The Cup of the New Covenant

Rev. Todd R. Lattig

Drink From the Fountain of Grace • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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Maundy Thursday is a celebration of when Jesus gave us “the cup of the new covenant,” Holy Communion.

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Focus Statement

Holy Thursday is a celebration of when Jesus gave us “the cup of the new covenant,” Holy Communion.

Point of Relation

There once was this family who started attending a church.

On their first communion Sunday, the pastor caught them before the service started and talked to the two children?

“Are you excited?” the Pastor asked them?

“Excited for what,” the boy asked.

“Excited that you are about to have your first communion?

“Oh...” the girl pondered, “…what’s a communion?”

The pastor chuckled and smiled a big, jovial smile. “Why communion is when we receive the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

“Oh,” the boy said with a new look of excitement bubbling up onto his face. “Oh, wow! I can’t wait.”

Later during the service, the pastor lifted up the bread and began to say,

“On the night in which our Lord gave himself up for us, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks to you and passed it to this disciples saying, “This is my body, given for you do this in remembrance of me...”

And following that he and everyone ate it except the boy and girl”

The pastor continued, “And after the supper, Jesus took the cup and lifted it up and passed it to this disciples saying, “ this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Drink this, as often as you do it, in remembrance of me.”

Following the words, the pastor and her congregation all partook in communion...

but for the girl and boy.

On the way out of the service, the pastor approached them.

“How do you like Holy Communion,” she asked, “I didn’t see you come up? Why not?”

“Sorry pastor,” the boy said, “I wanted to when I thought it was bread, but I can’t eat Jesus, that’s gross. I’m a vegetenarian and not a zombie...”

The girl then cut in, “Yeah, and who would drink Jesus’ blood. Ew. We’re not vampires.”...

And the kids walked away dejected saying, “Mom...Dad, do you think we could just stick to ice cream on Sundays”

Things to Consider

From an outside perspective,

Communion can seem very weird and always has

(the early church was persecuted for being “cannibals”...

because they “ate the body” and “drank the blood” of Jesus).

As we celebrate this “weird” new covenant,

looking at its context can help us understand it and its rich layers of meaning better.

What Scripture Says

First,

Jesus and his disciples were having their last meal together

before his execution in the middle of the Passover feast.

Revisit the story behind the Passover (Exodus 12 )

It marks the redemption of Israel from slavery

and the freedom that will lead to the Promised Land.

Believers are instructed to eat with their sandals on,

because God will and does call us to move at any time.

Jesus was celebrating this meal of redemption and freedom when he offered the New Covenant.

Second:

The bread and wine that Jesus makes his body and blood for the disciples (and us)

is already rich with Passover meaning.

Passover bread was made hastily, without time to let the yeast rise.

It was also a symbol of the bread that God provided out of the ground, called manna.

This bread kept the people physically alive.

Yet Jesus takes this bread and provides not just physical but also spiritual healing.

The blood of the of the Passover Lamb coincides with Jesus’ offering at Communion.

The lamb’s blood marked the doorways of God’s people

and saved them people the angel of death.

In giving the cup of wine at the Passover, at his last meal,

Jesus deepens and extends the meaning of the blood of salvation.

It is no longer only about saving the people of Israel from Egypt’s oppression,

but about saving all people from every type of oppression, including their own sin,

through his own blood shed on a cross at Calvary.

Third:

Through this New Covenant, we experience:

Transformation:

John Wesley called Communion a converting ordinance.

We put down our sins and burdens and God takes control and changes us, giving us new life.

Through this New Covenant, we experience

Presence:

In the bread and cup of Communion,

Jesus promises his own presence in a very real way.

Jesus’ presence in the gifts sustains us spiritually.

Through this New Covenant, we experience

Forgiveness:

In Communion, Jesus calls us into confession of our sins

and then gives us the gift of forgiveness through his body and blood and of table fellowship,

restored relationship not only with him but with each other.

Through this New Covenant, we experience

Eternal life:

When we celebrate Communion,

we point back to the event in which we were given eternal life (Jesus’ death and resurrection),

we get a taste of eternal life in the present moment of our earthly lives,

and we point ahead in anticipation of the heavenly banquet

where we will celebrate with Jesus and all the saints in the life to come.

What this means for you

Tonight, you are about to experience the Lord’s Supper on this Maundy Thursday.

You can either approach the liturgy and the table the same way as always, if you are a regular worshiper...

You can recite the words, go through the motions, and partake without ever entering the Holy Mystery

and benefiting from the converting and life-giving power it has.

Or you can really place yourself in the upper room with Jesus, remember collectively the night in which he was betrayed...

and how his selfless sacrifice, his unwillingness to save himself...

brought salvation, eternal life and the transformation of this world.

If you experience it that way,

then how can this supper tonight be anything than transformative and as Wesley called it, converting.

What this means for us

Friends, and individual transformed by Christ can do great, miraculous and amazing things.

Imagine then what a congregation of transformed Christians will do for their community and their world.

We will love them by serving them above our selves.

We will love them by feeding them and clothe them

We will love them by welcoming and including them

We will Shelter and care for them

We will bring healing and wholeness to them

Most importantly, we will bring their LORD and their SAVIOR to them. Amen? Amen!