Robert E. Cushman - Communion Meditation (March 11, 1973)
MP3
Loading the media player...
Transcript
- Download transcript as:
-
Text
-
PDF
-
WebVTT (includes timecodes)
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| (lively organ music) | 0:03 | |
| ("Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above") | 0:30 | |
| - | The peace of God | 4:51 |
| and the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you all. | 4:53 | |
| Brothers and sisters, | 4:58 | |
| to prepare ourselves to celebrate the Eucharist, | 4:59 | |
| let us call to mind, our sins and our need for confession. | 5:02 | |
| When we get there to praise God, | 5:08 | |
| we remember that we are his people | 5:10 | |
| who have preferred our wills to his. | 5:13 | |
| Accepting his power to become new persons in Christ, | 5:16 | |
| let us confess our sin before God and one another. | 5:21 | |
| (lively choir music) | 5:27 | |
| Let us pray. | 5:47 | |
| Congregation | Most merciful God, | 5:49 |
| we confess that we have sinned against you | 5:51 | |
| in thought, word and deed. | 5:54 | |
| We have not loved you with our whole heart, | 5:57 | |
| we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 6:00 | |
| We pray you have your mercy, | 6:04 | |
| forgive what we have been, amend what we are, | 6:06 | |
| direct what we shall be, | 6:11 | |
| that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways | 6:13 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 6:18 | |
| Hear the good news, | 6:23 | |
| Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. | 6:25 | |
| That is God's own proof of his love toward us. | 6:28 | |
| In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. | 6:33 | |
| Congregation | In the name of Jesus Christ, | 6:37 |
| you are forgiven. | 6:38 | |
| Glory to God, amen. | 6:40 | |
| (lively choir music) | 6:43 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 8:46 |
| Lord, open our hearts and minds | 8:50 | |
| to the power of thy holy spirit, | 8:52 | |
| that has the scriptures I read and the word proclaimed. | 8:56 | |
| We may hear with joy what you say to us today. | 9:02 | |
| Amen. | 9:08 | |
| The gospel lesson of the morning | 9:21 | |
| is taken from Matthew, the 20th chapter, | 9:26 | |
| the 17th through the 23rd versus. | 9:33 | |
| "And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, | 9:41 | |
| he took the 12 disciples aside | 9:46 | |
| and on the way he said to them, | 9:50 | |
| 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem | 9:54 | |
| and the son of man will be delivered | 9:58 | |
| to the chief priests and scribes, | 10:00 | |
| and they will condemn him to death | 10:02 | |
| and deliver him to the Gentiles | 10:06 | |
| to be mocked and scourged and crucified. | 10:08 | |
| And he will be raised on the third day.' | 10:13 | |
| Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee | 10:19 | |
| came up to him with her sons, James and John, | 10:23 | |
| and kneeling before him. | 10:27 | |
| She asked him for something | 10:30 | |
| and he said to her, 'What do you want?' | 10:34 | |
| And she said to him, 'Command that these two sons of mine | 10:39 | |
| may sit, one at your right hand | 10:44 | |
| and one at your left in your kingdom.' | 10:49 | |
| But Jesus answered, 'You do not know what you are asking. | 10:54 | |
| Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?' | 11:00 | |
| And they said to him, 'We are able.' | 11:06 | |
| He said to them, 'You will drink my cup | 11:10 | |
| but to sit at my right hand and at my left | 11:15 | |
| is not mine to grant. | 11:18 | |
| But it is for those | 11:23 | |
| for whom it has been prepared by my father.'" | 11:24 | |
| Amen? | 11:30 | |
| May the Lord instruct us in the meaning of these words. | 11:33 | |
| Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? | 12:00 | |
| This question asked us how we stand | 12:09 | |
| with regard to the Christian life itself. | 12:15 | |
| It is asked of would be Christians today and every day, | 12:22 | |
| it is a question I think wholly appropriate | 12:29 | |
| to this first Sunday of lent. | 12:35 | |
| To keep lent and to celebrate the Lord's supper | 12:39 | |
| are one and the same. | 12:45 | |
| The Lenten season is at least as old | 12:49 | |
| as the second century of our era. | 12:53 | |
| Irenaeus speaks of it. | 12:58 | |
| In that time, the canons of the Council of Nicea of 325 AD, | 13:01 | |
| designate lent as a fast of 40 days before Easter. | 13:13 | |
| From early times then, lent stands for the church's answer | 13:21 | |
| to the question of our Lord, | 13:27 | |
| stated to the sons of Zebedee. | 13:32 | |
| "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" | 13:36 | |
| Likewise, in the celebration of the Lord's supper, | 13:44 | |
| the early church was I think, | 13:49 | |
| giving its response to Jesus' question, as it was able. | 13:55 | |
| The intention to make Christ sacrifice it's own, | 14:04 | |
| what's the meaning of the Eucharist? | 14:11 | |
| So also in lent, men and women of faith | 14:14 | |
| purpose to keep company with their Lord | 14:20 | |
| through the wilderness of his temptation. | 14:23 | |
| They intend to accompany him to Jerusalem | 14:28 | |
| through the crisis days of his passion | 14:31 | |
| and to the divine exaltation of Easter. | 14:36 | |
| In early centuries, lent was a time of rigorous fasting | 14:41 | |
| and self-denial. | 14:48 | |
| It was, and is a time of penitence and devotion itself. | 14:51 | |
| From the beginning, it seems, the Lenten season discloses | 14:58 | |
| an instinctive determination of faith | 15:03 | |
| to share in the Lord sufferings with a grateful heart. | 15:07 | |
| It is this same mind and will, | 15:16 | |
| the will to participate with Christ in his sufferings | 15:19 | |
| and with thanksgiving, | 15:24 | |
| that makes our celebration of the Lord's supper | 15:26 | |
| this first Sunday of lent, very meet and right. | 15:29 | |
| For the supper of the Lord invites the Christian | 15:36 | |
| to give thanks, to drink the cup | 15:39 | |
| and to partake of Christ passion as he is able, | 15:44 | |
| and to give thanks. | 15:51 | |
| That indeed is what the Eucharist means, | 15:55 | |
| to remember with thanksgiving. | 16:00 | |
| It is his distress upon thanksgiving | 16:04 | |
| that is central in the liturgy of the Eastern churches | 16:08 | |
| and also in the Roman right. | 16:12 | |
| Thence, it passes down through the book of Common Prayer, | 16:15 | |
| the Edwardian service of holy communion | 16:21 | |
| to the Methodist tradition, | 16:25 | |
| the note of Thanksgiving is sounded in the Sursum Corda | 16:28 | |
| before the Sanctus. | 16:33 | |
| "Lift up your hearts," | 16:37 | |
| is the call of the minister to the assembled congregation | 16:40 | |
| and the congregation replies, | 16:45 | |
| "We lift them up onto the Lord," | 16:47 | |
| and then the congregation is enjoined. | 16:51 | |
| Let us give thanks unto the Lord. | 16:54 | |
| And the answer comes, "It is meet and right so to do." | 16:57 | |
| And then the confirming prayer follows, | 17:04 | |
| "It is very meet, right, | 17:08 | |
| and our bounden duty duty that we should at all times | 17:09 | |
| and in all places, give thanks unto thee, oh Lord, | 17:14 | |
| holy father, Almighty, Everlasting God." | 17:18 | |
| And them, having received the sacrament | 17:24 | |
| of the bread and the cup, | 17:28 | |
| there comes the ancient prayer of thanks giving | 17:30 | |
| and dedication of self. | 17:34 | |
| The language may be 16th century, but so is Shakespeare. | 17:39 | |
| The prayer is a magnificent summation of Christian faith | 17:46 | |
| and Christian vocation and life. | 17:51 | |
| Since our conventional use | 17:57 | |
| of the great prayers of the church | 17:59 | |
| is sometimes perfunctory, | 18:04 | |
| we do not always hear what we are saying. | 18:07 | |
| Therefore, let us listen intently | 18:12 | |
| to the eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving. | 18:17 | |
| Oh Lord, our heavenly father, | 18:24 | |
| we thy humble servants desire thy fatherly goodness. | 18:29 | |
| Mercifully, to accept this our sacrifice | 18:34 | |
| of praise and thanksgiving, | 18:40 | |
| most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the merits | 18:43 | |
| and death of thy son, Jesus Christ, | 18:49 | |
| and through faith in his blood, | 18:53 | |
| that is his pledge of obedience. | 18:59 | |
| We and thy whole church may obtain forgiveness of our sins | 19:02 | |
| and all other benefits of his passion. | 19:07 | |
| And here we offer and present onto the all Lord, | 19:11 | |
| ourselves, our souls and bodies, | 19:15 | |
| to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto thee. | 19:20 | |
| I find this prayer of the liturgy | 19:31 | |
| sums up perhaps better than anything, the meaning of lent. | 19:35 | |
| But also, and likewise, | 19:43 | |
| it sets forth the Christian life and worship. | 19:45 | |
| To unpack its meaning would require many sermons. | 19:50 | |
| This morning, I call your attention only to one theme | 19:55 | |
| and two corelative phrases. | 19:59 | |
| The theme is simple but overlooked. | 20:03 | |
| It is that in this prayer, Christian life | 20:08 | |
| and Christian worship are not two things apart, | 20:13 | |
| but always an only one and the same. | 20:19 | |
| The Christian life is an offering to God. | 20:24 | |
| And here is the first phrase. | 20:29 | |
| It is a sacrifice and offering of praise and thanksgiving. | 20:33 | |
| It is prompted as it is also impelled by faith | 20:42 | |
| in the perfect self offering of Christ. | 20:47 | |
| This is its sole-motivating source. | 20:50 | |
| Its single-landed sufficient ground. | 20:56 | |
| This prayer of salvation then, | 21:00 | |
| declares the eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup | 21:04 | |
| to be identification of the believer with Christ | 21:09 | |
| in his full perfect and sufficient sacrifice. | 21:12 | |
| By drinking his cup, | 21:19 | |
| we unite ourselves intentionally with Christ | 21:21 | |
| and share his pledge of our participation with him | 21:26 | |
| in his fulfilled vocation of perfect obedience. | 21:31 | |
| But this too is the meaning of lent. | 21:38 | |
| Both lent and the Eucharist are acts of worship. | 21:43 | |
| They are our offering, | 21:48 | |
| our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, | 21:51 | |
| but there is another phrase to dove. | 21:58 | |
| It is complimentary with the first, it says, | 22:01 | |
| And here," that is here and now also, | 22:07 | |
| "We offer unto thee Lord ourselves, | 22:14 | |
| our souls and bodies to be a reasonable holy | 22:19 | |
| and living sacrifice unto thee." | 22:23 | |
| It is the distinctive teaching of the Christian faith | 22:29 | |
| in so far as we understand it, | 22:35 | |
| that all sacrifices that are substitutes | 22:38 | |
| for the self's self offering are vain. | 22:44 | |
| Instead, in the Christian view, | 22:52 | |
| the whole of life is offered to God, | 22:57 | |
| you now identification with Christ | 23:01 | |
| in the likeness of his fulfilled vocation. | 23:04 | |
| And moreover, it is this participation with Christ, | 23:09 | |
| this sharing his cup, which is the root | 23:15 | |
| and substance of the Christian life itself. | 23:20 | |
| It is what Saint Paul calls in Romans, | 23:26 | |
| "A living sacrifice." | 23:31 | |
| The whole life in day-by-day service of God, | 23:34 | |
| it begins in the Eucharist, it issues into the world. | 23:41 | |
| Without the Eucharist, it is ruthless. | 23:49 | |
| But it is always as Thomas a Kempis saw | 23:54 | |
| and said, "Imatatio Christi". | 23:58 | |
| Get it is not, this Imatatio, | 24:03 | |
| it is not quite our English word imitation, | 24:07 | |
| but much more nearly, it is our word identification. | 24:13 | |
| Identification Christi, | 24:19 | |
| with Christ in his perfect obedience. | 24:23 | |
| The one theme then I stressed today for our consideration, | 24:29 | |
| you know our Eucharistic prayer of Thanksgiving is this, | 24:38 | |
| Christian worship and Christian life | 24:43 | |
| are not two things but one. | 24:48 | |
| They are two sides of the same coin, as it were. | 24:52 | |
| Alike, they are both a sacrifice of praise | 24:57 | |
| and thanksgiving to God | 25:02 | |
| and always, and only in the life of Christ. | 25:05 | |
| The Christian life is worship and work, | 25:12 | |
| in reciprocal relationship. | 25:18 | |
| The Lord's supper is it once the summit of our worship | 25:24 | |
| and the impulse of our work, the two are inseparable. | 25:30 | |
| Liturgy and life. | 25:36 | |
| And so it is that the question of Jesus | 25:41 | |
| to the sons of Zebedee, is our question too, and urgent. | 25:44 | |
| "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?" | 25:51 | |
| Jesus asks us. | 25:57 | |
| Our answer is the measure of our disposition | 26:00 | |
| to participate with him in his temptations, in his passion, | 26:05 | |
| and to give thanks for his perfect self-offering. | 26:13 | |
| It is the measure of our will and devotion | 26:19 | |
| to make his offering our sacrifice | 26:23 | |
| of praise and thanksgiving, | 26:29 | |
| both in worship and in the ways of life. | 26:33 | |
| It's arduous and some times torturous ways. | 26:41 | |
| It is to this measure of devotion then | 26:49 | |
| that we are called, I think, by both the season of lent | 26:53 | |
| and the immemorial supper of the Lord. | 27:01 | |
| "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?" | 27:05 | |
| The answer is always ours to make. | 27:12 | |
| It is the answer first of faith | 27:18 | |
| and then of thanksgiving. | 27:24 | |
| Amen. | 27:32 | |
| - | Let us affirm our faith. | 27:48 |
| Congregation | We believe in God | 27:51 |
| who has created and is creating, | 27:53 | |
| who has come in the true man, Jesus, | 27:56 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 27:58 | |
| who works in us and others by his spirit, we trust him. | 28:01 | |
| He calls us to be in his church, to celebrate his presence, | 28:06 | |
| to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, | 28:10 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 28:16 | |
| our judge and our hope, | 28:19 | |
| in life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. | 28:21 | |
| We are not alone, thanks be to God. | 28:27 | |
| Now in accordance with our Lord's instruction, | 28:41 | |
| let us offer prayers of intercession | 28:44 | |
| and partition for our world, our neighbors and ourselves. | 28:47 | |
| Let us pray. | 28:52 | |
| Let us pray that the world we may live in peace, | 28:55 | |
| that in the church, there may be achieved unity, | 28:59 | |
| fulfilling its service here and in all places. | 29:03 | |
| Congregation | Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 29:07 |
| - | Let us pray that all ministers and teachers in the church, | 29:11 |
| maybe fateful servants of the gospel, | 29:15 | |
| leading others into its way of life | 29:18 | |
| and strengthening their faith. | 29:20 | |
| Congregation | Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 29:23 |
| - | Let us pray that the leaders of this nation | 29:27 |
| and of the world, may govern with justice and mercy. | 29:30 | |
| Congregation | Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 29:35 |
| - | Let us pray that all our work | 29:39 |
| may be done for the common good, | 29:41 | |
| that it'd be done in safety, | 29:43 | |
| that all may be spared from grinding toil | 29:46 | |
| which destroys fullness of life. | 29:48 | |
| Congregation | Lord in your mercy hear our prayer. | 29:52 |
| - | Let us pray that those who work on frontiers of truth | 29:56 |
| and those who enrich our lives with beauty and joy, | 30:00 | |
| maybe free to follow their vocations. | 30:04 | |
| Congregation | Lord in your mercy hear our prayer. | 30:07 |
| - | Let us pray that those who have suffer disease | 30:11 |
| or poverty or loneliness or grief, | 30:15 | |
| maybe healed and comforted. | 30:18 | |
| That those who are oppressed or persecuted | 30:21 | |
| may be strengthened and delivered. | 30:24 | |
| Congregation | Lord in your mercy hear our prayer. | 30:27 |
| - | Let us pray that those whom we have known and loved | 30:31 |
| who have died in the faith, may be a glorious memory to us | 30:34 | |
| and a source of renewed fellowship with all the saints. | 30:40 | |
| Congregation | Lord in your mercy hear our prayer | 30:44 |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 30:48 | |
| - | Christ, our Lord, invites to his table, all who love him | 30:54 |
| and who desire to live in peace with one another. | 31:00 | |
| May the peace of the Lord be with you always. | 31:03 | |
| Congregation | And also with you. | 31:06 |
| - | As forgiven and reconciled people, | 31:33 |
| let us offer ourselves and our gifts unto God. | 31:35 | |
| (calm organ music) | 31:42 | |
| ("The Committal") | 32:49 | |
| (gentle spirited music) | 35:06 | |
| Blessed are you Lord God of all creation. | 36:54 | |
| So your goodness, we have this bread to offer | 36:58 | |
| which earth has given and human hands have made. | 37:01 | |
| May it become for us the bread of life. | 37:06 | |
| Blessed are you Lord God of all creation, | 37:11 | |
| through your goodness, we have this wine to offer. | 37:15 | |
| Fruit of the vine and work of human hands. | 37:19 | |
| May it become our spiritual drink. | 37:23 | |
| Lord God, we ask you to receive us | 37:27 | |
| and be pleased with the sacrifice we offer you. | 37:32 | |
| Thou art the broken bread that makes us whole, | 37:37 | |
| thou art the drinking cup whereby we thirst no more. | 37:41 | |
| Glory be to you, Lord God, forever and ever, amen. | 37:47 | |
| The Lord is with you. | 38:26 | |
| - | And with you also. | |
| - | Lift up your hearts. | 38:29 |
| - | We lift them up to the Lord. | |
| - | Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God. | 38:32 |
| Congregation | It is right to give our thanks and praise. | 38:35 |
| - | Father, it is right that we should always | 38:38 |
| and everywhere give you thanks and praise, only you are God. | 38:41 | |
| You created all things and called them good, | 38:46 | |
| you made us in your own image, | 38:50 | |
| even when we rebelled against your love, | 38:53 | |
| you did not desert us. | 38:55 | |
| You delivered us from captivity | 38:58 | |
| and made covenant to be our God and King, | 39:00 | |
| and spoke to us through your prophets. | 39:04 | |
| Therefore, we join the entire company of heaven | 39:07 | |
| and all your people now on earth, | 39:11 | |
| in worshiping and glorifying you. | 39:13 | |
| Congregation | Holy, holy, holy, | 39:16 |
| Lord, God of power and might, | 39:19 | |
| heaven and earth are full of your glory. | 39:22 | |
| Hosanna in the highest. | 39:25 | |
| Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. | 39:27 | |
| Hosanna in the highest. | 39:30 | |
| - | We thank you father, that you loved the world so much, | 39:33 |
| you sent your only son to be our savior. | 39:36 | |
| The Lord of all life came to live among us, | 39:40 | |
| he healed and taught men, ate with sinners, | 39:43 | |
| and won for you a new people by water and the spirit. | 39:47 | |
| We saw his glory yet he humbled himself | 39:51 | |
| in obedience to your will, | 39:55 | |
| freely accepting death on a cross. | 39:57 | |
| By dying, He freed us from unending death. | 40:01 | |
| By rising from the dead, He gave us everlasting life. | 40:05 | |
| We remember that on the night | 40:11 | |
| in which he gave himself up for us, | 40:12 | |
| the Lord Jesus took bread and after giving you thanks, | 40:16 | |
| he broke it and gave it to his disciples | 40:21 | |
| and said, "Take, eat, | 40:24 | |
| this is my body which is given for you." | 40:27 | |
| (bread breaking) | 40:30 | |
| When the supper was over, he took the cup | 40:33 | |
| and again, he returned thanks to you | 40:37 | |
| and gave the cup to his disciples | 40:40 | |
| and said, "Drink from this all of you. | 40:42 | |
| This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood | 40:47 | |
| poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sin." | 40:50 | |
| When we eat this bread and drink this cup, | 40:56 | |
| we experience a new, the presence of the Lord, Jesus Christ, | 41:00 | |
| and look forward to his coming in final victory. | 41:04 | |
| Congregation | Christ has died, | 41:09 |
| Christ is risen, Christ will come again. | 41:11 | |
| - | We remember and proclaim with gratitude, heavenly Father, | 41:16 |
| what your son has done for us in his life and death | 41:20 | |
| and his resurrection and ascension, | 41:23 | |
| except our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, | 41:26 | |
| in union with Christ offering for us | 41:30 | |
| as a reasonable and holy surrender of ourselves. | 41:33 | |
| Send the power of your holy spirit upon us, | 41:38 | |
| gathered here out of love for you, and on these gifts. | 41:41 | |
| Help us know and the breaking of this bread | 41:46 | |
| and in the drinking of this wine, the presence of Christ | 41:49 | |
| who gave his body and blood for mankind. | 41:54 | |
| Make us one with Christ, one with each other, | 41:58 | |
| and one in the service of all mankind. | 42:02 | |
| Congregation | Through your Son, Jesus Christ, | 42:05 |
| with the Holy Spirit and your holy church, | 42:08 | |
| all glory and honor is yours, father, amen. | 42:11 | |
| - | In unity with Christ and with each other, we pray. | 42:15 |
| Congregation | Our Father in heaven, holy be your name, | 42:19 |
| your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. | 42:23 | |
| Give us today the bread we need, | 42:29 | |
| forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. | 42:31 | |
| Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. | 42:36 | |
| For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, | 42:41 | |
| now and for ever. | 42:45 | |
| Amen. | ||
| (calm organ music) | 42:53 | |
| ♪ O Lamb of God ♪ | 42:58 | |
| ♪ That takest away the sins of the world ♪ | 43:02 | |
| ♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 43:10 | |
| ♪ O Lamb of God ♪ | 43:17 | |
| ♪ That takest away the sins of the world ♪ | 43:21 | |
| ♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 43:30 | |
| ♪ O Lamb of God ♪ | 43:39 | |
| ♪ That takest away the sins of the world ♪ | 43:43 | |
| ♪ Grant us Thy peace ♪ | 43:53 | |
| This is the lamb of God | 44:23 | |
| who takes away the sins of the world. | 44:25 | |
| Happy are those who are called to his supper. | 44:28 | |
| The body of Christ bring you everlasting life and hope, | 44:33 | |
| the blood of Christ bring you everlasting life and hope. | 44:41 | |
| (lively organ music) | 45:01 | |
| ("DUNDEE") | 47:30 | |
| (gentle solemn music) | 49:52 | |
| Let us offer unto God our common prayer of commitment. | 55:07 | |
| Let us pray. | 55:12 | |
| You have given yourself to us Lord. | 55:15 | |
| Congregation | Now we give ourselves for others. | 55:18 |
| - | Your love has made us a new people. | 55:21 |
| Congregation | As a people of love, | 55:24 |
| we will serve you with joy. | 55:26 | |
| - | Your glory has filled our hearts. | 55:28 |
| Congregation | Help us to glorify you in all things, amen. | 55:31 |
| (lively organ music) | 55:37 | |
| (speakers speaking off the mic) | 1:02:49 |