Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, on November 3rd 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
I remember when my kids were growing up one of them received an invitation to a party. “Oh” said the other, “That’s not fair!. Why can’t I go?” The next day the other one received an invitation to a different party and this time the first was not invited. That seemed to balance things out. Having received exclusive invitations the problem was solved.
Today I am not making an exclusive invitation. Whilst my invitation is personal, it is also an open invitation to come and share in bread and wine and remember the living love of Jesus Christ in such a way that our lives are renewed by the Holy Spirit.
Usually when invites are sent out to any occasion a guest list is made. A communion celebration is no exception. Who is on the guest list today?
1. The Heavy Laden. (Matthew 11:28) "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
2. The Thirsty.( John 7:37-38) "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”
3. All those who want to be near to God. (Isaiah 55:6) “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”
1. "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Are there things that are weighing you down? Are the worries of the world heavy on your shoulders? Are you going through a tunnel and have yet to see the light at the end of it?
Then hear these precious words of Jesus. “Come to me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest”
This is not an invitation to the self-sufficient. This is an invitation to those who are aware of their need. If we can but see ourselves in the light of God, then we would see that we are all in a situation of need.
Sometimes our need is for forgiveness. We just can’t believe we could be so stupid. We need to know ourselves forgiven so that we can move forward. Sometimes our need is for encouragement. Sometimes our need is for healing or for guidance.
Hebrews 7:25 says of Jesus that ‘He is able to save completely those who come to Him’. I like the way the Message Bible paraphrases these verses from Matthew.
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
This table of communion is a place to bring our burdens to God, to bring all our sorrows, all that weighs heavy upon us. Jesus invites us here. “Come all who are heavy laden, I will give you rest.” Next on our guest list:-
2. "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”
He wasn’t talking here of drinking water. Nor was He talking of drinking wine. He was talking of drinking in His life giving Holy Spirit. John 7:39 states quite clearly, “Jesus said this about the Spirit.”
Christian life is spiritual life. Christianity is not a code of or morals or ethics. Christianity is not the Ten Commandments. Christianity is not just being nice to people or helping them. Whilst being part of a community of faith is vital for Christian life and growth, Christianity is not just about going to church or singing hymns or saying prayers. All these are good and positive things, but they are not the bottom line.
The bottom line is that Christianity is about having a life-giving relationship with God as our Father, made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in the power of His Holy Spirit. Everything else in Christianity flows for that source.
“Whoever is thirsty should come to me and drink, who ever believes in me, streams of life giving water will pour out from his heart”.
Without God’s Spirit life is dry, religion is empty, stewardship is a burden and worship is self delusion. ‘Let everyone who is thirsty come to me.” With these words Jesus puts into a new framework the words of Isaiah in Chapter 55; 1-2
“ Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”
Unless our Christianity is a spiritual thing it will offer little strength for living out our faith in the real world. We will remain hungry, unsatisfied, burdened and thirsty. But the richness of God’s grace can feed the hungriest of hearts.
On the communion table are bread and wine. Everyday things. What fills them with meaning are the spiritual realities they represent for us. The body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Here are symbols of love... a love prepared to abandon itself to save us, love offered without expecting reward, love that is not ashamed of rebuke or rejection. Love as fragile as a snowflake yet more powerful than a nuclear explosion.
If you are thirsting for that depth of love then you are thirsting for a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit. You have come to the right place. God’s Spirit empowers and enlivens, encourages us and guides us, lifts us up when we have fallen, strengthens us when we are weary. “Ho.. everyone who thirsts… come to the waters”.
Third on our guest list… Staying with Isaiah 55… verse 6 tells us;
3. “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near”
There is no magic about communion. It’s not a conjuring trick or short cut to God’s blessing. But I’ll tell you what it is. It is something special. Why? Because Jesus said, 'Remember me' in this way, ‘Remember me’ by breaking bread and drinking wine together in fellowship.
Over the centuries, to our great shame, Christian people have argued and fought over what actually is happening here. At different times the table has been hedged with superstitions and prohibitions.
‘You shouldn’t be here’
‘You have to do this and this and this before you are welcome here’
‘These things aren’t meant for you, you don’t make the grade,”
The tragic thing is that a lot of these arguments have arisen because people recognize this simple feast as something special. In the process they seem to have made something essentially simple unfathomably complex.
Now I speak personally… (and this is my opinion not Presbyterian doctrine)… I believe that we are not meant to understand why communion is special, nor are we meant to understand how it is that so many people over the centuries have testified that when they share in bread and wine with other Christians that God feels especially near.
We are not meant to understand it… we are meant to receive it, because real love, the love we nailed naked and bare to the cross of Calvary, the love that burst forth like an explosion of joy from the empty tomb, real love, is too deep to put into words.
It is something we have to taste, something whose touch we feel in the most secret places of our hearts, something that when it touches us is like a bubbling stream that flows through us… renewing us and opening up within us even greater depths to be filled.
'Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” This is a special invitation, to special feast, at a special time.
Revelation 3:20 pictures Jesus declaring; “Listen! I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”
So this morning I offer an open invitation. Come and feast on the love of God. Allow God to speak to you in whatever way God chooses as we share together in these elements of bread and wine.
This is also the last Sunday in our Stewardship season. Consider in what tangible ways you are able to respond to the inviting love that is offered here, through your time, talents, treasures and influence. How can your life be an invitation for others to taste and see that the Lord is good?
Who is on the guest list?
- The Heavy Laden - Come and find rest (Matthew 11:28)
- The Thirsty – Come and be filled with the life giving water of the Holy Spirit ( John 7:37-38)
- All those who want to be near God – Open your hearts, because God is nearer than we dare imagine. (Isaiah 55:6)
I invite you to come, just as you are, bringing nothing but your honesty and need, that here, at this table, your life may be nourished by the Holy Spirit at work in our midst. To God’s name be the glory as we remember Jesus in the way He invited.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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