There is a famous scene in the film Les Miserables. Jean ValJean has been released on parole, but nobody will give him work. One cold night a bishop lets him sleep in his house...where there is quite a lot of silver.
Jean ValJean sees that the silver will give him the chance of a new life, so when everyone is sleeping, he steals it all, and leaves.
As he is leaving the town the police stop him and find all this silver. When they ask him where he got it from Jean ValJean lied and said the bishop had given it to him. The police rightly assume he has stolen it and drag Jean ValJean back to the bishop's house. Here everyone receives a great shock. When the bishop sees ValJean and all the silver he tells the police that he had given it to Jean ValJean – and then he picks up two huge silver candlesticks and says to Jean ValJean...but you left so early, you left these, the best...and he gave Jean ValJean the candlesticks.
In a few moments we will celebrate Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, which literally means 'Thanksgiving'.
As Jean ValJean's heart was full of thankfullness for what the bishop did for him; so our hearts too our full of even more thankfulness for what God has done for us in Christ.
Someone will take a simple piece of bread and he will break it and say – this is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ that was broken for you.
Then the wine....and he will proclaim – this is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was shed for you.
And as this happens, so we are literally acting out what the Lord Jesus told his followers to do.
It was He who called the bread and the wine, his body and his blood.
It was He who said that we are to eat this bread and wine – in remembrance of Him.
We read about this both here in Paul's letter to the Corinthians – and note he says – I received from the Lord. And we read about it in the synoptics, and in John's Gospel, in chapter 6.
What we are going to do this morning is something the Lord Jesus has asked us to do very specifically.
What happens when we eat the bread and drink the wine.
Paul gives the answer in verse 26.
We proclaim the Lord's death until he comes?
We are proclaiming a death...literally, we are eating a death. We are making a His death a part of our own bodies.
And what is the proclamation about his death?
The answer to that is in Jesus' own words recorded here.
His death is our bread; his death is our life.
And his death is our redemption; his shed blood seals the new covenant. The shed blood of Jesus proclaims that there is now peace between God and man. This is a covenant. It does not change with our feelings. It is fixed. It is a royal proclamation.
So as we eat the bread and drink the wine, so we proclaim Jesus's death – we proclaim the great exchange that has happened.
God made Him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
That's the great exchange, that's the covenant, that's grace.
He is whipped; we are healed
He thirsts; we drink the water of life
He enters the darkness; we enter the light
He suffers the wrath of God; we enjoy the love of God
He is cut off; we are reconciled
He is abandoned; we are embraced
His blood is shed; we are saved
He dies; we live
What is this? This is the love of God. This is the grace of God.
And as we proclaim his death and this great exchange; so we are also proclaiming something about ourselves.
We are proclaiming to the seen and unseen world that we belong to this new covenant.
We are proclaiming that Christ is in us, and we are in him – and because we are in Him – all is new...
If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation – there are no ifs and buts here – we are new men – the old has passed away, behold, all is new.
A proclamation has nothing to do with feelings or suggestions or ideas or theories.
A proclamation is about fact, reality, how things actually are.
And that will be our proclamation in a few moments.
We proclaim the great exchange; we proclaim that we are new men
Yes, our old man was impure – but in Christ we are pure men, better than Boaz
Yes, our old man was timid – but in Christ we are courageous, braver than John the Baptist
Yes our old man was unfaithful – but in Christ we are faithful
Yes our old man was horribly proud – but in Christ we are humble.
This is our proclamation:
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and so the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God
Jean Valjean became a new man. He lived in the reality of what the bishop did for him.
Let us too live in the reality of our proclamation. We are no longer fallen men; we are new men – new men who are a work in progress – but we are new men.
Jean ValJean sees that the silver will give him the chance of a new life, so when everyone is sleeping, he steals it all, and leaves.
As he is leaving the town the police stop him and find all this silver. When they ask him where he got it from Jean ValJean lied and said the bishop had given it to him. The police rightly assume he has stolen it and drag Jean ValJean back to the bishop's house. Here everyone receives a great shock. When the bishop sees ValJean and all the silver he tells the police that he had given it to Jean ValJean – and then he picks up two huge silver candlesticks and says to Jean ValJean...but you left so early, you left these, the best...and he gave Jean ValJean the candlesticks.
In a few moments we will celebrate Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, which literally means 'Thanksgiving'.
As Jean ValJean's heart was full of thankfullness for what the bishop did for him; so our hearts too our full of even more thankfulness for what God has done for us in Christ.
Someone will take a simple piece of bread and he will break it and say – this is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ that was broken for you.
Then the wine....and he will proclaim – this is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was shed for you.
And as this happens, so we are literally acting out what the Lord Jesus told his followers to do.
It was He who called the bread and the wine, his body and his blood.
It was He who said that we are to eat this bread and wine – in remembrance of Him.
We read about this both here in Paul's letter to the Corinthians – and note he says – I received from the Lord. And we read about it in the synoptics, and in John's Gospel, in chapter 6.
What we are going to do this morning is something the Lord Jesus has asked us to do very specifically.
What happens when we eat the bread and drink the wine.
Paul gives the answer in verse 26.
We proclaim the Lord's death until he comes?
We are proclaiming a death...literally, we are eating a death. We are making a His death a part of our own bodies.
And what is the proclamation about his death?
The answer to that is in Jesus' own words recorded here.
His death is our bread; his death is our life.
And his death is our redemption; his shed blood seals the new covenant. The shed blood of Jesus proclaims that there is now peace between God and man. This is a covenant. It does not change with our feelings. It is fixed. It is a royal proclamation.
So as we eat the bread and drink the wine, so we proclaim Jesus's death – we proclaim the great exchange that has happened.
God made Him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
That's the great exchange, that's the covenant, that's grace.
He is whipped; we are healed
He thirsts; we drink the water of life
He enters the darkness; we enter the light
He suffers the wrath of God; we enjoy the love of God
He is cut off; we are reconciled
He is abandoned; we are embraced
His blood is shed; we are saved
He dies; we live
What is this? This is the love of God. This is the grace of God.
And as we proclaim his death and this great exchange; so we are also proclaiming something about ourselves.
We are proclaiming to the seen and unseen world that we belong to this new covenant.
We are proclaiming that Christ is in us, and we are in him – and because we are in Him – all is new...
If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation – there are no ifs and buts here – we are new men – the old has passed away, behold, all is new.
A proclamation has nothing to do with feelings or suggestions or ideas or theories.
A proclamation is about fact, reality, how things actually are.
And that will be our proclamation in a few moments.
We proclaim the great exchange; we proclaim that we are new men
Yes, our old man was impure – but in Christ we are pure men, better than Boaz
Yes, our old man was timid – but in Christ we are courageous, braver than John the Baptist
Yes our old man was unfaithful – but in Christ we are faithful
Yes our old man was horribly proud – but in Christ we are humble.
This is our proclamation:
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and so the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God
Jean Valjean became a new man. He lived in the reality of what the bishop did for him.
Let us too live in the reality of our proclamation. We are no longer fallen men; we are new men – new men who are a work in progress – but we are new men.
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