Rev Gideon Lee
There is such a thing as World Communion Sunday and today is the day. So I want to talk a little bit about communion.
Matthew 21:33-46
"The Parable of the Tenants
21:33-46pp – Mk 12:1-12; Lk 20:9-19
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet."
This is Jesus telling about a second parable. So there was another parable before this.
This landowner had a plan. He built a wall and watchtower to protect his wineyard. He spent a lot of money and time towards this wineyard.
Jesus asked what do they think the landowner will do to the tenants for their evil deeds? They answered reasonably and Jesus told them this is what the scriptures said and they realised that Jesus was talking about them.
This was the last week of Jesus' life as he entered Jerusalem. The Pharisees asked Jesus by what authority was Jesus doing all these things. Jesus in response to that told them two parables. The first parable was found in verse 28. The parable of the two sons and that of the tenants are related.
The parable of the two sons had two scenarios. The first son said no but changed his heart and went to do as his father asked. The second son said yes but did not go. Jesus asked who was the son that did what the father wanted, and they answered it was the first son. And Jesus told them the tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of heaven before them. They were like the second son. Jesus is telling them to wake up.
This morning I pray we will not be so religious that we miss what God is doing. We who are supposed to be called the children of God, who has the keys to the kingdom may miss out.
Then he spoke about the second parable. The landowner invested a lot into his property. He rented it out to some farmers. Same like some landowners at Balik Pulau who then harvest durian trees and pay a portion to the landowner. This was what happened. He sent his servants to collect rental. Not only did he not get his rental, his servants was beaten up and one even killed.
So the landowner sent a larger team and it happened again with some of them killed. He did not protest or made a report against them. So he sent his sons and hopefully they will know and see his authority. Instead they saw the sons as an heir and killed the sons to take their inheritance. These are terrible people.
So Jesus asked the self righteous Pharisees what would you do? They said they should get what they deserve, take back the land and rent it to others who will pay rent. This was what they answered but actually they were talking about themselves. They killed John the Baptist by beheading him. They didn't listened to the person God sent. So God sent his only son and they didn't listened either. They plotted how to kill Jesus. Jesus was at the prime of his life when he gave his life for us. As we observe communion today we need to see the significance of Jesus' death.
Jesus was at the prime of his life where he can do so much but he chose to die for you and me. He was in control of his life. In the garden of Gethsemane, he asked that this cup pass him by but he chose to die for us to fulfil the Father's will. At any age we are at, we can choose to live for Jesus. What was Jesus's motivation when he went to the cross for us? His motivation was because he love us. For God so loved the world. He made a choice.
I read a story about Mother Theresa. Everytime I see her picture, she was wearing as a nun. They asked what is the special feature of Mother Theresa. She was a small sized woman and nothing I would qualify as exceptional outwardly. Was it her smile or kind eyes? And this journalist remembered he once saw Mother Theresa without her shoes and he saw that her feet was deformed. Like in China where they bind the girl's feet. And it was a painful thing for them. He asked why her feet was deformed and one of the nuns explained that when people donate shoes for the orphanage there would always be one pair that nobody wants or a few pair left and those are the shoes that Mother Theresa would wear. And because it was ill fitting, it caused her feet to be deformed. She should have been first in line to pick the shoes she like but she chose to serve with humbleness and esteem others above herself.
How are you marked when you serve God? Maybe a little inconvenience and we don't want to serve God. Jesus went to the cross because he loved you and me. And he was marked by the stripes he took and the nails on him. What did he do it for? Because he loved you and me.
There was this story of the Korean and Japanese. They hated one another. The Koreans hated the Japanese and there was this animosity. There was this young Korean who went to Japan to study. One day as he was going to the university, he was going in the subway and there was this drunk Japanese who fell from the platform onto the rails. The Korean boy jumped in to try safe the Japanese but unfortunately both of them died.
It came out in the papers and the Japanese cannot understand why this Korean boy will try to save a Japanese. And it was found out that the father of this boy was a prisoner of war to the Japanese. The emperor of Japan attended this boy's funeral because he demonstrated such love for another Japanese.
I want to say a few things before we take this morning's communion.
1 Corinthians 11:23-34
"23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 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.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
And when I come I will give further directions."
Our motive must be right. We are not here to eat because we are hungry. Or to fulfil a religious responsibility. These emblems have no magical powers. We do it in remembrance of Jesus. Some people say we take holy communion because we get healed. What did Jesus accomplished by going to the cross for us? He received 40 lashes and by his stripes we are healed. He can heal us through his work on the cross. Can he heal us without the communion? Yes he can. Can he heal us when we take the communion? Of course he can. We are his children and his death on the cross can do all these for us. The emblem has no power in itself.
There was this one time I was serving communion in my old church. I'd go to individuals and serve the emblem and call them by name. It's just the way I do it. On one Sunday someone I knew refused to take communion so after service I went to talk to the person and asked if anything was wrong because he didn't take communion. He said he didn't take because he was angry as he had an argument with his wife that morning. Holy Communion is not about excluding you but to include you. He should have examined himself and settle it with the person and with God and come to the table. It is not meant to exclude you from taking the Holy Communion.
Get it right with God and take the Holy Communion. Don't have the wrong theology. If you are a non Christian, it's not to exclude you. All you have to do is ask Jesus into your heart and that you accept Jesus as Lord and saviour.
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