Robert E. Cushman - Holy Communion (October 7, 1956)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(church organ music with choir singing) | 0:03 | |
♪ The Lord is in his holy temple; ♪ | 0:07 | |
♪ Let all the earth keep silence before him. ♪ | 0:17 | |
(church organ music) | 0:35 | |
(choir singing) | 1:23 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy! ♪ | 1:24 | |
♪ Lord God Almighty! ♪ | 1:27 | |
♪ Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; ♪ | 1:32 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy! ♪ | 1:41 | |
♪ Merciful and mighty! ♪ | 1:45 | |
♪ God in three persons blessed Trinity ♪ | 1:50 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, ♪ | 2:01 | |
♪ Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; ♪ | 2:09 | |
♪ Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, ♪ | 2:18 | |
♪ Who was, and is, and evermore shall be. ♪ | 2:27 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, ♪ | 2:38 | |
♪ Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see; ♪ | 2:46 | |
♪ Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee, ♪ | 2:56 | |
♪ Perfect in power, in love, and purity. ♪ | 3:05 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! ♪ | 3:16 | |
♪ All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, ♪ | 3:24 | |
♪ in earth, and sky, and sea; ♪ | 3:29 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty! ♪ | 3:34 | |
♪ God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! ♪ | 3:43 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 3:55 | |
Priest | Be with you. | 4:07 |
Congregation | And with your spirit. | 4:08 |
Priest | Let us pray. | 4:10 |
All | Almighty God, under whom all hearts are open, | 4:18 |
all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden, | 4:22 | |
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration | 4:28 | |
of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee | 4:32 | |
and lovingly magnify thine holy name; | 4:37 | |
through Jesus Christ Our Lord, amen. | 4:41 | |
Oh God, who has prepared for them that love thee, | 4:47 | |
such good things as passed men's understanding; | 4:53 | |
pour into our hearts such love towards thee, | 4:58 | |
that we, loving thee above all things, | 5:03 | |
may obtain thy promises, | 5:06 | |
which exceed all that we can desire, | 5:10 | |
through Jesus Christ Our Lord, amen. | 5:14 | |
(church organ music) | 5:26 | |
Hear the word of God as it is found | 6:13 | |
in Saint Paul's epistle to the Corinthians, | 6:18 | |
the 11th chapter beginning at the 23rd verse; | 6:22 | |
'For I received of the Lord, | 6:29 | |
that which also I delivered unto you, | 6:31 | |
that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed, | 6:35 | |
took bread and when he had given thanks did break it | 6:39 | |
and said, "This is my body which is for you, | 6:44 | |
this do in remembrance of me." | 6:50 | |
'In like manner, also the cup after supper saying, | 6:54 | |
"This cup is the New Covenant in my blood. | 6:59 | |
This do as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me. | 7:04 | |
For as oft as you eat this bread and drink the cup, | 7:11 | |
ye proclaimed and Lord's death till he come." | 7:16 | |
Beloved, today we celebrate the Lord's supper. | 7:26 | |
And it is not only in our beloved chapel | 7:32 | |
that Holy Communion will be celebrated, | 7:36 | |
but throughout a greater part of world Christendom. | 7:40 | |
On such a day as this, when words ought to give way | 7:46 | |
to acts of total self dedication, | 7:50 | |
there is a small opportunity and even doubtful place | 7:55 | |
for very much indoctrination. | 8:00 | |
If what we do here today is to be meaningful, | 8:03 | |
then almost surely the grounds for our actions | 8:08 | |
must rest back upon established convictions | 8:13 | |
that root deep in childhood instruction | 8:18 | |
and family practice. | 8:21 | |
If ever and again | 8:26 | |
there is need of conscious recollection and recall | 8:27 | |
that merely form a usage and familiar custom, | 8:32 | |
may not substitute for vital participation | 8:37 | |
in the sacrament of Our Lord. | 8:42 | |
Over and over, because life has a way | 8:46 | |
of dimming our best insights, | 8:49 | |
we need to recapture the meaning of our activities, | 8:53 | |
lest we lapse into spiritless routine, | 8:58 | |
from which the bloom of earnest participation has departed. | 9:02 | |
This is true in the common affairs of life | 9:10 | |
as it is certainly true in the exalted affairs of religion. | 9:13 | |
So we need to recall, even if briefly, | 9:20 | |
what we do at the Lord's Supper, | 9:23 | |
and we have only one thing to remember today | 9:26 | |
that I would stress, out of many possible ones. | 9:30 | |
It is summed up in Saint Paul's words, | 9:37 | |
"As often as ye eat this bread and drink the cup, | 9:41 | |
ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come." | 9:48 | |
Now this is Paul's account | 9:54 | |
of what we actually do at the Lord's table. | 9:55 | |
We proclaim the Lord's death till he come. | 10:00 | |
And simple as is this statement, | 10:05 | |
it prompts, I think, two questions, | 10:09 | |
which I would like to raise with you. | 10:12 | |
One question is this: | 10:15 | |
What is really meant by proclaiming the Lord's death? | 10:17 | |
And the other question: | 10:23 | |
How do we, how does the Christian really proclaim it? | 10:25 | |
In considering the first question, | 10:33 | |
there's no blinking the fact | 10:36 | |
that death has a strangely central place | 10:39 | |
in the Christian faith and Witness. | 10:43 | |
Even if it is balanced | 10:46 | |
by the good news of the resurrection, | 10:48 | |
even if the final word of Christian faith | 10:51 | |
is not the word about Good Friday | 10:55 | |
but the one about Easter, | 10:58 | |
it is still true St Paul emphatically declared | 11:00 | |
that he preached Christ crucified. | 11:07 | |
And he preached Christ crucified despite the fact | 11:11 | |
that it was then an offense to the Jews | 11:16 | |
and a stumbling block to the Greeks | 11:21 | |
and is even yet, puzzling to most of man. | 11:24 | |
Why should anyone proclaim death? | 11:29 | |
Even the death of Christ? | 11:33 | |
Obviously, all depends on what we understand by death. | 11:36 | |
There is the crux of the matter. | 11:42 | |
For most men, for most of us, death means one thing | 11:45 | |
and something to be avoided. | 11:50 | |
For Jesus, on the other hand, | 11:53 | |
there is a dying, which in spite of appearances, | 11:56 | |
is truly living. | 12:00 | |
And conversely, there is an apparent living, | 12:02 | |
which is really dying. | 12:07 | |
It is urgently necessary, | 12:10 | |
according to our Lord's firm conviction | 12:12 | |
that each one of us distinguish which is which. | 12:15 | |
Now, Jesus once put the whole matter in a memorable way | 12:21 | |
to his apostles, to his disciples, | 12:25 | |
"Whosoever," he said, "whosoever would save his life, | 12:29 | |
shall certainly lose it. | 12:34 | |
And whosoever shall lose his life, | 12:37 | |
for God's sake and the kingdom's, shall certainly save it." | 12:39 | |
Then he added, "What should it profit a man | 12:46 | |
if he gain the whole world and lose his own self?" | 12:49 | |
Now, perhaps you think that my use of Jesus's words | 12:58 | |
and this connection to explain a dying that is truly living, | 13:01 | |
is offering an enigma in place of an explanation. | 13:07 | |
Admittedly, Jesus's words need fuller exegesis | 13:13 | |
then they can be given here this morning. | 13:17 | |
But I think you catch something of our Lord's meaning. | 13:20 | |
It's simply this: | 13:25 | |
Losing the life is only giving it up to God, | 13:28 | |
with whom, and in who's keeping, | 13:33 | |
it cannot finally be lost. | 13:37 | |
And if a cross looms ahead, | 13:40 | |
it is only an apparent dying. | 13:43 | |
And however agonizing, | 13:46 | |
it is the hard and narrow way to life fulfillment | 13:48 | |
in unbroken community with God the Father. | 13:54 | |
Any other way than this was for our Lord, a blind alley. | 13:59 | |
And however broad and attractive it might appear, | 14:05 | |
a blind alley, of which men are forever trending | 14:10 | |
to sole frustration. | 14:14 | |
Cannon Quick, a distinguished churchmen of England | 14:19 | |
once said this: | 14:25 | |
"Men are still debating whether that faith, | 14:28 | |
in which Jesus went to Jerusalem and Calvary, | 14:31 | |
is to be judged as the infatuation of a fanatic | 14:35 | |
or as the deepest insight into the nature of the real, | 14:39 | |
which man has ever attained." | 14:45 | |
Now, it is just this crucial either or, | 14:49 | |
this possibility that our Lord | 14:52 | |
may have been right and most men wrong, | 14:55 | |
it is this, that which has shattered | 14:59 | |
and will always shatter the complacency of the ages of man. | 15:01 | |
But the Christian is one who is convinced, | 15:10 | |
who has made his choice, made up his mind | 15:16 | |
that in Jesus dying and living | 15:20 | |
is to be found the deepest insight | 15:23 | |
into the nature of reality. | 15:26 | |
So he has committed to the dying, which is truly living. | 15:30 | |
And so he proclaims as St Paul affirms: | 15:36 | |
"The Lord's death till he come." | 15:41 | |
Now, in what Manner does the Christian | 15:45 | |
proclaim the death of Christ? | 15:47 | |
That's the second question. | 15:51 | |
How do we, how may we today proclaim the death of Christ? | 15:54 | |
The answer to this second question is really quite plain: | 16:01 | |
The Christian proclaims Christ's death | 16:06 | |
by participating in it, | 16:09 | |
that is, through a living reenactment. | 16:12 | |
He does this by voluntarily identifying himself | 16:18 | |
with the Lord in the sacrament | 16:23 | |
of the broken bread and the cup. | 16:25 | |
And so the Sacrament in which we participate today | 16:30 | |
is representative of the dying of Christ. | 16:35 | |
But it is also representative of the whole Christian life. | 16:39 | |
For in the life of faith, we seek to be united to Christ. | 16:45 | |
in the likeness of his death, | 16:51 | |
that with him, we might partake of newness of life. | 16:54 | |
This is life begun here and now. | 17:01 | |
But because it is life with God the Father, | 17:06 | |
it does belong to it also, | 17:11 | |
an eternal prospect, amen. | 17:16 | |
Let us pray. | 17:20 | |
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, | 17:26 | |
who hast, in Jesus Christ, | 17:30 | |
stripped the veil from our eyes and opened unto us | 17:32 | |
the true way to life eternal, | 17:37 | |
create and strengthen in us | 17:40 | |
the will to be identified with him, | 17:43 | |
in the reception of this holy sacrament, | 17:46 | |
that we may truly proclaim his death | 17:50 | |
by the witness of our lips and the manner of our lives. | 17:54 | |
Through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord, amen. | 18:00 | |
(church organ music) | 18:10 | |
(choir singing) | 20:45 | |
♪ Let us break bread together ♪ | 20:47 | |
♪ On our knees; ♪ | 20:57 | |
♪ Yes on our knees. ♪ | 21:00 | |
♪ Let us break bread together ♪ | 21:08 | |
♪ On our knees; ♪ | 21:17 | |
♪ Yes on our knees ♪ | 21:21 | |
♪ When I fall on my knees ♪ | 21:29 | |
♪ with my face to the rising sun, ♪ | 21:39 | |
♪ O Lord, ♪ | 21:49 | |
♪ Have mercy on me. ♪ | 21:57 | |
♪ Oh on me ♪ | 22:06 | |
♪ Let us drink wine together ♪ | 22:14 | |
♪ On our knees; ♪ | 22:24 | |
♪ Yes on our knees ♪ | 22:30 | |
♪ Let us drink wine together ♪ | 22:38 | |
♪ On our knees. ♪ | 22:48 | |
♪ Yes on our knees ♪ | 22:53 | |
♪ When I fall on my knees ♪ | 23:00 | |
♪ With my face to the rising sun, ♪ | 23:11 | |
♪ O Lord, ♪ | 23:21 | |
♪ Have mercy on me. ♪ | 23:26 | |
♪ Oh on me ♪ | 23:39 | |
♪ Let us praise God together ♪ | 23:45 | |
♪ On our knees; ♪ | 23:54 | |
♪ Yes on our knees ♪ | 23:57 | |
♪ Let us praise God together ♪ | 24:02 | |
♪ On our knees. ♪ | 24:10 | |
♪ Yes on our knees ♪ | 24:13 | |
♪ When I fall on my knees ♪ | 24:21 | |
♪ With my face to the rising sun, ♪ | 24:31 | |
♪ O Lord, ♪ | 24:43 | |
♪ Have mercy on me. ♪ | 24:50 | |
♪ Oh on me ♪ | 25:05 | |
(church organ music) | 25:22 | |
(choir singing) | 25:57 | |
Oh God, who hast given thy self to us, | 26:33 | |
we give ourselves to thee. | 26:38 | |
Let this offering be the symbol of our dedication | 26:43 | |
to thee and to thy son, | 26:47 | |
Jesus Christ Our Lord, amen. | 26:51 | |
(church organ music) | 27:04 | |
He, who do truly and endlessly repent you of your sins, | 27:22 | |
and are in love and charity with your neighbor | 27:27 | |
and intend to lead a new life | 27:32 | |
following the commandments of God | 27:36 | |
and walking from henceforth in his holy ways | 27:39 | |
draw near with faith | 27:45 | |
and take this holy sacrament | 27:49 | |
to your comfort and make your humble confession | 27:51 | |
to almighty God. | 27:57 | |
Let us pray. | 28:00 | |
All | Almighty god, father of our Lord Jesus Christ | 28:10 |
maker of all things, judge of all men, | 28:14 | |
we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, | 28:18 | |
which we from time to time most grievously have committed | 28:23 | |
by thought, word, and heed against thy divine majesty | 28:28 | |
provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us, | 28:33 | |
we do earnestly repent and are actually sorry | 28:38 | |
for these our misdoings, | 28:43 | |
the remembrance of them is grievous unto us. | 28:45 | |
Have mercy upon us most merciful father | 28:49 | |
for thy son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake | 28:53 | |
forgive us all that is past | 28:56 | |
and grant that we ever hereafter serve and please thee | 28:59 | |
in newness of light to the honor and glory of thy name | 29:03 | |
through Jesus Christ Our Lord, amen. | 29:08 | |
Priest | Almighty God, our heavenly father, | 29:15 |
who of thy great mercy, | 29:18 | |
has promised forgiveness of sins, | 29:20 | |
to all them, that with hearty repentance and true faith, | 29:23 | |
come unto thee, have mercy upon us. | 29:28 | |
Come and deliver Us from all of our sins, | 29:34 | |
confirm and strengthen us in all goodness | 29:38 | |
and bring us to everlasting life, | 29:42 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 29:47 | |
(church organ music) | 29:55 | |
(choir singing) | 30:21 | |
Lift up your hearts. | 31:48 | |
Congregation | We lift them up to the Lord. | 31:50 |
Priest | Let us give thanks unto our Lord God. | 31:53 |
Congregation | It is meet and right to do. | 31:56 |
Priest | Let us pray. | 31:59 |
It is meet right and our bounden duty | 32:06 | |
that we should at all times and in all places | 32:11 | |
give thanks unto thee | 32:14 | |
oh Lord Holy Father Almighty everlasting God. | 32:17 | |
(church organ music) | 32:24 | |
(choir singing) | 32:28 | |
We do not presume to come to this thy table, | 33:28 | |
oh merciful Lord, | 33:32 | |
trusting in our own righteousness | 33:35 | |
but in thy manifold and great mercies | 33:38 | |
we are not worthy so much as to to gather up the crumbs | 33:43 | |
under thy table | 33:49 | |
but thou art the same Lord whose mercy is unfailing | 33:52 | |
grant us, therefore gracious Lord, | 33:58 | |
so to partake of these memorials of thy son Jesus Christ | 34:02 | |
that we may be filled with the fullness of his light, | 34:07 | |
may grow unto his likeness, | 34:12 | |
and may evermore dwell in him | 34:16 | |
and he in us, amen. | 34:20 | |
Almighty God, who art a god of order and of beauty, | 34:28 | |
we dedicate to thy glory | 34:36 | |
and in loving memory of Margaret Lewis, | 34:39 | |
this fair linen cloth | 34:44 | |
for the service of thy son | 34:49 | |
who's table is spread for our benefit, amen. | 34:51 | |
Almighty God, our heavenly father, | 34:59 | |
who of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only son, | 35:03 | |
Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the cross | 35:06 | |
for our redemption. | 35:09 | |
Who made, thereby, his oblation of himself, | 35:11 | |
once offered a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice | 35:13 | |
for the sins of the whole world | 35:17 | |
and did institute, and in his holy gospel, | 35:21 | |
command us to continue a perpetual memory | 35:23 | |
of his precious death until his coming again. | 35:27 | |
And who, in the same night that he was betrayed, | 35:32 | |
took bread and when he had given thanks, | 35:35 | |
he break it and gave to his disciples saying, | 35:40 | |
"Take, eat, this is my body, | 35:44 | |
which is given for you. | 35:50 | |
Do this in remembrance of me." | 35:53 | |
Likewise, after supper, he took the cup | 35:59 | |
and when he had given thanks, | 36:02 | |
he gave it them saying, | 36:04 | |
"Drink ye all of this, | 36:07 | |
for this is my blood of the new covenant, | 36:10 | |
which is shed for you and for many, | 36:13 | |
for the remission of sins. | 36:17 | |
Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me." | 36:20 | |
Hear us oh merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee, | 36:28 | |
and grant that we, receiving these thy creatures | 36:32 | |
of bread and wine according to thy son, | 36:35 | |
our savior Jesus Christ's, holy institution | 36:38 | |
in remembrance of his death and compassion, | 36:43 | |
may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood, | 36:46 | |
that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith, amen. | 36:52 | |
(church organ music) | 37:05 | |
Jesus said, "This is my body, | 41:31 | |
which gift for you." | 41:36 | |
Take and eat this in remembrance | 41:39 | |
that Christ died for you and feel him in your hearts | 41:41 | |
by taking with thanksgiving. | 41:45 | |
Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." | 41:57 | |
Drink thee all of it in memory that Christ died for you | 42:05 | |
and be thankful. | 42:13 | |
(church organ music) | 42:21 | |
Let us all call unto God our unison prayer of thanksgiving | 59:17 | |
for this table and our prayer of three dedications. | 59:22 | |
Let us pray. | 59:27 | |
All | Oh Lord, our heavenly Father, | 59:34 |
we thy humble servants desire thy fatherly goodness | 59:36 | |
mercifully to accept this, our sacrifice | 59:41 | |
of praise and thanksgiving, most humbly beseeching thee | 59:43 | |
to grant, by the merits and death of thy son, | 59:48 | |
Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, | 59:52 | |
we and thy whole church, may obtain remission of our sins | 59:56 | |
and all other benefits of his passion | 1:00:00 | |
and here we offer and present unto thee, oh Lord, | 1:00:03 | |
ourselves, our souls and bodies to be a reasonable | 1:00:06 | |
holy and lively sacrifice unto thee, | 1:00:12 | |
humbly beseeching thee that all we, | 1:00:15 | |
who are partakers of this holy communion, | 1:00:18 | |
may be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction | 1:00:21 | |
and, although, we be unworthy through our manifold sins | 1:00:26 | |
to offer unto thee any sacrifice, | 1:00:30 | |
yet we beseech thee to accept this, | 1:00:33 | |
our bounded duty and service, | 1:00:35 | |
not weighting our merits but pardoning our offenses. | 1:00:38 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 1:00:43 | |
by whom and with whom, in the unity of the holy spirit, | 1:00:45 | |
all honor and glory be unto thee, | 1:00:49 | |
oh Father almighty, world without end, amen. | 1:00:53 | |
(church organ music) | 1:01:00 | |
(choir singing) | 1:01:31 | |
Priest | The peace of God, | 1:04:07 |
which passes all understanding, | 1:04:09 | |
keep your hearts and minds | 1:04:12 | |
in the knowledge of the loving God | 1:04:15 | |
and of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, | 1:04:18 | |
and the blessing of God almighty, | 1:04:22 | |
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit | 1:04:26 | |
be upon you and remain with you always. | 1:04:31 | |
(church organ music) | 1:04:39 | |
(choir singing) | 1:04:43 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:04:45 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:04:52 | |
♪ Amen, Amen ♪ | 1:05:01 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:10 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:20 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:31 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:46 |