CMLC 2024-03-28 Sermon (Maundy Thursday)

May God bless us because he is the one to provide the true spiritual nourishment that we need.

Not because we've deserved it, not because we've earned it, but because he has given to us by his death on the cross.

Lord God, thank you. Amen. Howdy. Now I need to tell you all something that may be surprising.

For those of you who may not be aware, I am a member of the Fight in Texas Aggie class of 02.

I know that's surprising. You had no idea that I was an Aggie. I know, I know.

I graduated from Texas A&M University in 2002 and I went out into the world with a degree on my wall and a gold ring on my right hand.

Because of having this ring on my hand, there have been numerous times when someone has asked me which year I graduated and what I'm doing for work.

This ring has opened doors with potential employers as well as potential friends.

And in many ways, this ring has almost been magical. Its effects have been easily felt and experienced.

Now, why am I bringing this up? Is it just because I want to annoy Rob and Howard Brown? Absolutely.

I mean, no, of course not. I would never say something in a sermon just to bug someone. Ever. I'm very straight laced.

But rather, the point is that physical things oftentimes have strength, power and meaning beyond just what we see and feel.

If I were to melt this ring down, what would there be? Molten gold. That's it.

There's nothing within the ring itself that has power.

And yet, when someone loses this ring in a pond while fishing or drops it in a road where it gets run over and crushed,

they're heartbroken at its loss. They may even still have the gold with them.

But in some ways, it's almost as if their connection to their time and their community at Texas A&M has been lost like other Aggies are somehow not going to recognize them.

Or all they're going to do is look at their hand and say, where's your ring? And yes, they do.

Now, the ring itself is not the source of being part of that alma mater.

A person spends years at their university and nothing takes that away, including sometimes the student loans.

And at the same time, the physical embodiment of that time reconnects a person to that university every time it is worn.

If you were to leave it at home, it would feel weird, like something's missing.

And of course, it's still waiting for you, but that doesn't change that you want to see it and feel it.

This is true for so many things. When we hear from the president, we want to see the White House.

When we have a birthday, we want to blow out candles. When we experience an anniversary, we want flowers or chocolates or promises you don't intend to keep.

When we taste and see and feel something connected to what we believe, it brings a stronger meaning than just thinking about it in our heads.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul says at the beginning of the chapter, I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea.

And all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink.

For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed him, them and the rock was Christ.

You see, each of these things, the cloud that they were following in the wilderness, the Red Sea that they passed through, the manna that they ate,

and the water at Horeb. These were all physical things through which God worked and spoke.

It's not as if they were magical on their own, like a cloud or a sea or a little wafer or water coming out of rock.

It's not as if it were magical.

Birthday candles are not important without a birthday.

A White House is not important without a president. Chocolates are only fat-free on anniversaries. It's scientific.

But all of these have significance because of their context and we treasure them for what they signify.

But all this is true for communion. The Lord's Supper as well. Allow me to give the context.

When Moses was calling for Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go from captivity, there were 10 plagues.

And the last of the plagues was to entail the firstborn of every household dying at God's hands.

The way to be saved from this plague was to place lamb's blood around the doorway of each home.

This is not something that you do typically. There is no Chip and Joanna Gaines mindset for this.

This is something that you would only do if you believe that your life was at stake.

And that this was the only way to escape the judgment of God on that night.

As they did so, they didn't just sit there twiddling their thumbs. What did they do?

They ate a meal that was forever linked with the passing over of the angel of the Lord, the Passover meal.

Eating this meal every year was a visible sign that people belonged to God by faith, not just on that night,

but for centuries to come. Even as that Passover meal was a physical meal that was connected to the angel of God

sparing the people of Israel, proclaiming that they were spared from the wrath of God as they enjoyed the meal together.

Even so, Jesus took the Passover meal and instituted a new meal because of what was going to happen the next day.

Jesus was about to allow himself to be crucified so that God's wrath would no longer fall upon the people who believed in him.

See, every time his disciples would eat the bread and drink the wine, the spiritual food and drink given by Christ in that meal,

it would be declared time and time again that they were the people of God by Christ Jesus.

It wasn't that the food and the drink were magically powerful in and of themselves,

but rather by being the body and blood of the new covenant that Jesus instituted himself.

You see, when Paul would say in his epistle to avoid idolatry by eating certain foods,

it wasn't because the food was now inherently evil in and of itself.

So we think that way about donuts. It's not actually a demon, but rather being foods offered to idols.

They were connecting the people in a participation with those idols.

He said, therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

I speak as to sensible people.

Judge for yourselves what I 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?

Because there's one bread. We who are many are one body.

For we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel.

Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?

What do I imply then, as if he's being subtle?

That food offered to idols. Is anything or that an idol is anything?

No, I imply that what pagan sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.

I do not want you to be participants with demons.

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.

You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

A lot of Christians will say that communion is symbolic but nothing more.

Why do we keep making things difficult by saying communion cannot be merely symbolic?

I mean, there is symbolism present. Is there not?

If it were merely because Scripture itself shows that communion is an actual participation with what Jesus did

and that it unifies us with God and with one another as we do so, which it does.

Well, then that would be enough because let's be clear.

If the Scripture says it, then we believe it and we refuse to go down the path that many Christians have begun to do

where they even change the words. They'll even change the words to say,

this represents my body instead of this is my body.

They'll change the words to say, this represents my blood of the new covenant.

Instead of saying what Jesus says, this is my blood of the new covenant.

If God's word can be changed to fit our comfort and our understanding,

but it's more than that. It's not just the fact that, yes, Scripture says it.

What we do in the flesh, what we do with our bodies in this material life, it matters spiritually.

When Christians spend their time thinking that faith is just something in your head, a good sermon,

reading your Bible daily, telling people you're a Christian, just something that you think about,

then we lose out on everything we do throughout every day is meant to be lived out onto God.

In a world where it's just so easy to pop onto the Internet and hear the sermon that somehow fulfills you spiritually,

so to speak. How much time and energy do we spend on things that distract us from God?

Even things that we say God would be pleased with, but are actually just the things that we want.

And even beyond the fact that the physical world is not somehow separate from the spiritual life,

but rather interconnected by God's good grace.

But God's grace is something that we struggle with believing sometimes. Let's be honest.

We do struggle with it. It is hard to sometimes think that God could possibly love the broken sinners that we are.

What if I didn't feel sorry enough today when I confessed before God?

I was a little distracted at that moment. I didn't truly regret everything I did.

I know it's wrong, but there's a part of me that's kind of glad I did it.

What if I didn't truly get this in my head?

What if tomorrow, what if tomorrow I follow Christ more closely than I did today?

Does that mean that the communion today was wrong for me to take?

Because tomorrow I'm really, really going to follow Jesus.

I need me a good altar call somewhere in there.

But see, when we eat, the food is served to us.

Do we have to convince the host to give it to us?

Absolutely not. Because you were invited to the table.

The food is given to nourish you, to feed you, not as some form of payment for being a good enough guest.

And the same is true of communion, even as it's true for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

It doesn't somehow gain more validity because you've brought meaning to it.

It has validity because Christ has already earned our salvation for us.

We continually fill our lives with physical items that connect us with Jesus.

We have little crosses that we give away for VBS.

We have t-shirts with quippy little puns on them, which is probably why I didn't have any dates in high school.

We have flags, we have everything in between that are physical to somehow represent our faith.

But why is it that we struggle with the idea that the very thing that Christ says is His body and His blood of the New Covenant

is the physical means by which we connect with our God?

Because sometimes the truest things are the things we have the hardest time accepting.

But fortunately, today we are giving you communion because of what Jesus is doing tomorrow

and that He is sacrificing His life for you.

So this meal is how we are tonight participating in His death in a way that we can taste and feel and see.

And if you have any question whether God's love and grace can be for you,

as it enters your mouth, feel and taste that God's salvation is for you.

We sometimes take God's grace for granted, but as we eat and drink this meal,

God is not taking us for granted, but rather is saying, you are my child and you are welcome together as my people in my presence.

May tonight and always the grace of God feed us as His body, as His people because of His sacrifice. Amen.