The Sacrament of the Altar

Sermon for Maundy Thursday

+  1 Corinthians 11:23-32  +  John 13:1-15  +

Holy Thursday affords us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on just what it is we’re supposed to remember when our Lord first commanded us on that Thursday of Holy Week, “This do in remembrance of Me.” What is this meal that we celebrate here at Emmanuel so often and that awaits us again on this Holy Thursday? What is the Sacrament of the Altar? We answer that in our Small Catechism with these words: It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself, for us Christians to eat and to drink.

You take and eat bread. But at the same time, whether you believe it or not, you are really and truly also taking and eating the very body of Jesus: the same body once broken on the cross, the same body that was laid in a tomb, the same body that rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. That’s the body that also graces our altar and enters our mouths.

You take and drink wine. But at the same time, whether you believe it or not, you are really and truly also taking and drinking the very blood of Jesus: the blood of the new testament Passover Lamb, the same blood once shed by floggings and by beatings, by a crown of thorns, by nails and by spear. That’s the blood that also graces our altars and enters our mouths.

The bread isn’t a symbol of a body that is located elsewhere, nor is the wine a symbol of the blood that poured out of Jesus’ wounds long ago. The bread is His body; the wine is His blood; really present but hidden from our senses under the bread and wine.

For what purpose does He give us His body with the bread and His blood with the wine? What is the benefit of this eating and drinking? That is shown us by these words: “Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins,” namely, that in the Sacrament, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there are also life and salvation.

It’s true, Holy Communion serves other purposes, too. We proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. We share a blessed communion with one another, bound together by a common Baptism, by a common confession of faith, and by a bond of love that seeks to mimic the love of Christ for us. Indeed, we share a blessed communion with the saints and angels in heaven, and with all true Christians around the world who likewise partake of the Sacrament of the Altar, even if we can’t commune together with them because of time or distance or because of the false doctrines that are taught in their churches. And finally, Holy Communion is our Eucharist, our sacrifice of thanksgiving to God as we celebrate the sacrifice of atonement made by Jesus.

But the chief benefit of the Sacrament of the Altar has always been the forgiveness of sins, because it’s from the continual offer of the forgiveness of sins that faith in Christ is strengthened and the bond of love for one another increased. It’s from the forgiveness of sins that thanksgiving flows to God. It’s the forgiveness of sins, won by Christ through the giving of His body and the shedding of His blood, that is the heart of our proclamation until Christ comes again.

Now, if you have no sins that need forgiving, then by all means, stay away from the Supper. If you have no fear, no doubt, no weaknesses common to man, then by all means, stay away from the Supper. If you have a faith that can never be moved or shaken or disturbed, if your “love for one another” is already perfect, if you are “fed up” with Jesus, as it were, and feel no need for this communion with Him, then by all means stay away from the Supper. It isn’t for you. It’s only for sinners who yearn to be close to Christ, who long to be touched again by His sacrifice, who desire to receive from His hand the forgiveness of sins, who need His help in order to fulfill His command to love one another.

But, weren’t we already offered and given forgiveness of sins, life and salvation in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism? Do we somehow lose that forgiveness and die again so that we need to be re-forgiven at every Communion, re-saved, resurrected to life again every week? Or do we somehow rack up a whole host of sins during the week that make God angry with us again and that need to be erased again by the body and blood of Christ? No, no, we shouldn’t think of forgiveness that way.

The forgiveness of sins – a right standing before God, an open door to heaven is what Jesus won for you by His death on the cross as the Substitute of all men. Where Christ is found, there is complete forgiveness – there and only there. What joins you to Christ is faith in Him for the forgiveness of sins, faith that comes from hearing His promise. You were brought into Him by Baptism, through faith in His blood, and in Him, your sins were counted – are counted – as forgiven – not once, not piecemeal, but always and completely.

But your faith-connection to Christ is like a slender thread, and you are literally surrounded by enemies who have targeted that thread, who seek to cut it and sever your connection to Jesus, to pull you away from Him, and so to pull you away from God’s forgiveness and life. You know who those enemies are, I think. The devil, the world and your sinful flesh. As long as you live on earth, you live in enemy territory and your faith-connection to Jesus is vulnerable, which is why Jesus wasn’t content to give you only a once-in-a-lifetime Baptism, wasn’t satisfied to give you only a spoken word of absolution or the general preaching of the Gospel. Those things tie you to Jesus, too, and to the forgiveness that is yours in Him. No, Jesus knew that the slender thread of your faith would need to be nourished by something tangible, would need to be fed and fortified on an ongoing basis by a powerful food in the face of so many and so ruthless enemies.

And so God has given a remedy against them, a medicine to save you from them, to protect and to strengthen the precious faith that He once created in you. That remedy, that medicine of immortality, that divine food for the soul is the Sacrament of the Altar.

Who receives this Sacrament worthily? Fasting and bodily preparation is certainly a fine outward discipline, but he is truly worthy and well-prepared who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.” But whoever does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared. For the words “for you” require nothing but believing hearts.

If you know your need for Christ, your need to receive Him and, with Him, all His forgiveness and all His strength in the Sacrament, if you believe in your Savior’s invitation, then come, take and eat – now, and whenever you feel your sin pressing hard and the world pulling you away and the devil shooting his flaming arrows at the slender thread of your faith. Come and receive the God-given medicine against sin, death and condemnation. The Sacrament of the Altar is most definitely “for you.” Amen.