Excerpt from sermon on 05/03/2015:
We celebrate Communion as the church, and each time we do so we reenact the death of the Master until he comes again. We reenact his death in remembrance of him, in thanksgiving for what that death accomplished, in honor of his desire that we all be one, and in faithful anticipation of the heavenly banquet we will share together with him. As we enter into our celebration of Communion, I would like to share these words of Augustine, a Christian theologian of the early church, with you. It sums up what it is to be the church in this time between Jesus’ victory on the cross and the time when the kingdom of God will be realized in its fullness:
"Let us sing alleluia here on earth, while we still live in anxiety, so that we may sing it one day in heaven in full security . . . We shall have no enemies in heaven, we shall never lose a friend. God’s praises are sung both there and here, but here they are sung in anxiety, there in security; here they are sung by those destined to die, there, by those destined to live forever; here they are sung in hope, there in hope’s fulfillment; here, they are sung by wayfarers, there, by those living in their own country. So then . . . let us sing now, not in order to enjoy a life of leisure, but in order to lighten our labors. You should sing as wayfarers do – sing, but continue your journey . . . Sing then, but keep going."1
Amen.
FULL SERMON HERE
We celebrate Communion as the church, and each time we do so we reenact the death of the Master until he comes again. We reenact his death in remembrance of him, in thanksgiving for what that death accomplished, in honor of his desire that we all be one, and in faithful anticipation of the heavenly banquet we will share together with him. As we enter into our celebration of Communion, I would like to share these words of Augustine, a Christian theologian of the early church, with you. It sums up what it is to be the church in this time between Jesus’ victory on the cross and the time when the kingdom of God will be realized in its fullness:
"Let us sing alleluia here on earth, while we still live in anxiety, so that we may sing it one day in heaven in full security . . . We shall have no enemies in heaven, we shall never lose a friend. God’s praises are sung both there and here, but here they are sung in anxiety, there in security; here they are sung by those destined to die, there, by those destined to live forever; here they are sung in hope, there in hope’s fulfillment; here, they are sung by wayfarers, there, by those living in their own country. So then . . . let us sing now, not in order to enjoy a life of leisure, but in order to lighten our labors. You should sing as wayfarers do – sing, but continue your journey . . . Sing then, but keep going."1
Amen.
FULL SERMON HERE
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