First Presbyterian Church
Wichita Falls, Texas
June 5, 2011
THE TABLE AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Isaac Butterworth
John 6:53-59 (NIV)
53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Two weeks it’s been since Mary Poplin was here. It’s hard to believe the time has passed so quickly. Mary had an effect on me – I don’t know how else to put it – something I didn’t expect, actually. It only took me a few minutes being in her presence, and I knew. The Spirit of God was upon her. In a unique way.
The signs of it were subtle. I first noticed it during worship when I tried to introduce her. She rose to her feet so as to prevent me from going on about her. She had no need for anyone to know her credentials, her achievements, her importance. She was on a mission, and the mission wasn’t about her.
I saw it, too, in the way she absorbed the rigor of the morning: three worship services and a presentation during Sunday School. During that four-hour stretch, she never took a break and never missed a step. She remained gracious and focused. She was here for us, not herself; and, more important, she was here for God.
And then, too, there was what she talked about. It might have been Mother Teresa, and, of course, she spoke of her and told stories about her. But the nun from Calcutta wasn’t her message. Her message was the same as Mother Teresa’s. It was Jesus. And when Mary talked about Jesus, you knew she knew him.
So, what was the effect she had on me? It was this: She inspired me to want what she had. She made me want to be closer to Jesus. Gary Thomas, in his book Authentic Faith, describes a friend of his named Mike. He met Mike when he went to college. Mike was a leader among students. He had everything: a contagious personality, athletic ability, good looks, and natural appeal. And everybody wanted to be around Mike. Everybody wanted to be Mike.
But a few years after college, Mike suffered a brain hemorrhage, and, as a result, he lost everything: his handsome appearance was gone, his voice was slurred, he couldn’t teach any more. Everything that others admired in Mike was now taken from him.
His treatment required months of grueling therapy, but eventually he was able to function again. The devastating effect on his body was paralleled by an equally powerful change in his spirit. He still attracted followers, but he was no longer focused on himself. He was focused on God. Gary Thomas says, ‘In college, when I was around Mike, I wanted to be like Mike. Now, after spending time with Mike, I want to be more like Jesus.’
That’s the effect that Mary Poplin had on me. And, if people like Mary and Mike can make us feel that way, how much more does Jesus have that effect on us?
Becoming more like Jesus is simply another way of talking about spiritual growth. As we grow spiritually, that’s what happens. We become like our Lord. And what I want to suggest to you today – today, as we gather at the Table and break the bread and share the cup – as we do that, I want to suggest that the effect could be the same. We could find ourselves drawn to Jesus in a powerful way, so that we want to be like him. And I say that because, when we come to this Table, Jesus is here. It’s what we sometimes call the Real Presence.
The truth is: Christians have argued among themselves for centuries about the potency of Lord’s Supper. Some have said that communion conveys the life of Christ to us automatically. And it does this apart from hearing the Word and responding in faith. The elements of the Eucharist have a power of their own. Those who believe this say that the bread actually becomes the body of our Lord, and the wine actually becomes his blood. They quote Jesus’ words at the Last Supper -- you know, when he said about the bread, ‘This is my body.’ And they take him literally.
Then there are other Christians who believe that the bread and the wine are symbols -- mere symbols, they might say, nothing more. Christ for them is not present in any special way at the Table. The Lord’s Supper is simply a memorial meal, an occasion for remembering what Christ did for us. They quote Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, when he said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’ And for them, that’s all that’s happening.
But Presbyterians take a mediating position. For the most part, we follow the lead of John Calvin, the primary founder of the Presbyterian and Reformed churches. According to Calvin, when Jesus said the words, ‘This is my body,’ he couldn’t have meant them literally. After all, his human body was right there in full view of everybody. It had not yet been broken for our sins, nor had his blood yet been shed. He must have been speaking symbolically in some sense.
On the other hand, Calvin took very seriously the central place the Gospel writers gave to this sacrament. Timothy Keller, a Presbyterian minister from New York, says this of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. He says, ‘It was a covenant-making meal at which Jesus essentially constituted the church as the new people of God and solemnly told them to do this continually.’ What was it we read earlier from John’s Gospel? Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink’ (John 6:53-55).
John Calvin and Presbyterians after him have taught that Jesus is spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper, and it is in a unique way that differs from other exercises of worship and prayer. This is his Real Presence. The bread and the wine for us are ‘signs’ of what God has done for us in Christ, yes. But they are not ‘bare, naked signs.’ We do not hesitate to say that our communion with Christ actually ‘seals’ us for him. We are secured in his love for us. The way we look at it, Christ is not ‘on the Table,’ but he is definitely at the Table.
He is really present, and this Real Presence infuses us with his power, so that we may become what he calls us to be. This meal actually nourishes us spiritually. ‘My flesh is real food,’ he says, ‘and my blood is real drink.’ Our Lord gives us life, and this life grows within us, and it shows through us. The power that I witnessed in the life of Mary Poplin, the desire for Jesus that Gary Thomas’ friend, Mike, awakened in him: that is exactly what is at work in your life and mine. ‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood,’ Jesus says, ‘has eternal life.’ Has it -- not will have it. Has it now. If you want to grow spiritually, come to this Table. Come often. Come today. Here, you will meet Jesus, and, when you meet him, nothing is ever the same.
