Sermon for Sunday 28th June 2026, Trinity 4

By Rev Mark Payne on the occasion of his first time presiding at the Eucharist

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READINGS

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Colossians 3.12-17

12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

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Matthew 10.40-42

40 ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’

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Sermon

​​May I speak in the name of the living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the weeks leading up to my priesting I have been giving some long thought into what I believe about the Eucharist and what it means to me. Only natural I suppose as it was leading to this moment today, with you, sharing in this sacrament in a very different way to how I have before.

I personally believe that any chance to review, question and challenge our beliefs can only be a good thing as they allow us to dwell more deeply in them and so to know God a little bit better, and who doesn’t want that! It is for that reason that I would like to share with you some of the thoughts that have come to me in the weeks leading up to this moment.

First though, some background! As many of you know, I grew up as a Roman Catholic and so Holy Communion was a weekly feature of my life. As a child of course I was not allowed to participate until my First Holy Communion. A huge event in the life of a Catholic child. I still remember the gold workbook we had to complete in preparation, and I expect that my parents still have some of the photos including one that was taken with the daughter of a family friend and looked like a very awkward wedding picture! After that of course, I would receive the body of Christ every week and, although I probably gave little thought to it, I went along with the Catholic teaching about the Eucharist. As my faith has developed in adulthood I have moved away from some of this teaching, but I expect it has left its imprint on me. Let’s see what you think.

In my time reflecting, the question I kept coming back to was, why did Jesus ask us to use the template of the last supper as a sacrament? Why did he institute the Eucharist? There are three conclusions I have come to. Here they are in no particular order of importance.

Firstly, Jesus gave us the Eucharist as an opportunity to come together in a shared meal. In some ways, the Eucharist is the outward formal display of the reading from Matthew that we heard today. It is about welcome. It is about welcoming all who want to come, to share the cup and the bread. No matter who you are or what your past is like, you are welcome at the feast. God knows that we thrive in community and part of being in community is sharing meals together. Holy Communion is an opportunity to express that, even if no other opportunity presents itself during the week. The meal doesn’t have to be lavish, as Jesus says, “whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward”, but it has to be shared with all.

The second conclusion I came to is that Jesus gave us the Eucharist as an opportunity for Him to be with us. Now, the nature of the way in which Jesus is with us at the Eucharist is one of the things that varies the most between individuals. Time for some technical words! My Catholic upbringing taught me to believe in transubstantiation, that is that the bread and wine were actually transformed into Jesus’ body and blood and were no longer bread or wine. I have moved from that belief to consubstantiation, that is that the bread and wine are still bread and wine but somehow also the body and blood of our Saviour. At the other end of the spectrum there are those who believe that the bread and wine is just that, a simple part of a meal. Whatever your own personal belief, the fact remains that, in some way, Jesus is present during the Eucharist. Indeed, we say at the very start of the Eucharistic prayer, “the Lord is here”. Our reading from Matthew speaks to this as well. Jesus says, “whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me”. So, not only do we experience the joy of being with Christ, we also get closer to God in doing so.

Finally, Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a way to remember the sacrifice he made for each and every one of us. Eucharistic prayers, that is the words we use to celebrate the Eucharist, are beautifully put together. Each part has its significance, but the part known as the words of institution directly recall the events at the last supper as Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his closest friends, asking them to remember him. Our reading from Colossians reminds us that the Lord has forgiven us and teaches us how we should live our lives with each other in response to that forgiveness and salvation. The Eucharist then is a chance to reset and to remember that the grace of God we enjoy is a direct result of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. 

To summarise, the Eucharist is a part of the worshipping life of the church that I hold in very high regard. There is a mystery to it that I cherish and there is a reverence that it demands. Across the Church and even just in the Church of England, you will find a huge variation in both belief and practice of the Eucharist, ranging from those who emphasise the meal and those who focus more on the transformation of the bread and wine. Later on, you will probably even notice things that I do differently compared to Petra or Janet.

The one central fact to remember is that it is a Sacrament, an outward and visible sign of an inner and invisible grace. And so, it is a wonderful gift. No matter what you think about what actually happens during the ceremony, we can all come together. Just because I believe the bread is one thing and you think it is another doesn’t matter. At the Eucharist, those of us lucky enough to preside are doing so, not at our own table, but at the Lord’s table. We are all invited and we are all welcome to enjoy each other’s company, to bask in the presence of Christ and to remember the love of God that gave his only son to be our sacrifice, once and for all. Amen.
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