COME, RECEIVE, EXPECT


Matthew 7:7-11

Lent is a time of preparation.  Originally, it was a time when new Christians prepared for baptism and reception into the community of the church on Easter Sunday.  Today, Lent is a time for reflection and the practice of spiritual disciplines as we prepare for the celebration of Christ's resurrection and his promise of eternal life.  This year, we're going to grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Lord's Supper both through the proclamation of the Word and the engagement with God's grace through this sacrament each week during Lent.

In today's message, look for three important words, all of them action words: come, receive, expect.


In the movie, "The Polar Express," the young hero of the story doesn't believe in Santa Claus.  His research and experience have proven to him that he's correct.   Believing as he does, he doesn't expect a magical Christmas train haunted by the ghost of a hobo to pick him up and whisk him away to the North Pole to meet Santa.   

Expectation, sometimes, are the response to the most real things in the world that are not seen but promised to us.

Holy Communion is a sacrament, a practice instituted by Christ, that is a promise that each time we participate in it, Christ is present, and in some way, we can experience the unconditional love of God.

It's a promise that is repeated throughout scripture in one form or another.  For example, Proverbs 8:17 says, "...  those who seek me diligently find me."

Jesus said:
  • Ask, and we are promised  to receive. We can trust it will happen.
  • Seek, and we are promised that we will find. We can depend on it.
  • Knock, and we are promised that the way will be opened. We can expect it.
Because God so loves us.
Ask, seek, knock -- all verbs inviting us into an interactive relationship with God where we engage with the grace of God rather than taking a passive role.

Come, receive, expect enable us to more fully engage and experience God's presence in the sacrament of Holy Communion.


COME

We come into God's presence through acts of worship.  Worship is the means by which we transition from focusing on ourselves to focusing on God who is already present with us.  We do that through:
  • Adoration -- reminding ourselves how awesome God is.
  • Confession -- getting rid of anything that has distanced  us from God.
  • Thanksgiving -- responding to the blessings of God's unearned love for us.

RECEIVE

Psalm 134:2 says, "Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord."

Lifting up our hands is a gesture used in worship to express praise, thanksgiving, and especially when the palms are facing upward, a willingness to receive God's gifts of healing, blessing and comfort.  

That is why we come forward to humbly receive the bread and the cup with cupped, open hands.


EXPECT

We bring our life experiences to Christ's table.  We may come hurt and bruised by events of that week or are struggling through a difficult period of our life.  We bring our doubts and fears, and there are times when we have trouble seeing or feeling God's love and presence with us.

In the movie, "Polar Express,"  the boy makes the decision to get on the train, and opens a crack in his doubts.  With each experience, his disbelief is transformed into belief 

But first, he has to get on the train.  In the same way, I've learned that despite the circumstances of my current reality, each time I receive the sacrament, if I choose the attitude of expectation, I will experience God's grace in some way.  Each time we make that choice, we open ourselves to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with God.  

 The sacrament of Holy Communion is a promise from God to show up.  God shows up when we get on the Holy Spirit train and engage with God's grace.

So …

Come into God's presence through acts of worship.

Receive God's gifts with open hands and hearts.

Expect.  "Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are things we can't see."  ("The Polar Express")  There are things that only can be seen and felt through faith in the promises of God and the love God so wants to share with us.


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