3-29-18
Maundy Thursday
Grace to you and Peace from God our creator and from our
Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
If you have been coming here to Family of God in the last
few weeks, you might have noticed that something here has changed. When I
arrived here as your pastor over a year and some change ago, our tradition of
Holy Communion in our worship services was the first and third Sundays of the
month, including festival Sundays. Starting at the beginning of Lent, however,
we have made a bit of a shift. Since then, we have had communion every single
Sunday, and the plan is to continue for every week, from now until Jesus comes
back and tells us to stop. Have you noticed?
Something else launched in Lent too. Nate Karpinski started
his first communion instruction, which will culminate in his first communion on
April 8th. But this was no ordinary first communion class. And,
though he will be the only one receiving communion for the first time on the 8th,
he did not come to these classes alone. The whole congregation was invited in
these conversations to learn too – with fellowship, food, and maybe just a
little fun.
On these nights at the local Panera – whose name, by the
way, includes the old Latin word for bread – we read part of the very passage
we heard from Mark this evening: the night that Jesus created our sacrament of
Holy Communion.
Now, do you remember what a sacrament is? Think back - choose
a time machine of your choice – TARDIS, DeLorian, Cosmic Treadmill, or Time
Turner – and hop back to your own first communion class. You might recall that
a sacrament is a fancy name for how Jesus promises to be present with us. Some
kinds of Christians have a LOT of sacraments… but we only have two: Baptism and
Holy Communion. One happens at the very start of our lives in faith, and the
other keeps us going as we walk the way of following Jesus every day.
Why do we Lutherans only two? Well, this is what we
learned over our soup and bread at Panera: for Martin Luther, a sacrament needs
to check off 3 boxes:
1.
It is something that Jesus commanded us to
do.
2.
It uses something physical and earthly thing
we can touch.
3.
It gives us God’s love, forgiveness, and
grace.
How does Holy Communion fulfill all these criteria? There
is bread and wine…Jesus told us to do this in remembrance of him… and his body
and blood was given for the forgiveness of our sins.
On this night we go back to the reason we gather around
the table every week with bread and wine, to that night in the upper room
…where Jesus chose to spend his last meal with his twelve followers. Men who
would later betray him, deny him, fail in keeping vigil with him, and desert
him completely.
But they were still there with him that night - invited, welcomed… and loved by Jesus, enough
to break bread and share the cup with him one last time before his suffering,
humiliation, and death.
Jesus knew what was to come – that soon he would suffer,
die, be raised… and then leave us. So, he wanted to give his disciples, and us,
the promise that he will always be with us, no matter what. And so, with items
that can be found anywhere – bread and wine – we are reminded that we are
forgiven and sustained in this life, no matter how often we fail at following
Jesus.
We are invited to the Lord’s table, tonight and every
Sunday – we who are betrayers, deniers, and deserters of Jesus, too. We are all
in need of forgiveness for all the times we fall short – in all the ways we
hurt one another and work against God’s justice. It’s really tempting to think
that by our own strength and will we would follow Jesus no matter what, even to
death. But the disciples couldn’t do it… and neither an we. We need help.
Before receiving communion, Martin Luther prayed this
prayer: “My Lord Christ, I have fallen… For this purpose, you have instituted
the sacrament… that we may be helped. Therefore, I am to receive it. … I come
now to be helped.”
During one of our gatherings at Panera, we wrote our own
prayers in small groups. One of the prayers we wrote says this: “Jesus, thank
you for all that you provide for us. Help
me to share your love with others.” As food helps to strengthen our bodies,
Jesus’ presence with us in Holy Communion helps to strengthen us in our living
while following Jesus. And in turn, we share the love of Jesus with others to
help and strengthen our neighbors. And I don’t know about you, but I could use
a reminder of this promise every chance I can get.
As often as possible I could use the reminder that Jesus
loves ME, that he is body was broken and his blood was shed FOR ME, that he
died FOR ME…. to SHOW ME that I am worthy
of love…. I AM worthy of freedom from sin….and I AM worthy to be
called a follower of Jesus and to be the hands and feet of Jesus’ love in the
world.
I need the reminder as often as I can get – because I am
so forgetful. I need to hear these words over and over again, because no matter
how many times I hear them, they never get old or wear out. Just like hearing
the words “I love you” never get old or lose their meaning either.
Our travels through the season of Lent began on Ash
Wednesday, which was also on Valentine’s Day this year. The two themes of
February 14th this year seemed to clash – a day of Love and a day of
Repentance…. A day full of red hearts and a day of dusty crosses. But perhaps
they had more in common than we think, though it might have taken until tonight
to fully understand why that is. This is Holy Week, and this night is where our
many weeks of Lent have been leading. When Jesus gathered to share a meal one
last time with his friends. When Jesus gave the gift of his body and blood and
eternal presence. … a gift given for you and for me to receive in the here and
now.
Every time you come forward with hands outstretched to
receive this gift, you are getting Jesus – called by name as a child of God. In
just a little while, we will hear these words again, and we will come forward
to receive: the body of Christ, given for you. The blood of Christ, shed for
you. Every time we gather at the Lord’s table to receive the bite of wafer and
the sip of wine, we get just a small taste of the great victory feast that God
is preparing for us.
Tonight, though, Jesus looks the opposite of victorious.
Judas has betrayed him, the disciples have abandoned him, Peter is about to
deny him, and he is about to face false accusations and a smear campaign on the
way to being handed over to be crucified. In a few minutes we will hear the
words of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” – which Jesus
quotes from the cross later in Mark’s Gospel – while the altar is stripped of
everything on it…. Just as Jesus was left completely abandoned and vulnerable
before the powers of might and death that rule over the world. And we will
leave this place in silence, without a benediction, because our service of
these three holy days continues tomorrow night on Good Friday.
But tonight, we also taste
and see that the Lord is GOOD. And
tomorrow we will SEE and HEAR and SMELL all the ways that the Friday we call
Good is good for US. And we also
know that, today might be Thursday… and though night has fallen…. Sunday is
coming. And so is the dawn. Amen.
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