God’s Use of Bread and Wine
January 10, 2010
A pastor shared a story of a time he was particularly burdened in his ministry. He was assisting with communion distribution, and it was the custom in that congregation to greet people as they came to the communion rail by saying, “The Lord be with you,” to which the congregation replies “and also with you.” Because of the difficult time he was going through, he was a bit distracted. After the service, one parishioner came up to him and said “Do you know what you said during communion?” He looked at her, confused, and said, “No, what did I say?” She said, “Well, instead of “The Lord be with you” you said “The Lord be with me.” The lady further explained, “We all sort of stood there, looked at each other, and then said, “and with us too!”
Last Sunday I started a series of messages on the way we encounter our God in worship. He comes to us through seemingly plain, simple, ordinary things: Word and Water, Bread and Wine. Both Baptism and Communion are nothing less than a mystery and a miracle. These Sacraments are truly awe-inspiring and demanding of faith. In Baptism, God connects simple water with the power of His Word and declares us cleansed of our sin. We are His children and heirs of eternal life. We are baptized, not were baptized, and thus are called to live a new life, reflecting our status as His forgiven children each and every day.
In Holy Communion, we celebrate the mystery and miracle of Christ’s true and very real presence among us: the presence of bread and also the body of Christ, the presence of wine and also the blood of Christ. The hymn we just sang poses the question, “What is this bread?” That unleavened, pressed and seemingly tasteless wafer that we eat is, indeed, still bread. And yet, in the upper room on the eve of Passover, Jesus took some similar, unleavened bread, broke it, gave it to His disciples to eat and said, “This is my body!” Yes, the same body beaten and broken on Calvary’s hill as the sacrifice for our sins. The power of God’s Word gives that to us in this meal.
The hymn goes on to ask, “What is this Wine?” If it looks like wine and tastes like wine and smells like wine, it must be wine, and so it is. And yet in that same upper room Jesus declared, “This is my blood, shed for you.” Indeed, the same blood that flowed freely from His head as a crown of thorns was placed there, the same blood that hours later flowed from His hands and feet as nails pierced them, the same blood that flowed from His side when pierced by a sword, the blood that was the sacrifice for our sin – that is what Jesus gives to us in this sacred meal. The hymn goes on, “Yet is God here? Oh, yes! By Word and promise clear. In mouth and soul He makes us whole – Christ truly present in this meal. Oh, taste and see – the Lord is real.” (LSB 629:4)
The Lord be with me! And with us too! He is in a unique and special way through ordinary bread and wine. Christ’s real presence. Mystery? Yes! Miracle? Yes! Yet the Word of God cannot be denied. It helps to remember that in the Sacraments God is the one doing something. He is giving, we simply receive. God uses ordinary bread and wine to accomplish the extraordinary. He gives us what Jesus earned. We share it to the extent that we are called participants, which is one of meanings of that word “communion.”
“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? ” (1 Corinthians 10:16, NIV)
Bread and Wine are used for eating and drinking. That is something we need to do every day. Our bodies need to be fed, they need regular physical nourishment. Meals may be ordinary and commonplace, but they are necessary. The eating and drinking we do in this sacred meal remind us that we need spiritual nourishment as well, and that is what God gives us. His Word connected to these ordinary things makes them extraordinary. They become a means through which He gives us His love, His forgiveness, the assurance of life everlasting.
There is so much more that God does through these ordinary elements that we cannot cover it all at once. But let me point out a couple of other things that happen.
“Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. ” (1 Corinthians 10:17, NIV)
Communion binds us together, not just to Jesus but to each other. We have the comfort and assurance of knowing that we are united not only with all those communing with us in this place, but also with all believers in Christ throughout the world.
Another element of this sacred meal comes from these words: For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26) These words take us right back to the cross. As you approach the altar, each of you is preaching a powerful sermon. You are saying to everyone who sees you, “I believe that Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, died for me and a world of sinners. I believe that I am worthy to receive His body and blood with the bread and the wine only because of what Jesus did for me at Calvary. I believe that His love for me is nothing short of a miracle, even a mystery! I believe that God is doing tremendous and powerful things for me through His Word connected to ordinary bread and wine. ”
Is this for me? I am forgiven and set free! I do believe That I receive His very body and His blood. Oh, taste and see – the Lord is good. LSB 629:5
