Christ is always close by

Lent 2 – The Presence of Christ in the Sacrament

Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 (NASB)
New Testament Reading: Romans 4:13-25 (Message)

Gospel Reading: Mark 8:31-38 (NIV)
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

Then [Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it....

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. May he be forever praised.

Sermon: Christ is Always Close By

Poor Peter. Not more than moments after he confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, he—like me so often—opens up his mouth and spits out something stupid. Jesus had asked, “Who do YOU say that I am?” And just after it seemed like Peter was the one who had the right answer… (Remember? Peter had said, “You are the Christ”) …and before you know it Jesus is hauling Peter over the coals, “Peter, Temptation with a capital T, get thee behind me! Your perspective isn’t God’s perspective but rather earth-bound and self-centered.” Yikes!

But, let’s think of this scene in a different way. I believe that, even at that moment in time when Peter must have felt very small and even belittled, even then, I believe Jesus was not so much outraged or even irritated with Peter, but—even in his rebuke—Jesus was abounding in steadfast love, merciful, and gracious. (See Psalm 103:8). Even at that moment, Jesus loved Peter, was closer than a brother to Peter, cared for Peter, and was faithful to his promise to never let him down and to never let him go.

Jesus is always close by.

God’s words to Jesus are God’s words to you and to me: You are my dearly loved child I am well-pleased with you. This promise of God which seems to evolve in the Old Testament and comes to its full perfection in the person and work of Jesus Christ—this promise of God is not dependent on having the right answers to God’s pop quiz or dependent on anything you have done or will do in the future. The promise of God arrives as pure gift.

There is nothing you must do to make God love you more. There is nothing you can do that could make God love you less.

One facet of the Sacrament is the presence of Christ. Communion is a celebration of our oneness with Christ. The Lord’s Supper—instituted on the night of Jesus’ arrest—ought to remind us of Jesus’ words of comfort and assurance spoken on that very night…

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

In the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Spirit takes us to the place where Jesus is. Christ is always near, but even more near as we partake of the bread and the cup. This holy meal—instituted by Christ on the night he was betrayed—reminds us that he will never betray us. No matter what, Jesus is always close by.

Don Postema, author of Space for God, tells a story of a lady with severe mental health problems and depression who thought, as she lay in a hospital bed, that she was in hell. Until one day she was somehow reminded and comprehended the presence of God. There was a miraculous change in her attitude and demeanor, even though she was still not what we might think of as altogether sane. She thought, “If God is here, this place cannot be hell. If God is here, there is hope.”

Jesus is here, at the Table. May this feast remind you, each and every day, and even through whatever hell you may be enduring, Christ is always close by.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Food and Faith: Nourishment for the Journey

First Sunday in Lent 2009
Psalm 25 & Mark 1:9-15

The psalmist proclaims, “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness.”

We are beginning our Lenten journey… taking our first steps along the Way towards Holy Week and our remembrances of Christ’s suffering, Christ’s last meal with his disciples, Christ’s prayer for the Church, Christ’s death and resurrection. Along the way, we can be sure that God will feed us, God will nourish us, God will give us strength.

If you’re like me, it’s sometimes the food you remember most from a vacation, a journey, or even just an afternoon walk through the woods. I remember sandwiches with leftover Iowa Chops on the first leg of a family vacation to Nashville, Chattanooga, and the Great Smokey Mountains. I remember packing snacks for a hike in the woods with my oldest son John, years ago in Pella. I remember a trip to the Drake Relays in junior high, packing a whole loaf of sandwiches.

Whenever we travel, we need food along the way.
And God has given us food and drink for our journey of faith.

God has given us the Bible, the Scriptures. The psalmist wrote, “I hid your Word in my heart, so that I might not sin against you.” St. Augustine began a journey of transformation and renewal when he heard the words, “Take and read,” and knew, deep within himself, that this meant to take and read the Bible—to take and eat, to take the stories and the prayers, the teachings and the promises, to eat them, to ingest them, to digest them, to make them a part of himself.
“You are what you eat.” Food becomes part of you when we take it in and digest it. God has given us the Bible to be food along the way. Take and eat.

God has given us other good things to read and take in as spiritual food – Henri Nouwen, a friend and mentor I never had the chance to meet, but who I sometimes feel I know, wrote a book called, “Bread for the Journey.” The written words of others can be spiritual food for us. And so can spoken words: the kind words of others, the words of forgiveness from others, the instructive words of others, can feed us, nurture us, build us up, strengthen us.

God has given us the communion of the saints—the memories and words of wisdom and prayers of those who have gone before us; as well as the body of Christ in this place: Eating with each other, being with each other, worshiping with each other can all be nourishment along the Way.

Finally, God has given us the Feast, the meal, to be nourishment for our souls on our spiritual journeys. Communion has many facets. One of the meanings we too often overlook is that of Communion-as-Meal. We are, by faith, nourished and strengthened at the Table.

The body of Christ, the bread of heaven;
the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.
Christ is our food and drink.
Christ is our strength for the journey.

The gospel lesson for today tells the story of Jesus’ baptism and temptation. Immediately after hearing the nourishing, affirming words of the Father – “you are my dearly loved child in whom I am well-pleased” – Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the desert of aloneness, of solitude, of testing and trials.

And so will you be, on your Lenten journey.

Trust me. The more you desire to follow Christ, the more you take to heart God’s affirmation of Christ as God’s affirmation of you yourself (“You are my child, you are my Beloved, I am well-pleased with you”), and the more you strive to pray and to turn towards God daily, and the more you breathe in the Holy Spirit with every breath… the more certain you can be that the Spirit will lead you into the desert of solitude and testing, just as Jesus was.
But you will not lose hope in the desert. No! You will not lose hope. Because just as you share in Christ’s baptism and in God’s affirmation and blessing of Christ, so you can know—without a doubt—that the angels will wait on you, too, in your times of aloneness and testing and solitude.
Christ is our food and drink.

Come to the Table and feast on him…
Here you will receive nourishment for your soul,
joy in the midst of sorrow,
and strength for the journey.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.