Preaching texts: 1 Corinthians , Matthew 28
Pastor's Note: This concludes our Small Catechism preaching series. We'll back on the regular lectionary next week for Easter.
January 28, 1986. Do you remember where you were that day? I do. I was in the office of the librarian at John Adams Jr. High School. Weezie, we called her behind her back, but I don’t remember her real name. She had been kind enough to allow a few of us into her office to watch the space shuttle launch on the little TV she had there. And I got to see live when the Challenger exploded, killing all aboard.
From CBS News
November 22, 1963. Do you remember where you were that day? I was not yet alive, but the Kennedy assassination was to the Baby Boomers what the Challenger explosion was to Generation X.
From CNN
September 11, 2001. We all remember where we were that day. I was just starting as a new pastor in my first church in WV. Three months into that call. I was preparing Sunday School lessons when the horrible news came to me. You were, well, wherever you were.
From Business Insider
Why am I recounting these nightmarish moments of history? Because in each one of them, a figure of some import came on the TV, came before us wherever we were, and provided solace and assurance in the midst of the nightmare. For my parents’ generation and for many of you, it was Walter Cronkite visibly weeping over the Kennedy assassination.
For me and my generation on the day the Challenger blew up, it was President Reagan.
For all of us on 9/11, it was President Bush.
And that is also precisely what the sacraments are about.
We humans are a funny lot. We so easily forget truths that are staring us in the face all the time. The disasters I listed, from a purely statistical standpoint, did not kill many people. None of us, wherever we were, were in any danger. Yet we were afraid. We were shocked. We were hurting. We had forgotten the truth in that moment of crisis. The truth that we were okay, that we were going to be okay, that our nation, our society, our people are more resilient, stronger, that we often give them credit. We would recover and live on. That’s what we forget.
Here in the Church, we can also forget the truths of our faith. That God loves us. That we have been embraced and accepted by the Almighty. That we are saved. Life throws all sorts of things at us: illness, job loss, relationship troubles, break-ups, accidents, unexpected deaths, setbacks of all kinds. These discourage us and make us forget the fundamental truths that we embrace as Christians. They can trigger crises of faith. They can make us doubt and wonder if God is still out there.
So, to remedy that, Jesus has provided us two sacraments. Baptism, where a person is ritually washed with water, and communion, where we gather together to receive a small portion of bread and wine in “remembrance” (the word is deliberate) of Christ.
All religions have rites and rituals, but what makes the sacraments stand out is how they are anchored in the real. Water is something we can touch, taste, see, and hear. You see it flow. You drink it from your tap (or bottle, if that’s your preference). You let it cascade over your body when you bathe. I dare you to ignore the sound of it when it drip, drip, drips from a leaky faucet. In every encounter with it (and it is everywhere. One of the most common substances in the universe), we can be reminded of a moment when it was poured on our head and God said to us “You are MINE and always will be.”
The same with communion. We taste bread and wine. We hear it being poured or being ripped open (on a particularly crusty bread with some crunch.) We can see them, touch them. They are real and they remind us anew of the lengths God has gone for our sake. This blood shed FOR YOU. This body broken and torn FOR YOU. All for you and me!
Remember what you have forgotten. God loves you. God saves you. God is with you.
When the President came on the TV during those moments of crisis for our nation, there was something sacramental about it. He was present. He was there. He was real. We could see him. We could hear him speak. And it made us all feel a little bit better. It helped to remind us of the truths that we had forgotten in the moment of crisis.
That’s why we have the sacraments. Yet another gift from God. Real tangible things that connect us to truths barely believed and often beyond our understanding. Does God speak to you through water? Does he speak to you through the bread and wine of communion? He is trying and he is saying through things we can experience with our earthly senses. “You are mine and you always will be. I love you and I always will. I sent my son for you. I went to the grace and empty tomb for you. You are precious to me.” Hear his words, his truth, in poured water, broken bread, and sweet wine. Hear his words and remember once again. Amen.
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