The Lord and Host of Supper
We are continuing to explore our liturgy and the Lord’s Supper. Last week we explored the depth of this great mystery by looking at it as the Eucharist: a great thanksgiving whereby we praise God’s glorious presence in our lives. Today, we look at it as the Lord’s Supper. The moment when Jesus invites us into a meal where he is host. He is the great provider that sits us down at the table of bounty. He is the great Lord and king that presides over right and wrong with justice. He is the merciful host that tenderly offers us his breast to lay our heads upon in our grief and need. As we remember and live out the stories of long ago, it is Jesus who comes to preside at this table and he is the Lord of hosts.
Now we are reflecting on the moment in the Lord’s Supper where we actually retell the story of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. At its most basic, this is a moment of remembrance. We remember that Jesus sat down with his disciples, we remember that Jesus broke bread, blessed the wine and gave it to them, we remember what this meant and what this still means. And Jesus told us to remember this moment every time we break bread or drink wine - in Jesus’ day this would have been at least once everyday. So, we are called to remember Jesus’ last night continuously, keeping on the top of our mind continuously.
Yet, even in this continual act of remembrance something far more is happening. Does anyone remember what Jewish festival Jesus’ last supper was? The Passover. Passover is an annual remembrance of when God, through Moses, told Israel to sacrifice an unblemished lamb, and mark their lintel or door frame with its blood. This was so that when the Angel of God’s wrath came it would see the blood over their doors and pass over them instead of coming in - saving their lives. Hence, the title Passover. This is both a remembrance of God’s mercy and judgment. It remembers that even though Israelites were the victims in most ways to Egypt's tyranny and genocide, they were also still guilty before God and deserving death. Yet, it was God’s mercy and word that saved them through the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb - as they were also fed and filled with that same sacrifice. This judgement also became a mercy, because it was what finally convinced Pharoah to release Israel from slavery and death - but only for a time - God still had more salvation to live out. So at Passover God saved their lives, sustained their lives and led them to better lives.
So, when we remember the Lord’s Supper, we are also remembering the Passover, a time of remembrance. That’s a little funny isn’t it. But Jesus and Jewish people everywhere don’t remember Passover just because it was a nice story about something God did long ago, they and we remember it because it speaks to an effective reality of what God is doing in the present. In their remembrance they lived out the Passover and so they weren’t just remembering it, they were experiencing it. The lambs were sacrificed, they were fed and once again saved through its blood. Our remembering of this story of judgement, mercy, and salvation, is something that is affective and effective. As God did long ago, he continues this work in us that he started and completed long ago.
Yet, there is a second thing Jesus was looking to at his last supper, his death on a cross where his body would be broken and his blood shed. Even though in our sense of time Jesus’ death would happen later, the effective reality of it was present for Jesus the whole time. Remember the words that are spoken as Jesus breaks the bread - “This is my body which is broken for you” - “This is my blood which is shed for you”. For Jesus his death on a cross was a present reality that lived into that supper, that bread and wine. And as he was also remembering Passover, Jesus pointed the way towards a new reality. He is the true passover lamb. He is the one that bears our sins. He is the one that feeds us and fills us. He is the one who marks us by his blood so that the judgment we deserve will pass over us. Except as a truly pure sacrifice that is the fullness of God, his one sacrifice covers all of creation's sins through all time, if we are only willing to eat at his feast and be washed thoroughly by his blood.
You may have noticed there that I went from past tense to present tense, because just as the Jewish remembrance of the Passover is an effective reality that God works through, so is the Lord’s Supper. We remember this moment, because God works through it and completes the same thing in us he did all those years ago. The effectiveness of God’s work is so much bigger than a single moment - remember God is the creator of time, so of course he is beyond it. Jesus is not limited by our imagination or our sense of time. So guess what happens when we remember Jesus presiding at the table. Jesus comes here and he is the host - and it is truly the Lord’s Supper. Merv, James and I have been ordained to facilitate that time of encounter and presence. It is one of the greatest privileges and responsibilities in my life, that I get to in this moment, be a physical presence for Jesus in a very real way. This is a special and holy moment, but that should just remind us all that we are all called to be the physical presence of God in every moment of our lives, which is a holy and divine privilege.
Yet, as we remember and come before Jesus at the Last Supper, as he comes to host us here in our upper room, we also remember his death as he did. As we come to this table, we also come before the cross. We look upon his sacrifice, the body broken and the blood shed. We come face to face both with our guilt, but also our salvation. The story of Jesus' death reminds us that there are at least two ways to respond. You can be a scoffer that looks down on this man and his sacrifice, belittling what it means and what God is doing through it. Or you can be someone who follows, watches and mourns, but still doesn’t speak or do something. Obviously, one is better than the other, but sadly both are worthy of judgment.
These two responses lead us to an interesting point as it relates to the Lord’s Supper and that is that we can receive Jesus’ body and blood unworthily and with judgement. We can think about this in 4 ways. At Passover, those that failed to recognize their need to be saved by the blood of the lamb, would have born their own sins as the Angel of wrath came and they would have died. At Jesus’ last supper, as he is reclining with them, he confronts Judas, the one who is about to betray him and Judas, rather than repenting and changing his ways, flees from Jesus. We are called to repent before coming to this table too. These people at the foot of Jesus on the cross fail to see who it is they are killing. They fail to recognize what Jesus is doing for them and so they become guilty for his death as at bare minimum accomplices to the act. Even in the early church communion, Paul sees them having their own personal or special dinners thus pushing out Jesus as Host and belittling the body of Christ. Now, we have the choice of how we approach Jesus as host. Do we recognize our need, and are we willing to humble ourselves before him? Are we willing to repent and change our ways so that we can stay with Christ? Are we willing to recognize who it is that has died for us and speak up? Are we willing to lift up Jesus as the Lord over this supper, caring for his people as he cares for us?
Yet, there is more as I would add a third way of responding to the cross, that the disciples only came to realize later and I think this is the best option. As you look upon Jesus dying on the cross, we can look on him with hope, seek after him with faithfulness and hold onto him with love. When we do this, the manifold work of the cross works on us and in us in ways that we can barely understand. The cross, resurrection and indwelling Holy Spirit, utterly changed Jesus’ first disciples and the world. Every time we come before this table, every time we come before the cross, every time we consume the life, body and blood of Jesus Christ we are called to experience those life changing realities once again.
We don’t have communion today, but this gives us time to prepare ourselves - to think and pray on what it is we are remembering and the present and effective reality that God is bringing about. Jesus Christ has delivered us and is delivering us from slavery to sin, the slavery to our desires that would otherwise lead us to our death. Jesus Christ has called us to repentance, so that we might turn away from those things that otherwise consume us and to turn to the source of life. Jesus Christ has invited us into his home, where he hosts us with a bounty and love that is unimaginable. Jesus Christ has called us to remember and to eat, so that we will be filled with the glorious and holy food that is a new sustenance, a new fulfillment, a new covenant and relationship. Our Lord Jesus is both the host and the food and in this beautiful and mysterious reality we are given more than we can ask or imagine. AMEN
Children’s story
The acts of communion
Outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace
Remembering - Through Jesus’ words - he speaks to us
Our coming forward to his table together - an invitation and unity in accepting him as our Lord and Host
Kneeling - humility and need
Crossing yourself - We are being marked by Jesus
Empty hands - we have to empty our hands, make space
Filled - our lives are filled - hands and stomachs
Bread - broken - foundational sustenance for life - the broken life of Jesus
Wine - the symbol of celebration and joy - the blood that was shed for us
Prayer and Praise - The connection and joy does not pass just because we have consumed the presence of God - it goes with us and we desire to hold onto it in our own hearts as long as we can (with God’s help)
Hello to my St. Matthew’s family,
In some ways, it does not come naturally to me to be a “good host”. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about food, I often forget to offer drinks, and I am not as clean as most people. I think this is because I care more about the people and the relationships and these things come as a distant second (Mary Anne helps me here). I may be an introvert, but when I am with you, I really want to be with you (though I still need to grow in my capacity to listen and be present).
This Sunday we will be talking about Jesus as the greatest host we will ever have. A host that invites us and then offers the greatest bounty and presence we could ever receive. Jesus doesn’t just invite us, but he comes to our table and makes it his own. As a good host, he does have expectations of his guests, but that is because he is preparing a heavenly banquet, where we experience a whole new reality, a whole new life. This Sunday lets prepare ourselves to receive the greatest food at the greatest dinner we have ever been invited to.
Judgement
