Prepare for Communion Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. The Word “immediately” at the beginning of today’s Gospel is very important. Immediately after what? Immediately after feeding the 5,000, Jesus “made the disciples get into the boat.” Later that night, “He came to them, walking on the sea.” Dear Christian friends, St. Matthew might have written today’s Gospel to help each of us to prepare for the Holy Communion. That is a good thing. The Holy Communion is serious business. The Scriptures are very clear: Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon himself (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). What does it mean that you should examine yourself before you eat of the bread and drink of the cup? It means that, • It might be a good idea for you to open your hymnal to page 329 and read over the “Christian Questions With Their Answers” before you come to worship. Take a moment to ask whether you believe yourself to be a sinner, whether you regret your sins, whether you want to change and do better. Ask yourself whether you believe that Jesus died to wash away each and every sin. Ask whether you believe that Jesus’ Body and Blood are present and given to you in the Holy Communion, so that you may receive with your mouth what His mouth has promised you. • It might be good for you to pray the prayers that are written in the front cover of your hymnal, or prayers similar to them, so that you may direct your thoughts away from your favorite distractions and toward the holy mystery that is about to unfold in your presence. • You should also attend to the members of your household, reminding them and calling upon them likewise to prepare themselves for the Holy Meal. Yes, you are your brother’s keeper (cf. Genesis 4:9). • You would do well to locate one or two fellow Christians—especially if you have had trouble with them—give them a handshake, and perhaps add a few Words of repentance, reconciliation or peace. • Above all, you should spit on your palms and take firmly into your grasp the Promise of God concerning the Holy Communion: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins” (Matthew 26:26, 28). Today’s Gospel will help you immensely in your preparations, especially when you hear this Gospel in light of last week’s Gospel. Last week, Jesus fed the 5,000 with the deliberate actions of the Holy Communion: TAKING the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He GAVE THANKS and BROKE the loaves. Then He GAVE them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people (Matthew 14:19, NIV). Those Words—taking, thanking, breaking and giving—those Words are the same Words you hear every week: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, TOOK bread, and when He had GIVEN THANKS, He BROKE it and GAVE it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.” Whenever you hear the miracle of feeding 5,000, Jesus wants you to think of His Body, which is given for you. Today’s Gospel immediately follows. In today’s Gospel Jesus shows you the power and the importance of His Body, which is given to you: “He came to them, walking on the sea.” For the sake of your memory, I will say it again: • First, the miracle of feeding 5,000 deliberately brings to mind the Body of your Lord. • Second, Jesus shows you the great power of His Body. “He came to them, walking on the sea.” The Body that defies the laws of nature in today’s Gospel is the same Body that comes to you in Holy Communion! That is why I said earlier that St. Matthew might have written today’s Gospel to help each of us to prepare for the Holy Communion. Here is how this Gospel will help prepare you for the meal you are about to receive: • First, “When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they… said, ‘It is a ghost!’” But this is NOT a ghost, neither there on the water or there in the Holy Communion. When Jesus draws near to you in the bread and wine—His body and His blood—He is no ghost, no phantom, no spirit, no symbol, no empty image, no mere thought or idea. “It is I,” said the Lord. Just as it is impossible for a man to walk across the surface of the deep, it is equally impossible for a man to inhabit a mere crumb of bread. But with This Man—with Jesus—all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). “It is I,” said the Lord, and He was talking about the temple of His Body (cf. John 2:21). There is very little space between the Words of our Lord in today’s Gospel, “It is I,” and His later Words using the same emphatic verb, “This is My Body” (Mathew 26:26). Today’s Gospel prepares for the Holy Communion by showing you the great power of your Lord’s Body; the Body you are about to receive; the Body that is more powerful than anything in the creation. The very powers of creation cannot prevent Jesus from coming to those whom He loves. “He came to them, walking on the sea.” • But today’s Gospel does not allow you to think that Jesus comes to you merely as a man in the Holy Communion. The human Body of Jesus is a divine Body! This is True Man AND True God walking upon the waves! Jesus’s Words in this Gospel, “Take heart, it is I,” can be translated in a more profitable way: “Take heart, I AM.” When Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Take heart, I AM,” He is proclaiming Himself to be your God, the Ancient of Days (Isaiah 43:13), the Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 6:5). Long before today’s Gospel, when Israel was preparing for the Exodus from Egypt, Moses had said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Here in today’s Gospel, I AM walks upon the waves, coming to His disciples. In the Holy Communion, I AM likewise strides through bread and wine, coming also to you. The Lord of hosts spoke to His terrified disciples in the boat. The Ancient of Days speaks also to you at the holy altar. The message is one and the same: “Take heart, I AM.” • Today’s Gospel also prepares you for the Holy Communion by showing you that your Lord’s divine-and-human Body does miraculous things for you when it comes to you. After Jesus “came to them, walking on the sea,” Peter also defied the natural course of things. “Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.” Your Lord’s divine-and-human body likewise makes it possible for you also to defy the natural course of things. Peter’s walking on water is small potatoes when compared to your rising up from the dead. But you shall rise up from the dead. Resurrection is the very thing that your Lord Jesus promises you in His Body and His Blood of Holy Communion, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins” (Matthew 26:26, 28). This is what you learned to pray from the Small Catechism, These Words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given to us through these Words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation” (The Lord’s Supper, part 2). • Finally, today’s Gospel teaches us that we must NOT doubt or be “of little faith,” as Peter doubted here today. When Jesus says to you at the communion rail, “Take heart. I AM. Do not be afraid,” these Words must be trusted! These Words must be believed. Again, your Small Catechism will help: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Anyone who does not believe these Words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words “for you” require all hearts to believe (Sacrament of the Altar, part 4). So there is plenty of help available to you in today’s Gospel, especially as you go about the serious business of preparing yourself for Communion. Holy Communion is serious business, but today’s Gospel will help you to avoid choking upon the seriousness! The presence of Jesus upon the water drew the disciples’ attention away their situation, so that they could focus upon Him. So also with you: Move your attention away from everything you battle and toward the Lord God Almighty who now approaches you. “And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’” That is probably the best preparation of all: that we would look upon the Holy Communion say of the Bread and the Wine, the Body and the Blood, “Truly You are the Son of God.” _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
