Catch the Fever: Sermon Mark 12:12-25

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire.

I want to spend the majority of my time this morning telling you a story. This story was told to me at licensing school and I felt it was worth sharing with you this morning. The story is about a young pastor serving at his first appointment at a small rural church about 65 years ago. You know how those young pastors can be, full of idealism, full of hope, the world is his oyster. This pastor began his career at a five point charge in Wayne County. One of those churches was Collinwood UMC.

One of the members, in fact the patriarch of the church was Big Jim. Big Jim fit the title. He was a farmer scratching a living off the land, but was honest and a loyal member since childhood. Big Jim was the person who made all the announcements served on the committees, basically leading the church. Big Jim served wasn’t shy about giving the young pastor pointers neither about his sermons nor about the length or topic of those sermons. Big Jim also was comfortable with jumping up in the middle of a sermon to make an announcement during the pastor’s sermon. Big Jim would come up ease the pastor over stand at the pulpit, make his announcement and then say “It’s yours, Preacher”.

Collinwood was a small little community, like Tarpley Shop or Liberty. Collinwood had the church, a one-room schoolhouse, a dry goods store all in a small circle and all sharing one well as a water source. This well had a bucket, as well as a small tin cup. As people grew thirsty they would all drink from that same tin cup, the school children, the townspeople and the churchgoers all drank from the same cup, most of the people in the little town were kin anyway.

A few months after the young pastor began serving there he received a phone call from a state health worker informing him of an infectious disease that had been spreading throughout the state and threatened the small community of Collinwood. The state worker told the preacher that he should tell the community, most of whom attended church there that should refrain from drinking from the same cup at the well because it would spread the disease.

So the next Sunday morning came and the Preacher made the announcement to the surprise of most of the congregation. Then Big Jim stood up in the crowd and walked up to the pulpit. He went past the pulpit to the communion table which was set up behind. Jim picked up one of the communion glasses, held it up to the congregation and said, “I would that” which means “I wish” “I would that, we all could catch what Jesus had”.

How many of us see Communion like that? We might feel like it is something we do every first Sunday of the month. We get to add ten minutes onto the end of the service. We get to nibble on a piece of bread and get a shot of juice. However, we know that there is much more than that to Communion. We take the bread and cup to remind us first of the sacrifice of Jesus, we remember that he gave freely his body and his blood. He gave his life so that we can have life eternal. That shows the unending grace and love that God in Christ has for all of his children. We remember every time we partake of the symbolic body and blood of Christ that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. Because he gave so freely, full of grace, we are reminded that we should love with that kind of love. To exist and look at the world with that kind of grace and to do to the least of these as we do to ourselves.

We are also reminded that we join together and break bread together. Not just together in this building but with the faithful multitude of millions of Christians all over the world. We are the body of Christ, united together under a Savior that died for our sins and rose again on the third day. We united with those in Europe, those in Asia, and Africa, South and Central America. We join with them in praise and worship of the God of the universe.

However, just as Big Jim reminds us we take Communion to remind us that Christ lives within us. We have to catch the fever that Jesus had, the fever for the poor and oppressed. Jesus always taught that we should help the poor that we would humble ourselves and help one another in this world that can be brutal and harsh. The fever for the neglected and abused, Jesus taught that the strong should help the weak and those who have the means should make sure that others are taken care of. We need to catch the fever for justice and peace. So many people say that the Church has no business in government, but I say the Church has no business in the corruption and mudslinging of politics. However the Church must be the conscience of the government. We have to make sure that the people we voted for on Thursday make decisions that follow our Christian beliefs. These are the things we need to catch when we drink from this cup and eat this bread.

This might not be the typical sermon on Communion, but I think its one that needs to be preached. We cannot allow the Sacrament of Holy Communion be devalued to a simple routine that we do every month. As we have seen it is much, much more than that. Jesus instituted the act of the Last Supper as one of remembrance, remembrance not just of that night, but of the sacrifice of Friday afternoon and the joy of Sunday morning, remembrance that Christ lives within us and that He should be in the driver’s seat of life. So let’s break bread together on our knees, with our face to the risen Son, our hearts in the unison to the worship and glory of God.