Communion Message
(Bitter words)
November 18, 2001
Pastor Donald Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered unto you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

One of the great writers of this decade is Max Lucado. He's a very dramatic writer and he writes much about the scenes around the cross. In those words that Christ uttered; Father, forgive them for they know not what they do -- Max makes this observation. He says, the dialogue that Friday morning was bitter. From the onlookers: come down from the cross if You're the Son of God. From the religious leaders: He saved others, but He can't save Himself. From the soldiers: if You are the king of the Jews, save Yourself. Bitter words, hateful, irreverent.

Wasn't it enough that He was being crucified? Wasn't it enough that He was being shamed as a criminal? Where the nails insufficient? Was the crown of thorns too soft? Had the flogging been too short? For some, apparently so.

Peter, a writer not normally given to using many descriptive verbs, says that the passerby's hurled insults at that Christ. They didn't just yell, or speak, or scream. They hurled verbal stones. They had every intention of hurting and bruising. We've broken the body -- now let's break the spirit. So they strung their bows with self-righteousness and they launched stinging arrows of pure poison.

Max says, of all the scenes around the cross, this one angers me the most. What kind of people, I ask myself, would mock a dying man? Who would be so base as to pour the salt of scorn upon open wounds? How low and perverted to sneer at one who's laced with pain? Who would laugh with fun at a person who's seated in an electric chair? Who would point and laugh at a criminal who has a hangman's noose around his neck?

Then, the criminal on cross number two throws his punch. Aren't You the Christ? Save Yourself and us. The words thrown that day were meant to wound, and there's nothing more painful than words meant to hurt. That's why James calls the tongue a fire. Its burns are every bit as destructive and disastrous as those of a blowtorch. But I'm not telling you anything new. No doubt you've had your share of words that wound. You've felt the sting of a well-aimed jive, and maybe you're still feeling it. Someone you love or respect slams you to the floor with a slur or a slip of the tongue, and there you lie wounded and bleeding.

Perhaps the words were intended to hurt you, perhaps not, but that doesn't matter. The wound is deep. The injuries are internal -- a broken heart, wounded pride, and bruised feelings. Yes, the dialogue that Friday morning was bitter. The verbal stones were meant to sting. How Jesus with a body racked with pain, eyes blinded with His own blood, and lungs yearning for air could speak on behalf of some heartless thugs is beyond my comprehension.

Never, never have I seen such love. If ever a person deserved a shot at revenge, Jesus did, but He didn't take it. Instead, He died for them and prayed for them. How could He do it? I don't know. But I do know that all of a sudden my wounds seem very painless, and my grudges and my hard feelings are suddenly very childish. Sometimes I wonder if we don't see Christ's love as much as in the people He tolerated as in the pain He endured. Amazing grace.

There amidst all of those angry words, hurtful words, our Savior said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. You know, in all of our services we bring with us baggage from the journey, and we come to this moment when we come to the cross. And here Jesus sets the example for us. Some of us brought some very bitter feelings today. People have hurt us. They said unkind things. They lied about us, and we don't like it. And our attitude is -- just give me time, I'll get even. But that's not the spirit of Christ, and when you come to this communion table you've got to come with prayer: dear God, help me to be like Jesus. Help me to forgive and help me to pray for those that have injured me. Because when you get up from your knees, my prayer is that your heart will be washed clean and you've been bathed by His love.

It's hard to forgive. Sometimes the prayer isn't, dear God forgive others, or forgive them for they know not what they do; sometimes it should be, God forgive me because I have lashed out, and I've hurt someone. And I need You to forgive me, and I'm going to go to them and ask for forgiveness. This moment is always very challenging to us as Christians, because the cross, when you confront the cross straight on, it makes some tremendous demands upon us. You can't come to this cross and carry bitterness away from it. So while we're on our knees today, I want you to deal with the issues, those hard feelings, those unforgivenesses that are there, and I want you to ask God to wash your heart clean so that when we stand today there's love that flows from our hearts to those who have not been so loving to us. Let's kneel together, shall we?

Lord Jesus, we admit that we've harbored some feelings, some resentment. Really, we'll get honest with You, it's bitterness because we've been hurt. We've been misunderstood. We've been rejected, and the things that are being said are not true. But here on our knees You've set the example, dear Jesus, for those who've hurled words at You to hurt. You turn to those words into a prayer: Father, forgive them. And we join in that prayer today; Father, forgive those who have said things about me. Because I want to leave this communion service with a heart that's pure, with a heart that's clean, with a heart that has been bathed in love. I don't want to carry this bitterness anymore, and I want You to start healing for my hurts.

Give me Your grace. Surround me with Your mercy, and give me the strength to be the kind of person that You want me to be, dear Lord. I seek Your forgiveness. I ask for Your cleansing. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. We want to leave this sanctuary different, dear God, then when we came in here. And may that difference be a tenderness, a kindness, a love that flows from Your heart through mine to my world in which I live. That's what I ask You, dear Jesus, to do. And everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?