Sermon for April 25th, 2021
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Sacred Promises: Bread & Wine, Part I
Several centuries ago, the pope decreed that all the Jewish people in Italy had to convert to Christianity or else leave the country. There was an outcry from the Jewish community, so the pope offered a deal: He would have a religious debate with the leader of the Jewish community. If the Jews won, they could stay in Italy. If the pope won, they would have to convert or leave.
The Jewish people picked a wise, aged rabbi to represent them in the debate. However, since the rabbi did not speak Italian, and the pope did not speak Hebrew, they agreed that it would be a 'silent' debate.
On the chosen day the pope and rabbi sat opposite each other. The pope began the debate by raising three fingers. The rabbi looked back and raised one finger. Next, the pope waved his finger around his head. The rabbi pointed to the ground where he sat. The pope brought out the communion bread and a chalice of wine. The rabbi pulled out an apple. With that the pope sighed, stood up and declared that he was beaten. The rabbi was just too clever. The Jews could stay in Italy.
Later on, the cardinals met with the pope and asked him what had happened. The pope said, "First I held up three fingers to represent the Holy Trinity, God in three persons. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me God is still one. Then, I waved my finger around my head to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground to show that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and bread, to show that through the sacrament of Holy Communion, God absolves us of all our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me that original sin still persists. He had beaten me at every move and I could not continue."
Meanwhile, the Jewish community gathered to ask the rabbi how he had won. "I have no idea," said the rabbi. "First, he said to me that we had three days to get out of Italy, so I gave him the finger. Then he tells me that the whole country would be cleared of Jews and I said to him that we were staying right here."
"And then what?" asked a woman. "Who knows?" said the Rabbi. "He took out his lunch, so I took out mine."
Today we are talking about the sacrament of Holy Communion, or as one of our church little ones referred to it (much to his mother's dismay), "snack." That's actually a beautiful way for a child to think of it--for them, snack is an unquestionably good thing, an exciting thing, something to look forward to. It's not a complete understanding of communion, but it's a great start.
Last week and the week before, we learned that Baptism (the other sacrament recognized by the Presbyterian Church) has its roots and origins in the Jewish faith and the scriptures of the Old Testament. In the same way, Communion, or the "Lord's Supper" is a continuation and a re-purposing of an important Jewish ritual: The feast of Passover, where Jewish people remember how God delivered them from slavery in the land of Egypt.
In fact, when Jesus sat down with his disciples for their last meal together, when he broke bread and poured out wine for them, and urged them to do these things in remembrance of him--it was on the occasion of Passover.
Next week, I think Craig Field is going to talk a little more about that last supper and the theology of communion, but today I want to share with you the story of how this sacrament became important to me. Because it wasn't always that way. I grew up in the church, taking communion once a month, and not really thinking much about it. Actually, if I thought about it at all, I thought it was a bit silly: A shot glass full of grape juice and a tiny piece of something that may or not actually resemble bread didn't seem like much of a "supper."
And then there were the theological arguments, which also seemed silly to me. On one hand, the Roman Catholics I knew said that when the priest rang the little bells, the bread and wine actually became the literal body and blood of Jesus, which seems, well, kind of gross. And... hard to swallow.
On the other hand, the Baptists I knew said that it's not really a sacrament, not something "sacred" but really just a memorial, a way to "remember" Jesus, and nothing more.
