Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday “Remission” April 13, 2006

The Lord’s Supper has been at the center of controversy for most of the 2000 year history of Christianity. From the difficulties Paul addressed in the first century Church at Corinth---to the disagreements, divisions, and debates occurring within the Church 20 centuries later---this gracious-gift of the Lord of the Church to His people remains at the center of strife and confusion. It seems that among human beings the most valuable gifts often cause the greatest strife. Consider families that have lived peacefully for years. Then, some relative dies and leaves them a huge inheritance… immediately the arguments begin. Rather than being grateful for this incredible and generous gift given them by another, they bicker and quarrel, bite and fight, as never before. It is the very value of the gift standing at the center of their quarreling! Small wonder that the Lord’s Supper has caused so many divisions. With all the division and debate, some people have wondered if Holy Communion is more trouble than it’s worth. The long history of argument does not indicate the worthlessness of the gift---nor the Giver---but, speaks “volumes” about the very unworthiness of the recipients!

In the Augsburg Confession, one of the principle documents of the Lutheran Church, Martin Luther succinctly wrote: “It is taught among us that the true body and blood of Christ are really present in the Supper of Our Lord under the form of bread and wine and are there distributed and received.” (Article 10) We remember the night upon which Jesus shared this meal in the somber phrase: “in the night in which he was betrayed.” But, Holy Communion assures us of the very presence of Christ! How can we be dejected when we are invited into the presence of the best friend we ever had? Our Lutheran doctrine, by stressing the “real presence” of our Savior and Lord, calls our attention to the joy of the occasion. We don’t have to imagine nor create His presence…Christ is really present and we are invited to celebrate! After-all, we sing of Holy Communion as “the feast of victory of our God”!

People choose to absent themselves from Holy Communion, saying “I don’t consider myself worthy”. What we consider doesn’t matter! What matters most is God’s consideration toward us! God loves us! Holy Communion is the celebration of God’s love, not of our worthiness to receive this love! (hymn #123 vs. 5) I’m not worthy! But, God, through Jesus, invites me to the table…and I come!

A healthy and maturing Christian life demands faithful participation in the Supper of our Lord. To neglect it means spiritual starvation, and many---even within the millions claiming church membership---are spiritually mal-nourished and slowly, spiritually dying of such starvation! This meal provides spiritual health, “remission” of sins, and a new life!

Did you just notice I used the word “remission”? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew term translated “forgiveness” actually means “pardon.” A synonym is “amnesty,” as in “dismissal of consequence for an offense committed”…the term being used in discussing the reality of illegal immigrants living in America. The New Testament, primarily written in Greek, the term literally means “remission”. To “remit” means “to give relief from… to restore or consign to a former status or condition.” Webster’s New International 3-Volume Dictionary defines “remission” as “a temporary abatement of the symptoms of a certain disease…the symptoms will not, necessarily, return.” An oncologist I know defined remission as “when the signs and symptoms of a known disease are no longer evident in the person, nor may ever return.”

On March 24^th I sent a letter to one of our Grace members who earlier this year was told his cancer is “in remission.” In my letter I asked: “Would you put down in your own words what it meant/means to you to hear your doctor say: ‘Your cancer is in remission?’” I believe the words of this fellow, disease-fighting believer, might enable us to better experience and understand what the word “remission” means. He wrote: “Pastor, in response to your letter of 3/24, I must first thank you for your letter, your interest, and your prayers. When I was informed I was in remission, it stunned me as much as when I was told I had cancer. My wife was stunned…then both of us were happy because it gave me a longer life and above all it proved our prayers, everybody’s prayers, were answered! Following this, almost immediately, I was completely spent---tired, exhausted, and whatever. I did not know whether to cry, jump with joy, or collapse, but I had to do something---and that was to thank God because through the doctors, my wife, my children, friends, neighbors and all, I was able to overcome this disease and the shear frustration, and reach that point where the doctors said, ‘You are in remission.’” God gave me remission and Pastor---if I had to put it in one word, I guess the word for remission and God’s guidance would be…PEACE.”

On this Maundy Thursday, as the Lord’s Supper is served and shared, it is for the “remission of sin.” You and I, upon receiving the Lord’s Supper, are in remission. As our brother in Christ wrote: “I did not know whether to cry, jump with joy, or collapse, but I had to do something!” What are we going to do? AMEN.