Ordinary and Sacred
Originally scheduled for
November 29
Have
you ever considered just how ordinary the Lord’s Supper really is? Those who
prepare it could tell you that there is nothing magic about it. Mankind has
been making bread for thousands of year; wine, no doubt, goes back as far. The
elements themselves are routine staples of human existence. However they are
served, human hands – sinners’ hands – are used to assemble them before
worship.
Yet we
say that these things are sacred. How is it that we see these things as holy
when they have such a common origin?
First,
they are holy from the source – Christ himself. When light passes through a
dusty room, it does not become dirty. It just shows the dirt; the light
remains pure. So it is with Communion.
Next,
they are holy by the command of God. This is not something devised by the mind
of man but instead it comes from the grace of God. He commands it; He is pure;
and to the pure, all things are pure.
Finally,
as in the Old Testament, things are made holy by sacrifice of blood – in this,
the blood of Christ on the Cross. There is no greater sacrifice.
Sinners,
therefore, handle the things of God. Just as you will handle them in this
ceremony. How is it that God permits such a thing?
To
begin with, they are the things of God – but also the things of men. Just as
Christ is fully God, and fully human, so are the things he called his body and
blood.
It
is permitted also for God’s purposes: for in the Lord’s Supper he shows us his
divine grace.
He
does ask one thing of us: that we examine ourselves before partaking in this
meal. His purpose is grace; grace comes with repentance. Repentance comes
from examining ourselves, confessing our sins and weaknesses. Only then can
that which is sacred bring grace to the sinners who love the Lord.
