God Renews Us Through the Gospel
The words before us onthis Holy Thursday are these of King David in his psalm of repentance, Psalm51:10-13: Createin me a pure heart, O God. Renew an unwavering spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence. Do nottake your HolySpirit from me. Restore to me the joyof your salvation. Sustain me with awilling spirit.Iwill teach rebels your ways, and sinnerswill turn to you.
If you had limited time, but wanted to talk about the ocean, there are lots of things you could talk about, right? You couldtalk about its biodiversity—from microscopic plankton to enormous whales. You could discuss ocean currents or deep-sea exploration. Pollution of the oceans by chemical spills and plastic waste could be a topic. The way humans interact with the ocean—fishing and shipping and tourism— that could be interesting. With limited time, you would only be able to barely scratch the surface of any one of those things.
The same thing is true when itcomes to Holy Thursday. Think of allthe things we could talk about today. There are so many serious and important things to consider about what took place on the night Jesus was betrayed.
The humility of Jesus as he did the lowly servant work of washing his disciples’ feet
The command to his disciples to love one another
The way he predicted who would betray him
The intense prayer in Gethsemane that there might be a different way to pay for the world’s sin
The sleepy disciples who couldn’t manage to support theirLord in his hour of need
The traitor Judas leading a crowd armed with swords and clubs to arrest Jesus
The way Jesus went willingly from the garden
The shamof a trial before the high priest
The shame of Peter three times denying that he even knewJesus
If I stopped right there, you might accuse me of forgetting something—something big. You might even consider my glaring omission to be the most important event of the evening—Jesus instituting the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper where he gives us his very body and blood to eat and drink so that through this most concrete andsubstantial dose of pure gospel, we may be renewed in our faith. It is so important that you’ll come to church for it today/tonight—even though you were here Sunday and you may have plans tocome tomorrowfor Good Friday and again on Sunday for a great celebration of Jesus’ victory over the grave!
King David’s words of repentance in Psalm 51 will lead us to consider the special gospel gift Jesus gave to his disciples in the Upper Room. On this Holy Thursday, we remember—and we experience through the Word andthe Sacrament—that God Renews Us Through the Gospel because ItCreates in Us Pure Hearts and Restores our Salvation Joy.
The Gospel Creates Pure Hearts (v10-11)
We go to the Upper Room and hear again the words of Jesus: He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it tothem, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In thesameway, he took the cup after the supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is being poured out for you’ (Luke 22:19-20).
Reclining at the table with his disciples, Jesus pointed ahead tothe sacrifice he would offer onthe cross the next day. Today, you and I “do this”—we celebratethe Sacrament he instituted that night—to look back and remember the blessings did win on the cross and gives to us in this special meal.
You may know, but not everyone does, that this is not merely a remembrance meal that Jesus established that night. Many Christians have a hard timebelieving that Jesus actually gives us his true body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine. They believe that Jesus’ words This is mybodyand This is myblood must be understood as “This bread represents my body” and “This cup represents my blood” because, they say, his actual body and blood are in heaven. For them, the Lord’s Supper is a way to focus on what Jesus did that evening by doing something that resembles what he did. So, they are left with a ceremony that is only that—aceremony of remembrance.
What we need to do is takeJesus at his word. Even though it may seem impossible to us, we knowJesus is who he says he is: true God, capable of doing miraculous things—including giving his very body and bloodto us with the bread and wine.
There is also the miracle of faith he works in our hearts through the gospel inthe Words of Scripture and the sacrament of Holy Baptism. After that, God continues to work on us, always strengthening our faith and renewing our spirits through the gospel. That creates in us the pure heart David wanted beating in his chest.
David’s words of Psalm 51 may be familiar to you. In some of our services over the years, we have sung these words after thesermon as a response to the gospel that was just proclaimed to us. In fact, we’ll do that today/tonight.
David was pleading that the Lord would cleanse his heart from sin, which, of course, God had done.
We use David’s words “createin me a pure heart, O God” to express our need for God’s grace and toask for the same grace David received fromthe Lord.
One of the ways we receive God’s undeserved love is in the eating and drinking of the Lord’s Supper.We receive the forgiveness of sins with the body Christ gave into death for us and the blood he shedfor our salvation. This is how God Renews Us Through the Gospel—and he creates in us pure hearts. The good news of Jesus’ redeeming work is heard as we take his body and blood along with the bread and the wine.
That God creates pure hearts in us means everything as far as our eternity is concerned.
It means that even though we are sinful by nature, heaven is ours.
It means that even though we have actually committedsins, heaven is ours. It means that even though we have sorrow over our sins, heaven is ours.
It means that because of the One who gave his body and shed his blood for us, heaven is ours.
He has made us pure, and those purified hearts beating within us want to thank and praise our Savior for this with our lives. But it’s hard. You knowit’s hard. It’s hard because the devil, the unbelieving world, and our sinful nature are always looking to rob us of the joy of our salvation. Thankfully, the Lord who renews us through the gospel also restores to us the joy of our salvation in Christ.
The Gospel Restores our Salvation Joy(v.12-13)
Through the gospel in the Word and sacrament, we find the salvation joy our enemies try so hard to rob us of.
The devil accuses us of being too sinful for God to love.
The gospel tells us that the devil is not to be trusted, andthat God loves sinners and rescued them through the life and death of his Son.
The world persecutes us for our faith in Christ.
The gospel tells us that though we may sufferfor a time, we have eternity in heaven waiting forus.
Our own flesh tempts us to turn away from Jesus andseek temporary joy in other places.
The gospel tells us that the joy we have in Christ lasts forever.
The Lord’s Supperguarantees all of these promises. When we receive his body and blood—the price of our redemption—we also receive forgiveness of our sins. And the Lord restores to us the joy of our salvation. God Renews Us bythe Gospel in the sacrament and Restores Our Salvation Joy!
It’s difficult to imagine that someone who is a Christian, who follows Jesus, would resist Jesus’ words and will for them. To say “no” to receiving Holy Communion is to reject Jesus’command and invitation to “do this” and to “remember him.” To not have an interest is to not understand what happens to our hearts and minds and faith. There is definitely a lack of understandingthen, isn’t there? You think you might be able to help someone in that situation?
Listen to David’s willingness and desire to help people who rejected God’s will for them and what motivated him to do that. He said, “Iwill teach rebels your ways, and sinnerswill turn to you.” You should seize the opportunities you have to help someone understand their sin and their need to repent. Part of that conversation can be the Lord’s Supper, the place where forgiveness and strength are found inthe most intimate, multi-sensory way.
Another way to teach others is by simply receiving the sacrament in worship. Now, this is not at allthe primary reason you do that. You go for your spiritual good. But it is true that whenever we go tothe Lord’s Table, our example teaches people that for a Christian, the sacrament is of high importance because Christ created it for our spiritual good, ANDhe tells us to do it, AND because we need the spiritual help that comes through this gospelgift.
It’s too bad that sometimes our gathering for the Lord’s Supper is misunderstood because we don’t alloweveryone to participate in it. Arrogant…unloving…elitist—that’s what some think. But that’s not it at all.We’re simply following the Lord’s direction when he says that only those who are united in their faith and understanding of Scripture are to receive the Sacrament together.
We’re taking God’s Word seriously when it says that only those who recognize the Lord’s body and blood and have repented of their sins will receive the Sacrament for theirbenefit. We don’t want anyone toeat and drink judgment onthemselves, as God warns can happen.
As we explain these things in a way that shows the love of our Savior, we are teaching the ways of God. We do so because, like David, we want people to turnto God in faith and share salvation joy with us. God loves us all so much, and wesee that love poured out for us inthe Lord’s Supper. Let’s always hold it high as the great blessing it is and teach others to respect and value it also.
Holy Thursday is a day when so many things happened. We see our Savior talking with his disciples in the Upper Room. We see him praying and let down, betrayed, arrested, and tried for crimes he didn’t commit. But on that same night, he also gave us an incredible gift.
Each timewe go to the Lord’s Supper, we receive the very body and blood he sacrificed for us for the forgiveness of our sins. Receive it as often as you canso that Godwill Keep Renewing You Through the Gospel. Let the Pure Heart that your Savior created in you find strength there as your Salvation Joyis restored. Amen.
Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and mindsin Christ Jesus. Amen.