Click to hear this sermon sermon071007

This week I received a cartoon in the mail from a friend of mine. It had been slightly altered so that the cartoon showed a mother and small son walking home from church, and the mom says, "The next time Pastor Jack asks you what the sermon was about, please don't answer, 'It was about three hours!'"

"Remembering our Table Manners"       Cicero U.M.C.                 1 Corinthians 10: 14-22

October 7, 2007          World Communion Sunday              Jack Keating

This week I received a cartoon in the mail from a friend of mine. It had been slightly altered so that the cartoon showed a mother and small son walking home from church, and the mom says, "The next time Pastor Jack asks you what the sermon was about, please don't answer, 'It was about three hours!'"

Regardless of those sage words of advice, I will suggest to you that special occasions are often connected with food - Thanksgiving, Christmas, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. A couple of weeks ago we were on vacation and we stopped to have dinner at an ocean-side restaurant that specialized in seafood. Becky and I were both pretty hungry and as we stood in the waiting area we could smell the wonderful meals being prepared for the guests. The aroma was heavenly and whenever we find ourselves awaiting that special meal, we can't wait to be told: "Come to the table!" Welt, this morning my friends, we see that Jesus has set the table and is inviting us to, "come to the Table." But before we gather for this meal, on this World Communion Day, it seems it might be good for us to pause to "brush up" on our table manners, by looking at the first letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians that we just heard.

First we need to remember that, just like at home, before we sit down to the meal, we need clean hands. You don't work in the garden or the garage and then come inside, sit down, and eat dinner. You wash up first. And that's why the Bible tells us to examine our lives first before receiving Communion. We may see something that needs to be confessed and cleaned up. I'm sure it will amaze you to hear that when I was a kid I occasionally had to go to bed without supper because of something I did that was bad. When we come to Jesus with remorse and repentance, we find forgiveness, restoration and an invitation to His table. Some people get so burdened by their sins, that instead of asking for forgiveness, they figure they're automatically too unworthy to participate ... so they pass on coming to the table. Well, none of us are worthy, but if we've trusted Christ, we are eligible by His grace. He invites us and authorizes us to come to the table. And then He welcomes us when we get there. Now that's God's amazing grace!

Secondly, and also before dining, we need a good appetite. Now imagine what would happen if you were invited to someone's house for dinner, and an hour before the meal you ate a bag of chips, a coke, and a package or two of Twinkies. After all this junk food, you'd have very little appetite for the good stuff! Paul tells us in verse 21 that "you can't drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you can't have a part in both the Lord's Table and the table of demons." God, you see, offers us a substantive meal--- the Bread and Cup won't fill us up physically, but they will satisfy our spiritual hunger. When we stuff ourselves with the junk food of sin we lose our appetite for the banquet God has prepared for us, But we need to "taste and see" the satisfying goodness of the Lord as Psalm 34 tells us.

Dr. Leroy Creasy of Cornell University has identified a chemical in grapes that reduces the risk of heart disease. He reports in the Journal of Applied Cardiology that grape juice lowers cholesterol and cleanses the heart of life-threatening impurities. At the Lord's Table grape juice represents the blood of Christ, which promises to cleanse our spiritual hearts of sin's deadly effects.

We are in the world, but we don't need to be of the world. We are exposed to sin, but we can choose to resist temptation. So how do we get an appetite for what God has for us, when we've been dwelling on things below, rather than things above? Doesn't it seem when our perspective is fixed on temporal things; we can get caught up in that which has no lasting value? But Jesus promises, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

So what does Jesus mean when He says we'll be "filled?" I think a lot of people live their lives on EMPTY. They go about day-to-day without much purpose or meaning, and when they reach the end they stop to wonder what the point was in living. They are starving spiritually. Boy isn't it different to know that God loves us individually, and has a specific plan for our lives? Jesus promises to fill our days with a sense of significance and satisfaction.

Thirdly, when we're dining, we also need time to enjoy the moment. I read one time about this fast food restaurant in New Jersey called "Eat It and Beat It." I also hear the chairs at McDonalds and Burger King are designed so that people won't get too comfortable, so they'll eat, leave, and make room for more customers. In Europe, when you sit at a table, it's yours for as long as you wish - sit down for lunch and linger for the whole afternoon if you'd like. No one is urging you to go. American tourists complain that European waiters keep a low profile - the reason is, they don't want to appear to be rushing the customers. Sometimes we're in such a hurry that we don't enjoy our food: we inhale it and rush on to something else! When we partake in the Lord's Supper, we come to savor the moment, to linger, and reflect and remember. Now I have to admit, that sometimes, I've looked at the clock, and after my sermon, I've sprinted through Communion. But when we come to the Lord's Table, our spiritual meal should be the focus on why we're here. And you'll find that the most liturgical churches you know and might have experienced do this --- they make Communion the center of their worship.

Now the fourth thing to remember is that harmony at the meal table is important. I recently heard about a family who got together for a meal and before long the conversation turned controversial. They started talking about current events, but the discussion quickly slipped into their political differences. Not everyone shared the same viewpoint and the enjoyment of the meal together was ruined as they argued. Now we certainly can't expect everyone in our congregation to agree on every issue, but we are expected to get along. In verse 17 Paul makes a point of saying that "we are one body" and we "partake of one loaf." Conflict, tension, and disharmony can all ruin a perfectly good meal. But one thing we try not to bring to the table is divisiveness. When I lead worship in an ecumenical setting like my monthly worship service at Malta Manor, all of our Communion services are inter­denominational. We don't all concur on the nature of the elements, or how often we should receive them; some of us are used to coming forward for Communion, other hold the tradition of kneeling, and others are used to be served seated in their pews. But what we do agree on is our unity in Christ. What unites us is greater than what might divide us.

The fifth thing we need to remember is to be grateful for this meal. I recently saw an apron in a gift catalogue that says: "Kiss the Cook."  Those who prepare meals appreciate being told that people enjoy their meal. I was having dinner one time at a restaurant in Buffalo when the cook approached our table. He looked like he was about seven feet tall, and he boomed out, "How do you like my cooking?" Well, fortunately, I liked it! And so as well, when we come to the Lord's Table, we need to eat with gratitude, to not take it for granted. God provided manna, miraculous food, to the Jewish nation in the wilderness, and all they did was complain. We need instead, to appreciate the cost of this meal. There's a famous Swedish art film that's a parable of grace, called Babette's Feast, in which a young woman uses her inheritance to prepare a wonderful gourmet meal for her friends. She obtains the costly ingredients and prepares a banquet worthy of a 4 star restaurant. Unfortunately, some of her friends don't appreciate her gift. Well friends, Jesus has prepared a meal for us that cost Him His very life. We should appreciate how our Communion stewards take the time each month to prepare our Communion meal. And even more, we should appreciate the sacrifice of the Savior; otherwise we will miss the whole point of this meal!

In a former church of mine I helped to teach an annual class on Communion for our Sunday school children. And I think that sometimes, children understand Communion better than adults, with their childlike faith. Now there's a big difference between being childish and being childlike. When we are childlike we come to Communion with a sense of wonder and awe. A minister asked a group of young children what they thought of this sacrament and here are some of their responses:

A 6 year old said--- "Communion is part of God and God's life."

A 10 year old answered, "It reminds me of Jesus and that He died for US." A 5 year old responded, "It makes me happy to remember."

And a 12 year old stated, "It's the closest we can get to Jesus."

Now the sixth thing I'd ask you to remember about this meal is that we should come to God's Table with loyalty. We avoid the competition. If your family owned a restaurant, you would come frequently, tell others about it, and you wouldn't want to eat anywhere else. Paul is talking about how people try to eat at the devil's table, yet also come to God's. We serve a jealous God, verse 22 reminds us, who will not be replaced with substitutes. He demands our undivided loyalty. The Christians at Corinth, to whom Paul was writing, were tempted to revert to their old idolatrous practices. And while we usually don't see overt pagan worship today, idolatry sure is prevalent in our society ... because trusting anything for that which God alone provides ... is idolatry. Eating at the Lord's Table means communing with Christ and identifying with his death. Our partaking of Communion indicates that we are undivided in our commitment to Christ. He is our top priority; and He has preeminence on our lives.

Several years ago preacher Charles Swindoll and his family were enjoying an evening at a local restaurant. They looked over in the corner and saw a couple from their church. They waved at them and the couple winked back in the Swindoll's direction. Just before the couple left they stopped by the Swindoll's table and said, "Hi." When the meal was over, Swindoll got up and walked to the cash register and said, "I didn't get a check for our meal." The cashier said, "Oh, well you don't have to worry about it because someone else paid for it." Swindoll asked, "Who paid for it?" The cashier replied, "Well I don't know who they are, but they were the couple who walked over and said 'Hello' to you." When Swindoll asked about taking care of the tip he was told, "Oh no, that was all taken care of too." It was paid in full. And Charles Swindoll reports having the hardest time accepting that. He wanted to go home and call the couple up and say, "Hey, why don't I split it halfway with you?"

You see, it's difficult to accept something absolutely free. We think there's a gimmick or we think there's something we need to do to pay our own way. But God's grace, experienced here at this Table, reminds us that God says, "I've picked up the tab. I've taken care of everything. Accept it. Believe it. It's a declared fact."

So this morning, as you come to the table, rejoice that the cost for the meal has been paid by Jesus and please, bring your best table manners, if you will.