Believe According to the Scriptures: Christ Jesus' True Presence - 1 Cor. 11:24-26

1 Corinthians 11, proclaims the true bodily presence of Christ Jesus in, with, and under the bread and wine of the Sacrament of the Altar and the means by which forgiveness, life, and salvation are delivered. To receive Christ Jesus in His holy meal strengthens your faith amid spiritual warfare and grants the blessed assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God.

Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

Transcript

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In the cascading layers of noise in our ever-changing world, discovering a space for reflection and inspiration is increasingly rare. Welcome then to Faith Comes by Hearing, a unique podcast series that cuts through the clamor, carrying the timeless messages of the gospel into our lives with renewed relevance. Join Dr. Carrie Larson, the presiding pastor of the American Association of Lutheran Churches, as he ventures into the challenges of everyday life and the deep need to hear the truth that we are saved by grace, through faith, through Christ Jesus alone. Each episode is an invitation not just to listen, but to truly hear and embrace the good news of Christ Jesus for you and for all.

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These are verses 24 through 26. And when he that is Jesus had given thanks, he broke it, meaning the bread, and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he also took the cup after supper, and said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim, Paul writes, the Lord's death until he comes. Thus far the reading. This institution of the Lord's Supper, as recorded by St. Paul, we remember, especially on one particular night, and what is called Monday Thursday. Monday Thursday and the Thursday of Holy Week, we remember Jesus doing exactly this. He instituted the Holy Supper. He celebrated rather the Passover with his beloved disciples. But by his sacred word, Jesus Christ brought the ancient Passover to culmination, to completion. It is fulfilled in him. Remember John pointing to him, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the spotless lamb that needed to be slaughtered, and it was his blood that was painted on the doorposts of the children of Israel. He is the fulfillment of all this. Heaven and earth come together in Jesus Christ, and in his sacrament of the altar, what we call holy communion. By Jesus Christ's word, the wine is his blood. This blood was spilled for many. No longer must we eat the Passover lamb. That is no longer a requirement. According to the law of Moses. Because of his body and his blood, we are free of that law. And no longer must we paint our doorpost with his blood. Now we eat the bread, the true body of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now we drink the blood of the heavenly Lamb that takes away that sin. And it certainly rescues us. Just as that blood of that lamb on the doorposts in Egypt rescued the children of Israel from the angel of death. So this blood rescues you from sin, death, and the devil.

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Paul says of the sacrament, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is it not the participation in the body of Christ? 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 16. In this sacrament, Jesus Christ, the heavenly Lamb without blemish, comes to earth for a particular reason to save us of our sins. To save us from the wrath of God. For he is the only Lamb that is able to be slain for the salvation of the world. So in faith, in faith we eat and drink bread and wine. And the eyes of faith only see bread and wine. But the eyes of faith also know he is in with and under that bread and wine. He rescues us from certain death. Oh, we'll die unless he comes first. But the death we speak of is that is which is eternal. Where Jesus says some pretty hard things to hear, like the fire that will never be quenched and the worm that will never die. Death, knowing nothing but the eternal wrath of God. We've been freed from that through this gift. It's his gracious forgiveness, the eternal life, and his grace of salvation. Won for us in Calvary's Cross, delivered to you through the means of grace that we talked about in baptism and today as we focus on his supper. Now, I was raised with a particular piety, and piety is not bad. Piety is how we live out the faith. Pietism is where we think that what we do matters to the point that it earns points. So there's a difference. But in the piety that I was taught, when I received the body of Christ, I was to put my hands as thus, to receive him, just as I would receive him into my heart. And I also was taught that when I was told this is the body of Christ, this is the blood of Christ, to respond with a Amen. Of course, you may know that Amen says, Let it be so. When we receive Holy Supper and respond, Amen, what are we saying? We're saying, I remember Christ, and I believe that the bread and wine are in fact Christ's true body and blood. Our Amen says, I remember Christ, and I hold fast to everything that he has said and done for me. And truthfully, I don't think we really truly appreciate it until he comes back when we see him with our own eyes and not another. And we will know just how much he has done for us. Our Amen on the reception gives voice to the faithful remembrance and says, Here Christ comes. He comes to me and makes a home in me. And with me. And with him he brings his holy salvation. To my soul, he strengthens. Because here Christ resides. Here Christ gives me his true blood and body. And here he gives me the promise that he will raise me up. Death I need not fear anymore. You don't have the last word. My Jesus does. And I receive his body and blood, knowing that this world has nothing to fear. It may kill me, but it can't take away my salvation. Here Christ in bread and wine connects us to his holy word. Without the word, that is just funny tasting bread and pretty good wine. Without the word, that is not baptism, that's just water that you can use for daily cleaning. But with the word, powerful things happen. Rebirth. Forgiveness of sins in both places are issued, but we who have been baptized return again and again and again because we know we've sinned again and again and again. Oh, we know better. Maybe you're different than me. Have you ever found yourself about to say something and you go, I shouldn't be saying this? And you say it anyway? Oh, okay, it's just me. I shouldn't be sinning this way. I know better. But we do it anyway. That's why we need to keep coming forward to receive the body and blood to assure this broken conscience that we are forgiven. All what Jesus has done for us in Calvary's cross is indeed finished. But our flesh needs to be reminded over and over and over again that nothing can separate us from the love of God. And so we dine. And we dine often. Jesus is recorded in the Gospel of John as saying this I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me. And I in him. And the living Father sent me. And I live because of the Father. And so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not like the bread that our fathers ate, for they died. Whoever feeds in this bread will live forever. That is not figurative language, my friends. The world calls the sacrament, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, pure foolishness. That you should come together on a morning when you could have slept in. And you come up here and you hold your hands open and you receive. And you silly people think that Jesus is there? How foolish. The scientifically minded? Now, science is not bad. I have a Bachelor of Science from the University of Minnesota. I looked at the moon last night with the awe and wonder and thankful for those who have been given the vocation to explore the moon and the space that God created, all the wonders of the universe. But when we rely on science alone as the final word, we'll call them the scientifically minded, and they believe that this is impossible. It is impossible. If you took that bread and if you took that wine and you ran it to the lab and they say there's a man in here tested, and the test at Mayo Center says, This is bread. This is wine. Told you. It's impossible that a man could be in this. How foolish can you people be? You say he's here and he's a few blocks down and he's somewhere else. He's over in Hong Kong and he's in the in the dark corner, somewhere in China, or somewhere in Iran, where these people were going to dine on Jesus and die. You say he's everywhere. These are all doubts. Words of unbelief about this precious gift from God, whose only source is the father of all lies. The devil. He plants these doubts among us, even God's people. These unholy attempts to convince not only the unbelieving world, but the believing world that this is pure foolishness tempts us with science. Again, science is not bad, but when it's the center of your universe, it pushes out to Christ. Trusting our fleshy eyes instead of our spiritual directed ears. And our conscience that are bound to the word of God. The devil constantly questions Jesus Christ's ability to be wherever and whenever he pleases. If you are the Son of God, does that sound familiar? The devil wills that you doubt Christ. The devil wills that he would win you over. Do you realize that each of you have a target on your back? More than just a kick me in the back of you. You have been brought into spiritual warfare. But my friends, you have the armor of God. And the meal in which you are about to receive sustains you. More than just bodily. But it sustains you for the fight. The defensive actions that are called upon you to carry the shield of faith. To defend yourselves against the fiery darts of the devil. And what are those fiery darts? That is. Why would you believe this? It's foolishness. Paul writes, For I receive from the Lord that which I deliver to you. But the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 23. Jesus Christ spoke his word over the bread and wine and consecrated them before the apostles in the upper room. Jesus spoke his word in the revelation to Saint Paul, which is really interesting, and we don't know much about it other than Paul says the Lord revealed this to him. And now by the work of the Holy Spirit, by the work of God through his word, that same word comes to you and consecrates his body and blood into this bread and wine. It is a divine mystery. It is a mystery. And yet the sacrament of the altar is a gift. A gift of himself for your forgiveness and life and salvation. Body and soul, humanity and divinity, Jesus Christ comes and grants you the blessings of holy communion. And by this gift, he strengthens us. He strengthens us. If you don't think you need strengthening, you haven't been watching the things that have been going on. If you don't think you need strengthening, you have not been participating particular about the rustling off that you have on a regular basis in sin. And by this gift, Jesus Christ leads us back to God. I need a fetter. You know what a fetter is? A fetter is a piece of iron that is shackled between each of my ankles, and you can't run because if you make a step too quick, you're going to fall down on your nose. You fetter cattle because they're going to run away on you when you're trying to treat them. You fetter people so they don't run away. Of course, that is wrong to do that to people today. But I pray that the Holy Spirit fetters me as he fetters you, because my natural desire is to run away from this word of truth. My natural desire is to deny Jesus Christ. Lord, I feel it. Lord, I know. I'm prone to leave the God I love. So take thy word like a fetter and bind me to you. There is no greater gift. There is no greater gift in heaven and earth in which our Holy Spirit gives to us through the work of Jesus Christ, the sacrament of the altar, where Jesus has sacrificed himself for you and sustains you. If you've ever wondered if you're forgiven, look to the table, look to the rail. This is his body given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins, not most of them. All and so we together say, Come, Lord Jesus, come, come and answer our prayers, come and revive our souls, come and protect us from all evil, come and take us home.