Bread for the World

Bread for the World

Hocus Pocus. It’s a phrase that many stage magicians have used in their various acts. With the wave of a wand over a top hat, they cry Hocus Pocus before pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Hocus Pocus is one of those phrases that we have come to associate with magic, illusion, or even scams. We’ve even been known to say things like, “It’s all just a bunch of hocus pocus.”

I recently stumbled upon one theory about the origins of the phrase Hocus Pocus. Some people believe that is stems from the Latin phrase “hoc est enim corpus meum.” During the middle ages, the priests celebrated all services, including communion, in Latin. Often the words were spoken or whispered, as the priest stood in between the congregation and the communion table with his back to the congregation. When at the appropriate place in the liturgy, the priest, with his back still to the congregation, would raise the bread high into the air and say, “hoc est enim corpus meum” which is latin for “this is my body.” The Catholic Church believes that the bread and wine are literally transformed into the body and blood of Jesus. So it was believed by many people that at the moment the priest said these words, the bread and wine are transformed. It easy to see how the whispered or mumbled phrase hoc est enim corpus meum could have been garbled into hocus pocus. It’s also easy to see how the original use of the words, created this mysterious, even magical, air around them. We can see how it wouldn’t be a big leap for the congregation to believe that these words held some magical power.

Most of us today know that Communion isn’t magic. But there’s still a lot of confusion around what’s happening in communion. Communion is transformed from ordinary bread and juice into a physical sign of Christ’s continual presence with us. That transformation happens by the power of the Holy Spirit, not because we speak a certain set of words like some magical incantation. It’s God’s Holy Spirit that makes communion special, not the words. But the words that are used in the communion liturgy can still help us understand what is communion is and what’s happening.

I’d like to invite you to open up your hymnal to pg 13 and we’ll look together at the communion liturgy. While you’re flipping to the right page, I want to start by reminding everyone that this whole thing is a prayer to God. It sometimes is a bit confusing because the liturgy talks a lot about the things God has done in the past. But that’s a form of praising God as we remember with grateful hearts the things God has done in human history. Praise of God is always prayer.

If you look at the communion liturgy the first thing that happens is a series of short lines that go back and forth between the pastor who is presiding at the table and the congregation. This series of lines is called the Opening Dialogue or the Sursum Corda and it’s actually really ancient. The earliest written record we have of it is from the writings of Bishop Hippolytus and is believed to have been written around 215 A.D. But part of it we know is even older than that. The opening phrase, The Lord be with you, is found in Ruth 2:4. It’s used as a call and response greeting between Boaz and the workers. Its use in scripture suggests it may have been a common greeting, a blessing of sorts, in use during biblical times. That means this phrase has probably been in use long before the birth of Christ.

The opening dialogue then goes on to invite us to lift our heart up to God, which is just another way of inviting us to focus our attention on God. Then it says let us give thanks to the Lord our God. This is a way for the pastor presiding at the table to ask permission to offer this prayer on your behalf and to invite you to join in the prayer.

The next section is called the preface. You’ll notice as we go through the communion liturgy that it is Trinitarian in nature. That means that it is a prayer offered to all three persons of the trinity. This first part talks about God the Creator. The preface here on pg 13 is fairly short but it can be longer. This part can be varied based on the season of the church year or for special occasions but it should always recall the works of God the Father. So basically it should talk about God as creator and God’s activity in human history before the incarnation of Jesus.

You’ll notice that the preface ends by talking about how we join with God’s people on earth and all the company of heaven. This part of the liturgy reminds us that we are not the only people who worship God. Every Sunday, there are Christians all over the world who participate in this communion meal. This meal is not just about me and God, it’s not even just about Calvary UMC and God, this meal is between all believers, all over the world, and God.

Not only do we join together with all the other Christians around the world, we also join together with the whole company of heaven. This means we are joined with all the heavenly beings but also with Christians who have gone before us. We are joined together with all of the Christians through-out all of history as together we praise God. We are essentially asking to be made a part of the heavenly chorus while we are still here on earth. That means we are asking God to make us, this gathered community, a glimpse of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We’re asking that God would so transform this community, that when other people look at us and the way we live, they will see a glimpse of God’s kingdom being lived out here on earth.

Then the liturgy moves into the congregational response that begins with Holy Holy Holy. This part is called the Sanctus which, not surprisingly, is the latin word for Holy. The Sanctus is actually comprised of two parts. Both of which are derived from scripture. There first part comes from Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8. These scriptures are of heavenly beings singing this song before the throne of God. This image of unending worship that surrounds God’s heavenly throne reminds us that God is transcendent, that God is beyond any of the limits of the universe, beyond our knowledge, beyond our ability to completely comprehend God. This part reminds us that we worship an awesome God that is not human.

The second half of the Sanctus that begins “Blessed is he” is actually a reference to Jesus. This part is in scripture as well. It can be found in Matthew 21:9 when the crowd shouts praise as Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey. This part of the Sanctus reminds us that God has become incarnate. God who is all powerful and worthy of our unceasing praise has become one of us. God has become human so that we can know God’s love for us and we can be reconciled to God. The Sanctus, as a whole, holds in tension the believe that God is almighty and worthy of our constant praise but also that God has become incarnate, living among us that we might live in relationship with God. What an incredible testimony to the God we worship!

The section immediately following the Sanctus is about Christ’s life and ministry. Just like with the preface, this section can be changed based on the season of the church year. Sometimes we want to highlight different parts of Jesus’ ministry. But this part should always be about Christ and what he has done on our behalf.

Then we have the section that is known as the Words of Institution. This section starts on the top of pg 14 with the words, “On the night in which he gave himself up for us.” The words of institution recall Jesus’ final meal with the disciples as told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This section reminds us that we celebrate this meal because Jesus told us to. In it we remember Christ’s final meal with the disciples before he was betrayed but it also reminds us of the meal the risen Jesus shared with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. In that meal it was through the breaking of the bread that the disciples recognized Jesus for the first time. So too it is with us. One of the ways that we recognize the risen Christ’s continual presence with us is through the breaking of the bread. The words of institution also remind us that we have gathered here to worship God, to celebrate the risen Christ and to give thanks for what he has done for us.

At the end of the words of institution we say “So in remembrance of these your might acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us.” That’s a really packed sentence. But let’s start with the end. Christ’s offering for us. We just talked about the words of institution and how they remind us of both Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ’s offering was his whole self. He offered us his body in the crucifixion, but he also offered us his time and energy and resources while he was with the disciples here on earth. Christ gave everything he had on our behalf. So out of praise and thanksgiving, in other words, out of gratitude and thankfulness for what God has done for us, we are to offer ourselves to God. That doesn’t mean that we have to die, but we’re to be a holy and living sacrifice to God. So our whole lives should be devoted to praising and serving God because Christ first offered himself for us.

So we are offering our whole selves as we remember Christ’s sacrifice for us and as we proclaim the mystery of faith. That’s when we recite together what’s called the memorial acclamation. This is the central belief of the Christian faith. The central belief is that God loves us so much that God took on human form, lived among us and then went so far as to die for us. But not only to die for us, we believe that Christ rose from the dead, and that Christ will come again. That’s the summary of Christian faith and we proclaim it together as we celebrate this distinctively Christian meal.

Then we have the section called the epiclesis. It’s a Greek word that means “calling upon.” The first part of the liturgy recalled the saving acts of God the Father, the second part recalled the saving acts of God the Son, and this part calls upon the Holy Spirit to act now. We pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on us. Often our minds skip over this part and jump right to the part about the bread and the cup being transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, but we’re also asking the Holy Spirit to make all of us who are gathered in this place and around the world, into the body of Christ for the world. This parts really important. It’s the Holy Spirit that makes these ordinary things something special. It’s not some magic hocus pocus. It’s God’s spirit that makes the difference. Just like it’s God spirit that is able to transform us from broken people to whole people. It’s also a way for us to proclaim that God didn’t just abandon the world after Christ’s resurrection. God is still active in human history. We believe that so strongly that we are asking God to transform us, and the bread and juice right here, right now.

Following the Epiclesis there is a prayer for unity. The flow here is important. It moves from individual to global. First we pray to be one with Christ, then we pray to be one with each other, that is with other Christians. Then we pray to be one in service to the world so the whole world may come to know God.

The second half of the prayer for unity is when we proclaim our trust that Christ will come again and we will feast with him at the heavenly banquet. This part points to the future reign of God. We believe that God didn’t just set creation in motion and then walk away. But that God has been active throughout history and God continues to be active in history to bring about the completion of creation when God’s kingdom will be on earth as it is in heaven. It’s this belief that allows us to look to the future with hope, despite all the negative things happening in the world around us.

The last section of the prayer is the doxology. Doxology actually comes from the greek word Doxa meaning glory. So a doxology is giving glory, or praise to God. The liturgy opened with praise of God and it closes with praise of God. And here is brings praise of the trinity together. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all praised.

The very last thing in the liturgy is everyone saying Amen together. Believe it or not, there is actually a meaning to the word Amen. It’s not just some word we say to mark the end of a prayer. Amen actually means “so be it.” And by saying it at the end of a prayer it means you are giving your assent to all that’s been said. It’s a way for you to say you agree with a prayer that’s been said on your behalf. You should only say Amen at the end of the prayer if you agree with what’s been said.

That’s your whirlwind overview of what that communion liturgy is about. There’s a lot more nuances to it than that but that’s the basic gist of it. But so what? Why does it matter what the communion liturgy says?

Well for one thing, I think it’s important for you to know what’s being said in prayers that are prayed on your behalf. But also, because those prayers, and the things that are said or symbolized in the communion liturgy have serious implications for how we live as Christians. These prayers and participation in this meal place an ethical claim on our lives.

In the liturgy, we pray that the Holy Spirit would transform us into the body of Christ for the world. That means we are supposed to live in such a way that people are able to experience Christ through us. That means that as Christ’s body in the world, we are to live out here and now, God’s intent for the world. We’re to pray for the things Jesus would pray about, care for those Jesus would care about, love those Jesus loves, feed those that Jesus would feed, heal those that Jesus would heal, strive for the freedom of those that Jesus would free, not just here in Mt. Airy but all over the world.

Jesus is the Bread of life and we, the body of Christ, are called to be bread for the world. How is it that you are doing those things? Are you praying on a regular basis? Are you part of a small group where you care for the needs of one another? Are you participating in any social justice ministries? You don’t have to do everything yourself, but as the body of Christ, eat of us are called to do something in ministry to one another and to the world. How are you being bread for the world?

Amen.

Things we avoid

Yesterday I preached the following sermon based on Mark 9:38-50. Click here to read the passage first. I promise you the sermon makes way more sense if you read the scripture first. If you only have time to read one, then read the scripture and not the sermon.

Things we avoid

In the movie Office Space, there is a passive-aggressive boss named Bill Lumbergh. Bill discovers that Milton, one of the workers, was supposed to have been laid off years ago. Except no one told Milton so he continues to come to work and, due to a system glitch, he continues to receive pay checks. Bill, the boss, is passive aggressive and wants to avoid conflict so instead of firing Milton, he moves Milton’s desk to a dingy cockroach infested room in the basement and stops paying him. Bill hopes that in not paying Milton, the problem will “resolve itself” and Milton will just stop showing up for work. Milton through-out the movie tries to tell Bill he’s not receiving a pay check anymore but Bill just brushes him aside and ignores him. Milton repeatedly mutters to himself and to anyone else who will listen that if they push him too far he’s going to burn the building down. In the end, Milton does just that. Fed up with being ignored, pushed around, and unpaid, Milton sets fire to the building. It would seem that the situation didn’t “resolve itself” quite the way that Bill hoped it would.

I think one of the things that makes this Bill character in the movie so funny is because the film-makers take this personality type that we’re all familiar with and have experience to some degree or another and then they take it to the extreme. We’ve all either avoided someone at some time in our lives or we’ve been the person that other people are avoiding. Most of us have never taken it to this extreme but we have experienced it.

For instance, I don’t have a facebook page but I recently typed “avoiding people on facebook” into google and it returned 63,800,000 results. Over 63 million results! That’s incredible to me. Facebook was designed to help connect people, and instead over connecting, over 63 million people are talking about how to avoid people on facebook! We all know what it’s like to avoid others or to be avoided.

In the scripture reading for today, we find the disciples acting a little like Bill from Office Space. Except instead of avoiding people, the disciples are avoiding letting the teachings of Jesus sink into their hearts. In the passage right before this, which we read last week, the disciples argued amongst themselves who was the greatest. Jesus settles the matter by telling them that whoever wants to be first must be servant of all. But today we see that the disciples weren't doing such a great job of paying attention to the part of the gospel that says to become great you must become the least. That competitiveness and need to be the best continues this week as they try to stop the exorcist.

It seems like Jesus has barely finished his sentence about becoming the servant of all and welcoming all. And now the disciples are already telling him that they tried to stop someone from driving out demons in Jesus’ name because he wasn’t “one of us.” Maybe the disciples were just trying to divert Jesus’ attention from them to someone else. Or maybe it’s just their competitive nature coming out again. They were competing earlier with one another about who among the disciples is the greatest. So perhaps they see this successful exorcist as a threat, especially since just a few chapters ago we hear how the disciples themselves had failed to drive out a demon. Scripture doesn’t tell us their motivations but it’s almost like the disciples are expecting Jesus to pat them on the back.

Instead Jesus rebukes them and tells them not to stop the man. Jesus even goes so far as to tell the disciples that anyone who is “not against us, is for us.” Jesus doesn’t approve of the competitive nature of the disciples. He doesn’t want them arguing among themselves who is the greatest. Nor does he want them to compete with those outside of the group.

The disciples avoided the words of Jesus about competitiveness and serving all, just like Bill avoided Milton. It’s easy to point fingers or to shake our heads at the disciples. We find ourselves wondering how they could make the same mistake again so quickly. But haven’t we all done that? We all have some part of the gospel that we struggle with, that we wish wasn't part of the bible, that perhaps we choose (consciously or unconsciously) to ignore. We all have certain parts of the bible that that make us uncomfortable, and like Bill we move those parts to a dingy room in the basement in hopes that the situation will “resolve itself.”

This passage from the gospel is often one of those that is ignored. With its intensely graphic images and radical demands it makes a lot of people really uncomfortable. I actually think this passage is more uncomfortable for most people than the passage where Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and follow him. Maybe it’s because the words Jesus uses evokes more graphic images in our minds. Maybe it’s because we have so domesticated the cross that we often forget that is was a very painful and drawn out way to kill someone. Maybe it’s because no one wants to think about willingly cutting off parts of their own bodies or the topic of hell.

When things make us uncomfortable, we have a tendency to avoid them. We do it with people that annoy us or make us uncomfortable. We do it with scripture passages that are a little too graphic. But we also avoid the scripture passages that challenge us. When our life and scripture are at odds with one another, we have this tendency to just avoid or ignore that scripture passage and hope that the tension will “resolve itself.”

We all have parts of the gospel that we'd rather not listen to. For some it's about what we do with our money. For others it's about forgiving those who have wronged us (or forgiving ourselves). For others it's about humility, the struggle to acknowledge that our culture leads us astray when it convinces us that everything is permissible, that life is all about pursuing our own pleasure and happiness. Others of us try to follow Jesus by spending a lot of time talking about Jesus or this theological issue or that but never actually spend time alone with God praying or reading scripture just for our own spiritual growth.

We all have parts of the bible that make us uncomfortable. It’s human nature to try to avoid discomfort. But when we ignore parts of the bible that challenge us and convict us, we in essence are cutting off the hand of the gospel. Instead of observing our own lives and removing the behaviors or attitudes that put us at odds with the gospel, we choose to remove parts of the gospel.

But Jesus says it should be the other way around. Instead of avoiding parts of the gospel, we should remove the things in our lives that in get in the way of us following Jesus. In really graphic language Jesus calls us to follow him regardless of the cost.

So what is it that's getting in our way? What is the part of the gospel that we want to avoid, that we wish wasn't there? What's the part that makes us the most uncomfortable and makes us cringe? Because chances are, the parts that make us the most uncomfortable are probably dealing with those things we are struggling with. Chances are those are the things we need to work on removing from our lives in order to fully follow Christ.

If you find yourself cringing or squirming in your seat every time a scripture passage about forgiveness is read, then maybe you need to pray about any anger or resentment you might be harboring. If you find yourself uncomfortable with scripture passages talking about how to spend your money, then maybe you need to pray about how God would have you spend your money differently. If you find yourself uncomfortable with scripture passages dealing with being a servant, then maybe you need to pray about if you are prideful and trying to rely on yourself instead of God.

In his book, The Life We Claim, James Howell writes, “We live in a society that permits everything and forgives nothing; but we will never be whole until we realize there are things God does not permit, and therefore that God can forgive everything.”

God loves us enough that there are some things that God does not permit. Scripture helps us to know God’s heart and God’s desire for our lives. There are some things that God does not permit and scripture tells us that. God can forgive everything. But we shouldn’t use God’s abundant forgiveness as an excuse not to try. There are some things God doesn’t permit. So when you find yourself uncomfortable with scripture, chances are there is something in your life you need to change.

What part of Scripture do you avoid? What are the things you need to remove from your life so you can more fully follow Jesus?

outbursts

It seems like lately there have been a lot of incidents in the news about angry outbursts from people. Last week Congressman Joe Wilson shouted, "You lie!" at President Obama during his speech on health care. This weekend Serena Williams lost a match in the US Open because of a penalty for berating a line judge after having a foot fault called on her. On Sunday, Kanye West literally jumped up on stage at the MTV awards and stole the microphone out of Taylor Swifts hands to rant about how Beyonce deserved to win instead. Yesterday Roger Federer cursed at a chair umpire after Juan Martin del Potro was allowed to challenge a call after what Federer thought was too long of a delay.

We could talk about how disappointing it is that these well known people act in such a way, that they let their anger get out of control. We could chalk it up to the celebrity lifestyle, or say that it's yet another example of how people living in excess come to expect everything to revolve around them. But let's be honest. These well known people are not the only ones who have angry outbursts.

How many people have ever had someone show them an obscene hand gesture while driving in traffic? (How many of you have been the one giving the obscene hand gesture?)How many people have witnessed the pushing, shoving, and actual fistfights over the hottest gift at christmas? Or how many people yell at their kid or pet for the slightest infraction? Whether you have personally done any of these things or not, most of us have witnessed these types of angry outbursts for minor infractions.

It seems like there is this undercurrent of anger in our society and the slightest little thing can set people off into a tirade. And even in the moment, when you're watching something happen, you know that the reaction is way out of proportion to the incident. The person who's yelling or giving obscene hand gestures in traffic is angry, but probably about more than just a person driving too slow or cutting them off. People fighting over the hottest gift at Christmas are angry and desperate, but probably not just over that particular gift. People who yell at their kid or their dog for making a mess, are probably mad about more than just needing to clean up the mess.

And what I find fascinating about all these angry outbursts in our society over such trivial things, is how deafeningly silent we are as a society about things that actually matter. We get indignant about the slightest hint of being treated unfairly ourselves, or someone infringing on our personal freedom. But when it comes to the genocide in Darfur, or the AIDS/HIV pandemic happening all over the world, or the millions of people around the world without access to clean water or enough food we are surprisingly silent.

So why is it that we are so angry about such little things, and not angry about such big things? In one of his NOOMA videos, Rob Bell says, "Some people are looking for a fight because they aren't in one." In the gospels we have all sorts of stories of the religious leaders getting angry at Jesus. In Mark there's a story of Jesus healing a man with a shriveled hand on the sabbath. The Pharisees were angry that he would heal on the sabbath day. They were more concerned with the rules and regulations than with having compassion on the man who had a shriveled hand. It says they were so angry that they began to plot how to kill Jesus, all because he healed a man.

Jesus gets frustrated and angry in the bible, but each time it's in response to other people being stepped on or oppressed or marginalized. Yet so often we claim, "I have a right to be angry!" This person has hurt me or taken away my rights. But I once heard it said that it's not a matter of if we have a right to be angry, it's a question of if we have a responsibility to be angry.

Do you have a responsibility to be angry because you were cut off in traffic. No, not really. Do you have a responsibility to be angry that children are being turned into soldiers, that girls are sold into sex slavery, that millions die of preventable diseases every year? Yes, absolutely. You have a responsibility to be angry, and to do something about it.

What is your next outburst going to be about?

Is this what Jesus told you guys to do?

I just finished reading a book called, Jim And Casper Go To Church. It's a book where Jim, previously a pastor, pays Matt Casper, an atheist, to go to church with him. Casper, as he's refered to in the book, has been hired by Jim to go with Jim to churches all over the country and to give his honest impression of the experiences to Jim.

Casper has a lot of interesting perspective on many of the common things that happen in a typical worship service. One of the questions that he asks over and over again is, "Is this what Jesus told you guys to do?" He often asks this question in response to large waterfalls in the entryway, or big fog machines in a stadium, of cameras on cranes and things of that nature. It certainly is an interesting question coming from an atheist. But in many ways I think that makes the question even more relevant.

What is it that Jesus told us to do? How does what we do in a worship service correlate with what Jesus told us to do?

And no, I'm not answering either of those questions for you. I'm interested to hear your thoughts first, then I'll put my two cents into the conversation.