Maundy Thursday
April 17, 2014
Exodus 12:1-14; Luke 22:14-23
Jon Strother is the District
Superintendent of our neighboring district, the Capital District. He’s also an amateur photographer and often
posts pictures that he takes on Facebook.
A few days ago he shared a picture that he took of a cup from Hardees’,
with their new slogan, “Eat like you mean it.”
It struck me that this was pretty appropriate for any time that we talk
about communion. Communion is an
important meal; it’s not something we do haphazardly. Jesus very intentionally instituted it and
left instructions to continue celebrating it.
I don’t know about you, but I look forward to every time that I get to
participate in communion. The Scriptures
that we read tonight tell the story behind this meal.
The text Pastor Ken just read is
Luke’s account of what we call “the Last Supper.” This is Jesus’ last meal before he is
betrayed by Judas a couple hours later and handed over to the authorities, who
eventually decide to crucify him. In “the
Last Supper,” Jesus was celebrating the Passover. This is a feast that the
Jewish people still celebrate today. It’s
the commemoration of the tenth and final plague of Exodus, often called the
plague of the firstborn, and which we read about in our first Scripture
lesson. The term “Passover” is used
because the Lord “passed over” all of the houses with lamb blood on the
doorpost, which was all the Israelite houses, and killed the firstborn in all
the houses without blood on the doorposts, which was primarily the Egyptians, and
included Pharaoh’s house. It is after this
plague that Pharaoh finally agreed to let the Israelite slaves leave Egypt. Every year the Jewish people celebrate the
Passover, remembering that once they were slaves in Egypt, but God delivered them
and brought them out of Egypt and now they are free.
The
reason that we say that Jesus’ ministry lasted three years is because the
Gospels record three times that he went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover
feast. This last time that Jesus
celebrated the Passover, he transformed it into the first Eucharist:
“While they were
eating the meal, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it,
gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks
he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of
the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
In
the last supper, Jesus widened the scope of the Passover feast to include the
whole human race. We all were once
slaves, in our case, slaves to sin and death, but now we are free! Jesus invites us to remember that whenever we
participate in Holy Communion. We were
once slaves to sin and death, but Jesus has forgiven us and set us free. In Jesus’ body and blood, the Lord has
“passed over” all of us and not given us the death we deserve. The word “Eucharist” means thanksgiving,
because when we celebrate the Eucharist, we are indeed thankful for what Christ
has done for us.
Now,
just how Christ did it was a hot topic during the Protestant Reformation. Before then, the Roman Catholic Church taught,
and still teaches, that Christ was actually physically present in the elements,
that “this is my body” and “this is my blood” mean that the bread and the wine
actually become Christ’s body and blood.
This is known as the doctrine of transubstantiation and how the early Christians
got accused of cannibalism. Then came
the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s and each reformer had their own take
on what happened in the Eucharist.
Martin Luther stayed the closest to Catholicism and said it was
consubstantiation, that Christ was physically present alongside the elements of
bread and the wine; the bread and wine didn’t transform, but Christ was
present, too. The main reformer who
argued with him was Ulrich Zwingli, a Swiss pastor, who said that Christ was
present in the hearts of the believers, not in the elements themselves. John Calvin tried to mediate between these
two and said that Christ was spiritually present in the elements, but not
physically present. If you’ve gotten
confused yet, you should see the charts we drew in my Church History class! Those are just the three main arguments. As for us Methodists, John Wesley in the
1700s came closest to Calvin’s position.
He taught that it’s not transubstantiation, but it’s not mere memorial,
either, that something does happen
when we bless the bread and the wine. The
explanation in our Book of Discipline follows Calvin’s viewpoint, that Christ
is spiritually present, but not physically present. Communion was also important enough to Wesley
that he participated in it every opportunity that he had.
So, something happens when we
celebrate the Eucharist. We remember
that God passed over our sins and set us free from them. We know that Christ is present in some way. But there is still one more thing that
happens when we all come to the table and that is that we eat together, we
share a meal. In the United Methodist
Church we celebrate an open table, which means that anyone and everyone is
welcome to participate. It doesn’t
matter whether you’re a member of the church, whether you’re baptized, whether
you’re sure of what you believe about all this or not. Everyone is welcome. All that’s required is a desire to come. God welcomes everyone who comes to him.
At
my previous church there was a lady who shared with me that while she
appreciated all that, she had been taught years ago at another church that if
you were sinning, then you could not receive communion. She is not married to the man she has lived
with for twenty years and the father of her teenage boys. Technically, he never
divorced his wife in Mexico. By common-law standards, this couple is married.
But they've never actually had a wedding in a church. And so she did not
participate in the Lord's Supper because she was taught that she was unworthy. My heart went out to her, while two responses
formed in my head. One, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Romans 3:23). None of us is worthy. We are all sinners in need of a Redeemer.
Two, I was reminded of a song the praise band loved to sing: “Amor Sin
Condicion,” or, “Unconditional Love.” Communion is one sign of God's unconditional
love for us, one means of grace. God loves us no matter what. God puts no conditions on his love for us; and
we put no conditions on who can participate at his table. Look at who was at that first table with Jesus
– Judas, who was about to betray him; Peter, who was about to deny him not just
once but three times; and the rest of
the disciples who ran away from him when the going got tough. Jesus loved them all, and invited them to
share in the first communion.
Sharing
a meal together is intimate. Eating
together brings people closer together.
Pastor Ken and I have seen the change at the 8:00 service, which has
celebrated communion every week for over a year now. There’s something about eating together that
builds community. Those disciples, except
for Judas, reassembled after Jesus’ death.
After Jesus’ ascension, they continued to spread the Gospel that Jesus
had taught them and they became the early Church. There is something about eating together,
about all coming to the same table.
There is no adults’ table and kids’ table. There are no boundaries on who can come. We all come together.
Yesterday
I joined the Beloved Women’s group for lunch.
They have lunch together every so often, especially when they’re between
studies, and they invite me. We ate at
Vimala’s Curryblossom Café, and as most of you area aware, Vimila, the owner
and chef at her restaurant on Franklin Street, is also a church member here at
Orange. She served us family style, and
we passed all the dishes around. Eating
breaks down boundaries and sitting around a table full of food enables us to
get to know one another in ways that we don’t on Sunday morning or on the phone
or email or in a meeting. You learn
about likes and dislikes and food allergies and who’s left-handed and all kinds
of little things that come up at a meal together.
Vimala
also shared that her son had won first place in the Independent Weekly
newspaper’s poetry contest. His winning
poem was about his mom, Vimala, and is titled “Notes from Our Chef.”[1]
I’d like to conclude by reading it:
Move
fast, stay sharp. If it's not sharp, it's not a knife.
Be attentive to guests. Be interested, be loving, be generous in all things,
to each other and to them. The answer is yes.
The work we are doing is sacred. This food has come to us through God,
and we will serve it as his hands and feet. Wash your hands frequently
and wear closed-toed nonslip shoes. Be patient. A great meal is a spiritual experience.
You are empowered now as an extension of me to have a sense of ownership.
Own this, the words that you say and your every action. These ships that are blown
by strong winds are driven by small rudders, so watch your touch
that you don't put a single hand onto a plate in anger. And above all,
watch your tongues. Your tongue becomes your eyes when we lose our sight,
but it moves as a deadly weapon—more poisonous than the serpent's tooth. Control it. It does not control you.
Be attentive to guests. Be interested, be loving, be generous in all things,
to each other and to them. The answer is yes.
The work we are doing is sacred. This food has come to us through God,
and we will serve it as his hands and feet. Wash your hands frequently
and wear closed-toed nonslip shoes. Be patient. A great meal is a spiritual experience.
You are empowered now as an extension of me to have a sense of ownership.
Own this, the words that you say and your every action. These ships that are blown
by strong winds are driven by small rudders, so watch your touch
that you don't put a single hand onto a plate in anger. And above all,
watch your tongues. Your tongue becomes your eyes when we lose our sight,
but it moves as a deadly weapon—more poisonous than the serpent's tooth. Control it. It does not control you.
Beloved,
not many of you should become chefs
because you know that we who teach shall be judged more harshly.
But I am with you in this. Do as I would do. You are empowered
to give what you need to give and say what you need to say
to make their experience positive. They are not customers, they are our guests.
They are not your guests, they are your family. Your self and the hand that feeds you, nearer than sight when your own family leaves you. They will come back and be here believing when you are tired, because you'll forget as you feed from this every day, how good this is, but they won't, because it is. It tastes good to them,
it tastes good to them, you can tell by the way they give themselves to it,
it is that good, down to the base chemistry.
We are alchemists working through generations of history.
Learn the recipes.
because you know that we who teach shall be judged more harshly.
But I am with you in this. Do as I would do. You are empowered
to give what you need to give and say what you need to say
to make their experience positive. They are not customers, they are our guests.
They are not your guests, they are your family. Your self and the hand that feeds you, nearer than sight when your own family leaves you. They will come back and be here believing when you are tired, because you'll forget as you feed from this every day, how good this is, but they won't, because it is. It tastes good to them,
it tastes good to them, you can tell by the way they give themselves to it,
it is that good, down to the base chemistry.
We are alchemists working through generations of history.
Learn the recipes.
Amen.
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