Pastor Tony Schweitzer
Covenant Christian Reformed Church
Winnipeg, Canada
John Calvin said that we need to come together for
worship and celebration of communion because we need the constant confirmation
of God’s grace and covenanted promises because we remain partly unbelievers
until the day we die.
Scripture Reading: John 17:6-19
Psalm 133
Text John 17:11
Sermon Title: Communion for Part Unbelievers
Family of God in Jesus Christ;
Christianity is the strangest and the most illogical religion I know. If you are going to believe in God, then I can understand monotheism. I find it impossible to comprehend a creation as vast and complex as the one we live in, (and I suspect that even now we have only begun to scratch the surface of the complexity of our world) could just happen without some intelligent being to create and guide the development of this creation. To believe in God isn’t hard. If there is a God, then faith in ONE God makes complete sense. That is not hard to comprehend. I can even comprehend a multitude of gods. A Pantheon of gods with one supreme God and many other helper gods, after all the universe is vast and very complex. But a TRIUNE God? A Trinity? A God who is three yet ONE? That is incomprehensible. That’s mystery which I can’t wrap my mind around. In fact if you can give me an explanation that allows me to understand the concept of trinity, I suggest we do it over lunch, I’ll gladly pay for lunch and it can be at the restaurant of your choosing. And money would not be an issue.
I believe that the God we serve is ONE yet THREE! I believe it is taught in Scripture, not as a nice neat theological explanation but through all the stories from Creation, through Abraham, to Jesus, there are these stories about a God who comes to us in three persons yet constantly claims to be one as Jesus does in the Prayer he prays which we read this morning.
Most of us probably believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is an important doctrine of the Christian faith. But I suspect that very few of us are able to tell us why it is so important. But it is!
These words “…that they may be one as we are one”, are usually interpreted to refer to the unity of the church of Jesus Christ. I don’t doubt that, but the trinity is one of the primary foundations stones upon which Christian life is built. The doctrine of the trinity teaches us that God who comes to us as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit is One God who dwells in community. So when Jesus prays that we may be one even as Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one he is calling us to community, just as he with the Father and the Holy Spirit form community. So our understanding of our God who is one yet three, living in community becomes the foundation for our life as a community of believers, the body of Christ.
At the beginning of time, the God who is triune made us in his image:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our
likeness,
So God created man in his
own image,
in
the image of God he created him;
male
and female he created them
We were created by God to live in relationship the way God lives in relationship. And you cannot understand what it means to be created in the image of God, until you look at what it means to live in intimate relationship. You cannot reach your full potential as a human being created in the image of God, if you choose to live outside all significant relationships. You cannot be fully human outside of community. And you cannot understand what it means to be members of the kingdom of God unless you commit yourself to live in relationship, in community. And Yes, I realize that the intimacy referred to in Genesis Chapter one points to the intimacy of marriage, but Paul in I Corinthians 6 & 7 tells us that the intimacy of the body of Christ is such that wholeness that comes from community can be found in the body of Christ and therefore marriage is no longer a necessity but a choice. That’s freedom in Christ.
When this family of God gathers at the supper table of the Lord it makes an open declaration that we are community. However, in this life it comes with a hitch, as John Calvin said: we are in desperate need of the celebration of word and sacrament because we remain “partly unbelievers” until the day we die.
We continue to be partly unbelievers. That is a striking way of saying it, and I must admit I had never thought of Christian living in those terms until I read that quote a couple of weeks ago. I find it disconcerting, it’s unsettling, yet it is a very true picture of who I am. I just prefer to think of myself as a believer: a follower of the way, a disciple of Christ….. But therein I am able deceive myself. I think I am doing well. I think I am strong, and I fail to see the flaws, I fail to see how weak I really am in and of myself.
Afterall, if I am a follower of Christ, why is so hard to
truly trust that God my heavenly father will take care of me as he does for the
sparrows who fly the heavens? If I
truly trust him, why am I so quickly concerned about my declining retirement
funds? If I truly trust him, why
am I so quick to judge others? If
I truly trust him, why is it so easy for me to look down my nose at
others? If I truly trust him, why
is so hard to follow my shepherd and Lord, when he calls me to leave my comfort
zone and grow through a new step of faith, when the call is so clear and his direction
is so obvious? Why do I seem to
lack faith just at that moment I need it most? If I truly am a believer why is sacrifice so
difficult? Revenue Canada might
consider me generous, but when is the last time I truly gave sacrificially? Why is so hard to be
last? Why is so hard to serve
without receiving recognition and praise?
Why is it so hard to love and accept the other members of the family?
Like the father of the boy with the evil spirit we cry: “I do believe; help me
overcome my unbelief!”
St Francis of Assisi may sing, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me…” I still need to sing: “Let there be peace in CHURCH and let it begin with me.” And peace comes to the church, to the community, to the body of Christ, when I begin acknowledge that I am weak, that like all of God’s creatures I am a sinful one! That my need for grace is not just a few words in a song, but my very lifeline.
We come to the table to celebrate what God has called and made us in Christ Jesus and to confess that we stand in desperate need of the strength and nourishment this table provides, because we are not yet what God has made us to be. On the one had I am a conqueror in Christ. NO! More than a conqueror. On the other hand I am a sinful creature who falls far short of the glory of God and I am both of those at the same time! And if I am to become what God has already made me to be I must accept the invitation to sit down at the supper table with all the other members of the family.
.
The uniqueness of family gathered at the table where no one is without sin, this is what we have in common. Here at the table no one can judge another.
But why did Jesus say: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one? Why did he say: “Father keep them in the world that they may be one even as we are one.” When in this world we appear to be incapable of living in community? Would it not have been much better if Jesus had prayed: These are mine, you have given them to me, take them home with me so they can be one, just as we are one?? I suppose it is for much the same reason that God did not relieve Paul of his thorn in the flesh. Paul who said: when I am weak, then I am strong, through my weakness God is glorified.
When we come to the table and take the bread we are making a VERY public declaration, visible for all to see which says: I am the sinner in need of forgiveness. And when you take the cup you are declaring for all the world to see: I need to lean on the grace of God EVERY DAY! Just as I can’t survive without food and drink, so I can’t survive without God’s protecting love and sustaining grace.
What makes us one? We are the community of sinners who depend on God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit for life, salvation and sustenance. Herein we bring Glory to God
When we publically admit to our failures and weaknesses, then we can no longer exalt ourselves above the world and only then do we become a true community: because only then are we an open community: a welcoming community able to invite the outsider to join. So long as we think we have it made, that we are above all that evil in the world, then we close ourselves off, then we cannot receive others. If we are not a community wholly dependent on God’s grace for salvation and sustenance we become like the “bar” to which lawyers are called and to become a member of the bar as a lawyer you have to pass a test. Not so in the church of Christ. No one has to meet our standard, only God’s standard which says: you need to come as a child, dependant, ever aware of your own inability and trusting in the power of God.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has always placed far more emphasis on community than we have in the west. A beautiful painting exists in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The painting shows three visitors who arrived at Abraham’s tent one day, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are seated around the table which Abraham has prepared to serve his guests, but there are four chairs around the table. You might say, well, Abraham had to eat as well didn’t he? No, Abraham was the host and in the culture of that day, Abraham served his guests he would not have seated himself at the table to eat. The fourth chair indicates the essence of true community. There is always room for one more person! Community is never complete until all are included. And the Beauty of Brian’s Announcement this morning is that God is at work! He has not deserted us! In spite of our many failures, God continues to gather unto himself a body a community that is one: One in its confession of sin and total dependence on Grace, one in its praise of God who is worthy of all glory now and forever, AMEN