Corpus Christi 2014

Corpus Christi 2014 (John 6:47-58)

“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

Jesus is the incarnation of life itself.

The co-eternal Son of the Father is the pattern of life, the source of life and the fountain of life. There can be no life in this universe, our planet or in us individually apart from the source of life.

Our Heavenly Father delights to create life by the power of the Holy Spirit according to the pattern of the Son. That pattern is universal, unconditional love.

The Plan of Salvation is abundant life. The Plan of Salvation is not judgment, condemnation or exclusion. As the universal unconditional love of God in human flesh, Jesus invites all people everywhere to receive abundant life through the sacraments of reunification and transformation.

The sacrament of baptism applies the gift of reunification to our souls. No law or philosophy or spiritual discipline can accomplish this. Reunification is not something you can earn. Neither is it a right you can claim. It is a gift.

The gift of reunification with the Triune God is Jesus offering himself to everyone everywhere. Nothing you do can qualify you for this gift. Nothing you do can disqualify you for this gift. The gift is universal and unconditional. The gift is Jesus.

Personal transformation is also a gift. It is the gift of the sacrament of Holy Communion. It is the very life of the co-eternal incarnate Son.

At the altar of sacrificial love, God the Father sends God the Holy Spirit to transform ordinary bread and wine, the staples of life in the ancient Mediterranean world, into the very life substance and life blood of the co-eternal incarnate Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus makes this very clear to his disciples. He emphasizes the teaching in the words: “very truly I tell you”. This is the introduction that says to the disciples and to us: pay attention. Listen carefully. This is important.

This is the most important teaching you can hear. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

We are created beings. We derive life from the Creator. We are relational beings. We participate in life as we participate in the series of relationships the Triune God created for. Moses and the prophets declare that we as a species chose to separate from God. We chose to separate from the very source of life and the very pattern of life. Apart from God we have no life. We have a temporary material existence. That existence is passing away.

Jesus offers to restore the original life God designed for us. That life originally was a gift. That life still is a gift. The gift comes from God the Father through God the Son by the indwelling and transforming Presence of God the Holy Spirit.

The gift of life for our fallen and rebellious species is the Real Presence of the co-eternal Son in the blessed sacrament of Holy Communion.

Very few people value this gift. This should not be a surprise. A species lost in separation and rebellion values pride, self- will and dominance. We do not value the Real Presence of God with us.

That is why nearly everyone who knew Jesus either rejected him or abandoned him. That is why the religious and political authorities of the First Century not only executed Jesus but had the power to execute him. That power is the active rebellion or passive indifference of our species to the gift of God in Jesus Christ.

Despite our rebellion and indifference, indeed because of it, Jesus came to overcome it. He overcomes it by accepting it, enduring it, suffering the consequences of it and transforming rebellion and indifference back into life by the real presence of uncreated love.

Jesus does not authorize his followers to impose salvation on anyone. He asks us to continually offer the gift of salvation by grace through faith in love.

Whether people receive him or not, Jesus offers himself to us here at the altar of sacrifice.

Whether people believe in him or not, Jesus makes himself available to us here at the altar of sacrifice.

Jesus is constant in his universal unconditional love for us.

Jesus is the pattern of the Seventh Day of Real Presence in the sacrament of real presence.

The teaching of real presence is the invitation to move from mere existence into the way of abundant life.

The teaching of real presence is not just a doctrine for people to debate, it is a personal relationship for people to experience.

The scriptures offer the invitation to eternal life in the words: taste and see that the Lord is good. Jesus teaches with full assurance, infinite patience and limitless compassion:

“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

The Holy Spirit appeals to us: Choose Jesus. Choose life.