"Holy Communion: For the Forgiveness of Sins" Maundy Thursday Sermon

“Holy Communion: For the Forgiveness of Sins”

Maundy Thursday B

April 5, 2012

Exodus 12.1-14

 “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins. Do this for the remembrance of me.” These familiar words, with the rest of the Words of Institution, are spoken every Sunday as well as special times as this. They are for us sacramental Lutheran Christians so simple and yet so profound. We claim to believe what Jesus tells us, that he is truly, bodily present in, with, and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion. We believe that this presence of Jesus Christ is a gift of God’s grace, given freely without any merit on our part. Furthermore, we believe that this great gift does some pretty incredible things, not the least of which is the forgiveness of sins.

That this meal we call the Lord’s Supper began as a Passover meal at the Last Supper is a given. Soon after, though, the meal we also call Holy Communion took on a life of its own. Even so, the Passover themes remained: through the repeated eating of this meal, we remember how God reached down in a mighty act to deliver his people from bondage, strengthening them for the journey of faith. Jesus, of course, is now the Lamb who was slain on our behalf, to set us free to be the people of God. But, more about that tomorrow night. For now, we realize that it’s not blood on the doorposts and lintels that frees us, but rather the body and blood in, with, and under the bread and the wine.

This little bit of bread and sip of wine don’t seem like much of anything, but to us they are everything. First and foremost, the Lord’s Supper is every bit a meal as the Passover and Last Supper were. There is something important about meals; think about the most important occasions in our lives that we celebrate with food and drink: baptisms, marriage, special holidays, and even death. Yet, even when they are more mundane, they are so important; we need strength for the journey. As those Jews of long ago, we also eat we a sense of urgency, knowing how important this meal is for helping us get on with life. As Martin Luther notes, we grow weary and faint in our struggles, and the holy mean strengthens us.

Also as the Jews, we are set free from those things that hold us in captivity: sin, death, and those devilish powers that that stand between us and what God desires us to be. We need to be set free from the tyranny that our brokenness and the brokenness of others produce in our lives. It’s why Luther also says regarding Holy Communion that, “where this forgiveness of sins there is life and salvation.” Yes, forgiveness comes in words spoken and always will, as in the confession and absolution at the beginning of worship. However, we are concrete human beings who need something solid to hold on to, and Jesus’ body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine do that, speaking forgiveness when we may not hear it other places.

One of my most vivid experiences of the forgiveness through Holy Communion occurred before I became a pastor and was president of a congregation in Alexandria, VA. We were finally going to build a sanctuary after worshipping for many years in what was to become the fellowship hall. We had some officials from the Lutheran Church in America office—the predecessor body to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—come and meet with us. The meeting did not go well and there was a lot of tension in the air. I don’t remember what the problems were, but they were significant. It had been planned that we finish the day with a worship service during which we celebrate Holy Communion. All I can say is that there was a much different atmosphere after we humbly knelt together around the rail and received the living body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We were able to move ahead in our work and, yes, we did build that sanctuary.

We celebrate Maundy Thursday to remember how God has acted to free God’s people in every age. Even so, this is not a nostalgic memory of a bygone era, of something that happened 2,000 years ago. No, through this act, God continues to operate in, with, and under our world. It is also an experience to be passed on to the next generation, to our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, which is why we celebrate tonight. We come to the table, not because we know everything there is to know about what happens here, but rather to grow more deeply in our relationship to God and each other. We come to the table by faith, for faith, to be forgiven and set free to be the people God intends. This meal is for those who need God’s forgiveness. In other words, this meal is for all of us. Come and eat. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Know God’s forgiving love. Amen.