Hearing the word and sharing in the lord’s supper

Midweek Message | March 3, 2021

“To hear God’s Word and share in the Lord’s Supper” by Micah Spruth-Janssen

1 Corinthians 10:14-17
Luke 24:28-35

Will you pray with me?
God who walks beside us. Guide us, Hear us. Lead us. Amen

Hello! My name is Micah Spruth-Janssen and I bring greetings from Family of Christ in Kearney. Thank you to Deacon Timothy to share some thoughts and ideas around the Gift of Discipleship: “We are to hear God’s Word and share in the Lord’s Supper.”

To quote Luther, “What does this mean?”

These are words that we say at our Affirmation of Baptism, but what do they mean? I mean, you could say (very basically), “well we come together, go to church and we hear some stuff and we have communion.”

Well okay! I guess I can leave! No, let’s dive a little bit deeper. What is God’s Word?

I think the one that a lot of people go to quickest and most easily is the bible. The bible is God’s word and the bible is God’s word. It’s a collection of stories and poems and beautiful literature that reveal who God is and what God’s doing here. What God’s doing in the earth and what does God want for us?

The other way that I think a lot of people (maybe some churched some unchurched people even) think about, “What is God’s word? Where do we hear God’s word?” is in creation.

You see beautiful mountains and trees and, well God spoke the world into being. That’s what it was in the beginning.

At Mosaic we tell the story this way. We say “Well, okay, God made Light and God made Dark. Then what did God say? What was God’s Word?”

And someone will say, “Wow! That’s great!”

And then we’ll say, “Then God made the sea and the sand and the plants and the animals and all these amazing things! And what did God say?

“Wow! That’s Great”

And then God made people.
People like you
People like me.
People like that person that you don’t really like.
And when God made people what did God say?
“Wow! That’s Great!
You might be more familiar with, “And God saw that it was Good.”

But the meaning is the same. God looks at you. God’s word to you in creation is “Wow you’re great.”

I’ll give you a hint about the final way I like to think about the Word of God. It’s a living Word. You might think about with these (Micah points to communion chalice and plate) or this (Micah points to a cross sitting on the altar)

Ope, Yep! Its Jesus. Jesus is God’s Living Word in the world.

“In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And then… The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus is that Word. The fulfillment of the word. The fulfillment of all that is in bible; of all that is in creation. Of that Word coming to us, being with us, living with us, walking with us.

We heard in our gospel lesson for tonight that Jesus was on the road. Jesus was on the road to Emmaus with Cleopas and the friend. And Jesus reveals all sorts of things about scripture; about himself. And they’re walking along wondering, “Who is this person? Wow we want him to stay with us!”

They have no idea its Jesus.
And then they come home.

And that brings us to the other half of this gift of Discipleship.

You’ve heard these words before. Jesus takes bread and he breaks it and gives it to them. It’s only then that their eyes are opened and they see who Jesus is.

Hmm. Why do we have communion? Why do we say, “That’s a Gift of Discipleship! For us to come together and share in the Lord’s supper?”

I’ll give you a hint, “Their eyes were opened.”

You know, Paul writes in our first lesson about how there’s this congregation and unlike congregations today they had some issues. They had some disagreements.

They were coming together communion and they were having a feast! Well… some people were having a feast. Some people were bringing in all this food and feasting and getting drunk with their friends. And some were coming just for the meal and some were leaving hungry…

And Paul says to that. He says, “We are one body” He says, “Don’t you see! We have this one meal. We have this meal, the Lord’s supper where we have one cup, one loaf. We have one Lord. We have one Body.

“We who are many are one body,” is what he says.

Hmmm. Why do we need to come together again and again for this communion?

To have our eyes opened… because we’re like a family?

You know I think of my brother and my sister and I at our family meals. We argued.. not all the time, but we argued a lot… because we’re broken… We’re a broken body.

Does that sound familiar? Jesus broke his body, gave it for us.

That’s where God is revealed That’s where we hear. This is where we pay attention to who God is, because in this meal, in this Word, when we come together.

Whether we are Republicans, or Democrats, or Green Party, or Independents, or Libertarian or whatever.
Whether we are homeowners, renters
Whether we’re rich whether we’re poor
Whether we are “normal”
Whether we have autism, downs syndrome
Whether we understand everything that’s being said
Whether we speak English or Spanish or we speak Nuer
Whatever we are.
Whether we understand everything that’s happening
Whether we are 100 years old and coming down with dementia
Whether are too young to walk

We are invited into this practice, and I think it is something that we practice, over and over again.

Like a parent teaching their kid how to eat. You pick up the spoon, sometimes the spoon get’s thrown, but you pick it up. You keep inviting.

You keep bringing the whole Body, one Body to the table together to hear those words. Those Jesus words, “This is my Body. This is my Blood. Given for you!”

I think we need hear those words and experience that meal over and over again.

And it’s different in these times, but we know we still come together. We’re still one body. We’re scattered.

We may not be able to meet in person. We may not even be able to have communion in person, but we come together around this meal in whatever way it takes form.

Whether you’re gluten free or you have to have alcohol free wine or you’re doing it digitally.

We’re one Body. “One loaf” Paul says. Because just as there is one loaf, we who are many are one body.

One body of Christ called to hear God’s Word and to share in the Lord’s supper. To practice and to participate so that our eyes may be opened like Cleopas and the friend.

To taste Jesus.
To hear God’s Word in Jesus.
To experience the promise we have received in our Baptism:

You are a Beloved Child of God. Sealed by the Holy Spirit, and Marked with the Cross of Christ forever.

That’s the gift. Hold on to it.

Amen