The Real Presence

            One of the most unexpected joys of ordained ministry is giving communion to someone suffering from dementia. Under normal circumstances, I find myself tripping over myself trying to figure out what to say or not to say. I wonder if my visits are necessary given they might not even know who I am. And if they do, they will probably forget I was there ten minutes later.

            Nonetheless, I make the visit. I go because I believe in the power of God’s love to break through any barrier or boundary in this world – for Christ is risen from the dead. I go because I need to remind myself that God’s love has no limits.

When I extend my hand with the wafer and say, “The Body of Christ, The Bread of Heaven” I notice a fundamental change in the encounter. A transformation happens when I hold their hand and recite the Lord’s Prayer – a prayer most remember.

            In that moment, I am freed from anxiety and feel at peace. And it is my hope that they, too, experience an overwhelming peace. It is my hope that somewhere deep down in their being they know the real presence of Jesus speaking a word of peace in an existence that must be terribly dark and confusing.

            In today’s gospel lesson, we find the disciples hiding out in fear of the Jews – in a place of darkness and confusion. They are afraid the authorities will hand them over to death just like they handed Jesus over to death.

But Jesus finds them in their place of fear and says, “Peace be with you.” And like an Episcopalian in the years following the 1979 prayer book revision, the disciples were startled and terrified by Jesus’ greeting of peace! Thankfully, we didn’t take this passage too literally when The Peace was inserted into our liturgy or we would be touching each other’s hand and feet!

After the disciples touch Jesus’ hands and feet, scripture says they were joyful yet in disbelief but still wondering. A part of me wishes this was a part of a creedal statement somewhere. I am joyful yet in disbelief but still wondering.  How beautiful!

            And then Jesus asks the disciples for some broiled fish. At our Tuesday Bible study, someone said they were disappointed Jesus asks for broiled fish. They were certain that in the kingdom of heaven only fried fish would be served! Nonetheless, the eating of fish further solidified that Jesus was not a ghost or a spirit but a living and breathing person.

Jesus’ entire body is resurrected from the dead. This is not a fairytale. This is not some kind of metaphysical or metaphorical resurrection. Jesus is alive. Jesus’ physical presence in this world endured death and the grave. And the Church, by Jesus’ instruction, continues to acknowledge of Jesus’ real presence in the world through the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, through what we sometimes call the Holy Mysteries.

Like the disciples, we, too, live in a dark and confusing world. We live in a place where we hide behind all kinds of locked doors – whether they are physical or emotional or spiritual. We live in a world where so much of our experience is shaped by fear, shaped by the absence of peace.

And unfortunately, too often does the church perpetuate this posture of fear in the preaching and spreading of the gospel. Too often does the church speak from a place of anxiety instead of a place of humility and authenticity.  On my way back to Selma from a meeting in Birmingham, I saw a church sign that read, “Forecast in Hell: The weather never changes.”

 Since when are we trying to scare people into heaven? Couldn’t the sign have easily of said, “Forecast in Heaven: The weather is always perfect”? But even more, since when has Christianity been so focused on what happens to us in the afterlife? Doesn’t Jesus’ bodily resurrection suggest that he wants our time on this earth to reflect life in heaven?

I read this week, “I worry about a church that fears the power of culture more than it fears the power of God.” The problem of fearing culture more than fearing God is that when we fear culture our response comes from a place of darkness and confusion instead of from a place of light and hope, instead of from the things of God.

In the Article for the Week entitled, “Christian Courage before Culture Strategy”, the author notes the different ways in which Christians spread the gospel from a place of fear and anxiety. He says a fear base response leads Christians to convert culture, condemn culture, or consume culture. While the author notes that all three strategies have merit, he further notes that these responses are hallow without a renewed sense of courage.

I would argue that this renewed posture of courage begins when we revisit the empty tomb, when we encounter the Risen Lord in our midst. In the Risen Lord, courage is renewed when we witness a love that breaks all boundaries, courage is renewed when we experience a peace that releases us from shame and fear, courage is renewed when we proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins.

Just as visiting a dementia patient might seem pointiness, I imagine proclaiming hope to a world with too many problems to count might seem pointless. You might feel like it is too late. The diagnosis is in. The world is doomed to death – there is too much darkness and confusion to overcome. And I hope you hear me when I say that this kind of thinking is driven by fear.

But as Christians our words and actions are encouraged by a hope that defies all odds because we follow and proclaim a Lord and Savior whose words and actions defied all odds. As Christians, we believe that it is Jesus has already changed culture, Jesus has already changed the world for he is risen from the dead.  

This culture change that we all desperately long for and hope for and work for is already present among us now in the Risen Lord. Jesus has unlocked the door. You are free to enter. In fact, you are invited to enter again at the Lord’s Table when you take the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood.

And know, as you eat the flesh and blood of Jesus at this altar, you are giving witness to a faith that believes we, as a church community, are the flesh and blood of Jesus. We are the living, breathing body of Jesus. We are the hands and feet of Jesus. We are the resurrected body of Jesus speaking the liberating words of peace to a world that is hiding out in fear. We are witnesses to the truth that God’s love is alive at all times and all places for Christ is alive. Amen.