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The Presence of Christ
Good morning, brothers and sisters, and happy Lord’s Day! It’s so good to be here together with you. But above all else, it’s good to be here together with Jesus. Jesus promised that when the church gathered, he would be in our midst. And not only is he here, but he’s going to be speaking to us throughout this morning’s service. When we hear the Scriptures, that is Jesus speaking. It’s why we say after every reading, “This is the Word of the Lord” or “This is the Gospel of the Lord.” When we hear the sermon—insofar as it accurately conveys the truth of Scripture—that is Jesus speaking too. It is Jesus sharing his word and making his appeal through his church. And after we’ve been with Jesus and heard Jesus speak, we come to our most intimate encounter with Christ, the Lord’s Supper, of which Jesus said, “This is my body.” The Lord’s Supper is real communion, real fellowship—Christ sacramentally present with us. And it is the closest that we will ever come on this side of heaven to actually touching our Lord.
Brothers and sisters, if we could actually see Jesus sitting here this morning or standing behind the pulpit or lectern, I believe that it would instantly revolutionize our worship. We wouldn’t just go through the motions. We wouldn’t allow our minds to wander. We wouldn’t sing like we are half asleep. We would listen with close attention. We would read the responses with a loud voice. We would raise our hands or say “Amen” or at least nod our heads. We would say the Creed with vigor. We would confess sin with a humble and contrite heart. We would approach the Table with godly seriousness and joy. We would put ourselves into the service and give it our all, because we would want Jesus to be pleased with every moment of our worship, from beginning to end. To worship in this way, we need faith that Jesus is truly and actually with us, and that we aren’t here just to talk about him; we’re here to meet with him.
“The truth is this: Christ is fully present in worship whether we are aware of his presence or not. … When we gather to worship, we must not come first and foremost seeking an experience; we come seeking Christ. … [And] the more we pay attention to the real presence of Christ through spoken words, prayers, sermon, responses, and so forth, the more we will experience the reality of his presence among us” (Constance Cherry).
More coming soon.