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Christian Resources Library
The Story and Meanings of The Eucharist
A series of
four sermons
Historical background and study material
1: The Gathering of the People of God
2: The Liturgy of the Word
3: The Liturgy of the Supper: the Eucharistic
Prayer
4: The Liturgy of the Supper: Communion and
departure
2: The Liturgy of the Word
We consider our deeper involvement
Sermon preached on Sunday 16th March 2003
(Page numbers refer to our Blue Service Booklet)
Introduction
The Eucharist falls into two main sections - The Liturgy of the Word
and Liturgy of the Sacrament. The dividing line is the Peace. Care needs
to be taken to ensure that these two halves are balanced and, as we
saw last week, that we all participate as fully and as meaningfully
as we are able.
If we refer again to our blue service book the Liturgy of the Word
consists of the Collect and the Readings, the Sermon, the Creed and
the Intercessions. (pages 4 -7)
It is important to see the Readings (with Hymn or Psalm), Sermon and
Intercessions as belonging together and relating to each other as far
as possible. This is straightforward during the major seasons of the
Church's year, especially from Advent to Trinity Sunday, when the broad
outline is given by the life of Jesus and the great acts of God for
our good. It is less easy in the 'Sundays after Trinity' period, though
even then there is a link of theme between the Old Testament Reading
and the Gospel, and Sermon and Intercessions can chime in. We note that
the liturgical colour is meant as a visual aid to draw our attention
to the season and its character: white for great feasts and celebrations,
red for Pentecost and Martyrs' days, purple for penitence in Lent and
Advent and green in ordinary time.
The aim of this part of the service is to give us the chance to reflect
on some aspect of our faith. There is a minimum of ceremony, except
to introduce the Gospel - because it faces us with the story of Jesus
itself- and we can simply listen in a spirit of meditation. The hope
is that we shall be 'tuned in' to God and moved away from our everyday
occupations and concerns, or at least look at them in the light of God.
1. The Collect
The tradition has always been for there to be a special prayer for each
Sunday, which serves to put us in the spirit to receive the Readings.
They tend to be brief and succinct. Some, of course, are very memorable
and there is much to be said for learning them for one's own private
use. You never know when you can use them in the course of life.
2. The Readings
It is not easy to know how to receive the scripture readings: they are
brief extracts, sometimes snatched out of longer stories or pieces of
reasoning, especially in the case of the Epistle; they come from times
very different from our own and are not always easy to grasp.
Sometimes, on the other hand, they hit us between the eyes and are
moving. But how should we receive them?
The readings we are given each week, sometimes related to each other,
at least in part, often not, are best seen as samples of what the Bible
is meant to be for us: the account of God's ways with us and with the
world. Scripture is there to get us into tune with what life is to be
like in God's world, with all its complexity and uncertainty. It does
not give us copy-book answers to all our problems, and it is full of
conflict and argument. But it gives us certain directions in which to
look and thoughts to wrestle with. Overall, it makes us aware of God's
relentless love for us; his determination to have us back into true
relationship with himself and with each other. Not easy, but essential
for our well-being.
At one time, there were only two readings, normally one from an Epistle
and one from a Gospel. Then a reading from the Old Testament was added:
it was felt odd to leave out so large a part of the Bible from reading
at the Eucharist - though it remains optional. The Epistle opens a window
into the earliest thinking about our faith: we see how the very first
Christian communities and their leaders coped with what to believe and
how to live. In the Gospel, we have the life and teaching of Jesus,
culminating in his final time on earth: so we learn how God would have
us see him and follow him, for Jesus is the reflection of God to us.
Here at St Mary's, on our Pew Sheet, we provide a brief comment on each
Reading to help our reflection, especially after the service is over.
This tries to focus on the main thrust of the passage or some aspect
of it.
3. The Sermon
Perhaps the point for us about the Sermon is the need we all have to
learn to listen and to make connections between the Word of God and
the text of our lives. Sermons take different shapes, styles and approaches.
Sometimes it can be helpful to use visual images or music as we reflect
on what we have heard. Sometimes a story or anecdote from experience
helps us to relate to what is being explored. It is important that we
remind ourselves that the readings never exist in isolation; they reflect
the concerns and experience of the writers and their communities who,
in their own particular ways, sought to respond to God. The challenge
is to ask how the particular pieces of scripture relate to our own concerns
and experiences. In this respect, perhaps the Sermon ought to be heard
as if it were a kind of conversation - even if usually only the preacher
speaks. There is an interesting balance to be achieved between explanation
and application. I feel it is my responsibility as a preacher to encourage
an atmosphere in which we can all be surprised by the fresh truth of
God…. through our own insights, thoughts and feelings.
4. The Creed
The Nicene Creed dates from many years ago, the fourth century to be
precise, and it reflects the ways of thinking and the controversies
that were current at that time. People sometimes say it ought to be
modernised, and, for example, in the creed we use in our Family Eucharist,
we use such a form that has been provided. But how should we regard
the traditional Creed? Perhaps, we recite it out of habit, if we are
that sort of person: but often people have reservations about this bit
or that, and perhaps have a discreet cough as they come to that section!
But it is important to say that the Creed is not a legal document that
we are, as it were, being required to sign. It is a symbol of our allegiance.
Of course, it does not cover everything: it has nothing about Jesus'
life between his coming and his dying, nothing about the Eucharist or
about Christian living. No such document would be perfect, and it may
be thought easiest to take it for what it is; the traditional symbol
of faith. No such summary could possible satisfy us all, yet it would
be odd if we could say nothing together to express our commitment. That
is precisely what it is: the sign of commitment to the faith of which
the Readings have given us samples. In a way, then, the Creed functions
rather like Hymns: it encourages and edifies in a general way, but you
wouldn't expect to sign up to every line on pain of death!
5. Intercessions
I find that I can begin to make sense of Intercession if I think of
it not as my attempt to persuade a distant God up there to act directly
in the life of certain other people, but rather as my willingness for
whatever energy of love there is in my own small being to be used as
I align it with the energy of God and imagine it flowing into and through
me towards others.
Prayer opens us to the presence of God….. the ever-creating and
sustaining God….. my hope is that through our prayers God will
bless those both named and un-named. My prayer is that the love of God
will be done and the love of God will be shown.
You might like to think about the Lord's Prayer as a model for prayer.
Truly, all we seek is to identify ourselves with God's will and the
fulfilling of his purpose: always, as we make our detailed intercessions,
'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done' should act as the undercurrent.
The Reverend Dr James Woodward
Historical
background and study material
1: The Gathering of the People of God
2: The Liturgy of the Word
3: The Liturgy of the Supper: the Eucharistic
Prayer
4: The Liturgy of the Supper: Communion and
departure
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