Given for You

 

John 6:51-58        

Time after Pentecost—Lectionary 20

“Eat my flesh….Whoever eats me will live because of me.” It sounds like cannibalism. Saying, “I am the bread that came down from heaven” was provocative enough. Then Jesus says, “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” How offensive is this? People asked, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

This same question has been asked over and over again ever since, and exactly what this means continues to be a hot topic. Roman Catholics came to understand Jesus’ statements as transubstantiation. They believe that at the consecration in the Mass, the substance of bread and wine changes, by God’s power, into the substance of Jesus Christ’s body and blood, which become present while the bread and wine remain.[1]

Martin Luther says that Jesus speaks of eating and drinking his flesh and blood when calling his hearers to believe in him because “he wants people who are already familiar and preoccupied with eating and drinking to recognize by comparison what his words surely do not mean.” Luther appreciates the stir that Jesus causes, and points out that when Jesus says, ‘my flesh,’ it is ‘my’ that defines ‘flesh’.“ Luther says, ‘This is not ‘the sort of flesh from which red sausages are made,’ ‘not flesh such as purchased in a butcher shop or is devoured by wolves and dogs,’ ‘not veal or beef found in cow barns.’[2]” You’ve got to love Luther!

Lutherans have come to understand the change in Jesus’ flesh and blood in Holy Communion as consubstantiation. Con meaning “with or of,” and substantiation meaning, “the same nature and kind.” While the substance of the bread and wine are not changed into the body and blood of Christ, they coexist or are conjoined in union with each other: bread with body and wine with blood.[3] Has this cleared everything up?

What is it you believe about Jesus, and his body and blood, and blessed wine and bread? How sad it is that over the centuries, Christ’s giving of himself has divided Christians. Our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is in full communion partnership with 6 other churches. [“For the ELCA, the characteristics of full communion are theological and missiological implications of the gospel that allow variety and flexibility.[4]”] As a denomination, we are the most inclusive. That makes my Lutheran heart proud. But not in a sinful way. Well, maybe in a sinful way.

While Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has its doctrines, we also recognize that what unites us is Jesus. What brings us together around the altar is Jesus’ giving of himself, his body and blood, for us, for the forgiveness of sin, not because of anything we have done, but purely because of God’s grace. How that works remains a both a mystery and a miracle. Jesus is great at mysteries and miracles.

The God who would be made human and walk among us is a mystery and a miracle, too. Jesus almost always makes the spiritual physical and the subjective objective, just like his father did by sending Jesus to us in human form. Jesus is the Word made flesh, and that he offered himself, his very body, his life for us, is an incomprehensible statement of love. That is what Holy Communion is about, God’s love for us through Christ.

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” Jesus did not say that only those who had correct understanding, or those who were without sin. He put no boundaries on offering himself. In John’s gospel, Jesus has already fed thousands of people loaves and fishes before he talks about the Bread of Life. Now he speaks to them, to those who tracked him down because they were interested in getting another meal. He speaks to those who need more signs to believe him. He speaks to those who did not understand, and to those who were rejecting him. Jesus promises rather than explains.

What is this promise? Life in relationship with Christ. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.” We are invited into active participation in the life-giving power of Jesus. Jesus wants to consume us as we consume him.

At the altar rail, we join with the saints who have gone before us, and with Christians around the world. Each of us comes because we heard Christ call. In the bread and the wine, we experience God’s love for us in a tangible way.

What is it that you bring with you this morning? What is it that you will bring with you to Christ? Come! Bring with you your doubts and your misunderstandings. Bring your regrets and your sins, your worries and your needs. Come with your brokenness so that Jesus can heal it with his.

~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffi

 

[1] Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. Donald K. McKim, ed. 286.

[2] David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009)   358.

[3] Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. Donald K. McKim, ed. 60.

[4] http://www.elca.org/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations/Full-Communion#sthash.RRso0tMI.dpuf

[i] In the back of your ELW worship book, on page 1166, you will find the teaching about the Sacrament of the Altar in Luther’s Small Catechism. One of the questions asked and answered is, “What is the benefit of such eating and drinking? The words “given for you” and “shed for you for the forgiveness of sin” show us that forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation are given to us in the sacrament through these words, because where there is forgiveness of sin, there is also life and salvation.”

 

Author: Pastor Cheryl Griffin

Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin thinks God has a sense of humor for leading her into ministry, but can’t imagine doing anything else! Pastor Griffin received her BA degree from the College of William and Mary. She worked as an accountant before God led her to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, where she received her Master of Divinity degree. In the Virginia Synod, Pastor Griffin is a member of the Ministerium Team and frequently leads small groups at synod youth events. She is also a representative to the VA Synod Council.

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