I will begin this morning by again quoting from Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey, among the most important Anglican voices of the 20th century. He said: “The life of a mature Christian is continually responding to the fact of our Baptism.” For him, Baptism means a new life of listening, reflecting, and discerning—a whole life of repentance and humility that the eyes of our heart which were blinded by sin and ignorance can be opened to see what was previously hidden, and to be fed and nourished by what was previously invisible and unknown to us. By Baptism we see and think differently.
One of the mysteries the Baptism begins to unveil is the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which we receive only after we are baptized, thus the Eucharist, a profound mystery itself, is also one of the aspects of the mystery of Baptism and of baptized life in Jesus Christ. And we cannot help but be reminded of the Eucharist hearing of the feeding miracle in Mark 8, the feeding of the 4,000 which was itself not the Eucharist, but was remembered by the apostles proclaiming the Gospel as a preview of the Eucharist and Christ’s ability to endlessly feed us with Himself.
In considering the Eucharist, the mystery of Holy Communion, it is helpful to bring to mind the traditional attitude of Anglicans toward the Eucharist, which is also the attitude of the undivided Church of the first one thousand years. Why do we believe that the bread and wine become Christ’s precious Body and Blood? Because Jesus said so. Simple as that. He said so, and He is the Son of God, through Whom all things are made: so what He says and does is true.
This attitude is captured by the 17th century Bishop Jeremy Taylor. In his book, The Rules for Holy Living, he wrote: “Dispute not concerning the secret of this mystery, and the precision of the manner of Christ’s presence in it: it is enough for you that Christ shall be present to your soul, as an instrument of grace.” Anglican theology and practice has always accepted the doctrine of Christ’s real and actual presence in the Eucharist, that the Eucharist conveys to those who receive it in faith real and objective grace. We hear all of that in Jeremy Taylor’s teaching. But we also hear a strong caution to not dispute concerning the mystery of the Eucharist, nor struggle to understand how the bread and wine become Christ’s precious Body and Blood. Accept it is what Jesus said it is: His Body and Blood, and therefore accept the Eucharist as an objective means of grace, because He is presence and He always gives grace and mercy to those who seek it. The mystery of the Eucharist is really the mystery of Christ we receive in and through the Eucharist.
We hear from Paul a variety of teachings about the mystery of God. As Saint Paul writes in Ephesians 3:5: “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” In Colossians 2:2-3: Paul tells us that he taught that we “may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” And earlier in Colossians: “this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” So to speak of the mystery of God, in such a way as to not provide easy answers to every question, is how Saint Paul himself taught. Paul sought to make us progressively aware of a mystery, which means becoming progressively aware of Jesus Christ: Him as God, Him as Man; Him begotten before all worlds; Him taking upon Himself our human nature; Him Crucified, Him Resurrected; Him Who died for our sins, Him Who is always alive.
Paul taught profoundly about the mystery of Eucharist. These teaching most obviously is found in 1 Corinthians 11, and these words: “I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
In this first written teaching about the Eucharist that we find in the Church, we find Paul reiterating our Lord’s instruction: to receive the Eucharist for the remembrance of Him – that the remembrance of Christ is the purpose of receiving the Eucharist. And here it helpful to know that the word in Greek which is translated as “in remembrance” in English is anamnesis. There is no simple and elegant translation of anamnesis into English. Anamnesis in clunky English means something like “the making actually present again.” Thus “do this in remembrance of Me” becomes” “Do this—for the making actually present again—of Me.” The common English “in remembrance” might be the best choice of sub-optimal options, but it might make Christians think that the Eucharist is for simply remembering Christ, like we might remember our grandmother, or that one thing we did once when we were younger. It does not mean that. Jesus instructed us, and Paul reiterated for the apostolic Church, that in receiving the Eucharist we receive into our bodies His actual presence, the same presence as if He were standing among us and walking with us. Indeed the same presence of Christ that Saint Mary Magdalene experienced when she heard Christ call her name.
My brothers and sisters, this is a mystery and we need not seek easy answers to the question of how it all works. Let our trust in Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man, suffice for us. Jesus told us to eat and drink His precious Body and Blood which the Holy Spirit gives us through His transformation of bread and wine. So let us eat and drink and know His precious Body and Blood as His gift to us! Why is the bread and wine His Body and Blood? Because Jesus said so.
In receiving the Eucharist, we are saying “I believe you, Jesus.” In receiving the Eucharist, we are saying, “I believe you are alive and resurrected in Your Church, of which You are the head.” In receiving the Eucharist, we are saying, “Thank you, Jesus. I believe you are alive and resurrected in me—in me, a member of Your Body the Church.” In receiving the Eucharist, we are saying, “Thank you Jesus, we love you, and we know that You love us also”—You, Who live and reign with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
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