little bread. That's okay I wonder why

do we don't have other snacks during this time.

It would be much more satisfying I'm sure now

granted right afterwards was our Donuts and cake

time. So I've probably Associated the two together

but as I got older and I realized that it was

time for me to be receiving it and I knew that

it was something that was special and I kept

thinking what is it about it that's so special

that I need to make sure everybody's focused

they're praying they're they're doing something

and I'm like what exactly is it that they are

doing we didn't have catechism confirmation the

same way that others might so it was still this

mystery to me But then later, as I end up coming

to know the fact that communion is a sacrament,

and it began to ask this question of what does

that truly mean? What does it mean for something

to be a sacrament? You see, while we know in

the strict sense that there is a means of grace

there, is that God's grace is reaching us, what

does that even mean? Is it the moment where we

accept and believe Jesus is Savior? Well, no.

We've already done that before we come to the

altar. Is it something where we are initially

being visited with God in a sense of some sort

of opening of the clouds and the dove descending?

No. We saw that in the baptism of Christ in the

Jordan. So what exactly does it mean for there

to be this sacrament of communion? And in my

mind, There are different things that come to

mind when I think of what it is to do something

the same way someone had done it previously,

and one of them is an enactment. Where oftentimes,

like for myself, is that I would go to Comic

Palooza and dress up as my favorite comic book

character, but in reality, the best cosplays

are oftentimes the people going to reenact the

Battle of the Alamo. Because in reality, isn't

that truly a cosplay? Is that you're deciding

which character to dress up as and reenact what

happened? And why? Why is it that we reenact

things like the LMO or the fight for the revolution

or various other things that have come up over

time in history and how many ways in which there

might be battles that would be revisited from

different world wars is to remember and to see

what that sacrifice truly was. That's the thing

about the enactments, is that whatever the sacrifice

is, it happened and its effects are still lived

out today. If Texas or the U .S. were not in

existence, would we still have those enactments?

Absolutely not. Because there would be no point.

But the reason why those types of reenactments

are so special is because the sacrifices made

then are remembered because they still work today.

Their effects are still felt. But then there's

also a second thing beyond just remembering what

has happened. And this is also what we end up

seeing when we are visiting what has happened.

Every time that there is some dramatized crime

scene on a tv show and what do they do is that

they have some sort of visiting of the crime

itself the scene the place and even trying to

visualize how everything was placed and why because

they want to understand because with this is

that in revisiting what happened is that it's

also understanding why it happened the way it

did Why did Jesus have to celebrate this meal

when He did? Because He knew what was about to

happen. There was no more time remaining. It

had to happen now. And it had to happen with

bread and wine. Because this meal was meant to

be more than just the usual Passover. It was

meant to be the Passover that brought about the

true sacrifice of the Messiah. But then even

looking at that and realizing that as the disciples

were celebrating, it would end up be the beginning

of mourning. Because even as the celebration

happens with the bread and the wine, is that

the wine would also be the beginning of mourning,

the blood that would be shed. But that also brings

us to the third. of being gathered together in

that place with His disciples, even as tonight

we are gathered together as His disciples. My

grandmother never let me call her grandmother

or grandma. It was always Memaw. Because grandma

made her sound old. So Memaw would have us over

for typically Thanksgiving and Christmas and...

There were all these foods that we would have

there. And I remember one time coming in every

day having cookies and cheeseburgers with my

memaw and realizing I had gained 20 pounds in

one week. And then the times when Thanksgiving

would have stuffing that always had raisins.

Why were there raisins in the stuffing memaw?

Or the time when she made a peppermint pie that

had giant chunks of peppermint sticks in it where

you were trying to chew your way through and

wonder, Memaw, did you make this by scratch?

But when Memaw passed, we no longer gathered

together with all the family in the same way

or in the same place. Why? Did we no longer eat

Thanksgiving? Did we no longer have a relationship

with one another? What we finally realized is

that it was too hard. Because we knew that if

we went back to that house and ate that meal,

my memaw's presence would be there the whole

time, and her loss would be too hard to bear.

That's the thing about the meal, is it's the

place where love is embodied. We ate those raisins

in that stuffing and loved it Because those raisins

were the wrinkly form of my memo's love We spent

the time laughing But also reveling in who she

was But also knowing who she is with us And that's

the thing about the meal is that the meal is

more than food more than drink, it's embodiment.

Because even as we know that where two or three

are gathered, Christ Jesus is in our midst where

more clearly than the very place where he has

said, this is my body, this cup is my blood of

the new covenant. As we see this meal, where

we are gathered today to celebrate with his presence,

he is proclaimed as we are proclaiming. That

as we eat it and we drink it, we are proclaiming

and showing the need to be fed by Jesus. We cannot

be fed by anything else in this world. There

is nothing else that can possibly feed our souls

the way that Jesus feeds us. And that Jesus only

feeds us by going to a cross and shedding Himself.

You see, what's strange is that this This place

of sacrifice is both celebration and mourning.

But it is one that draws us together and creates

a bond. Because communion is for community. Because

when we gathered together, it didn't matter if

my mom and my aunt had had a fight. They were

going to stand there and discuss who was getting

the ham and who was getting the turkey. It didn't

matter if my mother was upset that my papa had

been smoking. We were still gonna sit around

that giant fire where the turkey was being fried

and still let her complain at him. Because still

in the midst of that was love and grace. And

that's the thing about what we see is that this

is meant to be a meal of grace. This is a place

where wherever we've been is that we are brought

together as people who love one another, whether

we like it or not. But Paul points out the idea

of what it is to be unworthy. And that's the

thing about this. If this were just bread and

wine, would it matter if you were worthy? I am

not worried about whether I am worthy or not

whenever I go to Subway. I don't worry about

whether I'm worthy or not when I stop by Specs.

I am not worried about whether I am worthy or

not whenever I sit around with a bunch of people

eating queso and watching a game. But I am worried

about whether I'm worthy when I'm here. Because

it's more than bread and wine. And when we lose

the sense that Jesus Christ is present with us

doing what He's doing, and we come to this not

realizing that what we are doing is a combination

of knowing He's here, but also knowing why we

needed Him here in the first place, then we,

being unworthy, end up destroying our very souls.

Because then, when we come together, we dismiss

why this was so important. We dismiss why it's

important that we gather together. We dismiss

why it was important that as we do so, we examine

ourselves and remember that we are the ones who

need that forgiveness. Because if it's just bread

and wine, then you could just eat it and drink

it and not even care. Or even as the people did

back then, to wonder, could I get a little more?

But when we realize not just that we are here

in the presence of Christ, and that Jesus giving

His life for us is saying you are forgiven, then

we also affirm that as we eat and drink it, that

it is ours. And no one can take it away. You

cannot rip the bread out of my stomach. You cannot

scoop out the wine from my body. It is in me

now. and it is now a part of me. You cannot take

it away once I have consumed it. It is mine.

And nothing can take away the blood and the body

of Christ from me. And they cannot take it from

you either. They cannot come up to you and say

you don't deserve Jesus enough to receive Him.

And you say, I never deserved Him in the first

place. They cannot say Jesus couldn't possibly

want his forgiveness for you and you say he wanted

it for everyone They cannot possibly say you

did not remember him enough because you could

say it doesn't matter because he remembered me

on that cross and that when we come here we are

being fed by and in the body of Christ That is

why we gather here tonight. And that is why it

is that we eat this and we drink this. And why

it matters. Because it's not the carbon and hydrogen

and oxygen that combines into these breads that

are all of these lovely sugars that somehow stick

around the midriff in the thighs. And it is not

the juices that somehow come forth. and make

this end up tasting so sweet or so dry depending

on whatever Lynn ordered that week. But rather,

is that Christ Jesus has promised each and every

one of us that His body and blood is ours for

salvation. So today, as the body of Christ Let

us consume the body of Christ. Because that is

the only thing that brings us forgiveness and

lets us know with all confidence that nothing

can take it from our cold dead fears. Thanks

be to God. Amen. Please rise.