[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on July 6, 2014.]
This past Friday we celebrated America’s Independence Day, and last week we looked at what our true freedom is and who it comes from. Today we’ll be commemorating the source of our freedoms as we come to our Lord’s Table. Let’s begin by looking at the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 22, verses 14 through 23, reading from the New Living Translation:
Let us pray... Father, thank You for the opportunity to stop and sit down for a moment, to pause from the busyness of life and examine our hearts. Speak to us, Lord, in our quiet place, and tell us of Jesus. Help us repent of our impurities and get our hearts right with You. In the holiest name of Jesus our Redeemer we pray. Amen.14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before My suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”--Luke 22:14-23 (NLT)
17 Then He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me.”
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray Me. 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays Him.” 23 The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.
A pastor shared that on one particular Communion Sunday, his Communion steward prepared the elements in her usual manner. Or at least the minister thought she did it the same way she normally did. When it came time to uncover the elements, the grape juice looked darker than usual. The pastor thought little of it, though, and began serving the communion. Promptly upon receiving and drinking from their cup, each member of the congregation had a peculiar, stunned look on their face. When it came time for the pastor to receive the cup, he discovered why all the strange looks: the juice was prune juice! One congregant commented, “Perhaps this is a divine commentary on our spirituality. Maybe God thinks we need to loosen up a bit.”
Notice in the first part of our message text that Jesus said He was eager to share this Passover meal with His disciples. Why do you suppose that is? Well, Jesus knew this would be His last chance for some relatively good-natured fellowship before His terrible suffering began. He knew that His death was close at hand but He had so much more He wanted to tell His followers. He knew this would be the last time He would be able to share a meal with His closest friends until their eventual reunion in the future, when God’s kingdom comes to earth. And maybe even back then, the condemned man could get His final meal.
There have been many meals that I eagerly looked forward to, but none that were followed with so much nastiness and sorrow. But even this last supper together had some high notes. In Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Last Supper, in chapter 26 verse 30, we learn something quite interesting about Jesus, something the choir should appreciate…
30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.--Matthew 26:30 (NASB)
After they finished eating, they sang a hymn. “They” would certainly include Jesus, wouldn’t it? Jesus sang. A couple weeks ago we had a sketch on the cover of our bulletin of Jesus holding a baby and laughing. Here we have a scriptural picture of Jesus singing. This is the human side of God. Jesus: fully God and fully human. Wouldn’t it be neat, to have Jesus singing in our choir? Of course, who says He doesn’t?
Unfortunately, today’s scripture reading ends on a more somber note. Jesus informs His friends that among them is the one who will soon betray Him, who will turn Him over to the authorities to be beaten, tried, and executed. He acknowledges that yes, it is true He must die. That is God’s will, after all. But woe to the one who betrays Him! And of course the disciples get all righteously indignant and do the “not me” routine. “Who could DO such a thing!!??!!” they shouted at each other. “Not me!” “I certainly wouldn’t!” “I’d never do that to our Master!”
But it gets worse, more personal. After dinner and hymn singing they went up to the Mount of Olives. Once there, Jesus gave His followers a glimpse of what was to come. Matthew records the exchange in chapter 26, verses 31 through 35…
Unfortunately, today’s scripture reading ends on a more somber note. Jesus informs His friends that among them is the one who will soon betray Him, who will turn Him over to the authorities to be beaten, tried, and executed. He acknowledges that yes, it is true He must die. That is God’s will, after all. But woe to the one who betrays Him! And of course the disciples get all righteously indignant and do the “not me” routine. “Who could DO such a thing!!??!!” they shouted at each other. “Not me!” “I certainly wouldn’t!” “I’d never do that to our Master!”
But it gets worse, more personal. After dinner and hymn singing they went up to the Mount of Olives. Once there, Jesus gave His followers a glimpse of what was to come. Matthew records the exchange in chapter 26, verses 31 through 35…
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.
--Matthew 26:31-35 (NASB)
Jesus quotes from the prophet Zechariah, chapter 13 verse 7, when He says the sheep will be scattered. Now I don’t know if Peter was upset to be thought of by His Master as just one of the sheep, or that Jesus thought he might scatter at the first sign of trouble and not stand with his Lord and friend. But his reply seems almost petulant, as if he were saying, “the others might, but I will never fall away”. And again, predictably, the other disciples join the “not me” chorus.
Jesus sets Peter straight, though. Not only will he flee, he’ll also deny Christ. Not once, not twice, but three times before morning. And sure enough, just as Jesus foretold, Peter did just that. Here’s how Matthew reported the incident, at the end of chapter 26, verses 69 through 75…
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” 74 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.--Matthew 26:69-75 (NASB)
When his neck was on the line, Peter denied any knowledge of Jesus. He denied knowing Him personally. He cursed and swore that he did not know the man! And suddenly, realizing what he had just done, the words of Jesus came back to haunt him.
Last week I read the text from 1st Corinthians chapter 11, including verse 27 where Paul says…
Are we coming to our Lord’s table in an unworthy manner? Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to His captors. What about us - do we betray Him? Peter denied Jesus. Do we?
Are we afraid to admit we know Him in a public setting? Have we made an attempt to go into the world making disciples and baptizing in His name? Do we stand up when Christianity is threatened or ridiculed, or do we cower hoping no one will notice us or think poorly of us? Do we love one another as much as we love ourselves? Do we put our money and our time where our faith is, or spend it on ourselves and our family? Is Jesus our greatest priority, or are other things more important to us than spending time in worship or prayer or studying His word? Do we tell those little white lies for the sake of convenience and comfort? Did we claim a deduction we probably shouldn’t have on our taxes for last year? Do we remember Him, not only when we eat and drink but in every action we take, in every thought we make?
Any time we do any of these or something else we know full well we shouldn’t do, we are betraying Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us. Any time we fail to place Him first and follow Him as our Master we deny Him. Whether we do it on the outside for the entire world to see, or completely inside the domain of our own heart where only God can see it, we dishonor our Lord and act in an unworthy manner.
How can we be sure we don’t come to our Lord’s table unworthy of His sacrifice? We must repent of our wrong doings. Right here, right now. From our hearts we must confess our sin to our Lord, and to ourselves. We must promise to turn our back to that sin and once again turn our face fully toward Jesus… and mean it… and then we must ask forgiveness for our sin.
God is merciful. We will be forgiven and will be seen as worthy in our Lord’s eyes. Worthy to come to His table, to take of His body, broken for us, to drink of His blood, shed for us.
Remember Jesus. Remember the significance of accepting Him as your Master. Remember all He did just to give you the chance of being freed forever from sin and death, of being saved. Come to His table, and remember Him.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, we thank You for allowing us to come together this morning to share a meal with our Lord and Savior Jesus. Lord, we come to You with a repentant heart and we seek Your forgiveness and Your blessing. Please help us remember the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf as we partake of these elements – His body broken for us, His blood shed for us. Forgive us when we deny Him by our thoughtlessness and by our inaction when we should stand firm and acknowledge our faith. Forgive us when we betray Him by acting in a way contrary to His teachings and example. Help us remember Him by following the path He laid, by loving You and by loving one another, by sharing the Gospel throughout our world. And now, dear Lord, hear us as we pray silently from our hearts, as we confess our sins to You, as we repent and seek Your forgiveness. Listen, Lord, to the pleadings of our hearts… Now prepare us, Lord Jesus, to come to Your table. In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.
Last week I read the text from 1st Corinthians chapter 11, including verse 27 where Paul says…
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.--1 Corinthians 11:27 (NASB)
Are we coming to our Lord’s table in an unworthy manner? Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to His captors. What about us - do we betray Him? Peter denied Jesus. Do we?
Are we afraid to admit we know Him in a public setting? Have we made an attempt to go into the world making disciples and baptizing in His name? Do we stand up when Christianity is threatened or ridiculed, or do we cower hoping no one will notice us or think poorly of us? Do we love one another as much as we love ourselves? Do we put our money and our time where our faith is, or spend it on ourselves and our family? Is Jesus our greatest priority, or are other things more important to us than spending time in worship or prayer or studying His word? Do we tell those little white lies for the sake of convenience and comfort? Did we claim a deduction we probably shouldn’t have on our taxes for last year? Do we remember Him, not only when we eat and drink but in every action we take, in every thought we make?
Any time we do any of these or something else we know full well we shouldn’t do, we are betraying Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us. Any time we fail to place Him first and follow Him as our Master we deny Him. Whether we do it on the outside for the entire world to see, or completely inside the domain of our own heart where only God can see it, we dishonor our Lord and act in an unworthy manner.
How can we be sure we don’t come to our Lord’s table unworthy of His sacrifice? We must repent of our wrong doings. Right here, right now. From our hearts we must confess our sin to our Lord, and to ourselves. We must promise to turn our back to that sin and once again turn our face fully toward Jesus… and mean it… and then we must ask forgiveness for our sin.
God is merciful. We will be forgiven and will be seen as worthy in our Lord’s eyes. Worthy to come to His table, to take of His body, broken for us, to drink of His blood, shed for us.
Remember Jesus. Remember the significance of accepting Him as your Master. Remember all He did just to give you the chance of being freed forever from sin and death, of being saved. Come to His table, and remember Him.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, we thank You for allowing us to come together this morning to share a meal with our Lord and Savior Jesus. Lord, we come to You with a repentant heart and we seek Your forgiveness and Your blessing. Please help us remember the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf as we partake of these elements – His body broken for us, His blood shed for us. Forgive us when we deny Him by our thoughtlessness and by our inaction when we should stand firm and acknowledge our faith. Forgive us when we betray Him by acting in a way contrary to His teachings and example. Help us remember Him by following the path He laid, by loving You and by loving one another, by sharing the Gospel throughout our world. And now, dear Lord, hear us as we pray silently from our hearts, as we confess our sins to You, as we repent and seek Your forgiveness. Listen, Lord, to the pleadings of our hearts… Now prepare us, Lord Jesus, to come to Your table. In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.
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