Sermon - Lent Midweek 5 - 2018

These past few weeks we’ve discussed how the Lord’s Supper is bread from heaven, it is life-giving medicine from the tree of life, and the fruit from this tree of life gives us communion with Jesus and the whole body of Christ. Throughout these weeks, hopefully we’ve come to learn even greater the value and significance of this holy meal. Hopefully over the past month I’ve been able to communicate to you that the Lord’s Supper is the magnificent gift of life that we sinsick sinners so desperately need to frequently receive in order to sustain us in this world of sin and death.

As Luther asks and answers, “What should admonish and encourage a Christian to receive the Sacrament frequently? First, both the command and promise of Christ the Lord.” Jesus does command us to receive the Lord’s Supper when He says “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” This isn’t a conditional do, Jesus just tell us to do this. Even if the Lord’s Supper had no benefit and promise attached to it, simply because our Lord has commanded us to receive His supper that should be enough for us to receive it with joy and zeal.

But the Lord hasn’t only commanded us to receive the Lord’s Supper without purpose, but our dear Savior has attached the most glorious promise to it imaginable, saying that His body and blood are “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” In this meal Christ delivers to us His most precious body and blood shed on the cross so that our sins may be forgiven. 

We’ve spent the past four weeks talking about the profound vastness of God’s great promise given in the Lord’s Supper! I dare to believe that we’ve not even yet plumbed the depths of this treasure trove which is holy communion. The promise given to us from the fruit of the tree of life ought to cause us a strident and earnest desire to receive Jesus’ body and blood with far greater zeal than we have in the past.

Yet even if the command of God Himself and the promise of eternal pleasure in heaven were not enough to cause you to desire this meal, then know that you need the Lord’s Supper. Are you flesh and blood? Then Luther reminds us of Galatians 5 which says of the flesh: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Luther also reminds us of Romans 7 which states that “nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” Because we live in the flesh, we need to receive salvation outside ourselves, from another source.

Do you live in this world? Are you still here among the living? Because in this world you will have no end of sin and trouble, your every day will be filled trouble. Luther reminds us of John’s words concerning this world: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” Because we live in this world, and this world is passing away, we need salvation from outside of this world.

But it’s not just about your flesh and blood, it’s not even just about your worldly cares, but as St. Paul so soberly reminds us: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” That lying and murderous devil is still prowling about us, and as long as we have air in our lungs and our heart is still beating, he will never stop assaulting us. We need God to rescue us. We need the Lord’s Supper.

But if you don’t see your need for the Lord’s Supper, if you haven’t properly considered your sins and confessed of them, then you shouldn’t receive it! The Holy Spirit so bluntly warns us: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” If you haven’t confessed your sins and you’re not rightly prepared for the Lord’s Supper, then there is no shame in remaining seated in the pew, because you have the maturity to realize that you’re not yet ready.

However, if you recognize your guilt that dwells in your flesh, if you see your worldly passions overtaking you, and if you experience the devil working in your life, then don’t stay away from the Lord’s Supper! This meal has been instituted for your joy and comfort, as consolation from your miserable sin and wretchedness. If you are sinful and you know and feel it in your heart, then come to the table! 

With confidence enter this Holy Place by the blood of Jesus. “Draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” “Don’t neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Don’t neglect to come to this holy altar and receive Jesus’ body and blood given and shed for you. When you see others neglecting to come to the altar, don’t just push them and push them, but encourage them by showing them the great promise given to them in this most precious life-giving meal which they desperately need just like you.

It is my desire, and I hope it is yours as well, that together we will one day have the opportunity to receive Jesus’ body and blood at this altar every Lord’s Day, every Sunday. This meal is the highlight of every service, where God reveals Himself to us in His body and blood, and delivers to us the fruits of the cross. Jesus has commanded us to receive this meal often, has given us within this meal the promise of life everlasting, and at this altar God has fulfilled our greatest and most pressing need to be delivered from the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”