1. Good morning! Let’s pray. O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2. Opening Comments: Today is Corpus Christi Sunday – the Holy Body of Christ Sunday. This is the Third Sunday of the Season of Pentecost and some of us may have noticed that the last 3 Sundays have been “heavy duty” in the sense that they were “high octane” theologically!
The first Sunday after Easter focused on the Third Person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit. That was Pentecost Sunday Last Sunday we focused on the Tri-unity of our God and today we’re going to zero in on the Body of Christ – the Eucharist.
Our Roman Catholic brethren state that the Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord is the source and summit of our faith. Many of our Protestant brethren zero heavily on God’s Word and almost or totally forget or ignore the Body and Blood of our Lord.
It’s interesting that when I was ordained in the Presbyterian Church I was ordained a “Minister of Word and Sacrament” but I must confess that my teaching on the Sacraments was less than stellar. It took me years of independent study to come to the place where I realized that my theological training was woefully lacking in this most critical area.
I remember my first Communion as Celebrant – I had to ask a fellow Presbyterian Pastor “how to do it.” That may give you some sense of what the Presbyterian Church at that time thought of the Sacraments of all Sacraments!
Now I’m setting this context to make a critical point that most of our readings this morning are making. I wonder if any of us can guess what that might be?
In our Old Testament reading we hear Moses reminding the people that God provided for their every needs during their 40 years of travelling through the Arabian desert. He focused especially on God’s provision of the Manna – a food unknown to your fathers.
This was referred to elsewhere in as food from heaven. We see then a connection between this Old Testament manna from heaven and the New Testament manna from heaven in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. In our Gospel reading Jesus said,
V 51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven . . . “
And in verse 58 Jesus said,
John 6:58 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.”
Clearly Jesus was comparing Himself – His real body and His real blood - with the life giving heavenly bread that God provided to the people of His first covenant.
Jesus said in today’s reading that His body:
John 6:55 “. . . is real food and my blood is real drink.”
The Greek words used here are: aÓlhqh/ß e˙stin brw◊siß, -and they mean “my body is real, genuine, not imaginary, not symbolic . . . food!
St. Paul wrote in our Second Reading from First Corinthians chapter 10 beginning at verse 16:
“. . . Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body.” 1Cor. 10:16
The word “participation” here in Greek is “koinwni÷a” and it means –
“a means of grace whereby we attain a closer relationship with the blood (and body) of Christ.”
In other words by eating the Bread and Wine we are all in some mysterious way actively entering into – participating in – jumping into the skin of, as it were, of the Body of Jesus Christ!
We’re literally becoming Christ! Not only in heart, mind and soul but - in body – in body – incarné – in bodying – embody - incarnational!
Now this is not just an obscure scholastic abstraction or a pedantic affectation it’s very very real and very very tragically avoided by many of our Protestant brothers and sisters.
Let me make this point by directing our attention to two verses in this morning’s Gospel reading.
When I was growing up in the Presbyterian Church I often heard the quote: Amen and Amen - I tell you the truth, he who believes in me has everlasting life.”
The Greek words for “everlasting life” are “zwh\n ai˙w¿nion” and they mean what they say – we will have life everlasting. Death is not our end but life everlasting in our destiny as followers of the Eternal One – Jesus Christ.
That quote:
“I tell you the truth, he who believes in me has everlasting life” comes from the 47th verse of this morning’s Gospe reading from John chapter 6.
Now would someone please stand and read for us a few verses further on – verse 54:
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:54
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”
It’s the same promise but this time it’s referring not to belief or faith but to eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ!
The same promise of everlasting life is promised for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ and those of us who eat His Body and drink His blood!
Can you see what’s being said here?
Jesus is telling us that to believe in His word and participate in His actual Body and Blood is to become full-blooded Christians!
Let me put it another way, “Like the manna, the flesh and blood of Jesus have become the source of life for those who partake of it. Eternal life comes from feeding on Jesus , not simply from believing in Him!:
“Eternal life comes from feeding on Jesus, not simply from believing in Him.”
I remember what that reality first struck me. I was sitting up in my office in the bell tower of Brighton Presbyterian Church speaking with the Executive Director of Young Life for this region.
This reality came so suddenly and strongly home to me in our conversation that I struck my desk and exclaimed, “I’ve been starving the people of serve” for all of these years by only giving them the Word and not also our Lord’s Body and Blood!
In John Chapter 6 Jesus is telling us that life in it’s fullness here and now and into eternity is given to us BOTH through His Word and through His Sacrament.
This life in Christ was never supposed to be just a philosophy made up of sublime words. It’s not just a Gnosticism – a body of knowledge, nor is it a religion of wisdom NO! NO! NO! It’s not just a religion – it’s a fuil-blooded Participation in the ongoing incarnation – in carne – in fleshed - ministry of Jesus Christ, informed by His Word and nourished by His Body and Blood!
Yes, many have done amazing things just by believing in His Words but Oh have much more robust their ministry could have been were it intravenously nourished by the Sacrament of His body and blood.
We’re not just spiritual beings – we’re in-fleshed beings as was Jesus Christ Himself – body blood soul and divinity! The perfect creation is where body and blood come into perfect and harmonious communion with Spirit!
This is what Adam and Eve were like before the Great Fall! This is where you and I are heading as the Holy Spirit perfects us day in and day out critically assisted by the infusion of Christ’s Body and Blood!
How do apply this to our lives?
But as regularly as possible reading God’s Word and receiving His Sacrament worthily!
In other words don’t read His word or receive His sacrament unworthily! Receive both with a humble believing and faithful heart!
Please don’t come forward today with your hands in your pockets. Please take out the chewing gum. Please consider bowing in humble thanks to Him whom you are receiving before you receive.
Come forward in sincere gratitude for what He has accomplished for you and for what He is not giving you and His real Body and His real Flesh!
Let us pray . . .
