The Transformative Power of the Eucharist

The Transformative Power of the Eucharist

Maundy Thursday

April 18, 2019

Preaching Texts:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 & John 13:1-17, 31b-35

A couple of days ago, I found myself pondering the importance of the Eucharist when my husband came across a photo – of my father.  This is back in 1944 or 1945.  He is leading a Holy Communion Service on the hood of a jeep in a field somewhere in France during World War II.  It started me thinking about the question what is it about the transformative power of the Eucharist that draws men, to stand in a battle field, to receive communion? It was sometime in Lent probably, as you can see that my father’s stole is purple.  The set we use on our altar for the non-alcoholic wine and the gluten free wafers are part of that Holy Communion set that travelled with my father to France – or at least that was what I was told. If you turn the paten over, you can see my father’s name engraved on it.  It was a gift from his first congregation – Christ Church Cambridge where he served before he went off to war. I will pass the photo and the paten around.

We don’t know what drew those infantrymen to that Holy Communion Service – but Holy Communion was clearly important. A study which began in 2012, and is ongoing, called Renewal Works found that participating and partaking in the Eucharist is one of the top four indicators and vehicles for spiritual growth.  The other three are:  1. daily scripture reading, 2. prayer and 3. having a spiritual leader, that is, a minister committed to helping their congregation’s spiritual growth.

Tonight we celebrate three things – the anniversary of Jesus’ command to love one another as he loved us –his command for us to show that love by being a servant of one another – and the anniversary of Jesus’ command to continue to gather together and share the bread and wine in remembrance of him.  It’s a curious thing isn’t it?  That Jesus in his parting wisdom knew that

gathering around a table –

sharing bread and wine –

forgiving each other –

loving each other –

telling the stories of all that God has done for them –

would be the spiritual nourishment that would feed the souls of his followers for thousands of years.

As I was preparing for this sermon, I kept asking myself what is “the transformative power of the Eucharist” – and it occurred to me that the answer lies not only with me – but in you as well. So during this Holy Season, I invite you to bring a pen and a pad of paper, or a notebook, or use the sermon note space on the back of your service sheet, and notice which part of the Sunday Service of Eucharist stands out for you – just jot it down.  See if it changes week by week. See if the circumstances in your life make you notice one part of the service over another.  It might be

the retelling of all that God has done for you –

it might be gathering together at the altar rail with one another to receive communion,

it might be receiving the body and blood of Christ in the form of the bread and wine

it might be the retelling of the story of the Last Supper,

it might be hearing that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and that includes your sins as well. 

Maybe it’s the words, “the Gifts of God for the People of God” – that invitation to receive the body and blood of Christ. 

The transformative power of the Eucharist is never exhausted.  In our denomination Holy Communion is so important that generally we give babies communion as early as they can ingest wheat and wine – and we continue to do so up to the point of a person’s death – sometimes using a tiny little spoon of a drop of wine and a speck of the communion bread.  When you consider how soon movements and inventions go out of date and become obsolete – what is it about the Eucharist that stands the test of time and is fresh every Sunday?

If I had to express the transformative power of the Eucharist in my life, this very night, I would borrow words from one of my favorite poets – R.S. Thomas, and it would be in his very short poem The Gift.  To me, I understand this gift of the Eucharist as a tiny small thing and yet its significance and power are never diminished but continue to overflow throughout my life, filling me with light in a myriad of ways.

  And with this poem, The Gift, I will end:

The Gift

Some ask the world
and are diminished
in the receiving
of it. You gave me

only this small pool
that the more I drink
from, the more overflows
me with sourceless light.