Richly Blessed

The Rev. Joseph Winston

July 19, 2009

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
Every member of my family enjoys cooking meals from scratch. From the
youngest member to the oldest, we all like preparing food to eat. Each of us has a
different item that we consider to be our specialty. My wife’s skill is baking and
decorating cakes. My only daughter enjoys cooking Indian food. My oldest son
likes to set the table with food from the Far East. One son is currently enrolled in
the University of Houston’s School of Restaurant Management. His gift is savory
meats. That is what he makes on the University’s Iron Chef team. The rest of the
boys all have items that they love to make. Personally, I enjoy every aspect of
bread making.
My favorite bread of all time, both to make and to eat, is known as “peasant
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3.

1
bread.” The recipe for this type of bread is very simple but it takes one day to
make. You need about six heaping handfuls of good whole-wheat flour, two or
three pinches of sea-salt, just a tiny bit of yeast, and enough warm water to turn
the dry ingredients into a dough. Proof the yeast in the water with a bit of the
flour and then combine with all the remaining ingredients. Knead the dough into
a ball, place the dough in an open container, and leave it alone in a warm moist
area for at least twelve hours. After allowing the dough to rest, briefly knead the
dough and then return it back to its open container for another twelve hours. Take
the dough and form one loaf. Bake it in a preheated, hot humid oven until the loaf
sounds hollow, which normally is about ninety minutes. Let the bread completely
cool before cutting. Serve a hearty slice with fresh dairy butter or a piece of strong
cheese.
It seems to me that everyone loves this bread’s texture and taste. The humid
oven forms a hard crust that cracks when you bite it. The two or three pinches of
salt along with the touch of yeast give the bread a substantial consistency. It stands
up to everything you throw at it. The daylong rising lends a tangy taste. The wheat
provides strength. The bread goes well with hearty food and drink.
Eating this type of bread uses every sense. You first see the bread’s appearance.
It is strong and dark. You smell the earth’s rich bounty in every slice. You then
touch the bread in your hands. It feels good in your mouth as you chew it. As your
teeth break the crust, you hear it snap. Finally, you taste the bread. Your mouth
fills up with the combination of slight acidity along with the wheat and the salt. In
short, this bread fills each of your sense with something pleasing.

2
 It is very difficult, it not impossible, to understand how the simple ingredients
of flour, water, salt, and yeast form something that is so satisfying. I do not believe
that any single individual or even any group of scientists can completely explain
why the smell of freshly made bread is so pleasing or why fresh home made bread
is so good. I only know that when I eat this type of bread, I just enjoy how it feels
and I like what it provides me.
It is easy to see why many people would name the twenty-third psalm as their
favorite psalm of all time. The pastoral scene with its images of green grass and
calm waters invoke in us a sense of calmness. The Shepherd, who only desires for
His flock the best that He can provide, models for us a form of government that
we can only hope to experience. We all wait for the day where no one has to want
for anything.
The poet directly appeals to every one of our senses. We can almost see the
verdant grass before us, the slowly flowing water beside us, our good Shepherd
in front of us, and the other sheep that make up His flock all around us. We can
practically smell the rich food He placed on the table. It seems that if we just reach
out our hands a little bit, then we would be able to touch all of this. Our mouths
cannot wait to taste the rich meal that our Shepherd has prepared for us.
The beautiful images found in this well loved psalm have often been compared
to the Meal that we share together. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, brings us to His
table. He has graciously provided us with what we will eat at this Meal: the bread
and the wine.
Just because we know what goes into the Sacrament of Holy Communion does

3
not mean that we can fully understand the Meal that Jesus sets before us. No one,
not even Martin Luther, can ever completely explain what occurs during the Lord’s
Supper. What Luther did instead was to teach us that Holy Communion was an
event that we should love.2
To reinforce this basic teaching of the church, Luther, just like the early church
fathers, never provides us with an exhaustive description of what exactly occurs
during this Sacrament. Instead, Luther gives us with what could be accurately
described as a recipe for Holy Communion.
The first ingredient in the Meal is Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus is truly here
during the Lord’s Supper. This is His meal that we serve at His command. His
presence at Holy Communion is just the same as when He lived His life here on
earth. He comes to us as true God and true man. If we forget one or the other idea,
then trouble certainly occurs. On the one hand, if we fail to remember that Jesus
is God then we are only remembering a man. What good is that? On the other
hand, if we leave behind the truth that Christ is a man, not only do we deny the
Scriptures and the Confessions but we also deny God’s physical presence right
here with us.
The primary direction for this recipe that we all love and by far the most im-
portant one of all is to remember Christ’s command to “do this” (Luke 22:19, 1
2
A good resource on the respect that should be found during the Lord’s Meal is Luther and
Melanchthon on Consecrated Communion Wine. At one service in 1544 when the chalice spilled
the wine onto a rich woman’s jacket and the floor, Luther (“with tears in his eyes”), John Bugen-
hagen, and a deacon “proceeded to lick up the spilled wine” from the floor. Timothy J. Wengert,
‘Luther and Melanchthon on Consecrated Communion Wine (Eisleben 1542-43)’, Lutheran Quar-
terly, XV (2001), p. 31. After the worship service, the wine stains were cut out of the jacket, the
wood on the floor was planed and then both the fabric and the shavings were burned. ibid..

4
Corinthians 11:24-25). Because this order comes directly from Jesus, we do ex-
actly what He tells us to do. We eat and drink with Him. Not only that, but we
neither add anything to His Meal nor do we take anything away. When we follow
His command and “do this,” Jesus promises us that we will remember Him and
that He will do the same and remember us. That is why we dine with Him at every
chance we get.3
The next two ingredients in the Meal are the bread and the wine. In Holy
Communion, the gathering that worships the risen Lord is given the unexceptional
gifts of plain bread and ordinary wine. These presents from God for those gathered
around the table are actually exceptional because the bread and the wine become
Jesus. When this happens, we can say that the bread and the wine are the “Visible
Word” of God.4 This Word of God, found in the form of the bread and wine that
we eat and drink, is completely identical to the spoken Word of God except for
one vital difference. This Word is received through the mouth and not through the
ears.
The community that consumes the Meal is the final ingredient.5 This group
that receives the Visible Word is also changed and expanded because when we eat
this Meal, we join with every other community that has ever or will ever receive
3
“On holy days, and at other times when communicates are present, Mass is held and those who
desire it are communicated. Thus the Mass is preserved among us in its proper use.” Augsburg
Confession, Article XXIV, n. 34-35 (German); Theodore G. Tappert et al., editors, The Book of
Concord, (Fortress Press, 1959), p. 60.
4
For Lutherans, the sacraments are the “visible Word”. Apology of the Augsburg Confession,
Article XIII, 5; Ibid., p. 21; Eric W. Gritsch and Robert W. Jenson, Lutheranism The Theologic
Movement and Its Confessional Writings, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1976), p. 82.
5
Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV, n. 34-35 (German); Tappert et al., The Book of Concord,
p. 60.

5
the Lord’s Supper.
This brings us to the next step in the process. In the Lord’s Supper, time and
space collapse. The past becomes the present. Jesus, true God and true man, is
here with us just like He was with the disciples. Nothing has changed. The future
is also happening right now. Not only do we look forward to the great feast to
come where we will join with all the believers at Christ’s Table but we are also
celebrating that future reality here and now. In this meal, these two times are
continually mixed together. When we receive the Lord’s Supper, we are thanking
Jesus for His victory at Calvary over death and the devil. As we recall Jesus’
suffering on the cross, we celebrate the fact that God has already accepted us
before the final judgment day. At this Table, distance no longer matters. We join
in the Lord’s Supper with all the saints: those in the Church here on earth, those
already in Heaven, and all those believers who are yet to come.
Finally, as we all know, the outcome of a recipe is an item that we eat. The
same is true here. The Lord’s Supper is our Meal for the journey. Christ has given
us this Meal to strengthen and sustain us as we do His will. When we leave this
place, we will go into the world. There we will teach others about Christ, we will
train others to take our place, and we will offer Baptism for the forgiveness of sin.
Unfortunately, we often forget that this Meal is Jesus’ Supper and we are His
invited guests. Some of us desire to be the guest of honor and sit at the place of
privilege. When we take the place at the head of the table, we push God off to
the side. Others of us wish to decline Christ’s invitation to eat with Him. We tell
God that we do things by our schedule and that no one can else tell us what to do.

6
We say that when we have the time, we will come to the Meal. The real problem
with us relying on our own calendar is that we might miss a meal and go to bed
hungry. And yet others of us want to set the table to our own liking. We want
to do things our way. We do not remember that we are God’s guests that should
be following God’s rules. When we do things our own way, others will see us as
either controlling or childish.
Because we are all sinful humans, none of us should be able to come to Holy
Communion. We only gather around the Table because God has called us to this
Meal. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has set this Table for us in the presence of our
enemies. He has promised us that we will be welcomed here. It does not matter to
God who we are. God does not care about our background, our race, our age, or
even our intellect. All that God wants is for us to come to the Table and eat with
Him.
The Lord’s Supper is our gift from God. Jesus comes to us and wants us gath-
ered around the table with Him. He gives us His blessings and then He sends us
on our way. These gifts, just like the Meal or a good loaf of homemade bread, fill
all of our senses and leave us with wanting for more.
But do not ask me how this occurs. All I know is that when I eat this bread
and drink this cup, I fully enjoy the gifts the God has given us. Come to the Table
so that you might taste and see that the Lord is good.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”6
6
Philippians 4:7.

7
References

Gritsch, Eric W. and Jenson, Robert W., Lutheranism The Theologic Movement
and Its Confessional Writings, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1976).

Tappert, Theodore G. et al., editors, The Book of Concord, (Fortress Press, 1959).

Wengert, Timothy J., ‘Luther and Melanchthon on Consecrated Communion Wine

(Eisleben 1542-43)’, Lutheran Quarterly, XV (2001), pp. 24–42.