(Thanks to Bob Hostetler for ideas for this message. I’ve added a Methodist twist to the message. Powerpoint and audience outline available).
A little girl asked her mother, “Mommy, why do you cut the ends off the meat
before you cook it?”
The girl’s mother told her that she thought it added to the flavor by allowing the meat to better absorb the spices, but perhaps she should ask her grandmother since she always did it that way.
So the little girl found her grandmother and asked, “Grandma, why do you and Mommy cut the ends of the meat off before you cook it?”
Her grandmother thought a moment and answered, “I think it allows the meat to stay tender because it soaks up the juices better, but why don’t you ask your Nana? After all, I learned from her, and she always did it that way.”
The little girl was getting a little frustrated, but climbed up in her great-grandmother’s lap and asked, “Nana, why do you cut the ends off the meat
before you cook it?”
Nana answered, “I had to; my cooking pot wasn’t big enough.”
We do a lot of things in life, and seldom stop to ask why. We develop habits and traditions, and if we’re not careful, we can forget why we do certain things...
In the weeks ahead I will be talking about what it means to come together as a group to worship God. Today I want to discuss what it means to share communion as a part of a worship experience.
Here at Bethany, we make communion available every other month—this habit of sharing bread and grape juice together as part of our Sunday morning celebration. I don’t know how that tradition was established in our church—you were doing it before I came here as your pastor. Some churches have communion once a month, others once every three months, and still others every week.
On average we have communion about 7 or 8 times a year—we also do it the week before Easter on Thursday night because that’s the night Jesus first introduced his followers to this special meal on the night before his death.
It was interesting to me that on our recent worship survey a number of people responded that they thought we celebrate the Lord’s Supper about the right number of times per year in our church. In fact, several of you, stated that you believe that if we have communion too often it will lose its meaning.
Now that’s even more interesting for me because our heritage as Methodists would imply that we should have communion several times a week. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement in England in the 18th Century encouraged his Methodists groups to go to communion as often as they could at the local Anglican church.
In his sermon, “The Duty of Constant Communion,” Wesley said
“I am to show that it is the duty of every Christian to receive the Lord’s Supper as often as he can. “
The First reason why it is the duty of every Christian so to do is, because it is a plain command of Christ. …. Observe, too, that this command was given by our Lord when he was just laying down his life for our sakes. They are, therefore, as it were, his dying words to all his followers.
Maybe as Methodists we’ve decided not to take the Lord’s supper every Sunday so we can have room for there big meals Sunday afternoon.
Some congregations, I understand, have even dropped the communion service from the regular morning worship hour, just inviting those who wish to partake to go to another room for the Lord’s Supper after the service or serving it during the week. The reasoning, I’m told, is that the strange practice of taking the loaf and cup frightens away “seekers” or guests who visit the church.
Don’t they realize that the Lord’s Supper is the greatest evangelistic tool we have? Paul says through the proper observance of the Supper “you proclaim the death of the Lord till He comes” (I Corinthians 11:26). John Wesley taught that Communion should be served to believers and non believers alike. The Communion service is certainly a greater aid to evangelism than a cross on a church building, or on a necklace.
Robert Tinsky was reared in Judaism. Dissatisfied spiritually, he visited a Christian Church for the first time, seeking some religious truth. He was astounded by the observance of the Lord’s Supper. He didn’t understand it. He asked some young people seated near him what it meant. They faithfully told him the gospel story as portrayed in the loaf and cup. He was amazed that there was a God who loved humankind enough to give His Son to die for us and at the wisdom that originated such a living memorial. He became a Christian and a faithful preacher of the gospel.
So today I want to explain why we do what we do, so that even someone who’s new to Bethany or to the Christian faith might understand completely.
When we share the Holy Communion we are doing what almost all Christians do: celebrating a relationship with the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, by taking seriously his own words on the night before he died—“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood poured out for you.” If these words are new to you it might sound like cannibalism or some very weird use of symbols and a bit strange. If this is familiar to you, you will probably be comfortable with observing or receiving the bread and cup.
So . . . why do we celebrate communion?
Why do we take itty bitty portions of grape juice and bread together?
(By the way if you wonder why we use grape juice instead of wine, I’ve included an article in today’s program that explains that—you can read it later—I hope you want to read it while I’m trying to teach this to you today [Included at the end of this transcript])
What’s this practice all about?
Good question. So, for the next few moments, before we do this thing, let me
explain. And, in order to do so, I will share from the Bible
in the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians,
the seventh book of the New Testament,
where we’ll look at chapter 11, verses 23-29. . . .
So, let’s get started. First, the reason we have this symbolic “meal” together
is . . .
1. To Remember
Look at verses 23-25:
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25, NIV).
Paul is describing the last supper, of course, and interestingly, at his last Supper Jesus did two things:
A. Jesus interpreted something old
Jesus was interpreting the Passover meal
Ex. 12 describes the 1st Passover, which included: a lamb
Announce to the whole community that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice. (Ex. 12:3)
Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Also a part of the meal was:
· pure bread, called “unleavened”
Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. … during those days you must not eat anything made with yeast. Wherever you live, eat only bread that has no yeast in it.” (Ex. 12:17, 20)
· wine, though not specified in Ex. 12, was also a part of the meal
B. Jesus instituted something new
The Lord’s Supper is a ceremony that quickly came to be celebrated in the church much more regularly than the annual Passover
During the war in Vietnam, a young West Point graduate was sent over to lead a group of new recruits into battle. He did his job well, trying his best to keep his from ambush and death. But one night when they had been under attack, he was unable to get just one of his men to safety.
The soldier left behind had been severely wounded. From their trenches, the young lieutenant and his men could hear him in his pain. They all knew any attempt to save him – even if it was successful—would almost certainly mean death for the would-be rescuer.
Eventually the young lieutenant crawled out of hiding toward the dying man. He got to him safely but was killed before he could save himself.
After the rescued man returned to the States, the lieutenant’s parents heard that he was in their vicinity. Wanting to know this young man whose life was spared at such a great cost to them, they invited him to dinner.
When their honored guest arrived, he was obviously drunk. He was rowdy and obnoxious. He told off-color jokes and showed no gratitude for the sacrifice of the man who died to save him. The grieving parents did the best they could to make the man’s visit worthwhile, but their efforts went unrewarded.
Their guest finally left. As the dad closed the door behind him, the mother collapsed in tears and cried, “To think that our precious son had to die for somebody like that.”
That’s what Jesus did.
That’s what we are to remember as we come to Communion today: Christ died for us while we were still sinners
We share in Communion to remember, Secondly,
2. To Rejoice
Look at verse 26:
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26, NIV).
Not just a looking back, but a pointing forward also:
when we share communion, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
MAX LUCADO, in his book, Six Hours One Friday, tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The tribe was in need of medical attention. A contagious disease was ravaging the population. People were dying daily.
A hospital was not too terribly far away—across the river, but the Indians would not cross it because they believed it was inhabited by evil spirits. To enter the water would mean certain death. The missionary explained how he had crossed the river and was unharmed. They were not impressed. He then took them to the bank and placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn’t go in. He walked into the water up to his waist and splashed water on his face. It didn’t matter. They were still afraid to enter the river. Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He punched a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water and escaped. It was then that the Indians broke out into a cheer and followed him across.
That’s exactly what Jesus did! He told the people of His day that they need not fear the river of death, but they wouldn’t believe.
He touched a dead boy and called him back to life. They still didn’t believe. He whispered life into the body of a dead girl and got the same result. He let a dead man spend 4 days in a tomb and then called him out and the people still didn’t believe Him. Finally, He entered the river of death and came out on the other side. And this is what we celebrate in today’s Communion and every time we come to the Lord’s Supper. We are here to rejoice at both his death and resurrection and to make this proclamation until he returns:
As at Easter: “He is risen/He is risen indeed,”
So in communion: “He died for you/He died for you”
One of our members of the Bethany Family is going to come and share an experience she had here at Bethany that gave her reason to rejoice. I want to introduce to you Charlene Michael.
(Charlene’s Faith Story)
A PERSONAL FAITH STORY
by Charlene Michael
Given during Worship and Communion, June 2, 2002
When I started here at Bethany I was attending Mt. Olivet United
Brethren in Christ Church at Mt. Solon. I had been there 44 years. It was my
husband’s home church and we had raised our 5 children there. My husband
passed away in 1995. Two years later I felt I needed to get a church closer
home. I chose to come here, I knew a lot of the people and I have a son and
family here. Every one made me feel welcome, but for about a year I had an
inner struggle whether to stay or go back. Each Sunday as I passed the road
I would be taking to Mt. Solon, the old struggle began, but I always wound up
here at Bethany.
I prayed about this during my devotions each day and other times.
One Sunday as I was kneeling up front for communion at Bethany,
something touched me in a mighty way. I felt it so strongly tears came and
I was hearing, “This is where you need to be.” I went back to my seat
knowing my prayers had been answered.
I told Pastor Don about this soon after it happened and I would like to
know more about the United Methodist Church and Bethany Church. He said
he was planning to have a class on that. I attended that class (Class 101) and
on May 7, 2000 I moved my membership here.
From that communion service to this one, I have had no more struggles
where I should be and I love being here. (End of Charlene’s faith Story)
So we remember, we rejoice and next, we have the opportunity
3. To Repent
Look at verse 27-28:
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup (1 Corinthians 11:27-28, NIV).
Sharing communion provides opportunity to examine ourselves and, if the Holy Spirit shines his piercing light on anything in our lives that is unworthy of he body and blood of the Lord, we have the opportunity to repent and experience his forgiveness and cleansing anew so that we might celebrate worthily.
In 1818 one out of six women who had children died of something called “childbirth fever.” A doctor’s daily routine back then started in the dissecting room, where he performed autopsies, and from there he made his rounds to examine expectant mothers. No one even thought to wash his hands...at least not until a doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis began to practice strict hand washing. He was the very first doctor to associate a lack of hand washing with the huge fatality rate.
Dr. Semmelweis only lost one in fifty, yet his colleagues laughed at him. Once he said, “Childbirth fever is caused by decomposed material conveyed to a wound...I have shown how it can be prevented. I have proven all that I’ve said. But while we talk, talk, talk, women are dying.. I’m not asking for anything world shaking, only that you wash your hands.” Yet virtually no one believed him. Communion is a time to confess our sins, to regularly wash our souls before God, it’s essential, the failure to confess our sins will result in spiritual infection that will hinder our ability in the spiritual journey.
Today I invite you to repent—to change your mind about the direction of your life. We may not feel worthy or good enough to receive Communion—but thank God it is not about our goodness!
It’s ultimately about God’s goodness—This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. (Jn. 3:16 TMNT).
We share Communion to remember, rejoice, repent and finally
4. To Reconcile
Look at verse 29:
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Corinthians 11:29, NIV).
We are all a part of the one body—The church of Jesus Christ. If I have resentment toward even one person here I really am judging myself. I’m no better than anyone of you here. At this table we are on equal standing.
It was related that once when the Duke of Wellington remained to take communion at his parish church, a very poor old man went up to the opposite aisle, and reaching the Communion table, knelt down close by the side of the Duke. (Immediately, tension and commotion interrupted the silence of the church.) Someone came and touched the poor man on the shoulder, and whispered to him to move farther away, or to rise and wait until the Duke had received the bread and the wine.
But the eagle eye and the quick ear of the great commander caught the meaning of that touch and that whisper. He clasped the old man’s hand and held him to prevent his rising; and in a reverential but distinct undertone, the Duke said, “Do not move; we are equal here.” (Pulpit Helps 3/91)
Therefore, use this time as you take the cup and bread, to be reconciled to God,
and also to your brother or sister,
In fact as a sign of reconciliation , I’m going to suggest that you take the bread that you tear from the loaf and offer it to another person instead of taking it yourself—exchanging the piece of bread with those of another, as a gesture of your love and unity with that man or woman for whom Christ died. So instead of dipping your own piece of bread in the cup of juice today—exchange with someone else and then dip in the cup.
Thus, we share this simple ceremony—
as Christians—black and white,
Asian and Latino,
male and female,
young and old,
single and married,
have done around the world for twenty centuries—for four reasons . . .
1. To Remember
2. To Rejoice
3. To Repent
4. To Reconcile
And so, I would encourage you to come to this meal which is the Lord’s Supper.
You see, the table of Holy Communion is Christ’s table, not the table of The United Methodist Church or of the Bethany congregation. It is not a meal in the clubhouse for members only! It is open to all regardless of age or church membership. The table is open to anyone who seeks to respond to Christ’s love and seeks to lead a new life of peace and love.
Christ invites you to take the bread and the cup that proclaim his loving sacrifice of love for everyone here . . .
I encourage you to calm your spirit,
take your time,
approach these moments of worship
carefully and prayerfully,
and come forward whenever you’re ready.
AND if for any reason you choose not to partake today, that’s perfectly okay;
please feel free to remain seated,
and maybe pray for those who are celebrating today,
Changing Wine into Grape Juice: Thomas and Charles Welch and the Transition to Unfermented Fruit of the Vine
by Daniel Benedict (from UMC Worship Web page)
Most United Methodists are aware that one of our practices is the use of unfermented juice of the grape for Holy Communion. While some other Protestant bodies share this practice, the possibility of the practice goes back to the late 19th century and a Methodist dentist named Thomas Bramwell Welch. (See http://www.welchs.com/company/company_history.html.) Apparently Welch had scruples about the use of wine and had heard of Louis Pasteur’s process of pasteurization of milk. Welch was successful in applying the process to grape juice, and he began to use it in his church, where he was a Communion steward. His son, Dr. Charles Welch, was an enterprising Methodist layman (a dentist, like his father) from southern New Jersey. He marketed the pasteurized grape juice to temperance-minded evangelical Protestants as authentic biblical “wine.” As word spread and as the temperance movement grew among evangelical Protestant churches, Welch left dentistry and produced Welch’s Grape Juice commercially.
The 1964 Book of Worship rubric is emphatic: “The pure, unfermented juice of the grape shall be used.” Note that the current ritual texts and rubrics in our Hymnal and Book of Worship do not explicitly define what form of the fruit of the grape shall be used. The United Methodist Book of Worship does recognize that .. .
o the historic and ecumenical practice has been the use of wine
o the use of the unfermented grape juice by The United Methodist Church and its predecessors is an expression of pastoral concern for recovering alcoholics, enables the participation of children and youth, and supports the church’s witness of abstinence. (See the 1964 Book of Worship, page 28.)
