Sermon Notes — April 6, 2025
John 7:37-39
Won’t You Come?
Rev. Terry Carty
April 6, 2025
Main Point: One of the greatest sources of food for our souls is found in the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion.
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John 6:35, Jesus tells the crowd: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
I recall being appointed to Kingston Springs UMC. I had been working at the denominational level of the church for 15 years and not serving a local congregation. I was thrilled to be appointed to a church near my home. Then I found that they receive Communion at every worship service. It scared me to death. I panicked a little bit. How could I possibly plan dynamic worship if I need to serve communion every Sunday?
I love Holy Communion. And I follow our founder, John Wesley’s call to receive the Lord’s Supper at every opportunity. But I grew up and was ordained in a tradition (that would be 20th Century Methodist) that offered Communion only on the first Sunday of the month. That seemed pretty reasonable to me since the preacher usually preached a shortened sermon about Communion, and then we launched into a way-too-lengthy liturgy before we got our wafer of bread and little cup of juice.
I wanted to be successful at my new church and I knew that the weekly Communion was a non-negotiable. I had studied the theology in seminary, but I didn’t get anything practical enough to hold a congregation’s attention every week. So I went shopping at the Cokesbury Bookstore to buy books about the theology of Communion and also liturgies for Communion. I learned all I could about it.
Nothing has changed my understanding of worship more than my 5 years at Kingston Springs. I now think of Holy Communion as the most important part of worship just as it was from the earliest Christians up until a shortage of ordained ministers in the American wilderness made it a rare occasion.
(Communion is not something that is occasionally added after the main event of the sermon. Communion is the completing act. Actually, I now feel that a service that ends after a sermon and a song is incomplete.)
Before I went to Kingston Springs, I focused my understanding of the importance of Communion to be the remembrance of Jesus’ death and a memorial of his resurrection. But I gained a much deeper appreciation for what I have come to know as a “Holy Mystery.” The Lord’s Supper is a “Holy Mystery.”
Of course it is remembrance and commemoration, but this remembrance is much more than simply intellectual recalling – more than a history lesson. “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) is anamnesis (the biblical Greek word). It takes on mysterious characteristics as we experience Christ deep in our soul.
This is a dynamic action that happens in the prayers and in the receiving of Communion. It becomes re-presentation of past gracious acts of God in the present. It is so powerful as to make them truly present now. Christ is risen and his Spirit is alive here and now, not just remembered for what was done in the past.
Holy Communion is a vessel of God’s grace through the action of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), whose work is described in John 14:26: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” Listen during the prayer today for the part of the Great Thanksgiving that calls the Spirit:
“Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine.” The church asks God to “make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world . . .” (UMH; page 10).
We have been talking about Soul Food – things that feed our soul. We receive spiritual nourishment through Holy Communion. The Christian life is not a destination. It is a journey – one that is challenging and difficult. To continue living faithfully and growing in holiness requires frequent care and feeding. Wesley wrote that, “This is the food of our souls: This gives strength to perform our duty and leads us on to perfection” (“The Duty of Constant Communion,” I.3). God makes care and feeding readily available through the sacrament of The Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion. In John 6:35, Jesus tells the crowd: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
As we return to the Table again and again, we are strengthened repeatedly. We go out empowered to live as disciples, reconcilers, and witnesses. In the words of a prayer often used after Communion, “Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others . . .” (UMH; page 11).
Today this is the same mysterious table that we share, deep in our souls, with the disciples. It is the same table we share a soulful connection with saints who have gone before us. And it is the same table that we are called to share with those who will come humbly after us.
Today we have the opportunity to have our souls fed by God through Christ and the Holy Spirit. Won’t you come and share the table?
Benediction
You have been blessed beyond belief.
You have been fed by the Holy Spirit.
Remember the comforting taste of bread
and the sweet taste of the grapes still on your lips.
This is a foretaste of the greater things that are coming in God.
Now go and share the good news of Christ everywhere you go.
Go in that peace. Amen.