Homily: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Homily for Corpus Christi, May 25, 2008
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
John 6:51-58

Let me share with you an old and wonderful Hasidic story.*

When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov
saw misfortune threatening the Jewish people,
it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate.
There he would light a fire, say a special prayer,
and a miracle would be accomplished
and the misfortune averted.

Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezritch,
had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven,
he would go to the same place in the forest and say:
"Master of the Universe, listen!
I do not know how to light the fire,
but I am still able to say the prayer,"
and again the miracle would be accomplished,
the misfortune averted.

Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib, in order to save his people once more,
would go into the forest and say:
"I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer,
but I know the place and this must be sufficient."
It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished,
the misfortune averted.

Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune.
Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands,
he spoke to God and said:
"I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer;
I cannot even find the place in the forest.
All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient."
And it was sufficient.
The miracle was accomplished, the misfortune averted.

It is said that God made human beings because he loves stories.
And the best of our stories are the ones about God and us.

In the first scripture today Moses is telling the Jewish people,
“Don’t forget the story! Remember the story!
Tell the story of how the Lord has saved us:
from the desert, from starvation, from drought,
from slavery and from our enemies!
Remember the story – and tell the story…”

That’s what Moses told the Israelites
and we are still following his advice.

It’s just what we do every Sunday.
We tell the ancient stories
and remember how the God has saved his people,
so that we don’t forget the Lord’s love.

Preaching is meant to help us see how the old stories
are still the stories of how God loves and saves us - today.

And there is one story that we tell every Sunday,
no matter what the liturgical season or feast.

Every Sunday we tell the story that begins
Before he was given up to death,
a death he freely accepted,
he took bread… he took the cup…
he gave you thanks and praise…

We tell that story every Sunday because:

like the rabbi who could not find the place in the forest,
we cannot return to Calvary – and so we gather here;

like the rabbi who is unable to light the fire,
we do not know how to give ourselves as Jesus did,
and so we offer his sacrifice at the altar;

and like the rabbi who forgot the prayer,
we pray the words of Jesus and we tell his story…

We remember the story, we know the story
and we tell the story, over and over again…

And every week the miracle is accomplished
(Christ who died and rose comes to our table)
and by the strength of his presence,
the misfortune of sin and death is averted,
in our not forgetting, in our remembering and telling…

That is why it is important for us
to gather, remember and tell the stories every week -
even when we don’t feel like getting up on Sunday morning.

That is why it is important for us to gather and tell the story
even when we allow ourselves to become “bored”
with the stories of how God loves and saves us.

That is why we need to listen to the ancient writings:
to long and learn to understand how they are stories for us today.

That is why it is important for us to gather together,
and why it’s not enough to pray alone on the Sabbath,
lest, left to our own devices, we fail to remember and tell the story.

That is why we bring our children to Mass on the Lord’s Day
so that even before they can speak or understand the story,
they begin to hear, week after week, the ancient words,
he took the bread, he broke it… he took the cup, he blessed it…
he gave it to his disciples and he said…”

On a Sunday morning some years ago,
a mother was in the front row at Our Lady’s with her toddler son
and just before the Lamb of God as I held up the Bread,
the mom shushed her son and told him to pay attention.
In reply he said, loud enough for all to hear,
“He’s just gonna break it!”
Later that day I called the embarrassed mom
and told her how thrilled I was that a child so young already knew
that on Sundays we gather to break the bread of the Lord.

He already knew in his bones what he could not yet articulate.
The story was already seeping in…

That’s why we tell the old stories over and over again:
that new generations will know the miracle, the deliverance,
and learn that in the body and blood of Christ, who is the story,
we have communion with one another and with our God.

Today, ten children will join us for the first time
in receiving the sacrament of the Lord's table.
In the bread and cup of the Eucharist they will have,
as St. Paul wrote, a share, a participation,
in the body and blood of Christ.
They will be become part of the story we tell here
every Sunday and we welcome them warmly
to the story that is their story in Christ.

*See The Gates of the Forest by Elie Wiesel

-ConcordPastor

(H/T to a parishioner whose mother keeps this tune among her favorites.)


Sanctuary Choir Christ United Methodist Church College Station, Texas

I Love to Tell the Story
Lyrics: Katherine Hankey, 1834-1911
Music: William G. Fischer, 1835-1912
1.
I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story, because I know 'tis true;
it satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.

Refrain:
I love to tell the story, 'twill be my theme in glory,
to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.

2.
I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems
than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.
I love to tell the story, it did so much for me;
and that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.
(Refrain)

3.
I love to tell the story; 'tis pleasant to repeat
what seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
the message of salvation from God's own holy Word.
(Refrain)

4.
I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
'twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.
(Refrain)

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