Like a Rose - Holy Communion Luke 22:7-38
For over 2,000 years, Holy Communion has been at the heart of Christian worship. We have called it by many names – the Lord’s Supper, the Mass, the Eucharist – but from the very beginning, followers of Jesus have been brought closer to God and to one another as we have shared in this sacred meal. As we eat the bread and drink the wine, we are doing as Jesus asked us to do. He said, “Do this, as often as you will, in remembrance of me.” As we do this, and as we remember Jesus’ life, his death, his resurrection, Christ himself comes and meets us here, and gives us his gifts of love and forgiveness and guidance and strength.
This is why we call it a Sacrament, one of the three Means of Grace, God coming to us, to find us, to forgive us, to strengthen us, to console us, to empower us for ministry. For the entire history of the Christian movement, this sacrament has been so filled with meaning, and so important in the lives of Christian believers, that words alone cannot grasp its meaning. Very quickly we exhaust our vocabulary when we try to express the heart of the gospel in words. Here we remember Jesus. Here we encounter the risen and living Christ. And through this sacred meal, we are drawn nearer to God and to one another.
Recognizing the limits of words, let’s try in the next few moments to talk about what the sacrament means to us. And, as I talk, I trust that God will draw near to us by His Spirit and fill in the meanings that words alone cannot express.
We often describe the sacrament as a symbol. It is more than that, as we will see later, but it is a symbol, the most powerful one ever devised. Of course, you know what a symbol is – a symbol is something physical, something tangible that represents something spiritual and intangible. I learned early in my life that we need symbols. There are some things so deep, so filled with meaning that you can’t just talk about them, you must act them out. We use symbols to express those things that we can’t quite say in any other way.
We use a variety of symbols each 4th of July to celebrate Independence Day. There will be fireworks, flags, salutes, people standing at attention – all physical ways of acting out the meaning of patriotism.
I wear a ring on my finger, a wedding ring. It, too, is a symbol. In the service of marriage, we say, “The wedding ring is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to all the joining of Richard and Susan in Christian marriage, a marriage that has been blessed for 42 years, through the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord.” The wedding ring is a way of expressing tangibly that which really cannot be put into words.
Think of how much we express by symbols each day. The handshake, a wave of the hand, a hug, and a kiss are all symbols. They are all ways of acting out a meaning which goes beyond words.
Holy Communion, then, is a symbol – the most meaningful of all symbols – it is a tangible way of pointing to the deepest, most meaningful truth we know – that God is like Jesus, good, and loving, and forgiving - and that God has acted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to draw us to Himself and to give us the gift of abundant life. The sacrament is spiritual reality taking on a material form so that the reality can be more readily received. That’s what a symbol is.
Now, it is true that Holy Communion is a symbol, but it is more than that Holy Communion is also a means of grace. In other words, we are not just remembering Jesus, and all of the good things that God did through him long ago and far away. No, when we are doing it right, something happens to us right here, right now. As we remember Jesus, the past becomes present. The Jesus who lived 2,000 years ago in Galilee, and who has risen and is among us as the living Lord – that Christ comes and meets us here and gives us the gift of his grace. That’s what we mean when we talk about the sacrament as a means of grace – God come to us and offers us His Grace, His Forgiveness to here, right here, right now. I believe that Christ is really present here in the sacrament, and that we can meet him here, and be refreshed and renewed by him here.
The most deeply committed Christians I have known have told me that the sacrament has come to mean more and more to them as they have grown older. With every passing year, they have grown in their appreciation of it, and in their ability to experience the depth of it. But, sadly, there are those for whom the sacrament has never held much meaning. They have never been able to see past the bread and the wine to the meaning they represent and the gracious, loving, forgiving experience they make possible.
So, let me try to say it in a new way, like this. There is a sense in which communion is like a rose. I know that sounds strange, but let me explain. There is a mural in town depicting the “Roseman”. He was an individual who would take a single rose to people in the hospital and even people in their offices. A single rose which is always the first gift the patient receives. Often, when I would visit members of our congregation in the hospital, I would see on the table a vase containing a beautiful, fresh, fragrant rose. I never had to wonder who sent it. I knew. Every time I saw one on the table by the bed, I knew. And, just seeing it there lifted my spirits and made me feel better, just as it did for the patient to whom it was sent.
I suppose some might say, “Why get excited? It’s only a rose. It’s pretty, of course, but it will wilt and die in a few days. It’s a nice gesture, but after all, it’s only a rose.”
But they’re wrong. Anyone who dismisses such a gift so quickly has failed to see beyond the obvious. There is a deeply meaningful world of reality which such a person has missed entirely.
It is a rose, but it is not only a rose. It is a symbol – a symbol of the love and concern of those friends who sent it – it is something physical that stands for something spiritual. But it is even more than that: it is also a means by which the love of the individual who sent it can be experienced. In a real sense, the sender is present in that rose – present with their love and concern – even though they are physically absent.
Do you understand, then, what I mean when I say the sacrament is like a rose? If that rose can be a powerful symbol…if that rose can be a means of experiencing the love and concern of those who sent it…if in that rose the senders can be present spiritually with their affection - how much more can the sacrament do all of that for us!
Please don’t ever say, “It’s only bread and wine!” It’s a great deal more than that. It is a tangible means by which Christ himself is experienced. When we come to the sacrament in faith, Christ meets us here and gives us everything we need.
One more thing. The sacrament is a symbol. It is a means of grace. And Jesus says it is also a new covenant in his blood - a new covenant. It is the covenant which is the foundation of everything in the Bible.
The Old and New Testaments should really be called the Old and New Covenants, because that’s what they are about. In His covenant with the people of Israel, God promised: “I will be your God. I will watch over You with steadfast, dependable love. And, I will provide for all your needs.” On their part, the people promised: “We will be Your people. We will follow You faithfully. And, we will keep all Your commandments.” That was the covenant, and it sustained and empowered the people of Israel for centuries.
Then, at the Last Supper, Jesus gave us a new covenant. He said, “This is the new covenant in my blood.”
And here is what the new covenant is about. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God reaches out to us with His love, and especially through Jesus’ death on the cross, God shows us just how far He will go to save us. And we experience that anew every time we come to the sacrament. But the covenant is not just about what God gives to us. It’s also about the commitment we make in return. That commitment is our part in the new covenant.
That’s where much of our language comes from. Communion…togetherness…the church…covenant. All of that is involved. So, every time we come to the sacrament, we receive all the love God has to give, and then we respond with a love of our own, with our part in the covenant. On our part we promise: “Father, I belong to You. I receive Your amazing love and gladly respond with love of my own. I promise now to live as a faithful follower of Jesus, so that, by Your grace, increasingly, my life looks and sounds like Jesus.” Symbol…Means of Grace…Covenant. That’s the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Thanks be to God. Amen.