Eucharist Sermon I Corinthians 11: 23-26 by Ron Crawford College Park Baptist Church Orlando, Florida

missions

A little Jewish boy was failing math. His conscientious parents were at their wit’s end. In desperation, the little man was enrolled in a local Catholic school with a great reputation for teaching math skills.

As much as the Jewish parents disliked it, every day they dropped their son off for school in full sight of a huge Catholic crucifix. The first week was tougher for the parents than the child. Finally, the parents made their peace with the crucifix. They saw it as part of the price for a better grade in math.

And, amazingly, the young man’s grades soared. At the six-week mark he was making an “A” in math. The teacher said she had never seen a more highly motivated child.

After two excellent six-week reports, the parents asked their son about his new-found dedication. He said, “Oh, I knew these folks were serious about learning math ever since I saw that guy hanging on the plus-sign.”

Yes, we Christians do believe the cross is a real-life “plus sign.” It tells of God’s remarkable love.

As we gather for Communion this morning, we remember the sacrifice of our Lord. The sermon title, Eucharist, will be a bit of a challenge for some of us. We Baptists aren’t sure what “Eucharist” means, but we openly wonder if it can be good.

In the 1989 survey by the Research Services Department of the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, only 1.2% of Baptist congregations referred to this special meal as “Eucharist.” In that same survey, it was reported that 81% of Baptist churches referred to this meal as “The Lord’s Supper.” Interestingly, 10.5% of Baptists referred to this sacred meal with the combination title, “Communion and the Lord’s Supper.”

Do you know the term the earliest church used to refer to this meal? The Early Church referred to this meal not as Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. They called it Eucharist. The Greek word eucharist means “thanksgiving.”

When those first believers gathered in Jesus’ name about a communion meal, they gathered with a sense of thanksgiving.

That seems a bit strange to us Baptists. We tend to think of this as a memorial meal. The words, “Do this in remembrance of me” stick in our minds and on the front of many of our communion tables.

We Baptist follow the Apostle Paul’s focus on the memorial meal aspect of the supper. Actually, the words “in remembrance of me” occur only in First Corinthians and Luke. And in Luke, “in remembrance of me” is sometimes questioned by manuscript evidence. I think Paul wanted to calm down the communion observance of the Corinthians and, thus, added the words, “in remembrance of me.”

Did Jesus actually say, “Do this in remembrance of me”? I am not sure. I am sure that Paul presented the Lord’s Supper with a sharp focus on its memorial meal aspect. Matthew and Mark seem to place emphasis on eucharist as thanksgiving.

In November, this season of Thanksgiving, we will do well to make the emotional and cultural connection between the holiday and our deepest Christian roots.

Thanksgiving is about thanking God for the bounty of life.

A few of Norman Rockwell’s paintings haunt me. Rockwell’s paintings were featured for years on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post. The cover on the November 24, 1951 magazine was one of Rockwell’s most famous.

The painting depicts the busy Juniper Street Horn and Hardart Cafeteria of Philadelphia. A busy train station is sketched in the background outside the restaurant’s front window. Inside the restaurant one sees the hustle and bustle of life. People are grabbing something to eat as they run to meet the train. In the foreground, there appears a still-life arrangement of cold coffee someone didn’t have time to drink. Every feature of the painting depicts the hustle of city life; except for a little boy and his grandmother. They sit at one corner of a crowded table with heads bowed, hands clasped, saying grace for the modest meal they are about to eat.

Rockwell presented Post readers with a powerful snap-shot of life. In a busy world with people to see and places to go; a little boy and his grandmother pause for a most important part of life; saying Grace, thanksgiving.

When we gather about this table we say grace. We remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and offer thanks to God.

Grace comes in many forms to us Americans.

On November 25, 1621, Cape Cod pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving. It was not a national holiday then. Rather, it naturally flowed from grateful hearts. On that day five pilgrims were charged with bringing wild turkeys. The native Indians brought venison, duck, and geese. Squaws taught pilgrim women to cook squash, pumpkin, and corn pudding.

Thanksgiving – it just seemed the natural thing to do. Those first pilgrims had much to celebrate. Over a year before, 102 pilgrims had set out from Plymouth, England. The journey by ship was unbearable. Seeping sea water, disease and sickness made the journey a deeply risky adventure. When the pilgrims arrived in late November, to their dismay, they discovered their tribulation was only beginning.

The harsh winter, the poor diet, and the back-breaking labor took its toll. Sickness turned into a roaring epidemic. Death visited every family. When spring finally came only 51 of the original 102 passengers remained.

With their backs against the land, they worked day and night to scratch out a meager existence. In the fall they harvested their crops and spread the table to celebrate. They celebrated, not the labor of their hands, but the profound recognition that God had blessed them with the bounty of their table.

In similar manner, we gather about this sacred table to offer our thanksgiving. We thank God for Jesus. We thank God for this rich and wonderful land.

Thanksgiving is about the foodstuffs of the spirit.

Eucharist certainly expresses thanks for life’s bounty; but it goes beyond that to express thanks for the foodstuffs of the Spirit.

Before meals we bow our heads to say grace. We pause to acknowledge our physiological dependency on vegetable, fruit, meat and, of course, rich dessert.

At the Lord’s table, we offer thanks for the spiritual foodstuffs of life. Where would we be were it not for God’s gracious hand upon us?

What shape would our lives be in were it not for resolved guilt, forgiveness of sin, and the healthy confirmation of God’s love and grace?

We come to this table and again face the reality of our sin. Try as we might, hope and dream as we will – we all must acknowledge that we fall short of our own expectations; let alone the hopes and dreams God has for us.

In the third chapter of Romans, Paul turned to righteousness and its complementary theme, grace:

There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless . . .

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Lest you go into deep depression over Paul’s stark appraisal of the human condition, Paul is contrasting the human personality against the perfection of God. Compared to the folks you work with, you may well be righteous. But when compared to God, we all go lacking.

We come to this table acknowledging our sin and celebrating God’s magnificent grace. In fact, God’s grace is food and drink for the human spirit.

Thanksgiving is about giving.

Early Christians knew that Jesus’ sacrifice was a wellspring; a wellspring of thankfulness. At this table, so near the Thanksgiving holiday, we are moved to thanksgiving and to give.

For longer than anyone one can remember, Sunday School classes and prayer groups in our church have been putting together Thanksgiving baskets for needy families. The church Constitution does not require us to donate for baskets. We do it naturally, generously; because we are thankful.

Thanksgiving moves us to give. This table, Eucharist, moves us to give. We have received so much. Our hearts overflow with thanks. As Jesus gave, so we give of our gifts, talents, and abilities – because this kind of thankfulness requires concrete expression.

The hymn, Because I have been Given Much, says it well:

Because I have been given much,
I, too, must give;
Because of Thy great bounty,
Lord, each day I live,
I shall divide my gifts from Thee
With ev’ry brother that I see
Who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed,
By Thy good care,
I cannot see another’s lack
And I not share
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread,
My roof’s safe shelter overhead,
That he too may be comforted.

Because love has been lavished so
Upon me, Lord,
A wealth I know that was not meant
For me to hoard,
I shall give love to those in need,
Shall show that love by word and deed:
Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.