Maundy Thursday is
an important day during Holy Week. It’s
a time for us to remember when Jesus shared in a last supper with his
disciples. Soon, he would be arrested by the Roman authorities and crucified on
a cross. This last meal has become a
meal we continue to receive to this day to help us reflect on what Jesus’
suffering and death mean for us.
This is why the
Apostle Paul spends time writing about the Lord’s Supper in his letter to the
Christians in the city of Corinth. They
had forgotten why the Lord’s Supper is a very unique meal.
In Paul’s day,
the Corinthian Christians would have met in homes to worship, eat a meal together,
and receive the Lord’s Supper. The bread
and the cup were part of that much larger meal they would have had together.
Somewhere along
the way, they forgot the reason why they were gathering for a meal in the first
place. They forgot why the loaf of bread
and the cup were part of that great spread of food. This holy meal that was meant to remind them
of their oneness in Jesus Christ had become just another meal.
And so Paul
reminds them of the meaning of this meal by saying how it was Jesus who offered
his body and his blood for us so that we will always remember what he did for
us when he died on the cross for the world.
Paul is saying
that whenever you see the bread and the cup on that table of food, to remember
that this is why we have gathered in the first place. We have gathered because of what Jesus has done
for us.
In my first
church where I served as pastor, I was celebrating the Sacrament of Holy
Communion one Sunday morning. We were serving by intinction where people come
forward to a communion station, take a piece of bread, dip it into the chalice
of juice, partake, and then return to their seat. I was serving at one of those
communion stations.
One of the
beautiful things about the intinction method is that it is a very personal
experience as people come forward one by one to receive the Sacrament. It is also a very meaningful time for me as
pastor because when I offer the bread and the cup, I can make eye contact with
each person as they receive the Sacrament.
So anyway, I was
serving Holy Communion at one of the stations and one of my older members who
was in her 90’s was in my communion line. As a life- long member of the church,
she was seen as the matriarch of our small congregation.
When it was her
turn to receive, I lovingly looked into her eyes and said, “Florence, this is the body of Christ broken for you.” She received the large piece of bread but
then accidentally dropped it on the floor.
So I offered her another piece of bread which she received.
Then I offered
her the cup and said, “Florence, this is
the blood of Christ shed for you.” She
then dipped the bread into the chalice and ate. And then she did something that
I will never forget.
She looked down
at that large piece of bread that she had accidentally dropped on the
floor. I assumed that she was going to
gently bend over and pick it up since it would be in the way of the person
behind her.
To my great
surprise, she quickly swung back her foot, and with all of her might, she
kicked that piece of communion bread as far away as possible. As she started to
go back to her pew, she gave me a little smile as if to say, “Problem solved.”
I know she
thought she was doing a helpful thing but all I could think about was, “I can’t believe dear Florence just kicked
the consecrated loaf of Christ.”
The Apostle Paul
wants us to know that Holy Communion is a very unique meal. He sums up the
meaning of this meal in the last verse of our scripture reading when he writes,
“For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
The Sacrament of
Holy Communion has a past, a present, and a future dimension. When we receive the bread and the cup, we
remember the past and how Jesus died on a cross for the sins of the world.
When Jesus died
on the cross, he allowed all of the pain, brokenness, and sin of the world to
rest on his shoulders, so that he would be able to defeat its power once and
for all.
The cross reminds
us of how deep our vulnerability to sin is.
It also reminds us of how costly love is. Jesus was willing to do for us what we were
not able to do for ourselves. He broke
the power of sin and death.
Whenever I get
discouraged or experience disappointments, all I have to do is think of the
cross and I am reminded of God’s great gift of love through Jesus Christ.
Approximately two
thousand years ago, Jesus, an historical figure, the one who was the visible
expression and true embodiment of God gave his life for you and me. What Jesus
did is rooted in human history.
But Holy
Communion also has a present dimension.
The Apostle Paul writes that we are to receive the bread and the
cup. By receiving Holy Communion, it’s a
way for us to know and experience God’s saving love in the here and now.
We believe that
the Sacrament of Holy Communion is one of the means of grace in which God
offers his love and grace to us anew.
Every time we receive the Sacrament, we can have an assurance that God
will be present with us just as he was present with Jesus and the disciples in
the Upper Room 2,000 years ago.
And Holy Communion also has a future
dimension. In the last verse of our I
Corinthians scripture reading, Paul writes, “For
as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes.” Those last three
words are so important in helping us to understanding the meaning of this
Sacrament. “Until he comes.”
Whenever we
receive the bread and the cup, we are reminded that there will be a day when
Christ will return and all of God’s people will feast at his heavenly banquet. This is the ultimate hope of our faith, that
one day God will make all things new and it will be a time when there will be
no more suffering, sadness, mourning, sin, and death.
Every time we
receive this Sacrament, it’s a time for us to look forward to that time in the
future when there will be new heavens and a new earth. And until that time, we
are called as the church to live out our faith and share this hope with others.
Somewhere along
the way, the church at Corinth forgot that this was a very unique meal. Maybe it was good that they forgot or we
wouldn’t have this scripture from Paul to help us understand the meaning of
this meal.
During church
camp one year for elementary age children, a pastor noticed that that one of
the children was always misbehaving, even during their worship time in the
evening. One of the counselors explained
this boy’s story with the pastor.
This boy whose
name was Adam and his brother were staying with their grandparents because
their parents had recently divorced. The
grandparents thought that it would be good for her grandchildren to attend
church camp. The boys had never attended
church so all of this was very new to them.
To help the
situation, the pastor and this counselor partnered Adam with a high school
counselor whose name was also Adam. Big
Adam was to help explain to young Adam why they were doing the camp activities
and why they had closing worship each night. This high school counselor helped
changed little Adam’s behavior.
On the final evening of worship, they all
celebrated Holy Communion. Each camp
family picked two persons from their group to serve Communion to the other
members.
As young Adam’s
group came forward, the pastor asked for the two persons to come and join him
at the altar to receive the communion elements to serve to their family.
Little Adam was
one of those chosen. The pastor served him and the other student, and then he
handed the elements to them to serve their camp family.
Tears filled this
pastor’s eyes as he watched this young student serve the bread and the juice
and share the words of communion to his group.
This young boy
who was going through a very difficult time in his life was experiencing
transformation and newness of life, all because somebody took time to come
alongside of him.
On a Maundy Thursday several years ago, I
took my Holy Communion kit with me to a rehab center to visit a retired United
Methodist pastor. I just thought that he would like Holy Communion since he
wouldn’t be able to attend our Maundy Thursday service that night.
Well, as luck would have it, when I
arrived at the rehab facility, he was having his therapy session. Fortunately,
he was taking a break so we had time to talk. He was so glad to know that I
brought my Holy Communion kit.
As I got out my communion kit to set
things up on one of the tables, his physical therapist came over to us and my
pastor friend introduced me to her. Looking at my communion kit, she asked me
if I always take the Sacrament with me during my visits.
I told her that I brought it because it
was Maundy Thursday and I thought Clarence would like to receive the Sacrament
to remember Jesus’ Last Supper. She said, “Today
is Maundy Thursday? I should have know that! Do you have enough for me?”
I said, “Sure. Pull up a chair and join us.” I was about ready to offer a
communion prayer when another patient came over and asked, “Mind if I join you?”
No sooner
had this man joined us that another staff member noticed what was going on and
said, “I’ll come over, too if that’s OK!”
So many
joined us for Holy Communion in that physical therapy room, that we almost
needed to have ushers and acolytes!
There is something very unique about this
meal, isn’t there?
It’s a
meal that is rooted in the past when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. It’s
a meal that includes the present because Christ promises to be with us whenever
we receive it. And it’s a meal that points us to that future hope when one day,
we will all feast at Christ’s heavenly banquet together.
Past, present, and future. It’s all part
of this meal that we call, “Holy Communion.”
Thanks be to God!
