“The Sounds of Lent: Singing,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Several years ago as a Christmas present for my mother and brothers and
sisters, I scanned onto CD’s hundreds of slides taken by my father in the 50’s,
60’s, and 70’s. It was probably the pictures from our family Thanksgiving
celebration in 1966 that caused me one night to have a very vivid dream, in
which I was a young child at such a family gathering. It was so vivid that
I could hear the familiar voices, actually taste the turkey, and I looked
longingly at the pies on the dessert table. I come from a big extended
family, and we had a lot of family gatherings like that when I was a child.
It was all so familiar, something I experienced dozens of times, and it was
wonderful to be back there for a few moments. For the ancient Hebrew people, the Passover celebration was like
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, all rolled into one. It was major
religious festival, commemorating the great salvation event of the Old
Testament, as recorded in this evening’s reading from Exodus, when the angel of
death “passed over” the Israelites, and they were released from bondage as
slaves in Egypt. “This is a day you are to commemorate,” Moses told them,
“for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a
lasting ordinance.” And, like our Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, Passover was for the
Israelites not only a religious observance, but also a traditional family
celebration. Each year families would gather together for the great feast. So, for the disciples, the Passover celebration they gathered for in
the Upper Room on Thursday of Holy Week was at first all so familiar: singing,
breaking bread, pouring wine—sounds, sights, smells, and tastes they had
experienced dozens of times since they were children. But, tonight, the head of their family of disciples transforms the
familiar ritual, explains its true prophetic significance, and gives it forever
a new meaning for his extended family: “Take, eat; this is my body, which is
given for you. This do in remembrance of me. . . Drink of it, all of you;
this cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you for the
forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of
me.” Like the ancient Israelites, we were held in bondage. As Jesus
says, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Paul says in Galatians,
“Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin.” And
Hebrews says that Christ came, “To free those who all their lives were held in
slavery by their fear of death.” Like the ancient Israelites, we were held in bondage, slaves to sin,
Satan, and death. But, Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Christ, our Passover
lamb, has been sacrificed for us.” The blood of the ancient Passover lamb,
which caused the angel of death to “pass over” the Israelites, prophetically
pointed forward, to the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us. . . shed
for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Because the Lamb of God shed his
blood for you, your sins are all forgiven. Just as the doorposts of the
ancient Israelites were marked with the protecting blood of the Passover lamb,
through faith in the Lamb of God you are marked with his blood, and the angel of
death passes over you. “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and
believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. . . I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even though
he dies, yet shall he live.” Christ, your Passover Lamb, marks you with his blood through the Word
of God, as Paul says in Ephesians, “You also were included in Christ when you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” Christ, your Passover Lamb, marks you with his blood in the Sacrament
of Holy Baptism, as Paul says in Romans, “All of us who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.” Christ, your Passover Lamb, marks you with his blood in the Sacrament
of Holy Communion. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal
life,” Jesus promises, “and I will raise him up at the last day.” It was only a dream that I was present again at a childhood family
gathering. But, Christ’s presence with us in this Supper is not just a
dream, it is a blessed reality. As Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “The cup
of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” This evening we experience many of the same sounds, sights, smells, and
tastes as the gathering of Christ’s first disciples in the Upper Room for the
first Holy Communion: singing, breaking bread, pouring wine. And we also
receive the same blessing which Christ bestowed that night on those first
disciples. For, this familiar ritual still has for you the same power and
promise which Christ gave it that night: “This is my body, which is given for
you. . . this [is] my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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