This reflection was delivered at Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, S.D. on July 26, 2020
THE LESSON
Romans 8:29-39*
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
*The Message, copyright (c) 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene Peterson, used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
REFLECTION
+In Name of our Loving God+
Covid-19 has caused us to adjust not only to a new way of life but to a new way of looking at life. It’s as if the world has been put on hold and this pandemic has given humanity a time out. As with all time-outs, this time out contains messages and lessons to be learned.
For instance, within a month of this pandemic, some of the most polluted rivers in the world started quickly cleaning themselves up and cities that had never seen blue skies for decades had them back again all because this pandemic hit the pause button on normal human activity.
This time out begs the question what we should do, moving forward, once this pandemic clears? Do we go back to the old normal, back to our same old activities or do we embrace a new normal and learn from the lessons this time out offers us?
Religions are not exempt from this time out. All major religions have had to adjust to this pandemic. They have had to rethink their worship practices and some of their rituals.
Mainline Christian churches; particularly, those which are sacramentally oriented have been faced with a dilemma when it comes to the practice of Holy Communion; where touch and taste are important factors of this sacramental rite. At the present time, it is not safe to physically share a common cup or intinct a host in wine that could risk spreading this virus.
The need to practice safety has given us reason to pause and an opportunity to take a deeper look at this sacrament. Some churches have developed what are considered “safe” practices of distributing Holy Communion in the familiar forms of bread and wine; as if, the signs and symbols of this sacrament are what it is all about, but doing so when it is not necessary runs the risk of not only spreading a deadly virus but also risks sending the wrong message about this sacrament. Holy Communion is not about the means used to distribute it but about the meaning conveyed through those means.
Spiritual communion, which we will be using today, has been around for a long time. It has been used and is used when individuals or groups of Christians do not have access to the means of bread and wine, cannot receive the means of Communion safely, or cannot practice Holy Communion openly. Today we will be using an abridged prayer for spiritual communion by St. Alphonsus Liguori, an 18th century Roman Catholic saint whose feast day is August 1st. There are several prayer forms for this practice that originated in Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, and Methodist churches. As this pandemic continues, we may find ourselves using some of these different prayers or may create one of our own.
This morning I want to use this reflection to take a deeper look at the spiritual nature of Holy Communion. For the past several Sundays we have been hearing about mission and messaging as found in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus never wrote anything down that we know of, but Jesus left a tangible and enduring message that we know as Holy Communion or the Holy Eucharist. Jesus left his disciples an intimate love note woven into bread and wine used during his last meal with them on the evening before he was crucified as a sign of his being one with us and a symbol of his abiding presence in this world.
Under normal circumstance, when we ingest these symbols of his body and blood, we are saying yes to what Jesus taught and are offering ourselves to become the sign and message of Christ’s love for the world. Although we cannot use those means today, we can still say yes to what Jesus taught and we can offer ourselves to be the sign and message of Christ’s love for the world.
Holy Communion is about the deep mystery of God’s grace in which all of creation is rooted.
Holy Communion is not a magic act. It’s a creative act. As such, it is there for all who seek God in Christ Jesus; to encounter God in the message conveyed through the signs and symbols of bread and wine as Jesus’ body, Jesus’ blood, Jesus' life, and Jesus’ love.
The grace Holy Communion connects us to is the grace that brought the universe into being; the kenotic grace that poured out creation at its dawning; the grace that brought you and me into being. It is the grace that revealed Jesus as the Christ of God. This is the eucharist; the feast of joy we celebrate.
Holy communion serves to reconnect us to the “intended and original shape of our lives” that God in Jesus brought to light through his life and ministry on earth.
Holy Communion, as the term implies, is about communing; being one with Jesus; to continue his ministry in the world, to enter into his death to what always has been and like him to open ourselves to what could be in this life and what will be in the life to come.
Holy Communion is an entry into the resurrection journey of Christ’s rising body in this life; a journey towards the fullness of Christ’s glorified body in the next.
Holy Communion is committing to an agreement, a new covenant, written in Jesus’ blood and etched into his wounded body; a covenant of forgiveness for all, a yes to God’s unconditional love, and embracing a new normal; that of loving and giving ourselves to one another as Christ loves us and gave himself to us as a sacrament for all.
In this act of spiritual communion, we invite Jesus into our lives, we embrace the meaning of sharing one bread and sharing one cup, of being one with Christ and one with each other. In the pause created by this pandemic, we gaze into the deep mystery of the grace expressed in the love note that is Holy Communion, and we ponder in this sacrament St. Paul’s conclusion that “absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”
Amen.
Until next time, stay faithful.
Norm
No comments:
Post a Comment