i was a man indivisible

when everything else broke

A sermon on St. Paul's (better) communion sermon:

If you had to describe yourself in one word, do you think you could do it? And if not, why not?

*Alright. Let’s have a little participation. Stick out your thumb. Now hold it up. But hold your thumb horizontally. Like this. Ok. Now, on the count of five, I want you to put your thumb up if you could describe yourself in one word. And conversely, I want you to put your thumb down if you don’t think you can describe yourself in one word.
Got it? Ok. Here we go. On the count of five. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Go!

*Interesting. Keep them up. Now take a look around. See what your friends said. 

There. Now you have something to talk about during coffee hour or on your way home. You’re welcome.

…It’s curious, though, isn’t it? On the one hand, who we are is always just sort of there for all the world to see. But on the other hand, the particulars of our personality never seem to hold still when we try and pin them down. Do they?

What’s more, our identity always seems to be most up for grabs when we need it most. It’s those times when life comes at us fast and furious when we’re most unsure of ourselves. Isn’t it? And that’s why these questions are most painful when they’re most acute. “Am I up for this?” “Do I have what it takes?”

But that isn’t even all! There’s the strange fact that we can even become frustrated with ourselves. Our patience with who we are can run thin when we find ourselves returning over and over again to those same old counterproductive habits. “Why do I always do that,” we ask ourselves in vexation. 

Maybe worst of all, though, is the terrible reality that we can even grow numb to who we are! After years of taking it for granted, our very existence can fade into the background of our day-to-day routines. In fact, sometimes we even speed this travesty along ourselves! I know I’m not the first to suggest that we stuff ourselves full of activities to avoid reckoning with crucial matters, such as who we are deep down.

I know. This can all seem so abstract when I talk about it up here. But believe me, there’s nothing hypothetical about it. What’s more, these matters are closer at hand than any of us know, too. Why just go through a significant change in your income, relationship, or health. Then, all of a sudden, these questions will be front and center with a distressing urgency. And trust me, there are folks here right now who can vouch for what I’m saying.

In fact, I can speak from personal experience here. I have plenty of less-than-desirable traits that constantly get the better of me. And I have the strained relationships to prove it, too. Plus, when the sermon isn’t coming together, I’m prone to wonder if I’m just entertaining myself while I stave off the inevitable, as Colm puts it in the masterful Banshees of Inisherin.

And let me tell you, when these questions get on top of you, they’re no trifling matter.

…So, what about you? Hmmm? What about you?

Now, I know. You don’t want to think too hard. And you don’t want to turn over a stone you won’t be able to turn back over. I know. 

And I know it’s early, too. And I know it’s the weekend besides! And I even know that you’re like everyone else; you’re tired. The week has been hectic, and your reserves are on low. I know. 

Here’s the deal, though, a little digging here will get you a long way out there. What’s more, this is a safe spot. You have the time and the space to do a little excavating of your identity here.

And this ISN’T any ol’ time or space, either. This is the Sabbath. And this is the house of the Lord. You don’t dig beneath the surface of who you are by yourself here. No, the Holy Spirit explicitly saddles up next to you. 

So, let me ask you, if you had to pick a color to describe yourself, what color would you choose? And let me talk a bit while you think. 

How about I tell you why I’ve been doing this? Well, first of all, it engages you. And that makes the sermon easier. Believe me, your ears and hearts make the sermon more than any of my affectations could ever hope. It’s true.

Plus, I want to offer little moments for y’all to talk with one another. And I want to find ways to discuss those ineffable parts of our existence. But most of all, when we open ourselves up to one another, we take little steps toward that sacred fire that burns beneath the surface of all that is seen. And that’s true, too.

…Ok. I hope that was enough time. So, if you had to pick a color to describe who you are, what color would you choose?

And hopefully, you know what’s coming next. Form little groups and share your answer with one another. And as always, if you see someone sitting by themselves, invite them to play along with you.

Alright, I’ll go first. And this aspirational. But if I had to choose a color to describe myself, I would choose cerulean. Pretentious, I know. But there you have it.

*Ok. Go and share.

…Alright. Let’s bring it in. 

Now, let me tell you why I’ve been having us think about all this. Because the thing is, like the Corinthians, perhaps you’ve given GOD short shrift in this whole exercise. Because it’s easy to do! Isn’t it?

The Corinthians’ problem, you understand, wasn’t that they were saying the wrong words during Communion. No, their problem was they never really reckoned with what the Holy Meal meant in the first place! In fact, if anything, the Corinthians presumed Communion has no greater purpose than propping up their self-continuity project.

For instance, you probably noticed that Paul said some of them were getting drunk during Communion. And I know what you’re thinking! You’re wondering, “How much wine did they serve in Communion back then?!?”

Well, that’s not exactly how it went. What all the clues seem to suggest is that the Corinthians had a sort of potluck with their Communion services. Sounds nice, right? But it wasn’t really a potluck. 

Instead, the services were held at members’ houses. Remember, they weren’t any churches back then. And the members who had bigger homes were the ones who hosted the gatherings. And as the host, it was these well-to-do members who served the food. 

The thing, though, was that it was customary back then to serve your friends first. And what’s more, it was also customary to serve the choice portions first. And if that wasn’t enough, these buddies were also given the best seats in the house, too! So what was happening was, in the course of these Communion slash dinner parties, some members were being over served. But it was only the affluent members who were offered that extra glass of wine! 

What’s got Paul so incense, you understand, wasn’t how much wine was in the chalice. No, it’s that the Corinthians were acting like the old rules still applied! The Corinthians were still observing those tired old customs that legitimized the divisions between the haves and the have-nots. And as far as Paul’s concerned, nothing could be more abominable! God bless St. Paul. 

But Paul wasn’t upset that the behavior was garish, although it was. No, Paul was bothered because the Corinthians weren’t even really celebrating Communion anyway! Or rather, they had turned it into some sort of anti-Communion. They had made the Eucharist into a poison! A poison that was literally making some of them sick!

You didn’t know there were such high stakes to this Meal. Did you?

…However, Paul does have an antidote. And what is it? Well, it’s the words of institution themselves. And that’s it! 

Interestingly, Paul offers no commentary on the order of Communion. No, he just recites the words all over again. Apparently, Paul expects the Communion liturgy to speak for itself.

But what does it say?

Well, it calls to mind the meal to end all meals, the Last Supper itself. These words call to mind that night in which the savior of all humankind was served up to humanity in its mad thirst for power and control. In a word, these words call to mind the death of the Lord of Life.

And these words call to mind that Lord himself, too. They call to mind his very body and blood. His very self. His very self, given and shed for you.

By these words, God gets so close you can smell God’s breath. By these words, God, the one who set the stars in their courses, gives you all of Thyself and the fullness thereof! By these words, God clothed in humanity holds nothing back from you.

…The Corinthians treated Communion as if it were nothing special. We, though, can go into the other side of the ditch. Can’t we? We can treat Communion as if it’s only something special. 

But Communion isn’t ordinary. And neither is it extraordinary. No, it’s both! Communion is, above all, real. In fact, it’s the most real thing there is!

Something, the most consequential something in all of history, actually takes place in this Meal! In Communion, time collapses. In the Eucharist, Christ himself takes his place here among us. Right now!

And Christ gives himself to us in this Meal!

This is what it means to call this Meal the Last Supper! That seder Christ presided over on the night he was betrayed was the end all be all supper. In a word, it was the definitive one. 

Now, when we invoke Christ’s name over this Meal, he brings it to bear upon us all over again! It actually happens! This is what it means to remember. 

We do not just recall a historical event when we do this in remembrance of him. No, when we do this in remembrance of him, the members of Christ come back together for us AGAIN. Christ himself is re-membered. He’s membered back again for us in this Meal!

…You want to see Christ? Well, here he is! You stand, well, sit, at the threshold of the most fateful encounter of all your life! 

And what do you think? How do you feel? You want to know who YOU really are? Well, how are you responding to portentous news? Is your response like that of the disciples that night? Are you sleepy? Confused? A little distracted? Or are you outright doubtful? OR are you hopeful? Moonstruck, even? Or are you a little bit of all that? Are you a mixed bag?

Well, guess what? All that is utterly beside the point! Christ comes nonetheless! Christ gives himself to you ALL the same! 

Christ doesn’t hold back! Christ gives himself to sinners and saints alike in this Meal! And he gives himself to all the rest of us who find ourselves bouncing between those two poles from day to day, and sometimes even to moment to moment, too! 

Christ gives himself to all, irrespective of virtues and vice. Christ gives himself to the disinterested and dubious. And he gives himself to the eager and the over-the-moon, too.

…You want to know who you are? Well, look no further! Who you really are is a recipient of God’s grace! Your identity, deep down, is forgiven and dearly beloved! Your existence, in the truest sense, is that of child of God, come what may!

In this Meal, you understand, you are given back to yourself. But you are not given back as a project to manage. No, now you are given back as the delight you’ve been to God since the foundation of the world!

You don’t have to carve out your identity or prove your worth any longer! No, now Christ comes to confer that upon you! And to confer it as the God-given endowment it’s been all along! 

But that’s not all! Christ intends to give you more than was lost in the fall! Now Christ comes to give you his line! And best of all, he gives you his greatest gift of all! Christ gives you the faith to actually take him up on his offer, and reach out to him in your time of need!

And Christ comes to fold you INTO this great family of faith, too! And I don’t just mean us. Although, now, on account of Christ, we are all sisters and brothers. But no, I mean that now you and I are grafted into that worldwide fellowship of Christians! Now you can walk into any gathering that bears Christ’s name and be right at home!

Still, though, there is more! Because it’s not just us. And it isn’t just this. No, now the past, present, and future all fall in on themselves! Now Christ reconciles your past, and he unlocks your future, too! 

Furthermore, he brings the Communion of the saints along with him, in tow! Now all those you have loved and lost are less than a hair’s breadth away! In Christ, the beginning and the end, ALL of time itself is held open like a book! And when you kneel before him to receive all he has to give, you reach out of time and into eternity itself! 

This is Communion in the fullest sense, sisters and brothers! This is nothing between you and God anymore! This is eternity bubbling up through the cracks of time in ordinary bread and wine!

Yes, for now we still see through a mirror dimly. But in this Meal, the reflection becomes a little less opaque. And what’s more, the surety that you will see face to face becomes clearer, too! Doesn’t it?

But that great last day, which the Germans call the youngest day, but on that day, you will fully know. Even as you have been fully known. And when that happens, you’ll see, once and for all, for yourself, that you were fully loved from all eternity! 

…Beloved, God knows you FULLY. Yes, you. And God loves YOU without reservation OR condition. Yes, my words may fall short here. I cannot fully capture this incredible reality. 

But you know what? Christ, The Word made flesh, he will not. In this Meal, when we receive Christ himself, we will get a taste and snatch a glimpse of what all this means!

Paul was right. Wasn’t he? We just need to hear those words again. Don’t we? And that’s just what we’ll do—in a bit. 

For now, though, let us lift our voices and train our hearts to become what we’ve been all along, recipients of God’s grace. 

As the Grains of Wheat, ELW 465