Grace in Eucharist..the word is just that! Luke 22:19

 Luke 22:19  Quarterly Holy Communion Meditation

"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me."  

  I have never forgotten what my teacher told me in seminary, " Don't wait to preach it before you live it."  Dr.  Robert Rudolph   

That may be what is wrong with many today...in churches, in homes etc....We have to know what to do ; so we should we should preach it if it is in the Bible. We fail to do it, but that is the point! We can only live by God's help and grace.  Many fail to understand this, because it is a great mystery , but it is at the heart of the reformed and Biblical faith----and grace should be taught and preached.  

Grace.  It is undeserved , and unconditional  . God does not forsee who believes and receives them. He gives His Spirit to those whom He has known and loved from all eternity.  That is incomprehensible , but Biblical.  

As usual,  I learned something from the original language. ( Greek in the New Testament) First  an illustration.

 "What do you think of the candidates?" That's what a reporter for a news magazine asked a young woman at Dartmouth University after a debate among presidential hopefuls. She didn't say a word about their positions on the issues or their skill at debate. She simply remarked, "None of them seems to have any humility."

Benjamin Franklin, the early American statesman, made a list of character qualities that he wanted to develop in his own life. When he mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty well, he said, until he got to humility. Every time he thought he was making significant progress, he would be so pleased with himself that he became proud.

Humility is an elusive virtue. Even Jesus' disciples struggled with it. When Jesus learned that they had been arguing about who was the greatest, He responded, "If anyone desires to be first, he should be last of all and servant of all" (Mk. 9:35). Then He took a little child in His arms and indicated that we need to humbly serve others as if we were serving Christ.

If a news reporter were to talk to our friends, neighbors, or fellow church members and ask them to describe us, would they use the word humble?

Our Daily Bread, November 3, 1998 ( from sermons.com)

I went to seminary as a fairly new Christian, and I was willing to listen and learn. ( I had to learn because I did not know, and if I wanted to graduate I had to cooperate!)  I learned that many things I thought I knew were not Biblical, so I had to struggle and I struggled for almost two years, but finally I said, " If it is Biblical, then I have to accept it even if I don't understand it!!!"

Now the Greek word in our text ---it is Eucharist which I thought meant thanksgiving, but it is actually two greek words  " euxaristéō (from  /eú, "good" and /xaris, "grace") – properly, acknowledging that "God's grace works well," i.e. for our eternal gain and His glory; to give thanks – literally, "thankful for God's good grace." biblehub.com

Lesson application- If I am not thankful, then I don't really understand what it means to be thankful.  It is graceful really.  No wonder we struggle with being thankful.  We have to receive God's grace.  We don't understand it , but that is the point!  Today we receive the gracious thankful grace of God in His Son Jesus , who in the Passover festival blessed the bread and the cup knowing it was His body that was going to be sacrificed.  That should make us grateful, and graceful, and weep.  It gives us true humility.  If we don't have humility I doubt if we truly get it.  But receive Him even if we don't get it.  He offers us His beautiful grace in this Sacrament of life.  amen.