COMMUNION MEDITATION
MARK 14:22-25
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
SEPTEMBER 9, 1973
pwedf-aser en
It's rather a cliche but the fact is that [those who do not undergtand and learn

from History are bound to repeat it."| Consider, for instance the whole matter of the

Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. - ‘ks creamy and prackice ‘ou “Ala churoh .

For gut Qutpeses Aus Aya. Ya stony lospes
In the year 1215, the 4th Lateran Council declared that the bread and wine of the Mass

- J \whew 7

become the actual _body and blood of Jesus christ.\ The substance of_bread and wine become,

er

miraculously, another substance.) The doctrine is called "Transubstantiation".

Li anainmenenanenas an |

The effect of that doctrine was officially to remove the sacrament from the people.
fur Bone Sound Teen pas ~ yi to remove ne peo Pp

If you are handling the very_body and blood of Jesus you don't want to be messy about it.

It needs to be done with 4reat e and dignity and ceremon \ chitanen obviously ou ht
areal car ignity evemony Se gptted
to know what they are doing and to be able to do_it with coordination and grace. | fact fact
ad el —_o
it would be better if the sacramental act were done only by those who understood it.\ It
re Oa ad a
was a pragmatic decision, reatly-\ And thus the_Lord's Supper came to be celebrated by

the clergy, literally walled off from the common people by ornate stone screens, speaking

in a language _no one understood, around a high altar.

That's one of the things the Reformers intended to reform in the veth_century\| John
Knox scandalized the whole of Great Britain by bringing the elements out from behind that
soreen| by breaking bread and pouring a goblet of wine right in front of their eyes ~ and

then distributing it among them.\ Men were arrested and tortured and executed for doing
that:\ for reinstating the Sacrament as an act of God's peaple - which depends on His

—

goodness and His _srace\ They wanted it done weekly, every Lord's Day, by all the people

openly, regularly, joyfully.
But then history began, once again, to repeat itself \ The Sacrament Became so

7

special ~ so holy - that slowly it was removed from the peopte. | Instead of _a weekly

celebration it became occasional \nonthty. quarterly, yearly. \ ard once that happened -

once_it it was not seen as the appropriate thing for Christian people to do when they

gathered for worship - it regained it's old status - as a mysterious, awesome rigual to

be done with the greatest of care, dignity and ceremony. In the more remote areas of the

- t
Scotish Highlands - that direction comes to it's logical conclusion Pegple stay home

when Communion is celebrated - so filled are they with a sense of their owg unworthiness

~2-

and the Sacraments botiness. { It's almost as if the Reformation never happened.

We are trying, honestly, today to understand and learn from history, and therefore,

not to repeat it| We are trying by celebrating the Sacrament more frequently; not in order
to lessen it's significance, but rather to affirm it's centrality in the life of the
Church.

And we are trying, finally, by including our children in the celebration. | In the past

our behavior has been inconsistant with our words \ We have said, for instance, ["The

an,

Holy Table is none other than Christ's Tabte.\ He invites those who put their trust in

him to share in the feast which he has prepared’ | We have said, in baptism, ["This child

is now a part of the church."} And then, at the very_moment when the Church is celebrating
its most appropriate ritual we have said, \tWait a_minute-| you have to be twelve and go
to communicants class and join the Church in order to get_in on this." |

Two_years ago the General Assembly acted AG end that inconsistancy.| Baptized chitdren

of believers are welcome at the Lord's Table.- if the Session agrees - and if the parents

deem it appropriate. \ The session of this congregation agrees.\ Parents are the ones who
shall decide when their children may participate in the sacrament | That policy is in
effect here everytime we observe Communion. \ But today, particularly, we are_holding it
up and thinking about it - and celebrating a new freedom to stand_together with those

dearest to us before a table that is none other than Christ's.

Freedom implies responsibility. | If hax you have decided to bring your children to

the Table it is your special task to talk about it with then} They don't need to understand -
intellectually - any more than you do\\ what they need is some feel for the significance
of the act ~ that we remember Jesus Christ when we do it - that_it is God's wa

Fr eimel

of saying

that he loves us very much - that it is guy way of saying that we love each other very much.
That - by way of a rationale which your worship committee asked me to provide on this
occasion.

And now, for a few brief moments, think with me about what we do today.

| |

“Do this in remembrance of me". |r is a time to renenber:| that's what I do with

L tiene a ena

those minutes while the elements are being distributed. \ I remember - last year - and the
ba a bean MTT y

SE

special joy of sitting with my_family for the first time and serving the elements to my
fe ae

children.

-3-

I remember Maundy Thursdays and the loaf and pitcher passed up and down_the tables

in the Fellowship Hall.

T remember - always in those minutes - the first time I presided at communion ~- one

week after I was ordained - as a guest minister in a tiny Pennsyivania Parish.
— L niemnanal =

I remember communion on the day of Seminary graduation - a loaf passed among us as we

stood around the table - and the black friend who wouldn't get a job.

I remember communion as a child - my parents = my brother squirming - that I_liked

it because the sermon was shorter that day. \ 1 remember taking communion for the first
el Le ad

time and being disappointed that I didn't feel transparted on the wings of angels.

IT remember ~ now - more each year - that part of the theological baggage we Christians

carry around is something called "The Communion of Saints" \\that there is something in

the Sacrament that affirms an eternal relationship with those who are_gone.\ Not at all

in the sense of an ecclesiastical seance. | 8 ut that somehow relationships of loye

survive death: that no relationship dies:\that they are safe and free in a way I can only
eos MR tne ae ae

Mee |

imagine. \ So the list grows each year. « ~ «

Cal

eye

A favorite uncle was buried last Monday = and I'1] remember him today \ And on back -
Ey

and b ack and back to Him - to the one who comes and goes in our Life:\ sonet ines leaving us
_—— ed eect | Le eninsmmennaene nol

ta our own devices, but at other times looking us right in the face:\a judge - sometimes =

but with a smile on his fave:\2 persistant challenge to do more ~ be more - give nore ’\ but

eee

a friend - a brother who cares. \ Back to the one who took those twelve men to an upper room
es

and said words to them that made it impossible for them ever to eat without remembering.
| "Everytime you eat this bread and drink this wine you show forth the Lord's death".

"This bread - this wine". \ Tt wasn't special \ Not communion wafers and Mogen David
bee ee) ‘tmenierersooreeerciit

eters,

Communion Wine or Welch's Grape Juice\ It was what they were eating for dinner.) Tt might
nes wrape _—_

have been fish and dried olives except that bread and wine lent themselves to the symbolism
epee, - itié NTT

he wanted to share.

The point of it was that they stood for his body and blood ~ repregented him in all

their mundane ordinariness \ God, that_is to say, uses some pretty common things - some

pretty ordinary experiences - to dispense _his grace. \ In fact - all the “things” of

creation become the means of grace if you hear the words correctly.

Aman told me a story this summer that 1 found very moving and I would share it with

i nd aeleeriehliaiaten Reel Ey,

-4.

you-| He was a Scot,a Prisoney of War_in the German camp somewhere in Potand.{ He was also

a Presbyterian, later - after the war - to become a mini ster\ in the camp starvation was
ri; Deena ian A amaemel

ranmpants| many men had died - and he - the teller_of the story - was weak and sick.| For

days he had nothing ta eat.| Qne night a Polish Roman Catholic dug undey_the fence - and
Ce al

= : a * 13]

in the dark thrust an onion and a jga of water into his hands with the words |" The Body

and B lood of Christ for you my brother." |

There's something of that going on whenewr we celebrate communion \ Frederick Buechner

defines sacrament as a time “when something holy happens“ and goes on to SBAXEX comment :
a —_ Ey

| «the Church isn't the only place where the holy happens.\ Sacramental moments can occur

at any moment , any place, and to anybody. \ vatehing something get born. A high school

Al,

graduation.\somebody coming to see you when you are sick. \a meal with people you love,
owner a] <r t Cel

Looking into a stranger's eyes and knowing he's not a stranger.

iil

If we weren't blind as bats. we sight see that life itself is sacramental.” (ie83

That's what it means to hold up these items - bread and wine \ insignificant in and of

themselves - but vehicles of God's grace - God's presence - God's Jove for yar and me.

So let us stand together around these tables - with our little ones -with each other:

to rememer - to affirm - to receive God's grace. AMEN

Father, we would came to your table as children. Help us - in this act - to sense again
thy mystery of your love - your hiddeness in the common things of creation: your presence

in our relationships with each other: through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN

Symbols of Ak Gedy a Blond oF Christ ~
\pvk alee sxuywloo\ > oF God s ereati on ~ana Wa
Vala te we
<ywiorls of OM un Gal Labted, eat - ok ak avs
cela Leushige - GUA \s Cape shauat CAM 4 Us _ waking, He