Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-15
These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness.
That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he has plenty of justification for not putting up with that. But the contrast is this. Instead of walking all over us with his big giant army boots, as we so richly deserve, God confronts us with our sin and takes the hit to win our love over again.
That’s the sharp contrast between how we would like to handle being jilted and how God does handle it. God offers peace through love. Theologian Robert Capon, in one of his books gives us this view of how the world would like to establish world peace.
“The human race adheres devoutly to the belief that one more application of power will bring in the kingdom. One more invasion, one more war, one more escalation, one more jealous fit, one more towering rage—in short, one more twist of whatever arm you have got hold of—will make goodness triumph and peace reign. But it never works. Never with persons, since they are free and can, as persons, only be wooed, not controlled."
In light of that truth, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace are still made for walking, but with a whole different attitude and motive, that also come from God. Today we consider that piece of spiritual armor that has our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. So, let me tell you a little bit about the shoes worn by Roman soldiers, since that was what was pictures in Paul’s mind when he wrote this. Roman army boots were called Caligae. Caligae comes from the Latin callus meaning hard and that’s really what these shoes were. They were heavy-soled, hobnailed, military sandal-boots known for being issued to Roman legionary soldiers and auxiliaries throughout the Roman Empire. I found a picture of one old shoe found recently to show that they really were made like this. They were rugged, like armor for your feet. Hobnails were hammered into hard leather soles before being sewn onto a softer leather lattice.
They looked a lot like sandals, for ventilation, to allow for comfort, even under harsh conditions, like forced marches. But they were much tougher than the sandals we usually buy today. Well, you could buy Caligae today. I also found a picture of a modern authentic reproduction of the old Caligae. The hobnails endured wear longer than plain leather and added traction the way cleats do. They also made an impressive sound when marching through the streets of a village or town. You always knew when the Romans were coming! “The thunderous sound of an attack by a hobnailed army must have been terrifying.”
It is interesting to me that this shoe imagery is what Paul connected to the gospel of peace! How can that be? Well, there’s more to it than just being ready to go, and able to endure a long trek of bringing the good news to many people. In Paul’s day, when villagers heard the sound of these heavy shoes coming, they knew that Roman troops were approaching to enforce the Pax Romana, or the Roman Peace movement. Those boots were made for walking, and they brought the kind of violent confrontation that’s in the song I mentioned.
The Pax Romana (Latin for "Roman Peace") was the official name for the long period of peace and stability experienced by the early Roman Empire. I showed a timeline of that period. It is traditionally dated as commencing from the rise of Caesar Augustus, in 27 BC and concluding in 180 AD with the death of Marcus Aurelius, the last of the "good emperors". During this period of approximately 207 years, the Roman Empire achieved its greatest territorial extent and its population reached a maximum of up to 70 million people – a third of the world’s population. It also set up the possibility for relatively safe world travel on good roads and a nearly worldwide common language for commerce. Both of these also made it very easy for the Church to spread the message of the Christian gospel!
During the same period, Jesus was born, lived, was crucified and rose again from the dead. Also, somewhere in there Paul the Apostle lived as a Pharisee and died as a Christian.
The Pax Romana is said to have been a "miracle" because prior to it there had never been peace for so many centuries in a given period of history. Once Rome conquered all opponents, the Empire proclaimed peace by domination. This domination was even called good news, or the gospel of peace. The idea that the Romans were trying to get across is, “It’s a good thing that we are in charge of you and have wiped out all your other enemies around you by conquering them, too. Now we can all live in peace, as long as you pay your taxes.”
However, that does not mean there were no uprisings or revolts. We know that the Jews tried to fight Rome and Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. So, the Pax Romana is actually sort of a misnomer because it wasn’t really all that peaceful unless you admitted defeat and stopped fighting against it. That was the official Roman gospel. There will be peace as long as you don’t try to stop us. As a matter of fact, faith in Jesus is called the gospel of Jesus Christ as a direct counter cultural expression of dissatisfaction with the Roman idea of peace by force. The Christians were saying that the True gospel is one of peace through love and forgiveness.
In the armor of God, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, would mean that you were ready to actively proclaim the true gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and you would do that in spite of any opposition. You would be tough, or thick skinned, so you would not be easily offended by disagreement but could continue to be unstoppably gracious, even to your enemies. These boots are made for walking! They are provided so that the Christian is able to respond to God saying, “I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord.”
When we go where God wants us to go, don’t assume it will, be a walk in the park. We are still talking about spiritual warfare and isn’t it interesting that Paul also wrote in Romans 16:20 that "the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Note, demons are not redeemable! God is still a warrior intent on stamping out evil! God is doing the crushing, but he is using your feet! Add in this little connection: Ephesians 1:22 says, “God placed all things under his feet, that is, under Jesus’ feet, and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. So, Jesus is the head, and we often say that we are the hands and feet of Christ! Our feet are Jesus’ feet.
Still, we do tread lightly, not wanting to walk all over people or stomp out opposition in any sort of angry of violent way. We don’t want to even step on any toes! We follow the way of love and peace. And remember, Jesus doesn’t give us peace the way the world would. His method is far better and more effective. It wins loyalty through love and achieves greatness, not by military conquest, but by being admired for His great service and sacrifice. The historical record shows that Christian love did conquer all.
In ancient Rome, the Christians opposed pagan hatred, not by arguing with them about religion, but by the charity which they practiced. Their law was to love all people. In every intelligent being they saw a brother or sister worthy of esteem and kindness. Neither religious nor national differences could be reasons for hatred or exclusion. Their love included even their enemies, seeking reconciliation by forgiveness and kindness. Faithful to these principles, the early Christians treated the pagans with charity in whatever relationship they found themselves towards them.
They cared for those sick when nobody else would. Once, during a plague in Rome, the healthy and wealth citizens fled the city to escape the disease. The Christians stayed behind and cared for the sick. Many of them recovered and became Christians They fed the poor no matter who was hungry. They invited strangers into their homes for food and comfort. There is even a case where a battalion of enemy Roman soldiers were refreshed from a long and tiresome march by the hospitality of the Christians they had come to harass.
The pagans could not understand why the Christians would obey every order no matter how undignified and demeaning, but would quietly go to their deaths if asked to deny their allegiance to Christ! And on the way to the gallows they would pray for their persecutors and ask God to forgive the executioner! Christian slaves despised for their inferior positions in society, found in their Christian freedom a reason for greater gentleness towards their pagan superiors. Through the mysterious but irresistible effect of this love they sometimes led their master to faith in Jesus, but even more frequently led their masters to at least behave more justly towards all.
The greatest confrontation we can have with evil in our world is that of daring to live like that, with the Truth and the love of God in our hearts and a ready explanation of our strange behavior for all who seek to understand. Do you know that’s the real reason that Christians are persecuted in communist countries? Christians are seen as a political threat to the national security specifically because when Christians who are in every other way model citizens dare to also speak the Truth that calls for justice and an end to oppression, it directly challenges any unChristian leadership that resists the changes God brings about in human hearts.
Yet, through Jesus Christ and his loving sacrifice, God and Jesus make peace with the rebellious human race by offering forgiveness. When you receive Christ, you are united with the Prince of Peace. You have peace with God right now (Romans 5:1), but the peace of Christ must also rule in your heart if you are going to live victoriously, and that is possible only when you let the Word of Christ richly dwell in you (Colossians 3:15, 16). And you become a soldier for God proclaiming the true gospel in word and in deed. That means you become a peacemaker. The Romans soldiers thought of themselves as peacemakers too, but they employed a different strategy, as I mentioned earlier.
Gospel Peacemakers bring people together by promoting fellowship and reconciliation, in a word, by loving one another generously. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God" (Matthew 5:9). Anyone can divide a fellowship, but it takes the grace of God to unite us in Him. Many Christians insist on common doctrine as the basis for fellowship. They reason that if we don't think the same and believe the same, there is no basis for peace and we just can’t get along.
But common doctrine isn't the basis for fellowship; common heritage is. That’s why we say, “In Essentials Unity; In Non-Essentials Liberty; In All Things Charity.” If you wait to fellowship with someone until after you both agree perfectly on every point of doctrine, you'll be the loneliest Christian on earth. Instead of insisting on the unity of the mind, preserve the unity of the Spirit by taking the initiative to be the peacemaker in your relationships (Ephesians 4:3) in a unity of heart. Love one another and put up with differences. Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” That does not mean no conflict and no conversation and no disagreement. It means healthy and loving, grace filled confrontation.
By our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation we are children of God. We all belong to one family and that is what unites us. So, think about this, in your own earthly families, do all your children share the exact same views and opinions about the world, religion, or politics? And if they disagree on such things, do they disown each other, too? Aren’t they still united by family bonds? So it is with us as Christian brothers and sisters. We can discuss theology. We can bicker over minor differences of opinion about how God wants us to do things. But what really counts is that we eat together in loving family harmony. Didn’t Jesus himself say it very plainly: Everybody will know that you are my disciples when they see how you love one another.
And God’s love for all mankind spills out of us and expresses itself in how we treat everybody else around us. That is the main reason we want to start the new Good Neighbor Food Pantry ministry. It is not an evangelistic strategy. It is an opportunity for us to love people the way God does and the way our early ancestors did, as we heard. But such love must be sincere, not just a show of what nice religious people we are. Our ministry, and your involvement in it, must come from a God given, genuine concern for their well-being. No matter how much food we give away they won’t feel loved unless YOU show up and care about who they are as people.
That’s what Jesus did. He showed up to prove his love. The master of all peacemakers was Jesus himself, who brought us together with God and reconciled our differences through His shed blood on the cross. Talk about a grace filled confrontation! In order to receive His blessing of forgiveness we must admit to our sin and our need of repentance and cleaning! When Jesus comes to us, he is not ignoring our sins to forgive us. He saying look there is this problem, but I can fix it if you trust me.
But even before we can repent, we must first believe that he really means what he says, that he will forgive those who trust him. Jesus’ loving sacrifice, his ministry of walking so many miles in our shoes, paved the way for us to love and trust him so that we could experience his grace and mercy and begin to walk in his shoes caring for the last of these just as he did. Those are mighty big shoes to fill! Fortunately, we can do it because he fills us with his spirit and provides the armor of God, so we’re fully equipped to accomplish the task. In that knowledge and truth, we ought to feel quite ready to go. So, our feet are indeed fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. If you know that gospel of peace you are ready to go and share it with somebody else.
Now let’s get ready to enjoy the Lord’s Supper, this family meal that we share in blessed harmony as brothers and sisters in the Lord and in his peace. We are invited to come together around this table as those who belong to the household of Christ, brothers and sisters who in our baptized lives live out the death and resurrection of Jesus. The family of the reborn and the reconciled, who inhabit a universe of grace and peace. Come, when you are fearful, to be made new in love. Come, when you are doubtful, to be made strong in faith. Come, when you are regretful, and be made whole. Come, old and young, there is room for all. The love of Christ bids you, “Come and dine.”
Welcome to the feast of the Lord. All who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are invited to join in this meal. Christ invites all his baptized people who trust in Christ as their Savior to dine at his table, where he will feed them with himself by the Holy Spirit. Come to receive all the benefits and blessings of his atoning death, his life-giving resurrection, and his ascended lordship.
We come to the table not just as individuals but as a community. By sharing the loaf and the cup, Christ makes us one with him and with each other. Just as we are nourished by the food we eat, Christ nourishes us spiritually at this table with the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation. This is the joyful feast of the Lord, for the elements we receive symbolize not just the flesh and blood of the crucified Lord but the life-giving flesh and blood of the risen and ascended Lord. Let us pray.
These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness.
That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he has plenty of justification for not putting up with that. But the contrast is this. Instead of walking all over us with his big giant army boots, as we so richly deserve, God confronts us with our sin and takes the hit to win our love over again.
That’s the sharp contrast between how we would like to handle being jilted and how God does handle it. God offers peace through love. Theologian Robert Capon, in one of his books gives us this view of how the world would like to establish world peace.
“The human race adheres devoutly to the belief that one more application of power will bring in the kingdom. One more invasion, one more war, one more escalation, one more jealous fit, one more towering rage—in short, one more twist of whatever arm you have got hold of—will make goodness triumph and peace reign. But it never works. Never with persons, since they are free and can, as persons, only be wooed, not controlled."
In light of that truth, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace are still made for walking, but with a whole different attitude and motive, that also come from God. Today we consider that piece of spiritual armor that has our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. So, let me tell you a little bit about the shoes worn by Roman soldiers, since that was what was pictures in Paul’s mind when he wrote this. Roman army boots were called Caligae. Caligae comes from the Latin callus meaning hard and that’s really what these shoes were. They were heavy-soled, hobnailed, military sandal-boots known for being issued to Roman legionary soldiers and auxiliaries throughout the Roman Empire. I found a picture of one old shoe found recently to show that they really were made like this. They were rugged, like armor for your feet. Hobnails were hammered into hard leather soles before being sewn onto a softer leather lattice.
They looked a lot like sandals, for ventilation, to allow for comfort, even under harsh conditions, like forced marches. But they were much tougher than the sandals we usually buy today. Well, you could buy Caligae today. I also found a picture of a modern authentic reproduction of the old Caligae. The hobnails endured wear longer than plain leather and added traction the way cleats do. They also made an impressive sound when marching through the streets of a village or town. You always knew when the Romans were coming! “The thunderous sound of an attack by a hobnailed army must have been terrifying.”
It is interesting to me that this shoe imagery is what Paul connected to the gospel of peace! How can that be? Well, there’s more to it than just being ready to go, and able to endure a long trek of bringing the good news to many people. In Paul’s day, when villagers heard the sound of these heavy shoes coming, they knew that Roman troops were approaching to enforce the Pax Romana, or the Roman Peace movement. Those boots were made for walking, and they brought the kind of violent confrontation that’s in the song I mentioned.
The Pax Romana (Latin for "Roman Peace") was the official name for the long period of peace and stability experienced by the early Roman Empire. I showed a timeline of that period. It is traditionally dated as commencing from the rise of Caesar Augustus, in 27 BC and concluding in 180 AD with the death of Marcus Aurelius, the last of the "good emperors". During this period of approximately 207 years, the Roman Empire achieved its greatest territorial extent and its population reached a maximum of up to 70 million people – a third of the world’s population. It also set up the possibility for relatively safe world travel on good roads and a nearly worldwide common language for commerce. Both of these also made it very easy for the Church to spread the message of the Christian gospel!
During the same period, Jesus was born, lived, was crucified and rose again from the dead. Also, somewhere in there Paul the Apostle lived as a Pharisee and died as a Christian.
The Pax Romana is said to have been a "miracle" because prior to it there had never been peace for so many centuries in a given period of history. Once Rome conquered all opponents, the Empire proclaimed peace by domination. This domination was even called good news, or the gospel of peace. The idea that the Romans were trying to get across is, “It’s a good thing that we are in charge of you and have wiped out all your other enemies around you by conquering them, too. Now we can all live in peace, as long as you pay your taxes.”
However, that does not mean there were no uprisings or revolts. We know that the Jews tried to fight Rome and Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. So, the Pax Romana is actually sort of a misnomer because it wasn’t really all that peaceful unless you admitted defeat and stopped fighting against it. That was the official Roman gospel. There will be peace as long as you don’t try to stop us. As a matter of fact, faith in Jesus is called the gospel of Jesus Christ as a direct counter cultural expression of dissatisfaction with the Roman idea of peace by force. The Christians were saying that the True gospel is one of peace through love and forgiveness.
In the armor of God, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, would mean that you were ready to actively proclaim the true gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and you would do that in spite of any opposition. You would be tough, or thick skinned, so you would not be easily offended by disagreement but could continue to be unstoppably gracious, even to your enemies. These boots are made for walking! They are provided so that the Christian is able to respond to God saying, “I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord.”
When we go where God wants us to go, don’t assume it will, be a walk in the park. We are still talking about spiritual warfare and isn’t it interesting that Paul also wrote in Romans 16:20 that "the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Note, demons are not redeemable! God is still a warrior intent on stamping out evil! God is doing the crushing, but he is using your feet! Add in this little connection: Ephesians 1:22 says, “God placed all things under his feet, that is, under Jesus’ feet, and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. So, Jesus is the head, and we often say that we are the hands and feet of Christ! Our feet are Jesus’ feet.
Still, we do tread lightly, not wanting to walk all over people or stomp out opposition in any sort of angry of violent way. We don’t want to even step on any toes! We follow the way of love and peace. And remember, Jesus doesn’t give us peace the way the world would. His method is far better and more effective. It wins loyalty through love and achieves greatness, not by military conquest, but by being admired for His great service and sacrifice. The historical record shows that Christian love did conquer all.
In ancient Rome, the Christians opposed pagan hatred, not by arguing with them about religion, but by the charity which they practiced. Their law was to love all people. In every intelligent being they saw a brother or sister worthy of esteem and kindness. Neither religious nor national differences could be reasons for hatred or exclusion. Their love included even their enemies, seeking reconciliation by forgiveness and kindness. Faithful to these principles, the early Christians treated the pagans with charity in whatever relationship they found themselves towards them.
They cared for those sick when nobody else would. Once, during a plague in Rome, the healthy and wealth citizens fled the city to escape the disease. The Christians stayed behind and cared for the sick. Many of them recovered and became Christians They fed the poor no matter who was hungry. They invited strangers into their homes for food and comfort. There is even a case where a battalion of enemy Roman soldiers were refreshed from a long and tiresome march by the hospitality of the Christians they had come to harass.
The pagans could not understand why the Christians would obey every order no matter how undignified and demeaning, but would quietly go to their deaths if asked to deny their allegiance to Christ! And on the way to the gallows they would pray for their persecutors and ask God to forgive the executioner! Christian slaves despised for their inferior positions in society, found in their Christian freedom a reason for greater gentleness towards their pagan superiors. Through the mysterious but irresistible effect of this love they sometimes led their master to faith in Jesus, but even more frequently led their masters to at least behave more justly towards all.
The greatest confrontation we can have with evil in our world is that of daring to live like that, with the Truth and the love of God in our hearts and a ready explanation of our strange behavior for all who seek to understand. Do you know that’s the real reason that Christians are persecuted in communist countries? Christians are seen as a political threat to the national security specifically because when Christians who are in every other way model citizens dare to also speak the Truth that calls for justice and an end to oppression, it directly challenges any unChristian leadership that resists the changes God brings about in human hearts.
Yet, through Jesus Christ and his loving sacrifice, God and Jesus make peace with the rebellious human race by offering forgiveness. When you receive Christ, you are united with the Prince of Peace. You have peace with God right now (Romans 5:1), but the peace of Christ must also rule in your heart if you are going to live victoriously, and that is possible only when you let the Word of Christ richly dwell in you (Colossians 3:15, 16). And you become a soldier for God proclaiming the true gospel in word and in deed. That means you become a peacemaker. The Romans soldiers thought of themselves as peacemakers too, but they employed a different strategy, as I mentioned earlier.
Gospel Peacemakers bring people together by promoting fellowship and reconciliation, in a word, by loving one another generously. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God" (Matthew 5:9). Anyone can divide a fellowship, but it takes the grace of God to unite us in Him. Many Christians insist on common doctrine as the basis for fellowship. They reason that if we don't think the same and believe the same, there is no basis for peace and we just can’t get along.
But common doctrine isn't the basis for fellowship; common heritage is. That’s why we say, “In Essentials Unity; In Non-Essentials Liberty; In All Things Charity.” If you wait to fellowship with someone until after you both agree perfectly on every point of doctrine, you'll be the loneliest Christian on earth. Instead of insisting on the unity of the mind, preserve the unity of the Spirit by taking the initiative to be the peacemaker in your relationships (Ephesians 4:3) in a unity of heart. Love one another and put up with differences. Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” That does not mean no conflict and no conversation and no disagreement. It means healthy and loving, grace filled confrontation.
By our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation we are children of God. We all belong to one family and that is what unites us. So, think about this, in your own earthly families, do all your children share the exact same views and opinions about the world, religion, or politics? And if they disagree on such things, do they disown each other, too? Aren’t they still united by family bonds? So it is with us as Christian brothers and sisters. We can discuss theology. We can bicker over minor differences of opinion about how God wants us to do things. But what really counts is that we eat together in loving family harmony. Didn’t Jesus himself say it very plainly: Everybody will know that you are my disciples when they see how you love one another.
And God’s love for all mankind spills out of us and expresses itself in how we treat everybody else around us. That is the main reason we want to start the new Good Neighbor Food Pantry ministry. It is not an evangelistic strategy. It is an opportunity for us to love people the way God does and the way our early ancestors did, as we heard. But such love must be sincere, not just a show of what nice religious people we are. Our ministry, and your involvement in it, must come from a God given, genuine concern for their well-being. No matter how much food we give away they won’t feel loved unless YOU show up and care about who they are as people.
That’s what Jesus did. He showed up to prove his love. The master of all peacemakers was Jesus himself, who brought us together with God and reconciled our differences through His shed blood on the cross. Talk about a grace filled confrontation! In order to receive His blessing of forgiveness we must admit to our sin and our need of repentance and cleaning! When Jesus comes to us, he is not ignoring our sins to forgive us. He saying look there is this problem, but I can fix it if you trust me.
But even before we can repent, we must first believe that he really means what he says, that he will forgive those who trust him. Jesus’ loving sacrifice, his ministry of walking so many miles in our shoes, paved the way for us to love and trust him so that we could experience his grace and mercy and begin to walk in his shoes caring for the last of these just as he did. Those are mighty big shoes to fill! Fortunately, we can do it because he fills us with his spirit and provides the armor of God, so we’re fully equipped to accomplish the task. In that knowledge and truth, we ought to feel quite ready to go. So, our feet are indeed fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. If you know that gospel of peace you are ready to go and share it with somebody else.
Now let’s get ready to enjoy the Lord’s Supper, this family meal that we share in blessed harmony as brothers and sisters in the Lord and in his peace. We are invited to come together around this table as those who belong to the household of Christ, brothers and sisters who in our baptized lives live out the death and resurrection of Jesus. The family of the reborn and the reconciled, who inhabit a universe of grace and peace. Come, when you are fearful, to be made new in love. Come, when you are doubtful, to be made strong in faith. Come, when you are regretful, and be made whole. Come, old and young, there is room for all. The love of Christ bids you, “Come and dine.”
Welcome to the feast of the Lord. All who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are invited to join in this meal. Christ invites all his baptized people who trust in Christ as their Savior to dine at his table, where he will feed them with himself by the Holy Spirit. Come to receive all the benefits and blessings of his atoning death, his life-giving resurrection, and his ascended lordship.
We come to the table not just as individuals but as a community. By sharing the loaf and the cup, Christ makes us one with him and with each other. Just as we are nourished by the food we eat, Christ nourishes us spiritually at this table with the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation. This is the joyful feast of the Lord, for the elements we receive symbolize not just the flesh and blood of the crucified Lord but the life-giving flesh and blood of the risen and ascended Lord. Let us pray.
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