Become What You Receive--October 3, 2022

Become What You Receive--October 3, 2022

"I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.  The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." [1 Corinthians 10:15-17]

You’ve heard people say it all your life, I bet: you are what you eat. And what they usually mean is that if you eat junk food, your body will only get junk for its fuel. And if you eat good things, your body will take in the good nutrients and vitamins and such. And if I eat a lot of fried, oily, fatty foods, it will be no surprise that before long I’ll be able to see it on the scale.

But of course, it’s true at an even more basic, literal, level, too. We really do become what we eat, because the molecules and atoms that used to be our food get taken into our cells and become us. You literally do become what you eat, because what you eat goes into every cell of your body! Food in your body is different from fuel for a car, then, because the gasoline in your car literally just gets burned up and goes away. But the food you eat gets broken down and actually incorporated into your body—it becomes the raw materials for how your body makes new cells, bigger bones, new hair, and longer toenails. All of that “stuff” that is a part of your body used to be food, believe it or not. Even literally, it’s true: you really are what you eat.

Well, now, consider this for a moment. Paul uses the same language to talk about the meal of Jesus that we sometimes call Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist.  In the tradition from which I come, we Lutheran Christians believe that every Sunday, we receive not only bread and wine, but we receive the body and blood of Christ at the same time.  We dare to believe Christ is truly present in as earthy and visceral and as real a way as Christ's own incarnation walking, sweating, living, and dying as one of us in ancient Palestine.  We believe, following Paul's strong language in places like this, that we partake of Christ's own body and blood, "in, with, and under" such common elements as bread and wine. So follow me down the path of logical conclusions… if it’s true that you are what you eat, and if we are receiving the body of Christ each week, then… we are the body of Christ.

Of course, we say that already—we say that the church is “the body of Christ.” But maybe we just thought that was a figure of speech or just a religious, churchy phrase that sounds good to say. However, if we think about it, it really is true. We are what we eat. We are the body of Christ. In fact, that’s exactly what one older brother in the faith named Saint Augustine used to say. He was a pastor (and eventually a bishop) in North Africa in the fourth and fifth century, and he used to say every week at Communion time, as people came forward to receive the bread and cup, “Become what you receive: the body of Christ.”

This may start to boggle your mind, but it really is true: we believe that Christ really does dwell within us, and that we really do receive Jesus himself at Communion. We are not just play acting or imagining that Jesus is with us. We are not just wishing or remembering. We are receiving Jesus at the Table, and you are what you eat.

What does any of that mean? Well, it should mean that we take seriously the fact that we are meant to be the face of Christ for other people around us. In other words, other people are supposed to be able to learn what the love of Jesus is like by seeing us. I wonder—what impression do people get about Jesus when they see us? When they see you? When they see me? If together we are the body of Christ, are we doing the kinds of things you would expect to see Jesus doing?

There’s a song by the Christian group Casting Crowns that asks the very same question in their own way. Their refrain goes, “But if we are the body why aren't His arms reaching? Why aren't His hands healing? Why aren't His words teaching? And if we are the body Why aren't His feet going? Why is His love not showing them there is a way?” It’s a good set of questions: since we receive the body of Christ every week, we literally are the body of Christ. And since we are the body of Christ, let us do what you would expect to see Christ doing today, so that others will see the face of Christ in us.

Lord Jesus, let us be your body today. Let us become what we have received at your table.