Part Four of Sermon Series - Reception of Communion
August 26, 2001
Just recently President Bush visited Kansas City. Afterwards, they interviewed some people from Kansas City to talk about their meeting with the President. Of course, you had the interview with the disgruntled protestors outside of where he was. They had no desire to meet him. But then, they interviewed some young children, asking them, “what was it like to meet the President.” The kids sounded genuinely excited about such an opportunity.
It’s always kind of neat to meet someone of fame or importance. There’s a sense of excitement in the air - your heart beats quickly - and you become nervous. You don’t want to say the wrong thing and you also want to look your best. We’re not talking about meeting someone famous in the Lord’s Supper. We’re talking about meeting God! In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul said that you could take the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. Paul was saying that there is a way that you can approach him unworthily, and actually sin against his body and blood. What does this tell us - in order to receive the Lord’s Supper we need to be prepared for it. How? That’s what we’re going to look at today.
What it Takes to Partake of the Lord’s Supper
The only way you can usually get to meet someone famous is to pay an amount of money to get an autograph, or a LARGE amount of money to eat with them or talk with them. How much does it cost to approach our Lord and meet with him at His Supper? What do we have to do to be able to receive him? Throughout this sermon series we’ve been pointing back to the Old Testament - trying to learn from examples in the past. If we’re talking about approaching a holy God - we need to look back at examples of this in God’s Word. Take for instance our reading from the Old Testament for today in Leviticus 23.
“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. 28 Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. 29 . . . 30 I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves.
In order to approach the Lord with a sacrifice on the Day of Atonement -the people were to refrain from working and eating to concentrate on the importance of this day where their sins would be atoned for.
When God was going to show his presence to His people on the top of Mt. Sinai, He told Moses in Exodus 19, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”
What does this show us? God wants us to show him respect when we come to him. When Paul had established the congregation in Corinth, one specific problem that they had was with the way they worshiped. Before they celebrated the Lord’s Supper, they had an agape meal where they would share the Scriptures and eat a meal, then have a collection for those who needed it. But what was happening? When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. The rich were getting drunk, the poor were starving, and after this fiasco they were supposed to take the Lord’s Supper. It just wasn’t right - the way they were approaching the Lord. And what was happening as a result? Paul said, many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. God had to discipline them to bring them back to the faith with sicknesses and the like because they weren’t approaching him with a reverent spirit.
I can recall growing up in a much larger church - it was a huge brick building with a very elongated worship area. The altar, then, was a long ways to get to - up several sets of stairs. It always appeared to me to be the place where God lived, almost like the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament. I remember coming to church during the week - when I was in high school - nobody was around. Tentatively I walked up in the altar area. Slowly I moved my feet upon the green marble stone floor, slid my hand along the rail, and just stood there. I had never been beyond the communion rail before! It was almost a sense of awe - I was standing only where the pastor stood. Maybe it wouldn’t be all bad for us to think of taking the Lord’s Supper in that way, would it - to treat it like holy ground to be approached! That way, when you approach the altar to receive the Lord’s Supper, you would naturally feel that something special was happening. You are approaching a holy God!
Therefore, in keeping with these examples, our catechism suggests, Fasting and other outward preparations may serve a good purpose. If you have some nicer clothes, why not wear them on Sundays of communion? If not eating breakfast would help you to concentrate and appreciate your hunger for the Lord’s Supper - then don’t eat breakfast that morning. This is not a law - you don’t have to do it. But little rituals like these help us to remember the importance and reverence of the Supper.
I. Outward preparations don’t hurt - they may help
The Pharisees were very worried about rituals and outward appearances. Did this impress Jesus? What did he say? Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23) Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. When we approach a holy God, it’s not just about wearing a nicer clothes. What’s really important is what’s on the inside - your heart.
But how do we prepare our hearts to meet the Lord? After all, what did Jesus say about the heart? Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’” (Matthew 15) How can we get a clean heart to approach God? After David had sinned against the LORD by committing adultery and murder - his heart was full of lies, guilt, and deceit. How would he get a clean heart? He prayed in Psalm 51, “create in me a clean heart, o God.” This clean heart would have to be created by God.
How does God do this? When you plant the seed of a plant, the only way the seed can grow is if it first of all dies. When it dies, the shell then cracks, and then the insides can burst forth. God looks at your heart like a dead stone rock, that first of all needs to be broken apart. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” It is with the hard hitting law that God breaks our proud hearts. Take for instance when Jesus was approached by the proud and hard hearted Pharisees and teachers of the Law, what did he say to them?
You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 ”‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” . . . 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.
Notice that Jesus didn’t pull any punches. With the hammer of the law he swung away at their hearts with full force, trying to crack them apart. When they ran from the beating, he told the disciples to “leave them.”
How does this apply to the subject at hand? What is the only way to approach a holy God? With a crushed heart. It’s kind of ironic isn’t it. The only way to be a worthy communicant is to realize that you are unworthy! Realize that you do not deserve to have the blood of a Holy God touch your sinful lips. You do not deserve to have the body of Christ be connected with you. This is why we want those whose knees allow them to to kneel at the Lord’s Supper. It is a gesture of humility and sorrow.
The sad thing is that there are some who come to the Lord’s Supper because everyone else is. They come because it’s “just the right thing to do.” And some come who have no desire to change their lives - but actually use it as an excuse to keep sinning. How can you really be sorry for doing something that are going to purposely keep on doing? If that’s the only reason you’re coming, then stay seated, for your seed hasn’t been cracked yet. If you don’t feel a need for it, then don’t come just because everyone else is coming. Proverbs 27 says, the full soul loathes an honeycomb. Unless your seed has been cracked or your glass has been emptied, God can’t fill it. It’s like after you eat a huge meal at a nice restaurant, and then the waitress asks you, “would you like some dessert?” No way. Only come if you know you are a sinner in need of God. What if you don’t feel this sin and humility? Luther said, If you cannot feel your sin, at least believe the Scriptures; they will not lie to you, and they know your flesh better than you yourself. Secondly, look and see whether you are in the world. If you are, don’t think there will be a lack of sins and misery.
II. With a humble heart - crushed by the law
This can be taken too far, however. During Luther’s time, it got to the point where this feeling of unworthiness was actually hindering people from coming to the Lord’s Supper. He said, “under the Pope, a person tortured himself to be so perfectly pure that God could not find the least blemish in us. On this account we became so timid that every one was instantly thrown into consternation and said to himself: Alas! You are unworthy! But if you are to regard how good and pure you are, you must never approach.”
After a miraculous catch of fish, “Peter fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Did Jesus then say to him, “get out of my sight!” Not at all. What did he say? Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid.” When we come to Jesus on our knees, what does he say to us? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. Jesus commands us who are heavy laden with sins to come to him. He doesn’t want those with no burdens of sin to come. He only wants the heavy laden. You see, the sacraments do not depend upon our worthiness. For we are not baptized because we are worthy and holy, nor do we go to confession because we are pure and without sin, but the contrary, because we are poor miserable men, and just because we are unworthy; whoever would gladly obtain grace and consolation should impel himself, and allow no one to frighten him away, but say, “I come, not upon any worthiness, but upon Thy Word, because you have commanded it.”
But why would we want to come? Jesus says, come because I will give you rest! Jesus commands us to do this in REMEMBRANCE of me. What do we remember when we take the Lord’s Supper? We remember Jesus’ promise when Jesus said, “this is my body, which is given FOR YOU!” No matter how unworthy we feel, how many sins we have committed, when we come to the Lord’s Supper we are assured that Jesus was already punished for those sins. When we take the Lord’s Supper, through faith in Jesus promise - we know then that our sins are forgiven - because they were already paid for. Here He offers to us the entire treasure which He has brought for us from heaven. The sacrament takes our faith from the sorrow and weakness of sin and despair and builds it back up to the confidence of forgiveness.
Think again of the illustration of the seed. It isn’t enough for a seed to die in order for it to grow. It also needs to be constantly watered in order to grow. Isn’t it ironic then, that God uses the water of Baptism to begin our growth. And then he uses the wine and blood and bread and body of the Lord’s Supper to fill our souls and keep us alive. With this kind of faith, Luther said, We must never regard the Sacrament as something injurious from which we had better flee, but as a pure, wholesome, comforting remedy imparting salvation and comfort, which will cure you and give you life both in soul and body.
Will this sacrament do you any good if you don’t believe in the promise of forgiveness or think about it? Not at all! I would liken this to the story of the man who bought his wife a new bowling ball. You see, he loved bowling, and he thought therefore his wife would also be enamored with the gift and love it and use it. But she hated bowling. And so, the ball stayed in the closet and did her no good. In the same way, what good does it do someone to take the Lord’s Supper if they don’t believe the words “for you” - or if they don’t “remember” what Christ did for them. To them, it will be a strange custom. It will be a waste of time. Worse than that, it will hurt their faith. For Paul warned, anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. You need to have faith - not only in the fact that Jesus died for you, but also that Jesus body and blood are present in the Lord’s Supper. Luther said, The principal point of our doctrine is that a Sacrament does not obtain grace for a man without faith.
III. Faith in the words of Christ - “this is my body, given FOR YOU”
When Moses walked into the presence of God, he told him to take his sandals off, for he was standing on holy ground. We are walking into holy ground when we take the Lord’s Supper. God tells us to come. But we need to know HOW to approach him. Paul said, A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. Do you have what it takes to partake of the Lord’s Supper? Examine yourself with these three questions -
1. Do I believe I am a sinner who needs forgiveness?
2. Do I believe that Jesus died FOR ME as he promises in the Lord’s Supper?
3. Do I believe that His actual body and blood are present in the Lord’s Supper?
If you answer yes to that, Jesus says, “come, you are ready to receive the body and blood of the Lord. Partake of my body and blood, and I will give you rest.” Amen.
