Jesus Made Known

Luke 24:13–35

April 6, 2008

University Christian Church, Seattle, WA

Rev. Sandy Messick

 

I.               A little girl was sitting through a church service one Sunday morning for the first time. There was so much that was unfamiliar to her. The songs were different and she couldn’t read the words. Sometimes people bowed their heads and prayed, but they used words she didn’t understand and talked about people she didn’t know. The preacher got up and talked for a long time, but it was boring and her mother told her to sit still when she wiggled. But then came time for communion. The preacher stood in front of a big table and took a loaf of bread and tore it into pieces. Then some other grownups started passing around plates with bits of bread, and other plates with little cups of juice. And suddenly it all made sense. In an excited whisper that carried through the sanctuary the little girl leaned over to her mother and said, “Look mommy! Snack time!”

a.     Well, hardly. It’s not much of a snack is it? A bite of bread, a thimble full of juice. It will hardly carry you over until lunch, especially if the sermon was long. But what is it, this meal that we share weekly? What is this thing we call Communion.

II.             This morning we heard in the scripture reading one of the Eucharistic stories, one of the stories about the breaking of the bread. Oh, it doesn’t take place in the upper room on the night that Jesus was betrayed, but it is a story of Communion nonetheless.

a.     On the evening of the resurrection, on that first Easter Sunday, it seems that two were walking along the road, traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus. One of them is named Cleopas, but the other is left unnamed. Scholars think perhaps it was Cleopas’ wife, unnamed because, why bother to remember a woman’s name? In any case, the two are walking along the way, grieving the loss of their friend and teacher, Jesus.

b.     When suddenly, Jesus is there, walking with them. But they don’t recognize him. Perhaps he looked different. Perhaps their eyes were blinded by their grief. Whatever, they don’t know that Christ is with them.

c.     Jesus, reaching out to them, asks them what they are talking about. They are dumbfounded in disbelief. “Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? Jesus was crucified and was dead! And if that’s not enough, some of the women were at the tomb this morning and the tomb was empty and Jesus wasn’t there!”

d.     Jesus talked with them, and listened to them, and explained to them the scriptures and how they had been fulfilled in the crucifixion and in the resurrection. But they still didn’t recognize him.

e.     It was about then that the two arrived home. Jesus looked like he was going on farther, but the two disciples knew about the hospitality laws and traditions and they begged this stranger to come in and eat with them and spend the night with them. And Jesus did.

f.      At dinner, Jesus took the bread that was on the table, and then he blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to his tablemates.

g.     Wait, let me say that again, Jesus took the bread and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it.

h.     And in that moment, their eyes were opened. Suddenly they recognized that Jesus was in their midst. It was only then that they were able to see that Jesus had been with them all along. “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as we walked along the road?” It was only then that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and with joy ran back along the road to Jerusalem to share the good news with the others.

i.      The way this passage is written is no accident. Luke knew exactly what he was doing when he described the scene at the table with the four-fold formula of taking, blessing, breaking, and sharing. Luke wants us to know that this is a Communion story – yet another example of Jesus being known in the breaking of the bread.

III.           For nearly all Christians, but particularly for us as Disciples of Christ, this is our story. For us, the Lord’s Supper is the central act of our worship. We intentionally place it at the end of our service, not as an afterthought, but because all other parts of worship lead us here, to this table.

a.     For us, as Disciples, the meal is so important to our understanding of worship that we celebrate it every Sunday. It is one of only two sacraments or ordinances we hold dear to, the other being baptism.

b.     And while this meal is celebrated in nearly every tradition that calls itself Christian, it is known by different names. Each name carries with it a different aspect of this holy meal.

IV.          Sometimes it is called the Lord’s Supper. It becomes a meal of Remembrance. A looking back at the night that Jesus was betrayed. Do this is remembrance of me.

a.     So when we receive the Lord’s Supper we are re-enacting, remembering that meal and remembering also Jesus’ act of obedience that led to his death.

b.     We remember the sacrifice and trust in God that led Jesus to say on the cross, “Into thy hands I place my Spirit.”

c.     And we remember our own unworthiness and the betrayal and abandonment of the Disciples on that night, but also the forgiveness, when Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

d.     In the Lord’s Supper, we look back and remember, and in that remembrance, Jesus is made known.

V.            Then again, we also call this meal Communion – and in that name, we recognize our communion with God and the community that gathers around.

a.     In this holy meal, we believe we find communion with Christ. Some traditions believe that in the act of the meal, the bread and the wine actually become the body and blood of Christ. We call this “Transubstantiation.” Disciples don’t generally believe that. But we do believe that something happens in this meal. That it becomes more than just bread and just grape juice. That in this meal we receive the symbols of God’s presence with us. That in this bread and in this cup we are in communion with Christ, receiving these gifts from Christ’s hands.

b.     But we also recognize that in Communion, we are in community with each other and with all Christians. Communion isn’t a solitary act that we do by ourselves. It isn’t just between us and God. It is an act of the gathered community, and as such, it is done within the wider community of the whole church.

c.     Most Disciples churches celebrate open communion, meaning that you don’t have to be a member of that particular congregation in order to partake of the bread and the cup. We recognize, and celebrate that ours is an open table, and that in fact, it isn’t ours at all. We are guests here and Christ is the host and Christ has invited all to come and eat. So we emphasize that all are welcome at this table.

d.     When we celebrate Communion, we find community with Christ and with each other, and when we see the Christ in the faces of those with whom we break and share bread, Jesus is made known.

VI.          Yet another name for this meal, one we Disciples don’t use as often, is Eucharist.

a.     It’s from the Greek word, “Eucharistia”, which means “thankfulness, or gratitude.” When we speak of the Eucharist, we speak of the Great Thanksgiving. This is a feast of thanksgiving and in it we look forward to the heavenly feast when all of God’s children will have a place, when God’s vision will finally be realized and all of creation will be able to eat and drink and have more than enough. Eucharist points to a time of abundance and thanksgiving. And when we gather together to share in the Eucharist, we too are looking forward to a time when God’s will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. When we anticipate that time of fullness, with hearts filled with eucharistia, thankfulness, Christ is present in our midst. Jesus is made known.

VII.        The Lord’s Supper, Communion, the Eucharist: one meal with many different names, but all of the names reveal the Christ that is present with us, as often as we take the bread, and give thanks for it, and break it, and share it with each other, in Christ’s name. Each time our eyes are opened and Jesus is in our midst.

a.     I remember once back in seminary, my professor remarking that Disciples, unlike many other traditional main-line denominations, don’t recite creeds or confessions during our worship. We don’t have a place for the Nicene Creed, or the Apostles’ Creed, or even our own Statement of Faith. He was remarking that in some ways it was too bad, because the creeds retell the story of Christ. But then he said, “But you know, we really do retell the story. Every time we break the bread and share the cup and celebrate communion together we are retelling the story of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.”

b.     And it’s true isn’t it. In this bread, and in this cup, there is the sacrifice and the forgiveness, the betrayal and the grace, the death, and even more the life. Blessed, broken, and given for us.

c.     Do not our hearts burn within us? Jesus made known.