Eucharistic meditation, Third Sunday of Advent

1 Corinthians 10: Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.

As I mentioned at the outset of the sermon, Christians are more apt than unbelievers to spiritualize the gospel, and specifically to treat Jesus' kingdom as a "spiritual" kingdom that doesn't have any earthly, visible form or manifestation, at least not in the present age.

Of course, Jesus' kingdom is Spiritual in the biblical sense, that is, in the sense that it derives its power and efficacy from the Spirit of Jesus poured out on Pentecost. But it is not spiritual in the sense often thought. Jesus' kingdom, as I've emphasized, is a kingdom, and that means it has a king, subjects, rules, procedures for discipline, and on and on.

This table is one of the clearest and most direct refutations of this wrong-headed spiritualization of the gospel. This is the table of the kingdom, the foretaste of the feast we will celebrate throughout eternity in a new heavens and new earth. King Jesus is the host at this table, and we, the King's friends, are invited to be here as well. If Jesus were ruling an invisible kingdom, what would be the use of this meal? Why serve physical bread, physical wine, physical eating and drinking if the kingdom this meal marks and signifies is spiritual? Why have a meal at all? Why not sit with our eyes closed, in silence, or quietly humming?

Every week when we sit down to this table, we are declaring that Jesus is King, and that His kingdom has a real, physical, tangible presence in the world. Every week as we sit down at this table, we are declaring that the gospel of Jesus is political. Every week as we sit down to this meal, we are announcing to the kings of the earth that there is another King, one Jesus, and that they must submit to Him. Every Eucharist is a challenge to the kings and kingdoms of this world, to every murderous Herod.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, December 17, 2006 at 09:20 AM

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