Eucharist for the World

You may know that there is an old custom in the Roman Catholic Church of saying Masses for the dead. It is believed and taught that because the Mass is a re-offering of the sacrifice of Jesus that it is in effect like the sacrifices of the OT that had to be offered over and over again for the forgiveness of sins. And since the Roman theology allows that people may be continue to be cleansed and forgiven even after death, they have taught that this meal (what they call the Mass) may be offered as a sacrifice for certain people who are not yet cleansed of all their sins. But this gets the Eucharist all wrong. This Lord’s Supper is a victory feast which shows forth the Lord’s death until he comes. This feast proclaims the death of death, it proclaims the forgiveness of sins in Christ’s body and blood, and it declares that this was accomplished some 2000 years ago. At the same time, as is the case with much distorted theology, there is an element of truth in what the Roman Church teaches. We do worship here on behalf of the world. What we do here is for the life of the world. In Revelation, John sees the worship of the saints and the angels accomplishing the judgments of God in the world. And therefore, when we worship here at this table, as we eat and drink and rejoice before the Lord, we do so for the cocaine addicts, for the prostitutes, for the homosexuals, for the abortion doctors, for the Muslim terrorists, and for all those who are lost, hopeless, and without the grace of God in their lives. We celebrate this meal as the great memorial of the only Atonement that does avail with God. And just as Moses saw the great sin of Israel and ascended to make atonement for the sins of Israel, so too we come out of the world each week, ascend into the presence of God and offer here the memorial of that Great Atoning work of Jesus for the sins of the world. We proclaim here the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness not only of our sins but for the sins of the world. We plead with God here to remember Jesus and save the world.